As has been shown in the previous 16 articles, those who try to deny the life of Jesus are not being historical; the credible evidence of His life is overwhelming to the point that denying it requires denying history exists. Because of its importance to the faith of Christians, casting doubt on the resurrection of Jesus becomes then a major effort of unbelievers, and it has succeeded in the world at large. Even many who claim to be Christian now deny the resurrection of Jesus.

What are the major objections to the resurrection of Jesus, and does history support or refute them? 1) Jesus never died on the cross, but was very nearly dead from injury and exhaustion, and recovered privately among the disciples to later pass anonymously into obscurity. 2) There was confusion about the tomb in which Jesus was buried and his real tomb remained unidentified, unknown and abandoned. 3) His body was stolen by unknown persons, or His followers stole the body of Jesus, or religious leaders stole the body of Jesus to hide it. The latest claim is that the tomb of Jesus was recently found, containing his ossuary and those of his wife, Mary Magdalene, and their son (not daughter as claimed in The Da Vinci Code), Judah, along with others of his family. This claim first.

Oded Golan, who claimed to have discovered the ossuary of Jesus’ brother, James, and who is currently on trial for antiquities fraud for that effort, is the man behind this new claim. Literally every single archaeologist involved in the original 1980 excavation or subsequent examination of the artifacts is certain that they have nothing whatsoever to do with Jesus. No expert in biblical archaeology, anywhere, supports any part of this claim.

Is there historical evidence supporting the other objections to the resurrection of Jesus? Is there historical evidence supporting the Biblical account of the bodily resurrection of Jesus? What other evidence supports or contradicts the objections to the bodily resurrection of Jesus? What role does forensic science have in providing or evaluating evidence for or against the bodily resurrection of Jesus? Is a verdict possible?

Sometimes I feel like a live such a mediocre life. I live in obscurity, not well-known or sought after. I’m not rich, or intellectual or possess a flashy personality. Many have been the times I wondered why God loves me, saved me and called me into the pastorate.
My problem is that I forget the awesomeness of my God. He is the all powerful, everywhere present and all knowing God. And He does awesome deeds. He is the One who fashioned me and caused me to live in this time of history. It is He who brought me to the cross and saved my poor, sinful soul. He is the One who answers my prayers and is the only valid object of trust.
So, instead of focusing on my self and my inadequacies, I need to focus upon the awesome God. He is the One I can truly trust, truly depend upon and truly be confident of.

- Pastor Stevens

1. Psalm 65:5

“Fret not thyself because of evildoers, Neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb. ”¹
“For evildoers shall be cut off: But those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. ”²

The Psalmist pondered the prosperity of the wicked and lamented the unfairness of it all…

“Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then understood I their end. ”³

What was that end? Read on,

“Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: Thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; So, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. ”⁴

What is to be my response?

“Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: But God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: Thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, That I may declare all thy works. ”⁵

- Pastor Stevens

1. Psalm 37:1–2
2. Psalm 37:9–10
3. Psalm 73:17
4. Psalm 73:18–20
5. Psalm 73:25–28

- From “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. Gal 5:1
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- Pastor Stevens

1. Isa 6:5

The Da Vinci Code claims that the original Christians held the Gnostic beliefs that Jesus was fully and only human, married Mary Magdalene and they had children.

What do the original Gnostic manuscripts claim about Jesus’ nature? The ancient Gnostic manuscripts were written between A.D. 250 and 350. Gnosticism is a mixture of Greek Platonism (remember Plato believed reality can never be known) and an early heresy called Docetism which taught that Jesus was divine but not at all human. According to the Gnostic The Acts of John, Jesus didn’t leave footprints when he walked and could often be seen but had no real physical body. Gnostic doctrine taught that Jesus was only divine and not in any part human, although he could seem human when he wanted to. The actual Gnostic manuscripts completely contradict the claim in The Da Vinci Code that the first Christians (the Gnostics) knew Jesus was only human.

What do the original Gnostic manuscripts claim about Jesus marrying Mary Magdalene and having children with her? Nothing at all; it is never once mentioned in any Gnostic, proto-Gnostic or Gnostic-like manuscript. The claim in The Da Vinci Code that the first Christians (the Gnostics) knew Jesus was married and had children is a complete fabrication.

The Da Vinci Code claims that Gnosticism reflects the original dominant religious view that god is mother (the goddess theory) and that the woman is spiritually purer and men are spiritually inferior. In fact, Gnostic manuscripts portray women as unworthy of salvation unless they become like men. “For every woman who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.” (The Gospel of Thomas, Jesus speaking to his disciples who had just said no woman – referring to Mary Magdalene – is worthy of life.) The misogyny that colors Gnostic manuscripts completely contradicts the portrayal in The Da Vinci Code, but it is in keeping with the prevailing cultural value of the time which true Christianity contradicts.

The Da Vinci Code tells a completely false history of Christianity and Gnosticism to promote an anti-Christianity message; there is not one grain of truth in it at all.

-Pastor Stevens

1. Psalm 61:2

Words and Music by Lanny Wolfe

CCLI #1149342

Fallacy 7: The Council of Nicaea proclaimed a new doctrine that Jesus is the Son of God, essentially creating a new religion. The truth is that only one doctrinal question was considered at Nicaea – is the Son of God co-eternal with the Father? Their decision affirmed that Jesus is. Church canon and most doctrine were established in the 1^st century and were never seriously debated since. Gnosticism was never considered Christian doctrine. See numbers 7 and 8 for more information about how the early Church canon was approved.

Fallacy 8: Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene as the Gnostic manuscripts claimed. The truth is that none of the ancient Gnostic manuscripts mention Jesus being married. Not one manuscript or any tradition from the early Church holds that Jesus was married to anyone or had children.

Fallacy 9: Christianity copied its rituals and practices from earlier pagan mystery religions. The truth is that the Roman Church did replace original Biblical feast days with feast days already used by the pagans they were converting as a means to suppress pagan worship by new Christians. As Christianity spread, over time, other cultures introduced local customs into their worship. Catholic worship has over time incorporated some visual and ritual elements of Pagan Roman practices, but none of these elements are Biblical and do not alter Biblical doctrine. And the truth is also that mystery religions were developed after exposure to Christianity and blend beliefs and practices of many pagan religions.

Fallacy 10: The Da Vinci Code claims that it accurately portrays artwork, secret rituals, architecture and manuscripts. The truth is that Hebrew ritual has been slandered for millennia by horrific false claims and still is by some groups today. As shown above, no ancient manuscripts exist claiming Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children; such as are cited are verified forgeries. Prior to the rise of feminist art criticism, no art historian ever considered the Florentine style of painting beautiful men anything more than a conscious change of style away from the rigid puppet-like iconography of an earlier time. John the Apostle was never thought a woman; this claim is invented out of whole cloth to support a well-documented radical anti-Christian political agenda.

In sum The Da Vinci Code is novelized baseless anti-Christian conspiracy theory.

Delight in this verse means “enjoy, be fond, i.e., take pleasure and enjoyment in an object, implying desirability of the object .” It is not just enjoy, but enjoy the Lord. What kind of relationship do you have with God? Is it mechanical, stiff, distant, or fearful. How about delight? Do you rejoice in the fact that when you trusted Jesus as your personal Savior you started a new, living, vital relationship with the God who truly loves and cares for you? Do you truly delight in the Lord, or have you lost your focus? Why not return to the God of your salvation and truly delight in Him. You just might be surprised with the results.

- Pastor Stevens

1. Psalm 37:4–5

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. Mark 7:37
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History isn’t speculation in a vacuum; it is the verified record of events. Just because something might have happened doesn’t make it plausible to have happened if there is no evidence that it did happen. In other words, just because 1+1 does not equal 4 doesn’t mean it equals 5. Presented here are some fallacies claimed as fact in the Da Vinci Code for which there is absolutely no supporting evidence and for which there is ample contradicting evidence.

Fallacy 1: the world’s first dominant religions worshipped the goddess. The fact is that there is no evidence of any kind to support this theory, but proto-feminist anthropologists have proposed it for years. No archaeological or historical record places any pagan goddess at the head of any culture’s deity hierarchy.

Fallacy 2: the original content and meaning of the Bible has been lost through centuries of politically motivated rewritings. The fact is that the content of the Bible has undergone no meaningful change in its entire written history; see numbers 7, 8 and 11 in this series.

Fallacy 3: the Dead Sea Scrolls preserve the excluded gospels that Constantine tried to eradicate. The fact is that the Dead Sea Scrolls are the oldest preserved Old Testament manuscripts and are without any reference to Jesus. They do however contradict fallacy 2 because of how exactly they match much newer ancient Old Testament manuscripts. See numbers 7 and 12 for more details.

Fallacy 4: Constantine collated the Bible as we now know it at Nicaea in A.D. 325. The fact is that the Bible as we know it was beginning to take form near the end of the first century A.D. All that happened in Nicaea was that various heresies were condemned for contradicting centuries long accepted New Testament-based doctrine. See numbers 8 and 9 of this series for more details.

