Elders:
John Meyer & Joe Bunch
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August
1, 2004 Editor: Dan Peters
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Modern
Day Events in the Bible?
There
are many confident guessers today who "know"
that God is doing this or that. When things are going
great, they know God is blessing them. When things are
going poorly, God is disciplining them. They can never
be proved wrong or right, and so they continue to talk
with confidence about all that God is doing today.
They
need to consider when things are going great for them
it just may be that God is blessing them even though
they are unrighteous. Jesus clearly taught this, "...He
causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and
sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous"
(Mat. 5:45b). It is unwise to took at modern events
to prove you have the favor or disfavor of God. Let
us not deceive ourselves.
This
points us to the Bible and how unique the Bible really
is. For only the prophets were able to point to their
"Modern Day Events" and describe what God
was doing and why. But back then, most people didn't
want to hear it. They would rather interpret the events
for themselves and leave God out of it. Consider this
passage from Isaiah, "... the Lord is about to
bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the
Euphrates, Even the king of Assyria..." (Isa.8:7).
God was in fact punishing them by the use of the Assyrians,
but the people preferred their own interpretation of
events. God clearly tells Isaiah not to go along with
their interpretation of things. "For thus the LORD
spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not
to walk in the way of this people, saying, "You
are not to say, 'It is a conspiracy!' In regard to all
that this people call a conspiracy, And you are not
to fear what they fear or be in dread of it. "It
is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy.
And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread"
(Isa. 8:11-13).
If
you have the fear of God in you, you will not speak
what God has not spoken. How can we condemn Psychics
and Palm Readers and then turn around and interpret
omens and events ourselves? DP
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Making
Honest Men
I
never had a Bible study quite like it. Tuesday as
the three of us met downtown we talked a little bit
about our day up to that point. One new convert said
that he was tempted that day at work. Someone dropped
a $10 bill at the front desk. As he bent down and
picked it up he thought about what he should do with
it. Quickly he turned to the cashier and said that
someone had dropped it and they might be back for
it soon. He said that he didn't want greed to get
inside him.
The
other man, also being a new convert said, "After
thirty days if no one clams it they should give it
back to you". The first man said, "If that
happens I know right where I'm going to put it,"
with a smile on his face. (If I have a right to interpret
a smile, the smile implied that he was not going to
keep it.)
Shortly
after this, the second man told when he had recently
been to the store with his step-father. He was purchasing
a few small cases of bottled water, four to be exact.
But when the cashier ran them through the scanner,
she only rang up three. As the step-father (who is
not a Christian) was walking out of the store, he
noticed this and said something to his stepson. He
said something like, "It's your lucky day, she
only charged you for three cases of bottled water".
This young Christian turned around and went back to
the cashier and paid for the other case. He said that
before he was a Christian he would not have thought
twice about just walking away. The step-father saw
this and did not agree. Yet this new Christian is
now trying to please a different Father.
Finally
the third man at our table spoke up and said that
"We are never too old of a Christian so as not
to be tempted". For he also was leaving Home
Depot recently when he noticed the amount on the receipt
was too low. The faucet for the shower alone was over
$100 yet the receipt said $36. For a second he, too,
had to think about it, but then returned to the cashier
and paid the full amount.
As
I walked away from this study these stories have not
left me, I'm still thinking about them. I thank Jesus
who takes sinners and turns them into honest men.
This
next passage was spoken to Jeremiah, but Jesus made
the greatest application of it: "Therefore, thus
says the LORD, "If you return, then I will restore
you -- Before Me you will stand; And if you extract
the precious from the worthless, you will become My
spokesman..." (Jeremiah 15:19). Jesus is still
taking worthless men and extracting something precious
out of them, Jesus is God's spokesman. DP
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 Q.
"Is
Romans 14:5-6 talking about a day of worship?"
A.
Romans
14:1 - "Now accept the one who is weak in faith,
but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his
opinions. One person  has
faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak
eats vegetables only .... One person regards one day
above another, another regards every day alike. Each
person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He
who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and
he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks
to God, and he who eats not, for the Lord he does
not eat, and gives thanks to God. For not one of us
lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for
if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we
die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die,
we are the Lord's" (Rom. 14:1-8).
The
first application I make from this passage is that
it was written to Jews and Gentiles (See chapter 2
& 3). What day did one of them normally esteem
above another and that for the Lord? Yes, you guessed
it, the Sabbath. The Jew who became a Christian could
continue to keep the Sabbath if he chose to do such.
But he needed to realize that the Lord no longer commanded
it; he did not have to observe each Saturday by resting
on it. Plus he was no longer to judge those who did
not keep it (See Col. 2:16-17).
Paul
said, "Each person must be fully convinced in
his own mind". This statement lets us know that
God is not commanding it, but He is allowing it. But
the Sabbath day is not specifically mentioned in this
text. The Jews also observed other days from the Old
Testament as well, "New Moon" days etc.
And therefore this principle is broader than just
applying it to the Sabbath day.
Secondly,
Paul knows that the Gentiles may read this and think
they can also practice some of their former religion.
They may have wanted to practice some pagan day, too.
Therefore Paul doesn't say "You may observe any
day". On the contrary he said, "He who observes
the day, observes it for the Lord". You cannot
burn incense to the Roman eagle, "for the Lord".
This is idolatry.
May
we all eat for the Lord and abstain for the Lord,
may we all live for the Lord and die for the Lord.
Let us be the Lord's. ~ DP
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Please
pray for all who were mentioned in the announcements
- those who are struggling with physical ailments
and those who struggle with spiritual problems. Visit
and find out what we can do to help. Rejoice with
those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.
Those
with physical ailments include:
Bill & Christine A.
Everta S.
Mabel H.
Gene K.
Dorothy S.
Sue S.
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Please
tell others about our website: www.jolietchurch.org
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We
are offering you a free Bible correspondence course.
Perhaps you would like to spend more time in studying
the Bible, but haven't managed to begin, or if you
have started and would like some help, this Bible
course is for you.
Please
send in your request to:
Open
Bible Studies
23 Margaret St.
Joliet, IL 60436
E-mail: jolietchurch@juno.com
Elders: John Meyer & Joe Bunch
Deacons: Dave Bunch & Dan Peters
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