Tag Archives: evidence

THE GOSPEL IN HEBREWS – 18

Bible Study, ,

Hebrews 11:1-3 NLT
[1] “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. [2] Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. [3] By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.”

Faith! What is faith?

Our writer gives a definition that is sometimes difficult to understand. Simply put, faith is confidence in God that He will do everything He said He would do. Our hope is what the end results of His promises will look like.

He said we will be transformed into the likeness of Jesus. That’s our hope. So, we believe that everything we are called to suffer now is moving us towards that goal. He said that, if we endure, we will be with Him in glory. So, we persevere through thick and thin because our hope is to be with Him forever.

Faith, then, is the gossamer thread of trust, confidence in God that joins us to Him and His intentions for us. Faith grows stronger every time we push through a trial, a test that strips off another layer of suspicion, mistrust, or doubt that clouds our vision of God’s faithfulness to see us through to the end result.

“Absolute trust is freefallimg into the arms of Jesus, knowing that He will always catch you. “

Hebrews 11, known as “the faith chapter” is a summary of the lives of Israel’s heroes of faith. Many triumphed, some suffered because they had faith in God to do what He promised. Together, they form the “great cloud of witnesses” to the value and merits of trusting God through good and bad. Beyond earth’s experiences lay a life in God’s presence in His eternal city prepared for them, too marvellous to know now but as sure as God Himself.

Hebrews 11:13-16 NLT
[13] “All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. [14] Obviously, people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. [15] If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. [16] But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

It is said, “To be heavenly-minded is to be of no earthly use? ” This is a lie and and contrary to the Scriptures. It was because the witnesses of which our writer writes had their hearts and minds set on heaven that they acted in faith at God’s command and endured the often terrible consequences of their obedience.

Without the vision of an eternal reward for faith and obedience, life is nothing more than aimless wandering in a barren and howling wilderness.

We, too, will join that cloud of witnesses as we participate with them in this journey of faith that will take us through the dark valleys of testing and trouble to His eternal city. The great test of faith is to continue when nothing seems to be happening, when the way ahead is foggy and uncertain, when God’s voice is silent, and when the enemy closes in with doubts and fears that threaten us with loss and disappointment for believing in Him.

God’s promise of final victory over all the negatives of this life is for those who endure to the end because they have fixed their gaze on the heavenly and everlasting prize.

To be continued…

GOD’S WITNESSES

Apologetics, ,

Acts of the Apostles 14:16-17 NLT‬
[16] In the past he permitted all the nations to go their own ways, [17] but he never left them without evidence of himself and his goodness. For instance, he sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts.”

No matter how bad the people in the world are, God is always speaking.

  1. David said that God speaks from the sky.

‭Psalms 19:1-4 NLT‬
[1] “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. [2] Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. [3] They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. [4] Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world…. “

Science has even discovered, through radio telescopes, that some of the stars are beating out their message with sounds that echo throughout the universe.

  1. Paul said that God also speaks from the world around us.

‭Romans 1:20 NLT‬
[20]”For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

God speaks of His power and divine nature through His creation. Despite man’s abuse of creation, we see beauty and order everywhere when we choose to acknowledge God.

Only human foolishness, moral corruption, stands in the way of seeing God’s signature on everything. People do not believe in God because they choose to deny the evidence of His work. They do not want to believe.

‭2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT‬
[4] “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe….”

  1. God speaks from inside of us.

‭Romans 2:14-15 NLT‬
[14] “Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. [15] They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.”

Every child is born with a moral compass in his conscience. Instinctive guilt points to wrongdoing without his having to be taught right and wrong.

  1. Jesus is God’s last and final word.

‭Hebrews 1:1-2 NLT‬
[1]”Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. [2] And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe.”

Despite sometimes wellmeaning (but still) false prophets who claim they speak from God, God has spoken His complete and final message to the world through Jesus. He has nothing more to say to us because Jesus has said it all. Jesus is His personal and living Word to the world. Much of modern prophecy adds to God’s word and is irrelevant at best and dangerous at worst.

‭John 1:1-2, 4-5 NLT‬
[1] “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He existed in the beginning with God…
[4] The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”

‭John 8:12 NLT‬
[12] Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

  1. God speaks through His written Word.

Since God’s Word is light…

‭Psalms 119:105 NLT‬
[105] “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”

…and Jesus is the Word, we find the clearest and most powerful witness to the Father and His plan by ‘reading’ the Son. Everything Jesus said and did is God speaking to us. When we read Jesus, we discover that He is the only way to the Father.