Fallacy 5: The Bible is a man-made and untrustworthy hodgepodge that has changed significantly through time to reflect the changing needs of a man-made religion. The fact is that all man-made religions place mankind at their center and give mankind the glory for earning salvation. The Bible has remained singularly unchanged over time and stands opposed to man-made religions for giving God all glory and man by himself none. See 7 through 12.

There isn’t a shred of historical evidence to support these claims in The Da Vinci Code and further, the actual historical record contradicts them. More next time.

Next in the series is The Bible is True #15: Biblical History is True – The Da Vinci Code Isn’t, Part 2.

May God bless and thanks for reading, Noel Squitieri

Just a short note: the camp is going great this week. We are in a teen week and I believe that the Gospel is not only being preached, but is being received by these young people. Thursday night we will give an invitation. Please pray that the Spirit of God will move in the hearts of the teens.

We have one major problem this week. Some of our electrical kitchen equipment short-circuited and our 15 year old Russian circuit breakers did not kick off. The result was an electrical fire which fried some of the equipment. I have known for a couple of years we needed to buy new kitchen equipment. I haven’t done it because it is just so expensive here. Pray for this additional need. Also pray for my kitchen workers as they have to work longer hours to get things done until we can purchase some new equipment.

We have an upgraded website for EurAsian Baptist Mission. We have put some videos on it from last week’s camp. We will try to put some new videos each week that you can view. You can visit it at www.eurasianbaptistmission.com. Go to the “What’s New” page and click on the video.

I visited the south of Moldova today to look at the flood damage and see if there was anything that we could do to help. As I mentioned in our last prayer letter that we have had almost none stop rain for almost a month now. In the south there are several villages completely under water and there is much damage to other villages. Please pray for these people that have been displaced and/or who are missing loved ones.

Pray for Moldova,

Dr. Eric Chapman

Normally I get these summer prayer letters out earlier but today I had to go to a wedding. If you know anything about Russian/Moldovan weddings these things last all day. However, I couldn’t miss this wedding. The groom was a young man who was saved here at the camp ten years ago and then worked in camp for about four years. His name is Gregory and he married a girl that he led to the Lord five years ago. We are so proud of this young man and his stand for Christ.

This was our first week of camp with junior age children (10-13 years old), and it was a great blessing. We had 352 campers in the two camps and 255 of them made professions of faith. The preachers this past week were both Moldovan and they were really powerful in the Spirit. Costel preached the bigger camp of Vatici and Victor Chiper preached in the north. I am so pleased we have preachers here that are anointed in the Spirit and have the power of God in their lives and in their preaching.

We have three problems this summer that need your prayers. There has been more rain than at any time I can remember since coming to Moldova. It has rained almost every day for four weeks and there is no sign of letting up. The second problem is the government inspectors. They are working under the same rules as last year and they expect things from us that cannot be done. It is not enough for us to have sheets for the children but we must have them laundered by a professional company. The only company that can do this is in the capital and they don’t have time to wash 300 sets of sheets and return them in a week. I can’t help but think the inspectors know this and are using it against us. Thirdly, giving toward the camp is off by almost 75% this year. For those that have given thank you. For those who can’t, please pray and thank you for praying.

My next letter will have testimonials from the camps. Thank you for all your prayers and support. God is blessing this summer and we are seeing His hand in everything.

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo³

1. Isa. 51:12-13
2. Hosea 13:6
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It is so often that I try to “profit” through the flesh. When the burdens multiply, I try to overcome them by my own effort, my own power. Time after time I try to solve my problems my way. How foolish in the light of Jesus’ words, “the flesh profiteth nothing.”

- Pastor Stevens

1. John 6:63

Sung by Cindy and Arielle Stevens

Arranged by Douglas Neiner

Individually and collectively, we all appreciate our liberty.  As a nation, we probably have enjoyed true freedom more than any other nation in history.  In the political realm, many consider that some of our liberties are being taken from us.  We react because we feel we have a “right” to liberties guaranteed in our constitution.  When we get acquainted with other religions of the world, we realize that Christians enjoy a freedom which others do not have.  At this time of year, we emphasize our record for upholding freedom, thanking God for what He has permitted for us as individuals and as a nation.

It is good for us to emphasize that liberty does not allow us to do anything we might choose to do.  The phrase, ‘Your freedom stops at the tip of my nose’ is not a direct quotation from Scripture, but summarizes a Scriptural limitation beautifully.  Within our bit of space, in our small plot of earth, we are almost solely responsible for our actions.  We must respect similar rights of our neighbors.  The use of any sort of power to take away rights and privileges of another is wrong.  We are masters of our ‘territory,’ but we are not to try to extend our territory to the detriment of another.

Almost unconsciously, we adjust to restrictions on our liberty in certain realms.  The limitations of gravity, for instance, apply to our territory as well as to the rest of God’s creation.  If, proportionate to body size, we could jump as high and as far as a grasshopper, there would surely be many mid-air collisions.  We quickly and easily adjust to our physical limitations or invent means to use the power of gravity for our special purposes.  A pilot explained in some detail one day that the dependability of forces of gravity make it possible for an airplane to take off into the wind.

More consciously, we accept and adjust to social restrictions on our liberty.  The clear example in my experience was the feat of walking along narrow paths between rice fields in India (we were soldiers living in a different culture).  When we met someone coming toward us on the narrow path, we would automatically step to the right.  Under British influence, the locals automatically stepped to their left.  We often just stood there face to face, wondering what to do next.  We knew we should adjust to the customs of India, but habit is stronger than reason.

Reaction to social mores by younger generations is typical.  Such changes are evident in church life as well as in dress and conduct.  Many things ‘decent’ people never did are now almost required for social acceptance (a granddaughter had her nose pierced last week).  Typical dress for Sunday morning church is now radically ‘casual.’  Words are used on radio and TV that were unacceptable a few years ago.  Customs and practices can change without actually being ‘wrong,’ although in God’s sight many surely are.

It is regarding the moral realm that we need spiritual discernment.  God made us moral beings.  Anything that is morally wrong is wrong because it is contrary to the holy nature of God.  The heart of each of us at birth is inclined toward being contrary.  Moral restrictions aggravate the immoral desires of fallen mankind.  Men expect to lie and not be caught up in their dishonesty.  Men pull off shady deals and consider themselves clever, whereas God labels them thieves.  Humans entertain immoral thoughts and longings and realize not that they are offending a holy God.

Too often, the attitude is that ‘everybody does it’ or ‘it’s just my nature.’  True.  And that’s what God condemns.  For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  Men do not like the moral restrictions that apply to them in their little territory.  Their heart cries that they have a right to their freedom.  But they can change God’s standard of right and wrong no more than they can eliminate gravity.  They can work against God and good, but in the final judgment, even those efforts will be judged by a supreme Being who cannot be bought off.

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. John 8:36
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Is God here? Do I sense His presence? Am I living as if He was walking right beside me?
God is here. I do sense His presence. I know He is walking beside me.
So why be discouraged? lonely? fearful?
Why not bask in the sunshine of His presence? Why not communicate with Him throughout the day? Why not trust His hand of protection and His arm of strength?
Can I say with the Psalmist: “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”²

- Pastor Stevens

1. Jeremiah 23:23–24
2. Psalm 43:5

1. John 3:30

How quickly the weather can change from a cold winter to a very warm spring.  I am a weather person, so I’m enjoying the change.  Betsy enjoys the change as well and has planted a small garden around the house with tomatoes, green-beans, lettuce and some radishes.

As of this month, June, our home-schooling for Kevin’s 11^th. year is just about finished.  Only one more year to go then, Lord willing he’ll be off to college.  This coming October we will be going to Wisconsin for a BWM annual meeting.  While there we shall be able to visit at least two Bible Colleges (Maranatha and Northland) at that time.  Kevin is not yet sure what the Lord may have for him to prepare for, so we would ask that you might pray that Kevin’s heart might be receptive to the Lord’s leading.

We would ask you to pray that the Lord may bless our Father’s Day service on Sunday, June 20^th.  We have been praying for some men / fathers who have not attended or have not been out to our services in quite a while.  Pray for Peter Connell (saved), Doug Handy (saved),  Al Blondin (lost), Claude Vachan (lost), Aaron Connell (?) and Larry Newman (saved).  We will be having a pitch-in-meal on that day as well which usually sets an atmosphere for good fellowship, especially if there are visitors.

Pray for open hearts as we are able to visit door to door in our communities.   Pray that our church members would have a vision and burden for witnessing which comes from a love for their Lord.  Pray for me that I may have wisdom each day as I prepare sermons and disciple those God has given to us to minister.

We went to a volunteer luncheon today put on by one of the two nursing homes we minister to once each month.  The activity advisor of Banwell Gardens Nursing Home asked us if we would be able to come another time once a month as well and hold a Bible study with about eight residents in that home.   We said of course.  Pray that we might be a blessing to those that come and that we might see them saved and discipled.

Have a great Lord Day and thank you so much for your prayers for us and this ministry here in Canada.

