"…the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." —1 Tim. 3:15
That leaves us, then, with vv. 36-44—a part of Matthew 24 that has, apparently, been torn from the Bibles of many. Notice the very next words of Jesus: “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only…” (36). Now, wait a minute!
One of the main components of the “End Times” concept is that the end is very near. “Go turn on the news,” a well-meaning friend might suggest, “and you’ll see the signs of Matthew 24 unfolding right before your very eyes!” Or, as the late Billy Graham used to say, “Matthew 24 is knocking at
#3: DARWINIAN OR “ORGANIC EVOLUTION” IS UNSCIENTIFIC—IT IS NOT SCIENCE. Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard the phrase, “the theory of evolution.” I’m going to go out on a limb and say every hand is up. In fact, I’m sure I’m not the only one who has heard some brave (albeit delusional, or else
Recently, we have seen this spiritual truth illustrated in both Testaments: In the holy, sovereign eyes of Jehovah God, to “BELIEVE” = to “OBEY.” We will now look at a final example further demonstrating this truth, found in Hebrews 3. In Heb. 3:7ff, the inspired writer is recounting some OT history—particularly how Jehovah had said He
The logical conclusion we drew from Num. 20:10-12 last week was this: TO “BELIEVE” = TO “OBEY.” But does the New Testament agree with this conclusion? Indeed, it does. Let us consider John 3:36, for instance: “Whoever BELIEVES IN the Son has eternal life; but whoever DISOBEYS the Son shall not see life…” It must be
So many times in the Bible, man is admonished or expected to “believe in” something or someone. In John 3:16, for instance, we are informed that whoever “believes in” Jesus Christ will have eternal life. Such statements seem as plain as could be—but are they? Here is the question we must ask: What does it
One of the most popularly debated verses in the New Testament is Mark 16:16. After giving the great commission—that followers of Christ are to preach the gospel to all peoples as they go about in their everyday lives (15)—the Lord answers, as it were, an unspoken question: “OK, so as we are going and preaching the
“PROVE ALL THINGS; HOLD FAST THAT WHICH IS GOOD.” 1 THESSALONIANS 5:21 As we have emphasized in the last few installments, one of the keys to correct Bible interpretation is the use of valid logic and reasoning, just as we would (and do) in normal, everyday conversation. Consider, for instance, Acts 2:38: “And Peter said to them,
“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thess. 5:21). That’s what the apostle Paul admonished the Christians at Thessalonica to do. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit [i.e., teacher], but prove the spirits [i.e., teachers], whether they are of God [i.e., whether they are speaking the truth]” (1 John 4:1a). That’s what
God blessed mankind with two immutable gifts (among many others): 1. Objective reasoning; 2. The ability to reason objectively. Since such is the case, obviously God had a reason for giving man the gift of reason. That reason is simply this: He expects us to use it! Yes, God expects and require that we abide by
