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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Follow Jesus’ Example of a Servant’s Heart, Phil 2:5-11

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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Audio Sermon: Make Sure of Your Salvation, Matt 7:15-27

Pastor Lloy Stevens

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, 03/07/10, AM Service

Special Music: Blessed Assurance, Piano Solo

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.

Audio Sermon: Godly Music, Part 2, Jeff Griffith

Victory Baptist Church

Audio Sermon: Godly Music, Part 1, Jeff Griffith

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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Prayer

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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Audio Sermon: Remember Your Future, 2 Cor 5:1-10

It seems like a “new” idea to me, and has stirred my cogitations. I suppose it was in my past training but it just didn’t strike me as so significant in the past.  All other religious systems are developments of ideas or fables;  Judaism and Christianity are built on actual historical events, many of which were supernaturally predicted in advance.  Ideas cannot be proven.  They can be favored, advanced, criticized, or whatever, but they are always inner, subjective.  Recorded prophesies and historical happenings can be demonstrated to be factual.  They were not dreams and imaginations.  They were real.  They took place.   God tied His message to mankind into the warp and woof of ongoing history.

None can seriously deny that there was an ancient nation known as Israel which traced its origin back to an individual named Abraham.  The historicity of King David was questioned until recent years.  Now chronology is quite established back to his reign.  Under a superior Roman empire, a man was crucified in the Roman fashion.  Many who had know Him and remembered His predictions that He would rise from the dead were slow to accept such an “impossible” event.  Those who did accept His message and the certainty of His coming forth from the grave and ministering among them for weeks began to live differently.  Their influence was small at first, but gradually spread throughout the known world.

No, it was not human ideas that were successful.  It was the divine message woven into the lives of actual persons.  The success of the Gospel message was that it was clearly from the creator and sustainer of the universe.  Along the way, human ideas were added from time to time, but the majority of those who knew the Gospel rejected regional notions or ideas.  What was from God was not to be changed.  His Word was complete.  Copies of it were made over and over.  God’s one and only revelation to the human race was clearly, forcefully given.  All human ides and theories must be judged by it.  It is not to be judged or evaluated by any.

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. 1 Cor 15:3-4
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The total count of all ancient New Testament manuscripts is over 24,970 partial or complete copies. By comparison, the next most copied text is the Iliad, of which there are only 643 ancient copies surviving. Further, over 400 years passed between the writing of the Iliad and the oldest surviving fragment, while roughly 50 years passed between writing the first known New Testament text and the oldest known fragment of it. The oldest complete Iliad dates from the 13th century, over 2000 years later while the oldest complete New Testament dates from A.D. 325, only 225 years later. What of other ancient texts? Pliny Secundus’ Natural History dates from the same period as the New Testament, but the oldest known manuscript was copied 750 years later, and only 7 ancient manuscripts of it exist. Examinations of the content of these 24,970 plus Bible manuscripts reveal no meaningful variation of content; by a huge margin no other ancient book is as widely or accurately copied. The most common variations are use of synonyms, the odd misspelling, and changes like using Jesus Christ instead of Christ or Jesus alone. In contrast, examinations of all other ancient manuscripts reveal that wide latitude over content was used while making copies of them.

Another criterion used to determine the accuracy of an historical record is the number of separate supporting accounts describing the same events. New Testament content is cited in manuscripts written by Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement, Origen, Tertullian, Hippolytus and Eusebius, and there are 36,289 such citations just by these writers. Further, Tacitus, Suetonius, Josephus, Africanus (quoting Thallus), Pliny the Younger, Emperor Trojan, Lucian and Mara Bar-Serapion wrote historical accounts of various events described in the New Testament. Although either indifferent or hostile to Christianity, what they wrote revealed no doubt that the history contained in the New Testament was true. Sanhedrin 43a, from Talmudic writings compiled from A.D. 70 to 200, describes events of the Crucifixion that match the New Testament description. A significant number of friendly and hostile texts support the history in the New Testament.

It is argued today that no written record of events ever tells the truth, but to say this is to say that history doesn’t exist, for history is the written record of actual events. As has already been shown, the truth exists and can be known; history is the study of the truth of the past. Even if 1st century pagan and Jewish writers and later ancient historians agree with the historical record in the New Testament, how do we know it is true? How else is historical accuracy judged?

1. Christianity Today, October 26, 1992, p. 30

Audio Sermon: Trust God and His Purposes, Gen 50.20

“Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. Faith begins where man’s power ends.”²

1. D. Elton Trueblood
2. George Muller

2. By proclaiming the message of the cross (1 Cor 1:18–2:5)

3. By believing in God and His promises (Heb 11:6)

4. By asking for wisdom (1 Kings 3:10; Col. 1:9–14; James 1:5–8)

5. By staying away from sexual sin (Eph 5:3-4 10; 1 Thess 4:1–8)

6. By sharing the gospel with unbelievers (1 Cor 9:14–27; 10:31–33)

7. By giving to others in time of need (Phil 4:10–20; Heb 13:16)

8. By submitting to authority (Rom 8:7–8; Col 3:20; 1 Jn 3:22)

9. By praising God for all things (Ps 69:30–31; Heb 13:15–16)¹

1. David Hocking

“Holiness does not consist in mystic speculations, enthusiastic fervours, or uncommanded austerities; it consists in thinking as God thinks, and willing as God wills.”²

1. D. L. Moody
2. John Brown, nineteenth-century Scottish theologian, quoted in J. Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness, p. 51

No record of the past is ever complete, for that would require recording every event that ever happened to everything and to everyone who ever lived. But this isn’t what history is. According to Webster’s Dictionary, “history” has several meanings but two of them matter here: 1) a chronological record of significant events (as affecting a nation or institution) often including an explanation of their causes and 2) a branch of knowledge that records and explains past events. So, “history”, has two general definitions: 1) the recorded continuum of events leading from the past to the present and, 2) the academic study of these records of human and world events. But, just because history isn’t a complete record of everything that ever happened doesn’t mean history can’t be accurate (true). It is an invalid argument to claim that nothing is known if everything isn’t known. Remember, something true can be known even if everything true isn’t known.

History isn’t a hard science like mathematics where there is no allowance for ambiguity; it is a social science where ambiguity is hard to eliminate, but it is still an academic discipline with accepted methods of scholarship that are used to determine the truth. The method used to determine the accuracy of recorded events is comparative analysis. Historical accounts are compared to each other and to other evidence such as the physical evidence from archaeology or geology. Eyewitness accounts are compared to secondary sources and primary accounts are compared to derived accounts, with eyewitness and primary sources weighed more heavily than secondary accounts. Described events are compared to the physical evidence of the archaeological or geological record. The more closely described events match each other and the physical record, the more true the historical account is determined to be.

The post-modern worldview that reality is unknowable (so the true history of man is unknowable) has already been shown to be false – see the first five articles in this series. Since truth (reality) exists and is knowable, the true record of the past is knowable. Since people can know the truth and record it, it is possible to write the true record of world events (history). Historians have reliable methods to determine the truth of historical accounts and we rely on these methods to know what the past is. Which world history is true; the modern world’s, or the Bible’s?

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo¹

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Why do we call the hardships in life trials?  Our problems, burdens, heartaches and difficulties are all bundled up into one package and we identify them as trials.

First of all, these hardships are God’s way of measuring us.  Our burdens and struggles are tests that God brings into our lives.  A car dealer will tell you about the qualities of his automobile, then he will say, “Take it for a trial run.”  You can even buy ‘trial size’ soap and other commodities to show that what the label says is true.  If a man is in trouble with the law, they hold a trial to see if what he says measures up to the truth.

As Christians we profess to love the Lord with all of our hearts.  We claim Him as our Savior, and we trust Him with the eternal destiny of our souls.  How does God know if we mean what we say?  Maybe we are just using words to accomplish some personal gain?   Lovers stand before a pastor and an audience who witness their vows.  They promise, “until death do us part.”   They vow to treasure their mate above everyone else and anything else;  for better, for worse, richer or poorer, sickness or health.   They do not realize that for what they are saying they will be put on trial.  Believe me they will be tested.

Why does God send these trials into our lives?  He wants to see if our profession matches our possession.  He measures what is seen on the outside against what is on the inside.   He wants to know if our love for Him and our trust in Him is real.   Do we trust Him when trouble comes?  Do we trust Him when we fail or are ill, or have a friend wound us?   Maybe we only love and pray to Him for what we can get out of Him.  Fool’s gold may look the same as real gold, but only the fire will reveal the difference.

Why does God send trials into our lives?   Because, hardships separate the make-believe from the reality.  All of these problems that we experience help us sort out why we really worship and serve the Living God.  Psalm 11:4, “The LORD is in His holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven:  His eyes behold, His eyelids try the children of men.   Psalm 26:2, “Examine me, O LORD, and prove me;  try my reins and my heart.   Psalm 139:23, “Search me, O God, and know my heart:  try me, and know my thoughts.”

When Job’s world seemed to fall apart he declared:  “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him: but I will maintain mine own ways before Him” (Job. 13:15).  I do not know, but I have often supposed that Job may have stated that principle before his troubles came.  However, it could not be demonstrated until after he was overwhelmed with his losses that he could honestly declare that He trusted God.  While he did not understand God’s purposes, he did know the nature and character of the God whom he trusted, and declared, “But He knows the way that I take:  when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).  We call them trials because they reveal the true nature of our faith.