In His Service,

Dave McCrorie and Family

We live in a day where self is exalted (self-esteem, self-image, self-love, self-improvement…). We have forgotten what it means to be humble. We’ve become so busy making others “tie our shoes.” Why should we be spiritual snobs?
When I search my heart, and see the depravity that exists, I am so grateful for the blood of Jesus that keeps on cleansing me from all sin. I come to realize that all that could be called good in my life is a direct result of the grace of God. I acknowledge the fact that I am but a servant, not even worthy to untie the latchet of my Lord’s sandals. Yet I am grateful that He loves me, He gave His life for me, and He even became a servant to die on the cross for me. Now there should no longer be any room for self in my heart…

1. John 1:26–27

There is great danger in allowing culture to become the authority in Bible interpretation, but it happens every day.  If a person does not view scripture as being the final and sufficient authority, then that perfect standard is certain to be replaced by an imperfect one.  The end result is a culture-driven theology, with man at the center.  Human reason and experience become the new, and very poor, authority base.  None of this negates the need for us to understand the culture we live in or even to consider the best ways to reach various other cultures.  Our ministry in evangelism and missions is enhanced by our understanding of the world in which we live and serve.

When interpreting scripture, we cannot complete the hermeneutical process without first having carefully considered the historical setting and culture of the times represented in the text.  In translating Bible text and other materials into different languages, we cannot afford to ignore the various meanings of words in other cultures.  These are valid considerations to remember.   The real offence occurs when culture becomes the first consideration, taking precedence over the teaching of Bible text.  The believer must always begin with the Bible and end with the Bible;  all considerations of cultural variations are secondary to the Bible. 

The argument is often made that the culture represented in scripture is not relevant to the culture we live in today.  Saying that the Bible is outdated and needs to be improved by contemporary minds is not only an attack on the Bible itself;  it is also an affront to a sovereign God.  The Bible is God’s book, not man’s book.  God is all knowing, and His word is not limited by changes in culture over the centuries.  It is arrogant to suggest that God’s word is not sufficient for our present society.  Such a suggestion is a precursor to a rejection of Bible authority, and it serves as a lame excuse to rewrite the Bible.  One of the most prominent illustrations of this problem is represented in what liberalism has done with the constitution of our great nation.  They claim that the principles set forth in that worthy document are archaic and irrelevant and that we can’t possibly know what its authors really intended.  This is indeed a shortsighted outlook, even though it may sound logical.  The approach is the same as is often taken with scripture. 

We obviously cannot know other people’s motives unless they explain them, but the church today is using culture, not the Bible, to define many things.  Examples can be found in the church growth movement.  Some followers were duped into believing that, if you want to get numbers in your church, you have to let culture rule.  They were told to go into the community and ask people what they think a church should be like, and then go and build one after that model.  Now, why on earth would we want to ask the devil’s children how to pattern God’s work?!  Using culture rather than the Bible, more and more churches have renovated their music and worship styles.  The argument in this arena is that God’s word doesn’t actually speak to those matters.  One can only wonder what Bible they are reading… or if they are reading it at all!  Church programs and relationships are often developed with culture as the authority, the result being that man gets his own way – one way or another.

Culture is driving much of the erroneous theology that has become so prevalent today. The false teaching that says some people will be annihilated is often argued from a standpoint of human reason.   A man says his grandmother was not a believer, but was a very good person, so surely she will not suffer forever.  The answer is to ignore the Bible, yield to culture, and concoct a new doctrine.  Almost every item on the list of “Theological Errors of the Month” is simply an incorrect response to culture.   I teach Biblical Hermeneutics and Biblical Apologetics.  Others who do the same often teach philosophical or evidential approaches to these subjects.   Now, I do understand the value of studying the misguided ramblings of those who are enamored with their own superior intelligence, so our students read them in order to understand culture.  In the end, though, the scripture is the only place to find the answers.  We learn that the Bible is supposed to change culture;  thus it is our goal not to allow the culture, instead, to change the Bible. 

So many educational institutions that call themselves Christian have adopted culture as their authority base.  This perspective doesn’t develop overnight, and they often go on claiming Bible authority long after they have forsaken it.  Only the believer who has a keen dependence on God and His word will notice the gradual change that comes in little things, such as when those schools begin to say, “The Bible doesn’t speak to that.”  Poor God!  If only He could have seen all this coming, He would have done things their way!

Let me remind you that we do need to understand the true value of culture.  This means that we see it as a tool, but not the rule.  Our ministries will be more effective if we understand culture from God’s point of view and we take God at His word.  Culture is used in making up all kinds of excuses to sin and disobey God.  When anyone becomes a slave to culture, he is doomed to failure, as God measures success.  So, always remember to begin and end with God and His word in your life and ministry.    –  Clay Nuttall

- from- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. 1 John 4:5
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It sounds a bit oxymoronic (is that a word?), but strong-willed children are actually weak-willed.  There’s a well-known parenting book on the subject that I think gets it wrong.  Children throw tantrums and beat their heads on the floor and scream because they have no control over themselves.  They don’t have the emotional strength to handle not getting their way.  James mentions adults with the same deficit — only instead of throwing tantrums, they murder.

The reason God set it up so children have parents is because of that innate weakness.  They cannot control themselves, so they have parents who provide that control until they are mature enough to exercise it on their own.  Consequently, when parents give in to their demands they perpetuate weakness.    Children need parents to be strong.  Children cannot handle being in charge.  They are by nature little tyrants.  Children need parents to say no and mean it.

I can’t tell you how many times young people have said, “My parents don’t care if I stay out all night…” meaning, if they cared they wouldn’t let me.  The parents think they’re being hip and cool by not putting restrictions on their kids, not realizing their kids despise them for it.  One girl told me with tears in her eyes, “Just once I would like to hear my dad say no.”  Listen dads, you need to provide fences, guidelines, rules, and expectations for your children.  That’s what fosters the respect you’re looking for, and it’s the very thing that helps them mature.

- Pastor Wayne Muri

- from “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. James 4:2
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A word study today, of an English word (impute), that should help us better understand important truths in the Word of God.  A K J concordance lists the word as occurring 14 times in Scripture.  A dictionary indicates ‘to impute’ is to attribute or ascribe (speak or label) some quality or action of a person.  Colloquially, it is often attributing something discreditable to a person (calling one a thief, a robber, a liar, etc.).  In Scripture, it is more often declaring that some good quality has been seen or asserted.

The declaration thus may be personal or the act of a court of law.  Imputation does not create anything or change anything;  it is used to label correctly (or incorrectly) something about someone.  After hearing the evidence, a judge may pronounce (impute) a man guilty or not guilty.  The fact of guilt or innocence preceded;  this is a judicial declaration of the decision of the law concerning what the man did.  If found guilty, a sentence may follow.  The word “impute” applies only to the evaluation/declaration.  He had been guilty (or not) in fact;  when the judge announces the decision of the court, he is treated as guilty.

If the court’s imputation of guilt is wrong, that does not change the fact of the innocence of the man.  If the gossip of a neighbor is wrong, that imputation of guilt is likely to have great influence without anyone questioning whether it is true or not.  We do well not to put too much trust in the evaluation of a sinful person.  We acknowledge that occasionally a jury may be wrong in declaring a man guilty.  The truthfulness of any imputation depends on the veracity of the one making the pronouncement.  Man can be wrong so often!

But God cannot lie.  God is never wrong.  If God says we sinned in Adam, that is unquestionably the truth.  If God says we deserve eternal hellfire, that is to be taken as a valid judgment and a gracious warning.  When God describes the sins of a man who needs to be saved by His grace, every charge is true.  When God has declared His verdict, there is no appeal.  God is right in every judgment (declaration, imputation).  He doesn’t “make” us sinners;  He pronounces that we are sinners.

When did Christ die for our sins and rise again?  Centuries ago, on Calvary.  When does God declare the imputation of our sins to Him and of His resurrection to us?  When we believe on Him².  Does His imputation today change anything?  No, it announces judicially that our sins were laid on Him and His righteousness reckoned to our account when we believed.  It proclaims the finality of the substitution, the genuineness of our acceptance, the reality of our newness of life – God approves of every portion of the transaction, but it was already accomplished, a “done deal,” which He has announced (imputed).

God saw and announced Abraham’s faith³.  Abraham’s faith was reckoned for righteousness⁴, a sign and a seal that all who believe can be declared righteous by faith⁵.  David described the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputes righteousness without works⁶.  Sin was judged prior to the law, for all sinned in the one man, by his one act⁷.  By the one death of the one perfect Substitute, God could declare that the trespasses of the world need not be imputed unto them⁸ who believe⁹.

Colloquially, Shimei begged David not to treat (impute) him as guilty¹⁰.  A judicial judgment declared (imputed) action unacceptable¹¹.  That to impute is a powerless declaration is clear in Habakkuk 1:11:  Then shall this victorious conqueror offend God by imputing (attributing) his power unto his god.

Why this detail?  Because I had too often through the years considered that God’s imputation changed something.  Instead, it announced His awareness or approval of something previously changed.  As an example, that God imputes me dead in Christ does not make me so;  it acknowledges that in Spirit immersion I was united in the Body of Christ.  God declares the past action as true, even though to the human eye there may be no evidence of it.  He has imputed my sins to His Son – a past action when I believed, now gloriously proclaimed as true, a fact of history, by the eternal Judge.