  1. The Holy Spirit speaks through and about Jesus.

‭John 16:7, 12-15 NLT‬
[7] “But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you….”
[12] “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. [13] When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. [14] He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. [15] All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’ “

The Holy Spirit also testifies to us that God has done His work in us through Jesus.

‭Romans 8:15-16 NLT‬
[15] “So, you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” [16] For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.”

  1. God speaks through His children.

We are Jesus’ witnesses.

‭Acts of the Apostles 1:8 NLT‬
[8]” But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

God speaks to the world through the changed lives of His children.

‭2 Corinthians 3:2-3 NLT‬
[2] “The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. [3] Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.”

‭Matthew 5:14-16 NLT‬
[14] “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. [15] No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. [16] In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”

  1. He has covered the earth with His Word.

‭Habakkuk 2:14 NLT‬
[14]”For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the Lord.”

We live in an age of technology so marvellous that it is no longer possible to eradicate the Bible from the earth as people have tried to do in the past. The Internet guarantees that God’s Word is able to cover the earth. Everyone on earth, except those who remain in primitive isolation, has access to the Bible, mostly free of charge, via a smartphone. A tap on Playstore, or its equivalent, puts the Bible in our hands in almost any language in a few minutes.

So, the world is without excuse. Anyone can read, in the sky above, the world around, in the Son who came, in the book God gave, or in the the people who believe, or in the convicting work of the Holy Spirit through His witnesses, the message of God’s mercy in Christ Jesus. His rescue plan is for everyone who believes His message. He delivers from death and guarantees eternal life, if only people will read!

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – JUSTICE MAN’S WAY

Bible Study, ,

JUSTICE MAN’S WAY

55 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. 56 Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.
57 Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’” 59 Yet even then their testimony did not agree. Mark 14:55-59

Here is an interesting observation. Only John records Jesus’ words, “Tear down this temple and in three days I will raise it up again,” and yet this was the charge, though misquoted, that the Sanhedrin tried to pin on Jesus. This is yet another pointer to the unity and authenticity of Scripture.

A second observation – Jesus’ arrest was purely opportunistic. The Sanhedrin had not prepared its case against Him. Once they had Him before them, their members had to think on their feet, and the whole debacle made them look like fools. Their witnesses could not agree on the evidence they were bringing and in no way could they find Him guilty of a charge worthy of the death sentence.

Thirdly – they finally charged Him with blasphemy, a crime punishable by death according to the Mosaic Law but how could He be executed for the truth? If His claim were false, their verdict and sentence would both have been just but what if He were the Son of God? That would make them all guilty of injustice and accountable for their verdict.

Both the Sanhedrin and Pilate made the error of not being transparent in their hearing of the evidence. The Sanhedrin was driven by hatred and Pilate by fear. They suppressed the truth by not hearing the evidence justly and by making their judgement driven by emotion. Pilate tried to wriggle out of condemning Him because he knew He was innocent but he was scared of the volatile attitude of the Jews.

This trial was ultimately not about Jesus. It was about them and the depth of depravity in the human heart – and these men are representative of the whole human race. Jesus was the test case for exposing what was in them! How often does this not happen. Our criticisms and judgments of others arise out of what is in our own hearts, not necessarily what is in the hearts or behaviour of others.

How would this trial have stood up in a court of law today? There is a sense in which our courts in many ways are no different from this court. How many times have the prosecutors not determined the guilt of the accused before the trial and not because of it! Let us not imagine for one moment that the sinners of today are any better than the sinners of Jesus’ day. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Let The Evidence Speak

Bible Study, , ,

LET THE EVIDENCE SPEAK

“There was dead silence. No one said a word. With the room quiet, Barnabas and Paul reported matter-of-factly on the miracles and wonders God had done on the other nations through their ministry. The silence deepened. You could hear a pin drop.

“James broke the silence. ‘Friends, Simeon has told us the story of how God at the very outset made sure that racial outsiders were included. This is in perfect agreement with the words of the prophets:
“After this I’m coming back;
I’ll rebuild David’s ruined house;
I’ll put all the pieces together again;
I’ll make it look like new
So outsiders who seek will find,
So they’ll have a place to come to,
All the pagan peoples
Included in what I’m doing.”

“‘ God said it and now He’s doing it. It’s no afterthought; He’s always known He would do this.'” Acts 15:12-18 (The Message).

Jesus left His disciples with one commission: “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation…” and one promise: “…And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will lay their hands on sick people and they will get well.” Mark 16:15, 17-18 (NIV).