Secondly, our hardships are God’s gracious invitation to test Him.  He wants us to find our help in Him.  He pleads with us to come and see that He is glorious.   Psalm 34:8, “O taste and see that the LORD is good:  blessed is the man that trusts in Him.”  What a wonderful invitation God gives to His children.  Only try Me He says.  Just taste and see for yourself.  Psalm 107:9, “For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.”

God is asking us, “Why do you seek to find help and satisfaction in things or other people?”   Isaiah 55:2, “Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread, and you labor for that which satisfies not?  Hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.”  When those things are put on trial they fail, but not God.  Genuine faith finds that God is true and that He is sufficient for any and every situation of our lives.  You can trust Him in any circumstance, and He says to us, “Try Me!”  Malachi rebukes the children of Israel with the invitation, “Prove me now!” (Mal. 3:10).  Do you see why they are called trials?  All of our hardships of discouragement, defeat, disease and difficulties are God’s open invitation.   God wants to be put on trial, and He sends those hard things into our lives that we call “trials.”    2 Sam 22:31, “As for God, His way is perfect;  the word of the LORD is tried:  He is a buckler to all them that trust in Him.

Thirdly, we identify our problems as “trials” because we are advertisements of God’s grace and mercy to a world who knows Him not.  Have you noticed when the world wants to advertise a product, they provide the story of someone who can verify the product.  God’s products are real people who live in a sin cursed and dying world, but have found God to be true, sufficient, and satisfying.  We are God’s “trial size” promotions.  Notice the words of 1 Thess. 1:6-7, “And you became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost, so that you were examples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.”  The Greek word for the English word “examples” is the word tupos from which we get the word type.  We think of a typewriter that strikes the paper and leaves its image on the paper, thus leaving a message.

Paul commended the Thessalonian believers for leaving an impression of God upon the lives of others around them.  Paul stated in 2 Cor 3:2, “You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men.”  We must understand that it does take a striking blow for a type to leave an imprint.  Those terrible tragedies in your lives, those things that hit us so hard, are all God’s program of leaving a message on the lives of others we meet.   Why do we call the problems in our lives trials?  Because those troubles are the things that try our sincere faith and cause us to turn in our heartaches to the faithful God and then send us to a hurting world with a message of God’s love, mercy and grace.   –  Dale Byers

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

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

“It is he who is in the wrong who first gets angry.”²

“Of the seven deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back–in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.”³

1. Benjamin Franklin
2. William Penn
3. Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking, Transformed by Thorns, p. 117

1. John 7:38

Special Music: I Shall Know Him

Cindy Stevens

Creation Seminar, Session 6 with Dr. Allen J. Dunckley

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, 02/21/10

Creation Seminar, Session 5 with Dr. Allen J. Dunckley

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, 02/21/10

Creation Seminar, Session 4 with Dr. Allen J. Dunckley

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, 02/21/10

Creation Seminar, Session 3 with Dr. Allen J. Dunckley

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, 02/20/10

Creation Seminar, Session 2 with Dr. Allen J. Dunckley

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, 02/20/10

Creation Seminar, Session 1 with Dr. Allen J. Dunckley

Victory Baptist Church

Saturday, 02/20/10

February 20th and 21st, 2010

Studies in Genesis One and Two

Saturday 10:30AM, 1:00 PM, 2:00 PM

Sunday: 10:45 AM, 1:00PM, 2:00 PM

Contemplating the relation of the Holy Spirit to the incarnate Son of God soon results in greater appreciation for the person and work of our Savior rather than for the person and work of the Spirit.  The presence and control, the activity of the Holy Spirit may well have been much greater in the world during that thirty some years than in any other period of history, but throughout, it is the person and work of the sinless Man fully controlled by the Spirit which gets the honor.  Not that the Holy Spirit does not deserve our full praise, for He is true God, but that His actions are never of self-display, only of greater enablement of another.

The second person of the Trinity voluntarily set aside all divine knowledge and power when He became a man.  As a boy, He learned by observation, by listening, by reading, by being directed by the Holy Spirit.  By 12 years of age, He displayed remarkable knowledge, even that what He was doing was the Father’s business (Luke 2:46-50).  He probably had a higher IQ and a greater knowledge content than any other man in history.  All His learning was the result of the control and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus chose to be subject to the Spirit fully and completely, unhindered by the sin separation which hinders the yielding of the rest of us.

The time of temptation shows how fully He had been prepared by the Spirit and how completely He was guided by the Spirit.  He was “led up of the Spirit” (Matt 4:1).  He met each temptation of Satan by a quotation from Scripture (4:2-10).  Although the direct influence of the Spirit guiding Him is not noted in Scripture, it is certainly to be understood.  Too many easily say, “Yes, but He was God.”  That’s true, but He did not in any way use His divine nature while here on earth.  His wisdom and power came from the Holy Spirit, unhindered in any way.

Can believers today be so fully under the control of the Holy Spirit?  Yes, and no.  Mostly no.  Yes, the Holy Spirit is eternal God, unchanging.  Yes, the Spirit is available and become a resident of everyone who believes on Jesus.  Yes, our goal ought to be to be fully subject to Him and fully guided by Him.  He will never fail us nor refuse us.  But no, in that our sinful nature hinders our free submission to Him.  Jesus had a true human nature, but without sin, similar to Adam prior to the fall.  As sinful creatures, we have great forgetters.  We are greatly occupied with so much that is visible, that we do not look to that which is not visible.  Jesus saw full reality all the time.

Our goal?  To be like Jesus.  To be subject to the ministries of the Spirit as Jesus was.  To have our thoughts guided.  To have our understanding of Scripture enlightened.  To avoid temptations of the flesh and of the world.  Our Helper is that same One who directed the life of the perfect Son of God.  We will never reach perfection in this life, but we should aim for as great control by the Spirit as possible.

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. John 3:34
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Praise Your Holy Name

Nathan & Cindy Stevens

Words and Music by Sandy Wilkinson

Arranged by Mac Lynch

© 1992 by Purifoy Publishing Company

CCLI #: 1149342

Audio Sermon: Express Selfless Love, Matt 7:12

Pastor Lloy Stevens

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, 02/14/10, AM Service

By contrast, the texts and teachings without apostolic origin largely contradicted the history and doctrine taught by the apostles. By early in the first century, if a text or teaching didn’t have doctrine or historic facts in common with the work of the apostles, it was judged heresy. An example is the gospel of Thomas. Though it bears the name of an apostle the doctrine it teaches opposes the actual teachings of the apostles. It was never considered for inclusion in the Christian canon. Other forgeries rejected by the early Church include the Shepherd of Hermas, 1 Clement, the letters of Ignasius, and the Wisdom of Solomon. Not one text written after 120 A.D. was ever considered a candidate for canonization because they had no apostolicity and taught contradictory doctrine.

Justin Martyr in 160 A.D. wrote about the longstanding use in worship of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but no others. Bishop Irenaeus of Lyons wrote in 180 A.D. about the authority of the same Gospels in opposition to the heresy of false doctrines. The formation of the New Testament by the early Church was neither arbitrary nor political. The New Testament canon was already accepted by the second century Church. Its content was doctrinally consistent and its authorship was certainly apostolic. It is historically wrong to claim that a fourth century conference finally determined the winner of a long-standing debate between two branches of Christianity over the divinity of Christ or His teachings. Gnosticism and other early heresies certainly had followers, but these never amounted to more than groups outside the mainstream Church.

Over time, the Church has succumbed to fragmentation and politics. Today, major and minor denominations follow doctrines and practices largely contradicting the New Testament. Many Christians ignore the Bible and feel free to blend beliefs from many religions. But the canon of the New Testament remains as it was in the early Church, the accurate history and teachings of Jesus Christ, written by or for those who were personally appointed by Him to spread His Word, and attested to at the time by witnesses to the actual events.

The Holy Spirit is eternal God, one of the self-existing Trinity.  We do not know as much about Him as we do about the other two.  Certain characteristics should be noted.  As God, He is Spirit, that is, invisible to the human eye.  As God, He is omnipresent, that is, everywhere equally present.  The Three are Persons with one essential nature, and yet each is distinct and functions in different ways.  Some functions of the Father are not true of the Son.  Some things accomplished by the Son (incarnation, death) are not true of the Father or of the Holy Spirit.  It is not always certain, however, whether some activity is of God or specifically of the Holy Spirit.

It is probably correct to say that that the assertion of the last statement is not really of importance.  Whatever the Holy Spirit does is God at work among men.  The Holy Spirit does not draw attention to Himself.  He does not exalt Himself.  His tasks among men are the active endeavors of the Trinity.  God at work among men is often the assigned work of the Holy Spirit.  He does not need separate recognition.  His works are primarily with the hearts of men and His “hand” is not on display.