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo¹²

1. Rom 4:4
2. Rom 4:24-25
3. Rom 4:20-22
4. Rom 4:9
5. Rom 4:11
6. Rom 4:6
7. Rom 5:16-18
8. 2 Cor 5:19
9. 5:21
10. 2 Sam 19:19
11. Lev 7:18;  17:4
12. To begin subscription, ask questions, or make comments, email Dr. Van at cbsvan@sbcglobal.net

To some, the Bible is a mystery, a book hard to understand. And so should it be, without the illumination of the Spirit of God. It takes a miraculous work of God for someone to start making sense out of the Word of God.
Paul put it this way:

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.²

It is the Spirit of God who reveals the truth of the Word of God to a believer. This is a wonderful ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the child of God. He is the anointing that enables us to understand the Bible. So until a person is born again, the Book is locked.

1. Luke 24:45
2. 1 Corinthians 2:9–14

1. Luke 23:41–43

It is getting so that you can’t tell the difference between believers and unbelievers. It’s not that unbelievers are starting to live like Biblical Christians, it’s just that believers are living more and more  like the world around them. We pattern ourselves after the world’s music, clothing, heroes and philosophies. How contrary to the Scriptures! God very clearly commanded His people to don’t be like the Egyptians (idolatry) and the Canaanites (morals or lack thereof). Yet we keep on disobeying while using weak excuses like: you have to be like them to reach them or whatever is not clearly stated in Scripture is okay for us to practice.
God said, don’t be like the world, but do follow My Word, Why?
First, because He is God. He sets the parameters for living. He sets the standards for accountability. Because He is God, one day we will strand before His judgment seat.
Second, because His commands give us the way of true living. If we obey Him, we will live in true joy and satisfaction. We will have no regrets and no shame. We will have a testimony to the world around us that Jesus is truly the way to the Father.

1. Leviticus 18:3–5

1. Luke 19:17

Jesus Christ is the only major religious figure who ever claimed to be God. Egyptian pharaohs and Roman rulers claimed that they became gods, but Jesus said He always is God. That Jesus’ made this claim cannot be denied. He called himself “I AM.” No one who heard Jesus say He is The Lord God that spoke to Moses could doubt what Jesus was saying. All the ancient historical manuscripts and archaeological evidence in the whole world that confirms the historical accuracy of the Bible (and there is overwhelming such evidence) means nothing if there is verifiable evidence that Jesus isn’t who He says He is. What historical evidence backs up the claims Jesus made for His deity? What of counter claims?

Witnesses and contemporary scholars knew Jesus performed the miracles described in the Bible; because of them, many believed He was the Son of God as He claimed. But Jesus’ earliest opponents attributed the miracles to the power of Satan. Many opponents to Christianity today claim there cannot be miracles at all, yet the accounts of the miracles Jesus performed pass the test of historical accuracy and science no longer excludes the miraculous from the universe. Others today claim mass-hypnosis made many believe they saw miracles that weren’t real, while more believe Jesus used paranormal forces (telekinesis, telepathy and magic); every possible explanation is acceptable except that Jesus is who He says He is. It is unreasonable thinking to allow for every other alternative except that Jesus is who He says He is. So, is Jesus God?

There are only two logical alternatives: is He God or isn’t He God? The truth of the New Testament and the whole Bible depends on the answer. Jesus can’t even be a great moral teacher if He isn’t God. Why not? Jesus called Himself “I AM,” “Son of God” and the only means by which men may be saved. If he isn’t these things, then He is a liar or lunatic, either of which mean Jesus can’t be a great moral teacher. If liar, then Jesus would be the worst hypocrite who ever lived and absolutely evil. If lunatic, then nothing He taught has moral authority.

Lost, wandering aimlessly in life. Having no purpose, no hope, no joy, no love, no peace… This was me at age eighteen. Then someone told me about Jesus. How He came to this world to die for a sinner like me. That He, in His love for me, shed His precious blood for me. Then I confessed my sin to Him and asked Him to come into my life and save me. And He did. Lost all those years, but now finally found. Jesus, the kind shepherd, found His wayward lamb, put His loving arms around me and brought me home. Once lost, now found…PTL

1. Luke 19:10

My car just passed 30,000 miles on the road, most of it city driving.  On the open highway, I have had it up to 70 a few times.  So far as I know, it may have the power potential of 120, but I don’t aim to find out.  My cogitations today are on power potential, particularly on the power potential indicated in our special Spirit immersion (Spirit baptism is more common, but misleading).  The passage stressing that power potential is Romans chapter six.  The illustration / comparison I’m developing is my own, not expressed in Scripture.  What I’m trying to stress is Scriptural, and, I think, an important key to successful Christian living.

For a comparison, believers prior to Pentecost had ‘horse and buggy’ power potential.   All believers since Pentecost have much more power potential than we use.  The Holy Spirit has united us (immersed us) in the death of our Savior:  “So many of us as were immersed into Jesus Christ were immersed into His death” (6:3).  Consequently, “we are to reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (6:11).  We should not allow sin to reign in our mortal body to obey it in its lusts (6:12).  Neither are we to yield our members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield ourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead (6:13).

When a chicken has its head cut off, its body does not immediately act dead.  The remaining fleshly members continue to act as they have always functioned – until there is no more strength.  Our old man is crucified with Christ that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin (6:6).  But our serving sin is not a matter of surviving until there is no more strength;  it is a matter of how much, how regularly, how effectively we put down any fleshly desire to sin.  Those habits and practices of the past will tend to reappear until we determine we will no longer respond to them.  This is not by strength of our will;  it is a power potential of our union in the death of Christ.  God says we are dead to sin; we must believe and act like we are dead to it.  The more fully we put away attractions of the flesh early in our Christian lives, the greater our continuing to increase in righteousness unto God.

Pre-Pentecostal saints had horse and buggy power potential.  They had free choice, as all men do.  They received a new spiritual nature when they by faith believed on God’s promise.  They had some influence of the Holy Spirit to encourage them and to guide them.  Since Pentecost, we all have all that, but much more, particularly the immersion of the Spirit into the Body of Christ and the indwelling of the Spirit.  Our power potential far surpasses that of former dispensations.  God is not well pleased when we live pokey lives.  He has given us the potential to live above sin and free from the power of sin (6:1-23).  The potential has been provided;  the choice is ours.  We ought not to yield our members as slaves to uncleanness and iniquity unto iniquity (6:19).  To whom we yield ourselves servants of obey, his servants (slaves) we are to whom we obey, whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness (6:16).

There is no exception to God’s provision.  Our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin (6:6).  No evil tendency of the flesh remains so alive that the potential power of our oneness in Christ is ineffective.  But we must use that potential power.  We must reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin (6:11) and not yield our members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin (6:13).  Just giving in to sinful desires of the flesh is to lose the battle, to become enslaved by that which we should consider dead.  We should not allow any sin to reign in our mortal body by obeying it in its lusts (6:12).  Giving in to a sinful desire is the “easy” thing to do, but it is the deadly thing to do.  Hanging on to some secret sin is contrary to God’s purpose of Spirit immersion into Christ’s body.

How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?  So many of us as were immersed into Jesus Christ were immersed into His death.  Therefore we are buried with him by immersion into death – a spiritual placement that has given us the potential power to live without yielding to sin, so that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (6:4).

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. Rom 6:17
2. To begin subscription, ask questions, or make comments, email Dr. Van at cbsvan@sbcglobal.net

1. Ps 27:8
2. Ps 46:10
3. Phil 3:10-14

1. I must realize my anger is sin. My anger is not a character flaw. Being an angry person is not just the way that I am. In light of this…
   • I must confess my sin to God and ask His forgiveness
   • I must confess my sin to the people I have hurt and ask their forgiveness.
2. I must fill my mind with the Word of God.
   • This is the only way for change; the Holy Spirit energizes change though the Word of God
   • Filling my mind with God’s Word will change my patterns of thinking
   • “Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation”¹
   • “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”²
3. I must ask God for help, “Ye have not because ye ask not.”³
4. In any situation in which i get angry, I must seek reconciliation right away.⁴
5. When i get angry, I must seek constructive ways to redirect its energy (e.g. bike riding)⁵
6. I can trust God, for He has promised deliverance, even over anger: “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”⁶

1. 1 Pet 2.2
2. 2 Tim 3:16-17
3. James 4:2
4. Eph 4:26-27
5. Rom 6:12-13
6. 1 Cor 10:13

1. James 1:19-20
2. Proverbs 22:24-25
3. Eph 4:26-27

Words are powerful. They can hurt or help.  Our days are filled with words. Some words are gracious, others are angry. Some words are spoken graciously, others tinged with a bad attitude. Some words are judiciously chosen, others are thoughtless and painful.
Paul wrote that we are to speak with grace. That is graciously. Angry, biting words are never right. In fact, they are sinful, “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”³ Gracious words are always right, even in disagreements. Gracious words help, direct, and built up. Gracious words strengthen relationships. Gracious words are to always characterize the believer’s speech.
Paul also wrote that we are to have our speech seasoned with salt, or “pure and penetrating.” One writer expressed the though this way, “Their words must not be dull or insipid but should be interesting and judiciously chosen.” Salt was used in seasoning and preservation of food. So our speech is to speak the truth, yet we are to speak graciously, with the right attitude.
The old devil would like believers to use their words to hurt and destroy. And it happens often. We need to be on guard, praying as the Psalmist did, “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.”⁴

1. Col 4:6
2. Eph 4:22
3. James 1:20
4. Psa 141:3-4

Pastor Lloy Stevens

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, 04/18/10/, AM Service

1. Col 1:21-22

1. Col 1.18

Who was it that decided that certain Old Testament passages referred to the coming Messiah?  Was that known from the beginning, or proposed later?  What “scholars” in the O T period had such insight or such authority?  Who “found” additional likenesses during the public ministry of Jesus which should be added to the list?  Or, to put the question better, did men or God formulate those many predictions which are indicated as fulfilled in the New Testament?  If God incorporated these various predictions in His Word, did they mean one thing to people, say of David’s day, and something different when considered as applying to the coming Messiah?  Our answer comes from theology.  The Word of God was set in heaven.  God eternally planned that which would meet man’s need.  God inspired every word of every prophet.  God does not deliberately deceive.  He does not say one thing but really “mean” another.  Nor did He clearly reveal that something has a greater meaning than appears on the surface.