So what was the big deal with these people? Were their tradition and their prejudice so strong that they had forgotten the Lord’s commission? What would it take to get it into their thick skulls that Jesus had sent them into the world, not to take the good news to the Jews only, especially since they were their fiercest antagonists, but to share the good news with all people, even those they had previously hated and avoided?

Those who obeyed Jesus’ instruction were amazed to see that He meant exactly what He said. Peter had watched while Gentiles received what the disciples had received on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit falling on them the moment they believed. Paul had seen Gentile people transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and not one of them had been forced to embrace Judaism first.

And the miracles Jesus had done through them were abundant evidence that He was actively confirming His word just as He had said.

All their arguing and rationalising fell way in the face of the overwhelming evidence of the prophetic word and their experience of its fulfilment. That had to convince them that the Gentiles were welcomed into God’s kingdom through faith in the finished work of Jesus, plus nothing, and that race and culture were obliterated by the new order God had established in His Son.

David’s dynasty failed to follow in their father’s footsteps, but God had promised that one of his descendants would reign on his throne in righteousness and truth forever. Jesus, the Son of David, fulfilled that promise and reigns over a kingdom that has no end and that welcomes all who repent of their rebellious independence and willingly come under the authority of God’s rightful king.

Over the centuries, man in his “wisdom” has reconstructed the superstructure of works that Jesus demolished at the cross, cancelling the grace by which we are saved. Where does that leave those who have mindlessly swallowed the lie and fallen into the trap of the devil? Right back under God’s judgment because any attempt to satisfy God’s perfectly righteous and holy standards by offering their own efforts, fails miserably.

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf and like wind our sins sweep us away.” Isaiah 64:7 (NIV).

As the old hymn puts it:

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
(Edward Mote, 1797 -1874)

Out Of The Black Hole

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OUT OF THE BLACK HOLE

“‘In the generations before us, God let all the different nations go their own way. But even then He didn’t leave them without a clue, for He made a good creation, poured down rain and gave bumper crops. When your bellies were full and your hearts happy, there was evidence of good beyond your doing.’ Talking fast and hard like that, they prevented them from carrying out the sacrifice that would have honoured them as gods — but just barely.” Acts 14:16-18 (The Message).

Strange what humans can come up with when they deny and let go of the truth! When superstition takes the place of reality, reason and common sense go out of the window. Gods becoming men has no foundation in fact and no evidence to prove that it could or did happen. Why? Because gods do not exist. They are the fruit of perverted human imagination.

But what about Jesus? Wasn’t He God come to earth as a man? A thousand times, yes! So what’s the difference? The difference is, firstly, that God exists. We have the evidence of creation, its design and unity, and the goodness and blessing we receive from it, not as concrete proof but as evidence of a Being of supreme goodness, power and wisdom who exists and who created the universe.

Secondly, we have the evidence of prophecy. God’s entire plan was laid out in detail centuries before it happened. If God prompted men to write about it accurately in advance, He must exist. How else can anyone explain prophecy?

Thirdly, we have the resurrection. The greatest legal minds have worked hard to disprove the resurrection but the evidence is overwhelming. Jesus died on a Roman execution stake and three days later He walked out of the tomb. He appeared to over five hundred people in a body that could be touched, that could eat and yet was able to do more than our mortals bodies can do.

Fourthly, how can we explain the church if there were no God, no Jesus and no Holy Spirit? Without the supernatural power of God at work in people, convincing them of the truth and changing their lives, no one would have bought the apostles’ story. It was too far-fetched if it were not true and too dangerous to embrace a fantasy that could cost them their lives in a hostile world.

Fifthly, what about the Bible? Both internal and external evidence points to a unique book which cannot be explained apart from God. It was written over a period of 2000 years by more than 40 different authors from many walks of life and yet it is a comprehensive story and presents a unified picture of a God whom human imagination could never invent.

There is one factor that is missing in most of the people who hear the apostle’s message — faith — not a leap-in-the-dark kind of faith but a rational acceptance of the evidence and a step towards God to which He immediately responds.

“By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what is visible….And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” Hebrews 11:3, 6 (NIV).

What is it that prevents people from accepting the overwhelming evidence of a God who is both powerful and loving and passionately desires a relationship with His human creation? It’s that stubborn independence woven into our nature through Adam’s choice that refuses to come under His authority and live His way.

But when we do, we find, to our absolute amazement and delight, that life makes sense, has meaning and purpose and is filled with joy and peace that makes no sense and has no explanation outside of God. It’s like stepping out of a black hole into the glorious light of the midday sun.