To make quick application, if there is something visible, it may well be an evil spirit (1 Sam 18:10-11).  The Holy Spirit was visible to the human eye at the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt 3:16).  Ordinarily His work was on or in the hearts of humans.  He was assigned to convict of sin (Gen 6:3), to teach and instruct (Neh 9:20), to lead (Psa 143:10), and to admonish (Neh 9:30).  A human could rebel against the Holy Spirit (Neh 9:30).  Such works among men have been omni-dispensational.  He has remained the same, but different works are evident in this dispensation.

One of the important works of the Holy Spirit has been to use humans to speak and to write the message from God.  David was conscious that God used him:  “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was in my tongue” (2 Sam 23:2).  Micah declared:  “Truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin” (Micah 3:8).  Humans were aware of the guidance and enablement of the Holy Spirit.  There was ordinarily no public display or outward manifestation, no self-exaltation of the Spirit of the Almighty.

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

Early in the 1st century A.D., Philo and Josephus both separately confirmed the contents of the Jewish Bible. Neither included any apocryphal books. Taken together, they describe the criteria used by Jewish religious scholars to confirm the inclusion of the books of the Jewish canon: 1) they were written by prophets or those recognized to have divine authority, 2) they do not contradict the other books, 3) they were divinely inspired and 4) they were already accepted as authoritative. It would soon be important that the Christian canon be consistent.

Here is a  list of the most common apocryphal books and their accepted dates: Wisdom of Solomon (30 B.C.), Ecclesiasticus (132 B.C.), Tobit (200 B.C.), Judith (150 B.C.), I Esdras (150-100 B.C.), 1 Maccabees (110 B.C.), 2 Maccabees (110-70 B.C.), Baruch (150-50 B.C.), Letter of Jeremiah (300-100 B.C.), 2 Esdras (A.D. 100), Additions to Esther (140-130 B.C.), Prayer of Azariah (2nd or 1st century B.C.), Bel and the Dragon (100 B.C.), Prayer of Manasseh (2nd or 1st century B.C.).

What criteria were used by Jewish religious scholars to exclude the apocrypha? 1) None claim to be the word of the Lord. 2) None are independently confirmed. 3) There are significant historical, geographical or chronological mistakes. The first Christians added another reason to exclude the apocrypha: 4) Jesus never referred to any apocryphal books but regularly to the traditional Jewish canon.

The early Church needed to establish a true New Testament canon because of the rise of several important heresies right from the beginning, all the Apostles were dead and even their disciples were beginning to pass away. Gnosticism, present almost immediately after Jesus’ ascension, misled Christians by teaching that anything physical is evil and only pure spirit is good (God is completely divorced from the world) and that Jesus was not God incarnate. In A.D. 144, Marcion wrote that Paul was the only true teacher. Marcion believed in two Gods; the vindictive Hebrew God of judgment and the forgiving Christian God of grace. The Marcion canon consisted of an edited Luke and only 10 of Paul’s letters. By the second century, the Church had already defined Gnosticism as heresy. Paul first and later John taught and argued for sound doctrine (orthodox core beliefs) and against heresy (anything that contradicted what Jesus said).

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“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”¹

You can be truly happy

Here is an utterly new approach to living, one that results in joy instead of despair, in peace instead of conflict—a peace that the world does not understand and cannot have.

In the Sermon on the Mount, the emphasis is upon the internal, not the external. Jesus starts with what you are, not with what you necessarily know or do. So with respect to happiness, it is not “put on a happy face,” but “put in a happy heart.”

First of all, true happiness is found in humility. This is found by possessing a spirit of dependence, being “poor in spirit.”

Poor speaks of one who crouches and cowers, hence beggarly. He is someone who is dependent on others for support. In Matt 5.3, “The poor in spirit are those who consciously depend on God, not on themselves.” They are “poor” inwardly, having no ability in themselves to please God

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 34:27 Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.

Psalm 34:18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

When your heart is humble, God gives you his all (his kingdom). I am talking about being humble to receive Christ, humble to depend upon Christ, humble to admit you are wrong and humble admit you are needy.

It is in humility of heart that you find true happiness.

- Pastor Stevens

1. Matt. 5:3

Note that God’s Word was relevant for Jesus’ life:

“Stop thinking that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets, I have not come to destroy by to fulfill.”¹

Jesus said stop thinking…” The word “think” means to believe, hold, consider, to regard something as presumably true. In the language of the NT He said, “Stop thinking…” Cease regarding that I have come to destroy the Old Testament. “Abolish” means to destroy, overthrow, or cause to cease to exist. The disciples may have thought that Jesus, as the Messiah, was come to destroy the OT Law. Jesus’ mission in life was not to do away with the OT law or prophets but to fulfill them. He came “‘to give the true meaning to” or “to provide the real significance of” the OT.

Jesus never broke any of the commandments, he kept them perfectly – tempted in all points like we, yet without sin. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies concerning his birth and death. For example:

His birth place –

“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” {{Micah 5:2))

His death -

“Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.  7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, 8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy LAW is within my heart.”²

“I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.”³

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.”⁴

Also, remember Jesus on the road to Emmaus?

“Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”⁵

Jesus fulfilled Scripture, He obeyed Scripture, and He lived Scripture. The Word of God was relevant to Him and should be relevant to you…

- Pastor Stevens

1. Matt 5:17
2. Psalm 40:6-8
3. Ps 22:14-16
4. Is 53:4-9
5. Lk 24:25-27

In a classroom it is easier to judge by the face of a student whether an answer has helped or not.  Replying to an email from a distance, there is no sure way to know whether my reply met a need or not.  My cogitating mind has considered further about a group debating whether one indwelt by the Holy Spirit can apostatize so as to lose his salvation.  So far, I have tried to stress that only God can tell whether a person is a true believer or just faking it.  Then I endeavored to point out that many who have appeared to be commendable believers were not actually born again.  In denying the Savior, they were but revealing the true condition of their souls.

This further contemplation is to point out that differences of doctrine may often occur among Christians, but although these might lead to another denominational affiliation, it is in no way indicative of severance from the faith.  An apostate is not one who differs from me or my church.  He is one who opposes or denies such basic truths of the Gospel that he cannot honestly be considered a Christian.  The dividing line between the faith delivered once for all to the saints and teachings contrary to the faith has been drawn in careful consideration of the fundamentals of divine revelation.

Doctrinal differences have arisen where there is some question of proper interpretation of Scripture, or where Scripture is silent on a subject.  Doctrinal differences are purely matters of personal viewpoint.  There are many such.  Christians differ concerning details of observance of the Lord’s Supper.  Unless there is difference as to the death and resurrection of Christ and our union in the body being pictured, there is no apostasy.  World-wide, a great majority of professing Christians think one who has openly followed Christ can “lose his salvation.”  Those who emphasize once saved, always saved are in the minority.  Doctrinal differences do not mean departure.

Where teaching is that salvation is by works, or maintained by works, however, the teaching is contrary to the clear teaching of Scripture.  That view denies that salvation is of grace, not of works.  It negates the necessity of a Savior dying in our place to redeem us.  That is a heresy all believers should oppose.  Achieving redemption by any human endeavor is not in any way the same as receiving redemption by pure grace.  By grace alone is not some human viewpoint.  It is crucial to the provision of our salvation.  Anything else, especially something depending on human endeavor, is absolutely contrary to the revealed message.The books on the fundamentals were summarized as emphasizing five areas of doctrine which if opposed or denied should be considered outside the Christian faith.  These basic beliefs have included the virgin birth of Christ, the substitutionary atonement of Christ, the deity of Christ, the inspiration of Scripture, and the bodily resurrection and a second coming of Christ.  Some have started suggesting that that list needs to be more specific or to be enlarged to clarify departures from the faith in recent years.  Most of us will not be consulted regarding any enlargement, but we certainly will welcome anything that will enable us to withstand the infringements of the Devil.

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. Acts 15:39
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Audio Sermon: Make the choices to obey God , Matt 7:13-14

Pastor Lloy Stevens, Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, 02/07/10, AM Service

Another text of caution is found in Colossians 3:21. Paul writes, “Fathers provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.” The King James Version includes the words “to anger”. I have put them in italics, just as the KJV does, to show that those words are not actually in the text. The translators put them there to better explain the text. That practice can be helpful in some places, but here it does not help. The warning of the verse is not against provoking the child to anger. The warning is against provoking the child to discouragement. The word for “provoke” in this text is different than the word for “provoke” in Ephesians 6:4. The term found in Colossians 3:21 conveys stirring up or irritating. Wuest quotes the commentator Lightfoot as saying, “Irritation is the first consequence of being too exacting with children, and irritation leads to moroseness.” We can see why Paul used the term to warn about parent’s discouraging their children. Wuest says the term discouraged means “disheartened, dispirited, broken in spirit, lose heart”. Have you ever seen parents treat their children in that way? I have. The rules are too strict; the expectations are too high and unrealistic. I can remember being too hard on my own children. Having been visiting late in the evening I would tell the kids to put things away and get their coats on. They would sometimes move slowly and I would speak more strongly to them. My wife would tell me they were tired. I would say, “Being tired does not stop them from moving when I tell them to move.” I am glad she finally got through my thick head that sometimes my expectations were too high. I learned. I have since come to deeply appreciate the compassion of the Lord toward us. Psalm 103:13-14, “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. For he knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.” Let us as parents remember the spiritual and emotional frailty of our own children. More next time.