For instance, Hosea 11:1, “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt.”  The message for Israel was clear.  God loved them.  As an expression of that love, He had brought them forth from slavery, but now they have forsaken Him and turned to pagan deities.  The declaration stands out, however, in that the nation was not often called “son” by God.  Israel was a young nation (not even a nation yet) when God brought them up to His special land.  For centuries, God has demonstrated His love to individuals and the nation.  Now comes indication of a special provision, to meet the spiritual need of His people, God would similarly bring His Son Jesus up out of Egypt as a sign of His special love and merciful provision for their redemption.

Was the promise “hidden”?  The truth was there to be brought out by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit (not by the cleverness of any human).  Joseph’s family fled to Egypt, “And was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called My Son” (Matt 2:15).   How explicitly clear:  the word was spoken by the Lord using a prophet.  The divine authority and the exactness of Scripture are wonderful to consider.

Another example is even more glorious.  Ahaz refused to respond to the Lord (Isa 7:10-12), and God chose to challenge him with one of the most precious promises of Scripture, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:  Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His Name Immanuel;  butter and honey shall He eat that He may know to refuse the evil and chose the good” (Isa 7:14).  But Ahaz would not get to see that promised event.  Instead the prophet enlarged on the time element involved, that in a few years God would bring upon them great desolation (Isa 7:17-19).   The time:  “for before such a child would know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you abhor shall be forsaken of both her kings” (Isa 7:16).

Concerning this coming Immanuel, God would direct the prophet to write:  “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6).  This is certain.  “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isa 9 7).  Did God know what He was saying?  Did Isaiah fully understand what he was writing down?  Should we have any doubt of the hand of God directing all such prophecies?

Did Ahaz have proper understand of what God was revealing to him?  Definitely not.  The deep truths of Scripture are hidden from the hard of heart.  Would he have understood the word “virgin” employed as referring to a six or eight year old girl?  Possibly.  That, so to speak, might have added in his mind a decade before the predicted fulfillment would come to pass.  Since the word used can mean either young girl or virgin, should the modern rendition reflect what Ahaz might have understood or what God intended?  That we are translating the Word of God should decide the answer.  Did God have a “double meaning,” one for Ahaz and others of that day, and another for future readers?  If we’re translating God’s Word, we’ll employ the word God used, “virgin.”

A commentary or an interpretation of events in a passage can properly consider human conceptions.  A translation does not have that leeway.  Although “young girl” can be one of the meanings of the word, without question God directed the use of the word virgin, which might be understood of the ordinary conception and birth of a pure girl, but of its clear use, referring to the miraculous conception of the body for the Lord Jesus Christ, there can be no debate as to what God was saying.

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. Matt 1:22-23
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1. Luke 8:53a
2. Hebrews 9:27

Christmas and Easter are times to remember three of the greatest events in all history, the birth of the Son of God, coming into the flesh,  the death of the Savior, willingly dying for the sins of the world, and the physical resurrection of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.  These are not “religious ideas,” these are historical facts, the details for each carefully recorded.   A fourth historical event, not quite as important as the three already named, but far more important than any other event of history, is honored at Pentecost.  But neither the church nor the world pay much attention to that which took place some fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus.

Three changes were introduced at Pentecost, a different relationship of the Holy Spirit to believers, a new and different unit as God’s agency on earth, and the promised baptism of the Holy Spirit.  One verse records Christ’s prediction that the presence of the Spirit would be different, that whereas formerly He had been with them (and might depart), after Pentecost He would indwell them, and not depart (John 14:17).  Just as clearly, Jesus declared, “I will build My church” (Matt 16:18), and He spoke of it again as the gathering of His followers (Matt 18:15-17).  The disciples experienced the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  That change was clear to them.  Great detail is given in Acts and the Epistles about this new gathering of believers, local churches.

The third event was more frequently predicted, but not as often directly declared or explained.  John the Baptist had announced:  “I indeed immerse you with water unto repentance, but He who comes after me… shall immerse you with the Holy Spirit” (Matt 3:11;  Mark 1:8;  Luke 3:16;  John 1:33).  After His resurrection Jesus told them, “John truly immersed with water, but you shall be immersed with the Holy Spirit not many days hence” (Acts 1:5).  Peter publicly proclaimed after the marvel of Pentecost, “Repent and be immersed every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).  Spirit immersion had taken place just as predicted, but it was not evident.  The filling of the Spirit is noted.  The gift of the indwelling is promised.  The immersion by the Spirit historically took place, but it was not explained until later, primarily through the Apostle Paul.

Water immersion did not “magically” save anyone.  It was not a part of the Temple ritual.  It was not known in Israel until introduced by John the Immerser (in Dutch, the Dunker).  From further uses of the word immerse through the New Testament, it is evident that it was intended by God to teach and remind His people of several important likenesses.  The most obvious is its portrayal of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is used of the change from spiritual death to spiritual life which takes place at conversion.  It teaches concerning physical death of a believer and a future resurrection unto eternal life.  Its primary purpose when introduced was to teach of a coming immersion by the Holy Spirit.

The picture portrayal included several aspects.  1)  There is an immerser.  This is not self dunking.  2)  There is need for ample water for complete immersion (John 3:23).  3)  There is a willing, qualified candidate, including a spirit of repentance.  4) The person is completely immersed.  5)  The person is raised up out of the water, probably with public proclamation of the significance of what was done.  Other aspects were insignificant, such as John’s dress or his diet.  Obviously, sprinkling does not qualify as Scriptural immersion.

The Apostle Paul used the figure twice. To believers in Rome whom he had never seen, He clearly asserted, “Know you not that so many of us as were immersed into Jesus Christ were immersed into His death?  Therefore we are buried with Him by immersion into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:3-4).  Again, he asserted that believers are “Buried with Him in immersion, wherein you are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who Has raised Him from the dead” (Col 2:12).  The reality of which he speaks is not of water immersion but of a greater spiritual immersion which occurs whenever anyone accepts the Redeemer.

Jesus does not immerse (cf. John 4:2).  One is immersed into Jesus Christ.  The divine immerser is the Holy Spirit.  He immerses each believer into His death.  We are not only redemptively benefitted by His death for sin, we are aligned, placed, included in that death in the divine reckoning.  Redemption includes our sin among those for which He died.  Spirit immersion is God’s assignment of our Adamic nature as included in that physical death of Jesus.  Thus we are to reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin (Rom 6:11).  Just as the completion of water immersion, “that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life’ (Rom 6:4).

We are now in a special relationship to Christ and to fellow believers.  “For by one Spirit are we all immersed into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Cor 12:13).  Spirit immersion unites us into a spiritual “body” of Jesus.  This is not His eternal deity.  This is not His physical body;  that still exists.  This is a non-physical enlivenment of all who trust Jesus.  Spirit immersion forms an invisible entity, a real alignment with Christ as head.  Christ guides it;  the Spirit “forms” it.  It is not yet complete, but portions are active.  Likenesses to a physical body are more frequently used than of immersion.

1. 1 Cor 12:13

Words and Music by Howard Higashi

In the morass of spiritual darkness around me, a light shines. This light is the glory of God. When He shines, darkness scatters and flees. When He shines, darkness has lost its power and influence over me. It is the presence of my God that gives me hope and assurance in the midst of a decaying society. He is the one sure light that will shine for eternity!

1. Isa 6:1

I am very pleased to see Spring finally arrive or at least it is on the calendar as such.  I suppose we may still get a dusting of snow before we can get out the gardening tools.  However it is nice to know that we are heading towards warmer weather.

A couple of weeks ago we had a Ladies’ fellowship which was well attended.  They held a white elephant exchange among themselves and most everyone had a good time with that.   We had some unsaved friends of one of our ladies attend. They are nominal Catholics; pray for their family’s salvation and that they may come back as a family. Pray for the salvation of Lou-Ann, a sister of another lady who comes. She usually comes to the ladies’ meetings but had to work. She is also unsaved and is living in a bad situation. Pray on for God to work in her heart and that Geri, her sister may have an open door to witness to her.

Last Friday evening we had a church fellowship we called “Generation Challenge”.  It involved the adults of the church against the youth in various games.  Some of the challenges were physical (shooting a ball with a hockey stick into a hockey goal trying to hit aluminum pie plate targets for points; bursting balloons with darts; building a house using Uno cards getting points for each card used; and scoring points by putting golf balls through arches valued at different points).  Then some of the games were mental such as (putting the books of the NT in order; finding hidden Bible books in a large paragraph; labeling some flags of different countries of the world; then there were about four riddles to solve.).  One final game we played was “lets make a deal”. I had given each person a sealed envelope with funny money inside.  I bought a bunch of dollar store items and wrapped them as prizes on offer for the deals.  At the end of the night everyone went home with some gift.  I gave a devotion and of course we had good food which our folks  graciously bring in.  We did have one adult lady visitor who brought her little girl.  This lady attends a liberal charismatic church, so pray that we might have opportunities to minister to her again with the truth of God’s Word.

Pray for open hearts to the gospel and also for visitors as the weather has improved. We do not receive many visitors but are praying that especially at Easter time we may see some new people attend. The majority of people here are Catholic and that is one time when more of them go back to their churches.

Your Friends in Christ,

Dave, Betsy and Kevin McCrorie

1. Luke 3:22b

Christmas and Easter are times for Christians to honor the greatest events in all history, the virgin birth of the Son of Man, His death for the sins of the world, and His resurrection on the third day.  No other events in all history come even close to the importance of these.  A third occasion, though, stands very close to these two, and also far above all other historical events – Pentecost.  The world is wonderfully different because Jesus died for our redemption and lives again as our Savior.  God’s ongoing work in the world is radically different as a result of the changes God introduced at Pentecost.

Three new features began at Pentecost:  the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and God’s working through units called local churches instead of a nation, as in O T times. Christianity is a culmination of God’s preparatory work through the nation Israel, but not a continuation of cultural or liturgical practices.  Jesus had clearly told the disciples that their personal relation to the Lord would be much closer, that the Holy Spirit would not be “with” believers as in the past, but that He would indwell them (John 14:16-17).

Previously the Spirit had come upon various men (filled with the Spirit), enabling them to do wondrous things, and on occasion might leave them.  Beginning at Pentecost, the indwelling was unending.  The Holy Spirit would continually dwell within each believer.  He might be quenched, but He could not be driven away.  His function is as the “other” Jesus.  The omnipresent, eternal Jesus is living in us, the hope of glory (Col 1:27).  That witness too is permanent.  The witness of the Holy Spirit, however, is both permanent and active.  He is assigned to be constantly at work within us.  The forces of the world in which we live are strong, but “greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

The disciples were told that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came in this new way, enabling them to be effective witnesses even unto the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).  Each believer is a temple (residence) of God, for the Spirit of God dwells in him (1 Cor 3:16).  Each believer is firmly sealed with the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13-14).  Believers who live in the Spirit are to walk in the Spirit, showing the fruit of the Spirit:  love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Gal 5:22-25).

The saving work of the Holy Spirit has been the same throughout all time.  It was not modified nor did it change at Pentecost.  One assigned work of the Holy Spirit has always been to draw men unto the Lord.  He gave enlightenment concerning nature that men might seek after nature’s maker.  He particularly used the revealed Word of God as a means to convict of sin and to draw men unto salvation.  He worked the cleansing from sin and the enlivenment of a spiritual nature in the redeemed.

Salvation prior to Calvary was a looking forward to God’s perfect Lamb;  after Pentecost the Spirit had the additional “tools” of redeemed, indwelt believers to whom He could point the lost. Forgiveness of our sin was always and only on the basis of the shed blood of Jesus.  Regeneration, being born again, was always and only the work of the Spirit of God.  No person could ever be right with God by his own achievement.  There has been but one way of salvation (Acts 4:11).  The indwelling of the Holy Spirit accompanies our salvation, but is not the same as our being forgiven and turned from death to life.

Can one have the indwelling Spirit and not be filled (controlled) by the Spirit?  That, unfortunately, is the experience of many.  It may be that a new-born babe in Christ has no spiritual food or means of growing in grace.  It may be a deliberate deadening of the spurs of the Holy Spirit by one who is determined to go his own way.  It may be nothing more than mere lethargy, neglecting the gift that is within us.  We do not cause or hinder the indwelling aspect of the Spirit’s work, but we can fully yield to or stubbornly resist the filling power of the Spirit.

Can one who does not respond to the urgings of the Holy Spirit be sure of his salvation?  The Spirit will persistently woo and irritate the lost.  Failure to heed His call may not shut the door permanently.  Walking joyfully in His power and according to the assigned path of God will continually assure the child of God that the reality of the indwelling Guest is present and guiding his life.  Everyone can be and ought to be sure of the indwelling of the Third Person of the Trinity.

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. John 14:16-17
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It is important to keep clear the difference between the redemptive work of the Holy Spirit and His revelatory works.  Heavenly redemptive activity involved God the Father.  Earthly salvific work has involved the objective, once-for-all substitutionary life and death of the divine Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Application of this provision has been only by the Holy Spirit.  There has been only one perfect offering for sin.  Only one has completed the divine provision whereby lost humans have been given eternal life, the Holy Spirit.  O T Animal sacrifices were didactic, that is, for a teaching purpose.  Priests portrayed God’s work, but did not accomplish God’s work.  Water immersion never saved;  it pictured Spirit immersion.

Of the various different works of the Holy Spirit, that spoken of as the filling or an unction is not to be understood as a redemptive activity.  It was to make known the power of God by empowering individuals (even a donkey) for certain super-human tasks. Although most during the O T period as well as the New were true believers, the filling of the Holy Spirit was not a sign of being right with God.  Filling may have been for a brief period of time, for a certain task.  The same person may have later been filled for another task.  This is particularly evident in the book of Acts.  In the O T it is sometimes recorded that God took the Spirit from a man.

Filling is not to be thought of as some quantity but rather as control, usually complete control for God’s purpose.  Those at Pentecost who were all filled with the Holy Spirit began to speak using languages they had never learned (Acts 2:4) such that visitors from throughout the empire heard their praise in their native tongues (2:5-12).  Peter, who probably had not spoken publicly much even as a follower of Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed powerfully the word of God (Acts 4:8-12).  Later, gathered believers were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:23-31).  To serve tables (deacons), those chosen were to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:3).

In this special work of filling, both O T and N T, there was seldom an independent manifestation of the Holy Spirit in a fashion to be seen or heard.  The Spirit gave special strength or unusual knowledge to a human.  It was the human speaking or acting which others heard or saw.  Each incident was properly recognized as a miracle, that is, something not possible by humans but empowered by a greater force.

A helpful comparison appears in Ephesians 5:18, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.”  Being inebriated involves short term control by the power of alcohol.  The person does things he might not ordinarily do.  Getting into that condition is of choice.  So, seek to be solely submissive to the Holy Spirit.  It involves some choice, especially of yielding, on the part of the believer.   Although an excess of wine can lead to bad actions, full submission to the Holy Spirit will result only in that which honors God.  Some have rendered the verb, ’Be ye constantly being filled with the Holy Spirit.’  That would seem to be the desired normal pattern for Christians.

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo¹

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In school, decades ago, we were required to memorize the poem “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer, who was killed in World War I.   “I think that I shall never see    A poem lovely as a tree    A tree that may in summer wear    A nest of robins in her hair   …  Poems are made by fools like me    But only God can make a tree.”  The pair of robins who annually have built their nest in the tree just outside my dining room window were back this week.  I assume it’s the same pair;  I can’t tell one from another.  It may be another generation.  Either way, they’re here and busy.

Last year there was a long string hanging down, I assumed too long for them to use in their nest.  When I pulled on it, I was vigorously scolded.  Apparently they had woven in part of the string and it was too long to include more.  In a day or two it was gone.  Apparently they had made adjustments so no idiot yanked on their nest with it again.  I understood the scolding, and was thankful that she hadn’t come out to attack me.

Did the Lord make the beauties of nature just for the appreciation of man, or does He also get pleasure from His handiwork?   Our Psalm yesterday ended:  Bless the Lord, all His works in all places of His dominion;  bless the Lord, O my soul (Psa 103:22).  All His works everywhere are to bring glory to Him.  All His works are to simulate us to honor and exalt His Name.  His eye is on the sparrow as well as the robin.  The beauties of His handiwork are spread across the heavens, far beyond our ability to see apart from powerful telescopes.  Our yards will soon be colorful with blossoms pleasing to us, and surely to Him.

So called “dumb” creatures constantly exalt their Creator.  Man, of all God’s wonderful creation, has to be urged to recognize His creator and inwardly exalt Him.  Psalm 103 does not urge man to continue in his waywardness, but repeatedly exalts that God Himself has made a way for forgiveness, and urges us to turn to Him.  Mankind is the only portion of God’s great creation that has a free will capacity to forget and neglect God.  Mankind of all creatures ought to comprehend that this wonderful world is amazingly intricate, that the One who brought it all into existence and continues to keep it going is infinitely greater than any human.  We ought not to exalt ourselves or the works of our hands.  Even those abilities and gifts are reasons to bless the good God who gave them to us.