- Dr. E. Allen Griffith

After writing a reply to a reader, my mind continued cogitating on a part of my answer which may deserve further explanation to be fully appreciated by the present generation.  The assertion read:  In the last century as theological liberalism gained precedence in most of the denominations, only God could have distinguished between those who were believers taken in by false teachings and those who never had come to know the Lord.  Those who continued to teach the fundamentals of the faith displayed loyalty to the Lord.  Those who doubted or denied any of the foundational teachings of Scripture may have or may not have been true believers.  That is not for us to judge.

I grew up and was saved during those years of Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy.  Soon after I came to know the Lord, at 15 or 16, I came across books by liberals and readily read them.  At that time I saw no real difference between what they were saying and what I was hearing at church.  I may have been wrongly influenced about certain things, but I did not lose my salvation, though without doubt my spiritual growth was stunted.  No doubt as a result of the blurring of distinctions in those days, many remained in such a stunted condition through the rest of their lives.

Personal Bible reading and Bible study groups made a real difference for me.  Knowing the truth from the Word made teaching contrary to that which was in the Bible clearly “human” rather than divine instruction.  That did not take special wisdom or special instruction.  Things cleared up marvelously when I obtained a two volume condensation of The Fundamentals.  Suddenly black was solidly black and white was a splendid brilliant white.  The Word was not different, but the “glaze on my glasses” was gone.

Those who wrote the original (90 essays, printed in 12 volumes) articles about the unchanging foundation stones of Christian belief cited the Word of God and contrasted the contrary teachings of liberals in a way that made it clear to me.  I was committed to what the Bible teaches because I was truly regenerate.  Others were opposing or denying teaching of the Bible.  Both cannot be right.  God speaks truth, or God is a liar.  God says Scripture is His infallible message to mankind.  Some were calling God a liar.  Jesus said He was from God, come into this world to save the lost.  Liberals were saying Jesus was a mere man, born like any other man, and limited the same as all other men.  He was just a better teacher and unfortunately died early.

Jesus taught He would lay down His life to redeem mankind.  Liberals taught a variety of supposed ways to get to heaven.  God says there is only the one way.  Jesus proclaimed that all men must be born again to be right with God.  Liberals promoted good works, clean living, being kind to the poor, etc., things Jesus had indicated should be characteristic of one born again, but of no value to get to heaven.  Jesus declared He would come again to take His Own unto Himself.  Liberals were teaching that the rapture and millennial reign of Jesus were extremist interpretations.

The typical American view of all this was quite different.  People would judge, “He believes 99 per cent the same as historic Christians;  for a mere one point of difference you would call him an apostate, a denier of the faith?”  Of a person’s teaching, we can judge;  of his relation to the Lord, only God can judge.  But one who denies the existence of God, the genuineness of His Word, the eternality of His Son – that is, the fundamental teachings of Christianity — is not to be considered a Christian.  Men would point to the character and ministry of a teacher and not be bothered that he denied or opposed the teaching of Scripture.  Many were deceived through those days.  Similar deception is still possible in our day.

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. 2 Peter 2:1
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The invisible, inscrutable body of the Lord Jesus Christ is as all pervasive and as dependable throughout this present dispensation as is gravity.  The body of believers is real.  It has expanded and continues to grow with additional believers year after year.  It is a spiritual body, experiencing spiritual fellowship with other believers, carrying on spiritual endeavors resulting in eternal spiritual benefit.  We can perceive of its unitary nature, but we see only results of its activity.

Different parts of this great body function in different ways and in different places.  The Bible illustrations are seeing, hearing, smelling, activity of a hand or a foot (1 Cor 12:14-21).  Jesus said, “I will build My church” (Matt 16:18).  That universal mystical church is the mightiest endeavor in progress through the centuries since.  It is one massive endeavor of which we are but a small part.  Jesus Himself is the head of the universal church, directing its every activity.  He is the one to get credit for anything we do as members of that body.

In addition to making comparisons employing the human body, God appointed that through this dispensation believers function corporately, serving Him in smaller congregations, units similar to the greater body, but local and temporal.  Local churches begin, function, and disintegrate.  The universal church sees no disintegration, but continues to add new members to that one body until the Rapture.  Local churches, then, are in a sense miniature bodies of the Savior.  When recognizing the reality of this smaller unit, it is important to distinguish between the organism and the organization, that is, the reality and that which is visible.  Not that there are two different churches, but it is necessary to recognize the spiritual nature of the one and the physical activity of the other.

The universal body of Christ consists only of spiritually born again believers.  So does the organism of the local body of believers.  Only those with a new nature are a part of the spiritual body.  Organizationally, those who come for membership are asked to give testimony of their conversion, but their judgment may be wrong and that of the voting congregation may be wrong.  The ideal is that the local organization correspond to the functioning organism.  God distinguishes, humans cannot do so clearly.  The purpose of these miniature units is for cooperative endeavor.  The local church is God’s appointed unit for doing His work through this dispensation.

The organization of the local church is outwardly visible and its functions discernible.  It can crudely be compared to clothing of a human body.  Clothes can be seen, activity can be described, etc.;  it is the person who is acting, not the visible outward garments.  Local churches are temporal functioning congregations.  They have a beginning, growth, and expansion.  The organization may last for centuries, but the organism may consist of only a few spiritual members, if any.  God says a local church may be removed from its candlestick (see Rev 2:5).

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. 1 Cor 12:13-14
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How we handle the authority God has given us as parents is critical to the process of training. Most of us are familiar with the cautions expressed in Ephesians 6:4. Paul writes, “And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Why he says that is quite obvious. The parent can undermine the very task of training he is assigned to do. Kenneth Wuest addresses this text in his “Word Studies of the Greek New Testament.” Consider carefully Paul’s warnings to parents. Wuest defines “Provoke” as meaning “to rouse to wrath, to provoke, exasperate, anger” He then quotes from Expositors which says, “The parental duty is given first negatively, as avoidance of all calculated to irritate or exasperate the children – injustice, severity and the like, so as to make them indisposed to filial obedience and honor.”

Wuest points out, by defining words in the rest of the text, that provoking our children, greatly hinders the training process. Giving his own commentary as well as quoting others, his note coveys the following. “Bring up”, means to nourish to maturity, not just physically but “rearing in the various departments of its life”. “Nurture”, refers to the whole training and education of children – including cultivation of mind and morals, using commands, admonitions, reproof and punishment. “Admonition” is exhortation – training by word – set over against training by act and discipline, as seen in “Nuture”.

The point being made by the Apostle, as Wuest suggests is this: poorly exercised authority can build frustration and anger in a child. Such attitudes may be revealed more as the child matures. More on this next time.

- Dr. E. Allen Griffith

Young Christians in the faith, true believers, would be easily influenced by all they heard taught or preached, often unable to discern between what was Scriptural and what was of the figment of man’s desires.  Older believers in the church have a real obligation to warn and to protect such babes in the faith.  That may have been part of what Paul was warning about in many of his epistles.  To those not yet able to discern, teachings and practices might all be merely grey rather than black and white.  We cannot assume that they will automatically have the “wisdom” of older Christians.  Yes, it is important to warn them, to teach them, to pray for them, and to urge them to remain true to the faith once delivered unto the saints.

Some, it appears, are taking apostasy as deliberate departure from Christianity, a human means of spiritual suicide.  The Bible does appear to be clear that God will keep His own true to the end.  Many, perhaps in every generation, who have only outwardly appeared to have a new life in Christ might make public their true inner persuasion and be judged by others as having forsaken Christianity.  The term “apostate” is used of them as well as of believers who have adopted a wrong doctrine.  God sees the heart.  These who proclaim something contrary to Bible doctrine may be born again or still in the flesh.  An area of teaching or practice, clearly contrary to the truth is wrong whether held by one unsaved or by one having the Holy Spirit.   One who has never known the Lord is merely displaying his inner heart.  He has not “lost” a salvation he never had.

In the last century as theological liberalism gained precedence in most of the denominations, only God could have distinguished between those who were believers taken in by false teachings and those who never had come to know the Lord.  Those who continued to teach the fundamentals of the faith displayed loyalty to the Lord.  Those who doubted or denied any of the foundational teachings of Scripture may have or may not have been true believers.  That is not for us to judge.  We who know the Lord are to stay clear of false teachings and false teachers.  That we might be tricked into denying our Lord is a genuine possibility.  We cannot lose our new life in the faith, but we can deny important teachings and practices of our faith.

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo¹

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Become a Disciple of Jesus Christ, Matt 6.24

Pastor Lloy Stevens

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, 01/31/10, AM Service

Athanasius in A.D. 367 compiled the list of the same 27 books of the New Testament we recognize today. Augustine endorsed the same list of the 27 books of the New Testament in A.D 397. But, how do we know that? And how do we know that what is in the Bible today is what was in the Bible then? What about translation errors or intentional changes? How did we get the Bible we use today? The history of the Bible may not be as well known today as it once was, but the history is still there for the reading.