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo¹

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Jesus indicated to His disciples that things soon would be much better.   He had warned them of troubling times about to come, which they did not fully understand.  He explained to them that God’s plan for them for the future was even better than what they had known when walking with Him.  God would send Another, One even greater.  Jesus calls this coming companion the Comforter.  This One would in many ways be superior to the instructor-leader they had followed for three years.  Information about this coming Comforter is in 14:16-31;  15:26;  and 16:5-16 [all quotations in John].

The name Jesus gives to this greater One soon to come to them in a special way, “Comforter,” is clearly an indication of a sympathetic, understanding Person, not just a force or power or an influence.  His task will be to encourage, to instruct, to understand, to sympathize, and to guide (14:27).  He will know the truth.  He will know all circumstance and influences.  He will know the future.  He will be God, just as Jesus is God walking among men, but His activity will be much greater than that of the Son, who was confined to a physical body.  He will reside within those who trust Jesus (14:17).  In previous centuries, the Holy Spirit had been with men;  after Pentecost, He will indwell men, “abiding with you forever” (14:16).

This coming Spirit of Truth will not be seen physically.  The world cannot perceive Him. Believers will know Him personally (14:17).  As dwelling within disciples, He will work such that the world will (or should) know the power of His presence.  He will instruct believers (14:26), giving insight into truth, comprehension of spiritual things, especially teachings of the revealed Word.  He will stir up their minds to recall things Jesus did and said (14:26;  15:26-27) as well as to bring to their minds truths they ought to share as they witness.  He will not ordinarily manifest Himself independently (16:13) but through those in whom He dwells.  From divine revelation, He will show them things to come (16:13).

It would have been hard for the disciples to imagine anything to surpass their walk with Jesus, learning of Him.  Yet Jesus told them it would be much better (expedient).  The coming and the work of the Comforter are in many ways superior to the assigned work of the Lord Jesus in their midst (16:7).  He will have an inner, personal task of conviction, correction, and drawing the lost unto the Lord (16:8-11).  The “tools” of the coming Comforter are revealed truth, that which is read and heard, the person and works of the Savior (16:13-14).  He will not independently display Himself, but will honor the Savior and His teaching (16:14-15).

Some Christians seem to long to hear rushing mighty winds and see flaming fire.  Such are not for this dispensation.  Today He is to be seen in the devoted believer who endeavors consistently to walk as Jesus walked.  He is the One responsible for the spiritual perception of those who expound the Bible and explain doctrine.  He daily directs the shining of the candle of each believer so that the world can see what the Lord can do with a submitted sinner.  Yes, He still occasionally directly performs miracles, but not to exalt Himself, only to honor the Son.  Wonderfully, His activity since Pentecost greatly surpasses that which Jesus did among men.

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. John 14:18
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Some archaeological ground rules: 1) all archaeological discoveries are not yet made, 2) lack of discovered evidence does not mean no evidence exists to discover, and 3) failure to uncover archaeological evidence does not disprove an historical account as long as there is no accepted contradictory evidence. It is impossible to excavate the entire Biblical region and some evidence may have been destroyed over time. That all of the sites of Biblical history haven’t been discovered (and some may never be excavated or studied) doesn’t invalidate Biblical history. Does the available evidence support Biblical accounts of history?

For much of the 18th and 19th centuries, Bible critics argued that many historical accounts in the Bible had to be false: Moses couldn’t have written the first five books of the Bible because writing didn’t exist when he was supposed to have lived, the walls of Jericho didn’t fall, the Hittites didn’t exist, Belshazzar never lived and so on. We have now discovered that writing was developed thousands of years before the time of Moses, later excavation showed the walls of ancient Jericho did fall during the time recorded and lay on the ground in the unnatural way described in the Bible, the Hittites were a significant people and that Belshazzar lived and ruled over Babylon.

Modern Bible critics now use circular (invalid) reasoning to discount the mounting archaeological evidence supporting the Biblical record of history: they argue that since the Bible isn’t true, archaeological evidence that seems to support the Bible’s historical record actually must have another explanation. They argue that any accurate history recorded in the Bible was either added later to support claims to the Bible’s inerrancy or has some other explanation; in other words no amount of physical evidence will ever support the Bible’s account of history.

The argument that nothing can support the Bible’s account of history is interesting because it is unscientific; it is based on the assumption that the miraculous cannot exist (the parting of the Red Sea is miraculous and so is Jesus walking on water) and that an event didn’t happen unless it has a completely natural explanation. The claim that the miraculous cannot exist in our universe is no longer acceptable science. Science has come full circle in the last twenty years and now includes the understanding that phenomena that do not follow the understood natural laws (miracles) are allowed in the universe.

1. Colossians 3:1–3, NASB95

John was indeed under the Old Testament economy.  Jesus lived under that economy too.  John was a prophetic forerunner of a new economy (a new way of God dealing with mankind).  Jesus announced that He was introducing that new economy.  Immersion by another had no similarity in practices of the old economy.  The immersion John introduced was designed to prepare for the changes God was about to introduce.

Ritual is a means of portraying spiritual truths.  OT ritual Included animal sacrifices picturing death needed to atone for sin.  The offering of sacrifices publicly proclaimed a sinner’s acknowledgement of his need and his faith in God’s provision.  John’s water immersion pictured human awareness of guilt and confidence of forgiveness and a new life.  After Pentecost, immersion clearly portrayed a spiritual death, burial, and resurrection (Rom 6).  Man’s part of a spiritual transaction with God was emphasized in all three God-appointed ritual forms, including both repentance and faith.  No, Jesus did not need to repent.  Rather, the public presentation of the provided sinless human who would die for our sin and come forth from the grave was the reason it was necessary for Jesus to be immersed (Matt 3:15).

Water immersion did not make Jesus the Messiah.  Animal sacrifices did not atone for sin;  they only pictured God’s provision.  No one today gets saved by being immersed in water.  Public baptism is a witness to what God has already done within.  The N T develops two different applications to be comprehended from the figure of water immersion.  The soteric change within (repentance, regeneration) is a result of a historic reality, the death and resurrection of the Lamb of God.  The placement of the new believer in the body of Christ is an inner work of the Holy Spirit.  It is not achieved or accomplished by the use of water.  These truths are enacted as a witness to what God has done for us and in us.

Baptism is not a church ordinance in the sense that only authorized officials may perform genuine immersions.  Immersion follows conversion, but precedes church membership.  The nature and intent of the water immersion ought to be examined by a church considering one for membership.  As an example, one who was immersed thinking that immersion saved him might well be immersed (again) as a public testimony of inner redemption.  The local church is the judge of whether an immersion meets the standards of Scripture.

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. Matt 3 17
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Pastor Lloy Stevens

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, 03/07/10, AM Service

Performed by Cynthia Stevens

We started the second semester of the Bible institute on Monday. We have an excellent group of young people. Four students did not return and five new students joined us. This week we had an extended evangelist class. At the end of the week the students went into nearby villages and applied what they had learned in practical soul winning. We praise the Lord that seven individuals made professions of faith as a result! Considering that door-to-door visiting is very abnormal here, this is a great result. We pray that these souls will come to the church and grow in the Lord. Next week we start the trade school with classes in computers and auto mechanics. I was able to buy five computers with the funds given, but this is only half of what we need. I need to spend $2,000 on tools for the auto mechanics class. I hope we can get by on buying half now and the rest next semester.

We are starting to plan for camp this summer. If you are able to help us send youth and children to camp, the cost is $15 per camper. Besides learning about the Bible during that week of camp there will be many unsaved youth and children who will hear about the saving grace of Christ for the first time. We are so excited about what God is doing in the summer camps. The inspectors are already making lists of things they want us to do this year before opening camp. Many times it seems as if they are making things up out of their heads just to try us; I need your prayers for it is very tiring dealing with them. Our camp van broke down in January and the cost to repair it is $1400; just when we think we are getting along ok financially, these kinds of repairs or expenses arise.

I met with the mayor yesterday in our village where we have the larger of the two camp properties. They are moving forward with a very important project that can include our camp. The government has approved a sewage treatment plant to be built in the village. This is important to us because we take up to ten truck loads of camp sewage per day out of the camp during the summer months. This has become a major expense for us each summer. The mayor has asked us to pay for our share of the cost of the plant which is 300,000 Moldovan Lei or $23, 500. The total cost of the project is $450,000, but government grants are supplying much of that. The great blessing is that no village this small has its own treatment plant. Once this plant is finished we will have all that is needed to run a camp and school. Please pray about this fee. I have to make a decision soon whether or not to be a part of this treatment plant project. Right now it is snowing and very cold but we are warm thanks to the natural gas that God has provided. God is truly blessing us in the work here.

One item of business I would like to mention here. The majority of gifts to the mission still come by mail through the post office box of the mission, but some individuals have requested the ability to give electronically. We have now made that option available. Our mission is set up to receive donations on-line through our website: www.eurasianbaptistmission.com. Simply go to the “giving” page and click the Paypal link; you will be able to give using your credit card.