Throughout the ages, creating copies of the Hebrew Bible was the responsibility of a succession of Hebrew scholars, often passed to son from father. How accurate was the Old Testament copying process? The oldest surviving copies of books of the Hebrew Bible are in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The oldest of these was created in the third century, B.C., and the newest dates no later then 60 A.D. The Isaiah scroll is the oldest complete book found and was written about 125 B.C. Prior to its discovery the oldest complete Isaiah was dated about 916 A.D., about 1000 years later. How do they compare to each other and to the modern standard Hebrew Bible? These three texts are almost entirely word for word identical. There are some usages of synonyms and several misspellings or variations of spellings in the Dead Sea Scroll Isaiah. The most common variation is no more serious than using “an horse (English style) and “a horse” (American style). Even with the few remaining variations that fall outside these kinds, there are no variations that alter the meaning of what was written down. This is over two-thousand years between these copies with no meaningful variation in the text. The accuracy of the ancient Hebrew Bible is unique in pre-Christian writing.

How was this accuracy accomplished? The process of creating each new copy by hand was obsessively ritualistic, redundant and exact. As a whole, letters and words were counted per page, verse, chapter and book and had to match. The first and last word of each page had to match, as did words in specific locations on each page, the count of each type of punctuation had to match per page, and so on. The whole copy had to be destroyed if any error was found. Because so much care was taken in creating new copies, as old copies became worn out they were ceremonially discarded and not preserved. This explains the lack of ancient Hebrew Bibles compared to the number of ancient New Testaments.

A myth is a wholly made up story while a legend has some connection to history. The Creation, the parting of the Red Sea, the collapse of the walls of Jericho, the Resurrection of Jesus and the rest of the Bible are often called nothing more than mythology or legend, no more or less factually true than Prometheus stealing fire from Zeus (myth) or Theseus killing the Minotaur in the labyrinth (legend – there is a labyrinth in Crete with a wall painting inside of a man with an ax fighting a bull). Is Jesus a myth like Prometheus or a legend like Johnny Appleseed?

Now just because one thing has a similarity to (or something in common with) another thing doesn’t mean the first thing is the same as the second. The Bible was written down long ago and so was Greek mythology, but so are old laws and the evidence in history books; they all are not untrue just because Greek mythology is untrue. Just because there is poetry in the Bible, along with parables and romances, doesn’t mean the Bible is only these things. All poetry isn’t fiction (Emerson’s “Concord Hymn”, Longfellow’s “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” and so on). All romance isn’t fiction either; “Romeo and Juliette” by Shakespeare is fiction but “I Love You, Ronnie” by Nancy Reagan isn’t. C.S. Lewis famously wrote that after a lifetime of reading, studying and teaching literature, he found the Bible completely unique and unlike any work of fiction of every kind, and completely unlike any other book ever written.

The eyewitness accounts in the Bible of the life of Jesus can be verified by comparing them with contemporary and eyewitness accounts from other sources, most were usually indifferent or hostile. So the life of Jesus told in the Bible isn’t myth or legend because it has been independently verified from other sources. And, the writers of the New Testament appealed directly to eyewitnesses for verification. If there was contradiction about Jesus feeding the five-thousand or turning water into wine and the rest, it would have allowed the Jewish authorities to ignore him. The disciples hid after Jesus was buried because after Jesus died on the cross they doubted what he told them. No one at that time disagreed that the things told of in the Gospels happened and that Jesus did or said them.

There is a lot more in the Bible than just the eyewitness accounts of the life of Jesus. So taken altogether, how reliable is the Bible as a history book?

One of the most meaningful lessons I ever learned as a young father had to do with the relationship between authority and influence. I was especially stirred when the instructor asserted that influence had far greater impact on someone than authority. He went on to tell us that as parents our authority was very significant when a child was young, but as the child got older the impact of authority would diminish, but the impact of influence would greatly increase. Once that truth settled into my heart, and I do believe it is true, I determined to endeavor to be the greatest human influence in each of my child’s lives.

Let’s think about parental authority. It is clearly taught in Scripture. Children are told to obey their parents. Parents are told to train their children and fathers are specifically told to bring up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Parents must remember that children are an heritage of the Lord and therefore entrusted to the parents by the Lord. Parents are told to chasten their children and bring them into subjection.

Some parents do a very poor job of keeping their children well disciplined and we are not surprised when the young people fail to walk with the Lord. We rejoice in the Lord when on some occasions young people who have not been properly disciplined by their parents grow up to know the Lord and serve him faithfully. Oh the marvels of God’s amazing grace.

Where we struggle, and the issue that invites this discussion, is when children have seemingly been well disciplined, but have turned from the Lord or at best are apathetic in their walk with Him. Can we ever understand what went wrong? Maybe not, but let’s consider a few matters.

The first matter is related to how we as parents handle the authority God has given to us. Now, there are no perfect parents, but the Lord warns us about certain critical areas in how we deal with our children. For now, take time to consider how you handled your God given authority over your children. Was there anger, temper, inconsistency or harshness? If we used our authority in an authoritarian way, we may have gotten obedience, but we may have diminished our long term influence. More next time.

- Dr. E. Allen Griffith

The essays in The Fundamentals covered a variety of topics. The most frequent topic—more than a quarter of the articles—had to do with the doctrine of Scripture.  Especially emphasized were issues related to inspiration and biblical criticism.  A second large bloc of essays dealt with the person and work of Christ.  Several more covered issues in apologetics such as evolution or the existence of God.  A handful of essays addressed current “isms” such as Romanism and Christian Science.

Taken together, the essays of The Fundamentals provide a glimpse into the concerns of proto-fundamentalists in the early Twentieth Century.  As the name of the series implies, they were disturbed primarily about opposition to core doctrines of the Christian faith.  Uppermost was their concern for the veracity of the Bible, followed by the person and work of Christ. These were precisely the areas of doctrine that were most challenged by the rise of liberal theology.

The notion of fundamental doctrines was not new.  Arguably, it had been reflected in the multiform articulations of the Regula Fidei.  It was expanded successively in the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and (at least in the West) the Athanasian Creed.  Fundamental doctrines had been a major concern of the Reformers and their successors.  The middle third of the Nineteenth Century had seen extensive discussion of the fundamentals, particularly by the Princeton theologians.

What The Fundamentals did was to begin re-articulating this notion in the face of a new threat—liberalism.  Of course, other, lesser threats also existed (hence the essays against “isms”). The bulk of The Fundamentals, however, bears testimony to the increasing uneasiness of proto-fundamentalists toward the emerging religious liberalism.  The series was effectively a restatement of the Christian core against such threats as were perceived to be most ominous.

Understood in this way, The Fundamentals certainly proved to be a success.  The series brought together the best thinkers of proto-fundamentalism.  These writers together shone a light, not upon the threat itself, and much less upon the source of that threat, but rather upon the thing that was being threatened.  The series served to refocus attention upon the fundamental doctrines in general, and upon the doctrine of Scripture in particular.  This was an important step in laying the foundation for the emergence of Fundamentalism after the Great War.

The publication of The Fundamentals both reflected and furthered a rising tide of interest in the protection of biblical orthodoxy.   Fundamentalism was built upon the foundation laid by the publication of The Fundamentals.  Nevertheless, the series was not a statement of Fundamentalism.  It was a statement of orthodoxy.  It does not articulate the sine qua non of Fundamentalism but of the Christian faith itself.  In other words, it is a mistake to define Fundamentalism (either the idea or the movement) by reference only to The Fundamentals.  Reading The Fundamentals will not tell you what a Fundamentalist is.  It will tell you what a Christian is.  That is one element in being a Fundamentalist, but other elements are present as well.

The Fundamentals was one of those works whose influence has grown over the years.  While statistics are not available, interest in The Fundamentals seems to have increased almost decade by decade until some time around the 1970s or 1980s.  The series is still in print, and it is now available in electronic format over the Internet.  For a hundred-year-old publication, it continues to attract a significant readership.  Deservedly so.   –  Kevin Bauder

- from “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo¹

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The basic form of each argument against universal truth is restated followed by the Christian apologetic proofs against each. While the prevailing worldview in our culture today is that all truth is determined individually, this worldview is not modern. Plato argued that truth is simply how we each interpret what we see, so truth isn’t real. Aristotle believed that universal truth is real and can be known.

There is no truth. This claim means that nothing is true or there is no true reality. Any variation of this statement cannot be true because it makes an absolute truth claim. An absolute truth claim cannot be used to claim there is no absolute truth. The argument is invalid because it contradicts itself, and no conclusion derived from this argument can be true. It cannot be truly claimed that nothing is true.

We each decide our own truth. This claim essentially means that anything and everything can be true. The first principle of logic is the Law of Non-contradiction that states two exact opposites cannot both be true. The claim that we each decide our own truth allows both of the following statements to be true: the Earth is in the center of our solar system and the Earth is not in the center of our solar system. This argument is invalid because it allows contradicting conclusions that can’t all be true, so any conclusions derived from this argument cannot be true.

We can’t know truth because we have been wrong so much about what is true we know we can’t truly know anything. This is an invalid argument because it jumps to a conclusion that the proposition doesn’t lead to. Is everything we know wrong? If that were true, then the argument is valid; we could properly conclude that we can’t know truth. But, if the proposition is true that everything we know is wrong, the proposition that everything we know is wrong would itself be wrong.