On a personal note I would like to announce that Stephanie and I are going to be grandparents! Melissa, our eldest, is due in August. Angela is expecting a girl in May. We are excited for them, but will greatly miss not being there to see our first grandchildren. I think this stage of missionary life is much harder than when we first came overseas and left our friends and family. Our two younger daughters are in college in the States, so we for sure have the “empty nest” here in Moldova.

Victory Baptist Church

Victory Baptist Church

Copied:  During my years of teaching at Pillsbury Baptist Bible College (1978-1985), I was asked to teach several courses in the area of counseling.  I had never had a counseling course in college or seminary.  Where would I begin?  What resources were available to help construct meaningful courses in various aspects of counseling?  I had come out of seminary convinced of the doctrine of the sole authority of Scripture.  I knew that without such an authority, nothing was worth preaching.  I spent the first ten years of my ministry anchored to this important truth.  There was no doubt in my mind but that the Bible had all the answers for life and living.

Nevertheless, as I planned my courses, I began to question the degree to which the Bible actually spoke to this issue.  Distracted by the cacophony of voices coming from the psychological world, I found myself being drawn toward some of the more popular psychological systems— especially that of Maslow.  It seemed to me that there was at least some validity to what he and other secular psychologists were saying.  Given my earlier commitments, why was I so easily convinced that another resource would give better answers than the Bible?  Why have so many other pastors and theologians been so easily persuaded that the perspectives of psychology actually give true answers to the difficult questions of the soul of man?

Part of what motivated me was a striving to become knowledgeable in my field of study and experience.  The academic world pushes intellectual mastery, and to stay “alive,” one has to excel.  I saw what happened to those who did not excel intellectually, and I was not interested in that!  Also, my personal experience seemed to confirm Maslow’s observations.  His perspective seemed valid.  It was not difficult to find examples in the Bible that seemed to fit his system.  That was the beginning of my journey into the combination of biblical teaching with psychology.

I will forever be grateful for Dr. Bill Goode, the pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Lafayette, Indiana, who visited our campus and stopped in one of my classes.  That day in class, I lectured about how the Bible supported Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.  Following that class, Dr. Goode commended me for the counseling emphasis that Pillsbury had developed.  Then he asked why I was using Maslow.  He suggested that if the Bible did actually support some of what Maslow was saying, then I could teach it as well from the Bible as from Maslow.  That was the beginning of my journey into actually using the Bible as the sole authority for faith and practice.

A second experience at Pillsbury College was also pivotal.  I was the dean of students, a job which brought me into contact with troubled lives and wounded spirits.  Students came from all over the United States and from all kinds of backgrounds.  Some had recently come to Christ and were struggling with the residue of their past sins.  Others came from sound Christian homes and churches but struggled with growing and changing inwardly to become more like Christ.

At the completion of a fall semester, students were preparing to leave for Christmas vacation and time with family and friends.  One young woman ended up in my office due to some chaotic behaviors that centered on compulsivity.  I wanted to help!  I wanted to believe that the Bible had answers for her deep and frightening questions.  The truth is, however, that I did not know how to help her.  Shortly before this episode, I had become aware of the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation in Pennsylvania.  This girl’s home was in the Philadelphia area, so I connected her with the CCEF.  Dr. Wayne Mack was gracious in meeting several times with this girl.  She came back changed following the Christmas break.

I was impressed, but I was also convicted.  I contacted Dr. Mack and asked if he would share with me how he helped my student, which he was happy to do.  What he did made good biblical sense.  He helped to reaffirm my conviction that the Bible really is sufficient.  This episode also pushed me to seek further training in biblical counseling—and yes, it was at Westminster and CCEF.

Let me go back to my original question.  Why was I so easily moved away from a doctrine (i.e., the sufficiency of Scripture) in which I so strongly believed?  The answer lies in my own life experiences.  The doctrine did not seem to work its way down to the day-by-day issues of life.

In my observation, many fundamental pastors face the same difficulty. Thus, they find some other voice for their people when they are challenged with complicated issues like the one that my student faced.  If the sufficiency of Scripture is only a lofty doctrine to which we give lip service, but then easily set aside when difficult issues present themselves, then we do not believe in the sufficiency of Scripture at all.  The Bible becomes just another book alongside of psychology.

I have come to believe that the Bible really is sufficient.  It brings us real answers even for the most complicated problems of life.  I will always be grateful for key people in my life who challenged me with regard to what I said I believed versus what I actually was willing to teach and practice.  They helped to keep me from destroying people’s lives.  Their help was timely.  It is not too late for you to practice what you say you believe regarding the Bible as your sole authority for faith and practice.  God, in all His wisdom, has given us a phenomenal book— it is the sufficient Word of God.   –  Thomas Zempel

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. 2 Tim 3:16
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Five pastors contributed devotionals to a local newspaper of ways to put Christ back into Christmas, which appeared in a special spread just prior to the holiday.  The first one at the top began, “Regardless of your view of the parentage of Jesus…”  What a strange way to begin, I thought.  What would such various “views” have to do with the observance of Christmas?  What different views might the writer have in mind?

I could come up with two views I have heard of in the past.  One surmises that Joseph was the father and the infant was conceived prior to their marriage.  The other guesses that someone may have raped Mary or in some way impregnated her.  These views would be in keeping with the charge suggested by the Jews that Jesus was “born of fornication” (John 8:41).  They went even further, “and said unto Him, Say we not well that You are a Samaritan and have a devil?” (John 8:48).  Before long, “they took up stones to cast at Him” (John 8:59).

Both of these views are clearly wrong according to information in the Scripture.  There are recorded direct declarations from God that Mary was to give birth to a child conceived by the Holy Spirit.  Joseph was divinely told of the origin of the child.  “Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 1:20).  Jesus in His public ministry repeatedly spoke of coming into this world, of God as His Father, of returning to that glory from whence He had come.  For a Christian, there is but one explanation of the parentage of Jesus.

Who today might question the parentage of Jesus?  Actually, many do.  Many of them call themselves Christians.  They sometimes call themselves liberals or modernists.  The label is immaterial, although it is convenient.  Because labels are at times misleading, we need to concentrate more on what they believe, preach, and teach, than on seeking to classify them.  Just one statement or remark may or may not be significant.  Muslims, of course, strongly deny the deity and virgin birth of the Son of God.  That’s an important part of their entire system.

Why would some want to be known as Christians if they doubt or deny two of the basic characteristics of Christianity?  The answer may be for social or economic reasons.  The reason may be their persuasion of the finality of nature, the certainty of science, or the weight of personal experience.  If they reject the testimony of the New Testament, are they not turning to another religion?  Perhaps some themselves hold to the historic teaching of Christianity, but they think it is insignificant that others might have slightly different views of a few things.  In their mind, the unique miracle of the virgin birth is not that important.

It has happened, though, that for over a century, those presenting themselves as “liberal” Christians have rejected the clear declarations of the Word and either denied or questioned the parentage of our Savior.  That raises some important questions.  If Jesus was, as they suggest, just an illegitimate bastard and only His teaching and ideals were important, then there is no worship of Jesus, but only worship patterns and conduct consistent with His ideas.  That would be nothing more than is presented by other religions of the world:  ideas, dreams, fables, superstitions, etc.  Some might consider His proposed way of life preferable, but would not acknowledge it as divine.

So, why should the Christmas season be of special importance to one who limits what he accepts of the Bible to that which is scientifically normal?  Jesus is worthy of honor because He is God come in the flesh.  His birth was as the fulfillment of numerous Old Testament prophecies of a coming Messiah, the Christ.  Honoring a human named Jesus makes no more sense than honoring a human named Teddy Roosevelt or Franklin Roosevelt.  President’s Day is not a day of worship.  Christmas is more than a day for celebration and merrymaking.

Christmas and Easter stand tall as book ends of God’s special revelation in Christ Jesus.  Many predictions prepared for His coming.  That which has happened since has demonstrated a new life for believers, based on the renewal of physical life when He came forth from the grave.  Neither Christmas or Easter has any special meaning if the supernatural events which they honor did not actually occur historically.  Consequently, the “meaning” of Christmas has changed for those who deny Scripture from God’s greatest gift to all to a few special gifts to a few.  The meaning of Easter now omits the physical resurrection of Jesus and His further forty days of walking among men.  Instead the world honors the birth of chicks or the return of spring.

What can we do?  Stress the truth is one answer.  Teach the details.  Contrast the denials.  Emphasize the significance.  Live so that others see the new life we have received.   Our supernaturalistic belief is radically different from religious experiences throughout the world.  We need to live the new life, stress its divine source, defend the revelation that God gave us to understand what He does in our lives.

Two fundamental doctrines are involved, the deity of Jesus and the inspiration of the Bible.  To question the parentage of Jesus is to doubt the accuracy and authority of the Holy Book.  To think of the Savior as any less than God come in the flesh is also to call Him a liar.  These are not insignificant “superstitions,” they are the truth that has changed the world.

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. Matt 1:18
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