We can’t know what is true unless we see it for ourselves so we must doubt what we haven’t personally seen. Statements such as this are designed to create doubt about everything we know. How do we know that the Earth is not at the center our solar system? Things don’t begin to exist the first time we see them and vanish from reality when we stop seeing them. This argument is false because it is silly, the same as asking why God can’t make a square circle.

Next in the series is The Bible is True #6: Introduction to Biblical Truth.

May God bless and thanks for reading, Noel Squitieri.

Here is an old trick question: “If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?” The answer is, the falling tree produces sound waves audible to most ears, whether heard or not. A question such as this is usually followed with: “If the falling tree isn’t heard or seen, how does anyone know the tree truly fell, or even if there was a tree to fall?” The trick will be explained at the end of this article.

The premise of the first question is a tree fell. The premise of the second question is maybe there isn’t a tree in the first place. Then why ask the question? Answer: to create doubt about the existence of the reality that is true. In other words, the assumption of this line of questions, and the point being made is, it is necessary to personally observe something to know it’s true. Oh, really? So, I must personally observe Abraham Lincoln being assassinated to know he was assassinated? To those who only believe in observable truth, then it would only be true for me. For this event to be universally known to be true, everyone would have to personally observe the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

If this line of thinking is valid, it is impossible to know history, for history can not exist. There are those today who actually do argue that there is no knowable or true history. No true history, no true past. No true past, nothing worth learning from it, since it didn’t happen anyway. In other words, no one knows anything; it’s all just personal opinion. History is reduced to nothing more than personal opinion.

Don’t accept this way of thinking; its only purpose is to create doubt. A person arguing this way will go from, “there is no truth,” to “we can’t know truth,” to “we each have our own truth,” to, “we are wrong so often about what is true we will never know the truth,” to “we can only know truth when we see it,” and then right back to, “there is no truth.” This is silly reasoning at best, and deception at least.

The trick in the tree falling example is, that in an argument, the first premise (the tree fell) must be true for what follows to derive from it. When the first premise is denied (the tree didn’t fall or there is no tree) everything that follows from the first premise is irrelevant and must be ignored since it is based on an untruth.

Next in the series is The Bible is True #5: The Historicity of Scripture.

May God bless and thanks for reading, Noel Squitieri.

1. David Aikman, The Delusion of Disbelief (Carol Stream, IL: SaltRiver, 2008), 106–107.

In our last article we also asked the following question. If a soldier had finished his course of training, but could not handle his arms, keep rank and observe his commands, was he, in fact, trained?

In addressing Proverbs 22:6 and the promise of children not departing from the way they should go, Charles Bridges, in his commentary on Proverbs wrote, If then the promise is not fulfilled, it is because the duty was not performed.

Bridges also addresses the most common issue raised by those who have seen children go astray when he writes: Education is utterly distinct from grace. But, when it is conducted in the spirit and on the principles of the Word of God, it is a means of imparting it. His point is well taken and I fully agree. Training in itself cannot reach the heart, but it is the pathway of readying the child to receive God’s truth.  The disciplined child is far more ready to sit and hear the things of God or quietly bow for prayer than the child who is out of control.

So we return to the question, what does it mean to train a child?  Whatever it means, we recognize that failure to succeed in the process will greatly diminish the quality of the results. In other words, if our children go astray it reveals that however sincere our attempts and however tender our hearts, we did not get the job done. I would measure success in training by the degree to which my child followed my faith and adopted my values. Paul relates his spiritual challenge to the believers at Thessalonica to the experience of parenting. It is very sobering. He wrote, ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And ye became followers of us and of the Lord…as ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. (I Thessalonians 1:5-6; 2:11-12). If your children have gone astray from the ways of the Lord consider the issue in these terms; why has my child not followed my faith and adopted my values?

- Dr. E. Allen Griffith

Legal?  Right?  Ethical?  Although not at all coterminous, these three words are very important in Biblical Christianity.  Leaders, whether clerical or lay, especially need to have a clear understanding of what each means and the way in which they inter-relate.  There needs to be some preaching/teaching done on the three, and their relationship as well.  Many Christians in both pulpit and pew seem confused at times, and demonstrate that confusion by failing to meet the standards of one or more of the terms.

Legal is probably the best understood of the group.  Fundamentally, it means that an action or approach has been declared by some body with the authority to make such decisions.  Many things would qualify under this designation.  Right is another question altogether.  A really clear understanding of right must be based upon the belief that there is a Divine Lawgiver who has given us, in writing, a significant body of information that should enable us to make right/wrong decisions without too much agonizing.  Regardless of what the law may say, there is thus a further determination.  Those who make laws are flawed human beings who often bring so much prejudice, bigotry, or presupposition to the lawmaking process that they are almost blinded by the resultant confusion.  Thus laws are often made that become the “law of the land” that are not right.

Ethical is probably the toughest of the three to pin-point accurately.  The questions involved in ethical situations often move more quickly beyond mere issues of legality and even transcend questions of right or wrong.  There are things that are legal and even Biblically ok that may not qualify as ethical.  Ethics have several questions involved in their determination.  This may be legal and even within the confines of right, but is it the best thing to do or say in that particular situation or at this specific time?  It may be legal and even Biblically allowable, but would Jesus do it if He were present and involved?  A move or statement may be fully within the confines of legality and may also have Biblical support (or nothing in Scripture that would prohibit its use), but would it be the best thing to do at this time?  Would it needlessly damage or hurt people?  Would legality and even rightness allow me to do something that actually has little other motivation than self-vindication?

The three concepts are often intertwined in real life, and the most glaring example on the current stage is the issue of abortion.  There is no question that abortion is legal, and one of the few campaign promises it appears our current President intends to keep is to “set in stone” the legality of this wanton taking of human life.  But abortion is wrong from a Biblical perspective.  So we have something that is legal yet completely wrong.  There is also an added ethical factor in that, in a very few cases, the health and even the life of the mother is genuinely in danger (far less often that the abortion-on-demand crowd would have you think).  So ethics come into play for a counselor or a physician.

There are several instances in Scripture where godly people made decisions contrary to law (the three Hebrew children, Daniel, the early disciples, et al.).  They knew the legality of the situations but refused to obey the law because they knew the law violated the law of God and was therefore wrong.  So legal moved on into a question of right and wrong.  They deemed the law wrong, refused to obey it and gladly paid the price for so doing.

Ethical decisions seem to be ubiquitous in our day.  It’s legal and can be stretched even to the point that it may be right, but is it ethical?  Paying taxes is legal (and I’ve never seen any scheme to avoid paying that struck me as either legal, right or ethical), and it is right. There are, however, often ethical question that get mixed in — should I claim that as a deduction (that question is often answered by whether or not I think I am likely to be audited or can concoct some convoluted syllogism that might be acceptable to an auditor), should I show that as income or not — and the questions seem to proliferate the further one allows himself to get involved initially in the internal debate.

Pastors and lay leaders need to be very involved in ethics.   It’s legal and probably even right, but is it ethical to tell that story?  It’s clearly legal (which usually means that civil courts will rarely, if ever, take on any but a very few internal church quarrels), Scripture can be found to make it at least appear right.  But – should it be told or done?  A disagreement arises based on a verbal agreement.  It is legal to seek documentation, and it may even be right to do so, but is it ethical to break a longstanding and generally accepted verbal agreement?  I’ll leave that to your judgment, but I hate to see the day come where even churches must have legal staff or an attorney on retainer.  Fully informed believers ought to be able to assure that decisions are lawful, apparently Biblically right, and with unquestionable ethical support.  If you don’t give much attention to ethics, you will probably never be known for being a person of integrity, which is one of the highest honors that can ever be paid to any believer.

-  Chuck Wood

(from – “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo)¹

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Audio Sermon: Don’t Live Like a Fool, Psalm 14

Pastor Lloy Stevens

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, 01/24/10, AM Service

Dear Friends,

Things are slower in Moldova this time of year due to bad weather. However, we are preparing for upcoming summer camp and Bible school. The Bible institute will reopen on March 1st. Most of the students will be back and there are a few new students planning to join us. Second semester we will begin our trade school. We will start with auto mechanics and computers. To open the computer school we need $5,000 to purchase ten computers. This investment will allow us to train these young people in a trade to support themselves which will allow them to minister for the Lord in Moldova without regular, foreign support. The minimum year expenses for a Moldovan to live and minister is at least $3600, but with a skill of their own they can work and support themselves.

Camp season is fast approaching, and we need your help for this as well. The cost to sponsor a Moldovan child is $15 for a week of camp. Many of the children and teens who come to camp are not saved and will hear the Gospel for the first time in the camp. I realize the world economy is bad; we feel it in Moldova as well. But the camps have been one of the most successful tools I’ve ever seen to reach lost young people for Christ.

The response from our American brethren to help African orphans has been wonderful. However, there are hundreds of children in our areas of service that are going hungry and need help. The cantinas we are supervising can provide daily food for orphans for $25 a month per child, if we have the funds.

Many of you have requested the ability to give on-line to our ministry. We have recently set up a Paypal link on our website, so that you can give electronically through this method. If you are interested, please check out the site at: www.eurasianbaptistmission.com and go to the “giving” page.

God bless you and have a great year.

Pray for Moldova and Malawi,

Dr. Eric Chapman

A known fact may not be true. It was once a known fact that the Earth was flat, and this fact was later proved untrue. But, just because some known facts are later shown to be untrue, it isn’t true that every known fact is untrue.

An old saying tells us that, “the more you know, the more you know you don’t know.” Well, that may or may not be true, but it doesn’t mean that we can never truly know anything at all. It is often argued that, we have been wrong so many times before about what is true that we should know that knowing truth is impossible; this is flat untrue: it is possible to know truth.

We have already seen that those who argue that there is no such thing as truth or that we can create our own truth by making it up, don’t actually live as if these worldviews were true. A worldview no one can live by is pretty hard to believe. Even among those who hold these worldviews, someone who lives in a make-believe world is considered mentally ill. We have also seen that it isn’t even possible to say, “there is no truth,” without making a truth claim doing it. So, there is truth.

It is true that we once knew lots of things that we later learned aren’t true: the world isn’t flat, the Earth isn’t in the center of the Solar System, “Piltdown Man” was not a real creature but was made up out of several unrelated specimens, men and women have the same number of ribs, et cetera. So what? In what way does the truth that men have believed untrue things prove that everything we know is untrue? Those who make the claim that prior errors of fact prove facts can not be truly known are making an error in their thinking.

The argument being made goes like this: Many facts are proved untrue during the passage of time. We know many facts today. Given enough time, all facts will be proved untrue (meaning nothing is true). This argument is invalid. Both premises are true, but there is no connection between them and the conclusion. Consider another argument using the same form: Many facts are proved true during the passage of time. We know many facts today. Given enough time, all facts will be proved true (meaning everything is true). These arguments have exactly opposite conclusions and use the same form, so neither argument is valid. On the other hand, this argument is valid: Many facts are proved untrue during the passage of time. Many facts are proved true during the passage of time. Therefore some facts are true and some facts are untrue. Both premises are true and the conclusion directly follows from them.

Since some things are true there is truth, and the existence of untruth doesn’t change that.

Next in the series is The Bible is True #4: True and False Facts About Truth, Part 2. – Thanks for reading, Noel Squitieri.

The exclusivity of truth matters because arguing truth to someone who believes everything is true makes reasonable conversation impossible. Sometimes, it is necessary to convince someone that everything isn’t true before having a rational discussion.

The most basic logical principle is the Law of Non-Contradiction which states that something cannot be true and false at the same time and in the same way. The LNC states that A cannot be both A and not A. For example: “1 + 1 = 2,” and “1 + 1 <> 2.” Both these propositions cannot be true at the same time or in the same way. No cheating or trickery here. If one “1” is a one-thousand dollar bill and the second “1” is a one dollar bill or an apple (unrevealed and therefore a trick), then it violates the “in the same way” condition unless the one-dollar bill is a rare issue or the apple is gold-plated. Both of these truth claims would then be true: “one one-thousand dollar bill does not equal one ordinary one dollar bill,” and “one one-thousand dollar bill equals one rare one dollar bill worth one-thousand dollars.” Neither of these propositions have the same meaning as 1+1 =2 and 1+1 <> 2. It is a common trick to hide the meaning of a proposition in order to get an agreement on a small point, and then use it to force agreement on larger points later.

Not knowing or not accepting a truth does not invalidate a truth. Neither does believing an untruth make it true. “Abraham Lincoln is an American President,” and, “Abraham Lincoln is not an American President,” cannot both be true at the same time (today), but each statement would have been true at different times (1860 and today, respectively). It is still true that, in 1860 Abraham Lincoln was President of The United States of America, even if citizens of the Confederacy denied it then (or even today). More on this aspect of knowing truth will follow in a later article.

Someone who claims that truth can be contradictory, that is, is not exclusive (a rattlesnake is poisonous and a rattlesnake is non-poisonous) doesn’t actually live that way unless that person is insane. Here are two contradictory truth claims: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” and “every religion reveals a valid way to achieve salvation.” The second truth claim cannot be true since it is completely denied by the first truth claim. Make this point and the arguer may then claim that all religions are true except Christianity.

Next in the series is True #3: True and False Facts About Truth #1. Thanks for reading,  - Noel Squitieri.

A label in the high church ritual for weddings caught my attention, that one of the reasons for God appointing marriage was that we might comprehend the “mystical” body of the Lord Jesus Christ, His church.  Ancient formulas and ritual expressions can be remarkably beneficial at times, but we easily hear them and do not actually hear them.  This one caught my attention and stirred up cogitations that seem worth sharing.

The first thought was how beneficial to have a distinct identification for this which we refer to as a “dispensationally” distinct body.  As set forth in Scripture, it is a real union, an actually existing, interrelated and functioning “body.”  But in our thinking it is to be kept distinct from the physical body of the Lord.  That body was miraculously conceived, grew as a typical human, died, and was raised from the dead.  It continues to be a distinct, real, physical body, which we expect to see in heaven.  The “mystical” body of those who believe in Jesus is not the same as a physical body or even as a gathering of physical bodies.

Nor is the reference to the “mystical” body of believers who are united in the Lord Jesus Christ to be confused with the eternal nature of the divine Son of God.  That nature has never undergone any variation.  It remains the same yesterday, today, and forever.  That nature did not change one bit when the Son of God took upon Himself a physical body.  Believers have received eternal life, but that eternal life is not the divine life of the Trinity.  Only Three have that life.  Ours is a derived, unending life, like unto the glorious life of the Eternal, but one having a beginning, when we were saved, one experiencing growth, and one day to be made like unto the resurrected Savior Himself.

The dictionary suggests for “mystical” something inexplicable, unfathomable, inscrutable, not easily comprehended or explained. That is for humans, of course.  To God the church which is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ is as real, as genuine as any other part of creation.  He uses “body” likenesses to help us to understand that group which is real but out of sight, active, but not always appreciated, a tool employed by the Creator which needs no credit for acts of the tool, but only to honor the Creator.

There may be reasons for not using the term “mystical” regarding the church universal, but at present I am not conscious of any.  I like the things I have thought of in this brief time of conjecturing.

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo¹

1. To begin subscription, ask questions, or make comments, email Dr. Van at cbsvan@sbcglobal.net

1. Treasury of David, exposition on Ps. 115:8, 940–941.

I want to start by quoting a basic text on child rearing to lay a foundation for our discussion on the matter. It is a familiar text to every parent. Proverbs 22:6 says, Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it. A great part of successful parenting comes from accomplishing the task of training. It is not just the challenge to teach our children; it is the challenge to train them. It is not just to endeavor to train them; it is, by the grace of God, to prevail over all the obstacles that get in the way. Those obstacles will include our own flaws and failures, our child’s willfulness and proneness to sin, as well as the multiplicity of negative influences in his life that will vie for his mind and heart.

What does it mean to train? Matthew Henry’s commentary, in addressing Proverbs 22:6 says, Catechise them; initiate them, keep them under discipline. Train them as soldiers, who are taught to handle their arms, keep rank and observe the word of command. Let me conclude for now by asking the reader to think on this. If a soldier had finished his course of training, but could not handle his arms, keep rank and observe his commands, was he, in fact, trained?

- Dr. E. Allen Griffith

“ …I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” ¹

Ever wondered where God was when you needed him? I mean those times when friends forsake you and life has left you in a pit. Or when you lose all hope. Or when you are hurting so bad that you wished you were dead.

God’s promise to his children is this, “I will never leave nor will I ever forsake you.” Leave means to abandon. Forsake means to desert.

In the Greek of this verse, the first verb is preceded by a double negative and the second by a triple negative.. This is a emphatic promise from God, I will never, ever abandon you –  I will never, ever, desert you. These words describe the impossibility that God would ever leave you.

So no matter the circumstance, or how you feel, your God is there, with you in the midst of your life. Do you believe it? Do you live like you believe it?

- Pastor Stevens

1. Heb 13:5

Audio Sermon: Live to Exalt God, Isa 6:1-13

Pastor Lloy Stevens

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, 01/17/10, AM Service

It’s easy not to notice God.  We are busy in our own little world and fail to see any evidence of His presence or influence.  Although He’s everywhere fully and equally, we fail to observe Him.  In our culture, a sub-deity has been invented, and we tend to act as though everything has been turned over to him (it).  Nature is the one to whom we give much of the credit that we should be giving to God.  We get up and greet a bright new day and rejoice that Nature has brought forth a dawn and sunshine.  And nature is so regular and dependable!  We take it all for granted.  That’s just the way things work, the way they always have worked, and the way they will continue to work.  There’s no feeling of appreciation or thankfulness.  Nature is unfeeling and unconcerned.

Occasionally we as Christians remember that God is behind what we call nature.  He is the one who is regular and dependable.  He is responsible for each sunrise.  He is the one we should thank for His provision of light and heat.  Most important, He desires to be noticed.  He is at work on our behalf and is pleased when we appreciate the things He does for us.  Obviously, it hurts Him when we deliberately oppose His will or if we fail to do as He directs.  Shunning Him surely hurts even more.  Ignoring or overlooking the evidences of His goodness is inexcusable.  Just failing to acknowledge His presence or to appreciate His benefits must be like a slap in the face to Him.

We are uncomfortable when others act as though we are not even in the room.  It’s considered an insult.  We don’t like to be snubbed, to be treated as though we do not even exist.  We can appreciate that God likewise does not appreciate being ignored, especially by His own people.  We who know Him are really without excuse.  We should be acknowledging His hand behind every blessing, His love behind every goodness, His guidance through every occurrence.  Nothing happens in our lives by “chance.”  All is fully under the guidance and control of the Almighty.

We suddenly slide on the ice on the road and narrowly miss a serious accident.  We relate that we just “happened” to miss the oncoming vehicle.  We think “chance” has been on our side!  But Chance has no more existence than Nature or Evolution.  It is just our human evaluation of what takes place, totally apart from the real provision, the personal presence and protection of our living God.  We can trust Him fully;  we would be fools to put our trust in Chance.

The rebellious mind, however, comes up with the obvious, Why does God ever allow accidents?  Some simple answers:  To show us how stupid we are.  To teach us to be more careful and observing.  To teach us to rely on Him.  To accomplish some special purpose in our witness as believers in bearing up under such trials and through the healing period, etc. etc.  His chastisements are always for our good.  He never permits anything to come upon us that is not for our benefit.

Having trouble breathing some days?  Remember to praise God for the ability to breathe well most of the time.  A headache?  Thank God that most days are free from such difficulties.  Food does not appeal?  Praise the Lord that most of what we eat is both good for us and enjoyable to eat.  Thank Him for such taste buds as still function.  Sometimes not able to sleep at night?  Just relax and talk a while with Him.  You have the privilege of some personal fellowship with your Creator, a taste of what one day will be a constant relationship when we are “absent from the body and present with the Lord.”

- “Cogitations”, Dr. Warren Vanhetloo²

1. Prov 3:6
2. To begin subscription, ask questions, or make comments, email Dr. Van at cbsvan@sbcglobal.net

1. “Dare to be a Daniel,” No. 2291, MTP 39 (1893), 41–42.

Audio Sermon: Treasure Your Relationship with God, Isa. 43:1-7

Pastor Lloy Stevens

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, 01/10/10, AM Service

I should go to church because that is where I ought to be. The writer says. “Consider one another”. Consider has the idea of  “careful attention to a person or thing consider, think about carefully, understand² or to give careful consideration. He is saying keep on putting your mind to work. In this case, “to provoke to love and good works.” Provoke or stimulate means literally “a sharpening, hence a sharpening of the feeling, or action.”³ We get out our English word paroxysm from this Greek word. It has the idea of a causing of something by spurring on, or stirring up⁴ or in a positive sense incitement, encouragement, or stimulation.⁵

The writer is saying, “Put your mind to work to find ways to provoke to love.” IOW, stop being self-centered and be others focused. Look out for the needs of others. This happens best in the context of the local body of believers. One writer put it this way:

“One of the first indications of a lack of love toward God and the neighbor is for a Christian to stay away from the worship services. He forsakes the communal obligations of attending these meetings and displays the symptoms of selfishness and self-centeredness.”⁶

The writer is saying, “Put your mind to work to find ways to provoke to good works” or noble deeds. Good deeds are to be done in the realm of and under the auspices of the local assembly. These works include helping others spiritually and physically and doing right.

The writer next demonstrates the means to fulfill the of fulfilling the command to put your mind to provoke to love and good works.

Note the author’s exhortation to “spur one another on toward love” precedes his remarks about church attendance.⁸ Again, this provoking to love and good works is to occur within the realm of the local body of believers.

You provoke others to love and good works by not forsaking, not abandoning, or not deserting. Literally the word means to forsake offspring, a dastardly deed for a parent to do. Not forsaking what? The assembling together or the community of believers meeting together. Gather together, suggests “stress upon the place at which the gathering is made (epi, to)”⁹ This is face to face. Not face to TV. Not face to radio. Not face to cassette or cd player. Not face to computer monitor. But, face to face with God’s people. It is in the assembly of the believers that Jesus is present.

It is not lay your hand on the TV and get the spirit of God and the power of Jesus. Paul put it this way

Or translated: “Do you (plural) not know that you (plural) are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells among you?”

It is in the context of the local body of believers that you and I experience the special presence and power of Jesus. What word(s) would you use as the opposite of forsaking or abandoning? Embracing? Being loyal? Being faithful? Supporting?

The problem the writer was addressing was a habit of forsaking. He use the word “manner.” This word means “habit, custom, usage or practice.”

So the problem with attending the local body is not new, just more pervasive today. Once you take the first step to miss church, the second is easier, the third time even more easier, the forth time more so, until you develop a habit of missing church and making excuses to miss.

What is the solution? It is a habit of personal encouraging. Instead of abandoning the local assembly, be exhorting and encouraging one another in the assembling. Exhort means to come along side, to correct or to encourage. All the members of our church have the common task of encouraging one another, Not just the pastors, not just the deacons… Together we all bear the responsibility, for we are the body of Christ.¹³ This biblical work of encouraging is to take place in the context of the local church.

What should the motivation be for assembly, for being faithful in your church attendance? The Day is approaching. This is when Jesus comes. Some day, time is going to end for you, and you will not longer have the opportunity to do noble deeds. And “the closer we come to that day, the more active we should be in spurring one another on in showing love and doing deeds acceptable to God.”¹⁴

Going to church is a matter of obeying God’s Word. It is not one option among many, but a divine obligation to fulfill. To not do such, is to be in direct disobedience to God’s command. This brings about consequences; notice the verses after our text:

Every wonder why you experience instability, fear, reversals, trouble, regrets, sickness or pain? Could it be in part to your own lack of faithfulness you your local body of believers, in disobeying God in this area of responsibility?

It should be the natural desire of you as a believer to be in God’s house when the doors are open, to worship God and be with God’s people. If this is not your desire, then something is wrong spiritually within you. Either you are not part of the family or you are estranged from the family (i.e. backslidden).

How important is going to church to you? You can measure this by what it takes for you to miss (sleep in, TV, family, laziness, sports) You can measure this by what motivates you to attend (parents, spouse, embarrassment).

-        Pastor Stevens

1. Heb 10:24
2. Friberg, T., Friberg, B., & Miller, N. F. (2000). Vol. 4: Analytical lexicon of the Greek New Testament. Baker’s Greek New Testament library (220). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books.
3. Vine, W., & Bruce, F.,1981; Published in electronic form by Logos Research Systems, 1996. Vine’s Expository dictionary of Old and New Testament words (2:234). Old Tappan NJ: Revell.
4. Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Greek (New Testament) (electronic ed.) (GGK4237). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
5. Friberg, T., Friberg, B., & Miller, N. F. (2000). Vol. 4: Analytical lexicon of the Greek New Testament. Baker’s Greek New Testament library (302). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books.
6. Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953-2001). Vol. 15: New Testament commentary : Exposition of Hebrews. Accompanying biblical text is author’s translation. New Testament Commentary (290). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
7. Heb 10:25
8. Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953-2001). Vol. 15: New Testament commentary : Exposition of Hebrews. Accompanying biblical text is author’s translation. New Testament Commentary (291). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
9. Vine, W., & Bruce, F. (1981; Published in electronic form by Logos Research Systems, 1996). Vine’s Expository dictionary of Old and New Testament words (2:142). Old Tappan NJ: Revell.
10. Mt 18:20
11. 1 Co 3:16
12. Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953-2001). Vol. 15: New Testament commentary : Exposition of Hebrews. Accompanying biblical text is author’s translation. New Testament Commentary (290). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid.
15. Heb 10:26
16. Heb 10:27
17. Heb 10:31
18. MacArthur, J. (1996, c1983). Hebrews. Includes index. (268). Chicago: Moody Press.

1. “Jesus: ‘All Blessing and All Blest,’” No. 2187, MTP 37 (1891), 92–93.

Audio Sermon: Reject a Critical Attitude, Matt 7:1-6

Pastor Lloy Stevens

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, 10/18/09, AM Service

1. “A Dirge for the Down-Grade, and a Song for Faith,” No. 2085, MTP 35 (1889), 341.

Audio Sermon: Be Persistent in Prayer, Matt 7:7-12

Pastor Lloy Stevens

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, October 25, 2009, AM Service

VBC 2009 Christmas Cantata: “Goodwill to Men”

Victory Baptist Church Choir

Sunday, January 3, 2010, AM Service

1. “One Lost Sheep,” No. 2083, MTP 35 (1889), 310.

Audio Sermon: Live to Please God, 2 Sam 11:27

Pastor Lloy Stevens

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, November 1, 2009, AM Service

Audio Sermon: Let God Be Your Refuge, Isa. 26:3-4

Pastor Lloy Stevens

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, November 8, 2009, AM Service

1. “To Those Who Are Angry with their Godly Friends,” No. 1929, MTP, 32 (1886), 781–782.

Audio Sermon: A Sword in Her Soul, Luke 1-2

Pastor Lloy Stevens

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, 12/20/09 AM Service

1. The Headstone of the Corner,” Sermon No. 1420, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit (MTP) 24 (1878), 452–453.

Audio Sermon: Know Some of the Results of Salvation, Is 54

Pastor Lloy Stevens

Victory Baptist Church

Sunday, 11/15/09, Am Service