The First Day of the Week -- A God-Given Memorial

By Larry Rouse

The provisions our God has given us to maintain our faith are misunderstood and often ignored by carnal men. The Creator knows that the greatest struggle men have is in the keeping of their hearts in harmony with the mind of God (Jer 17:9-10; Prov 4:23). Even when men are brought to God in humility and as a result find that marvelous relationship with God, they often, over time, drift from Him when blessings and abundance comes into their lives.

Israel, having been born in Egypt, and then humbled in the wilderness was about to experience blessings that previously were only distant promises. The generation that entered Egypt was full of faith, but God knew what lay ahead for this people.

“So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, 11 houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full—12 then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage” (Deuteronomy 6:10-12).

Even though the next generation did those very things that God said they would, they forgot God because they ignored the perfect provisions He had given them to remember Him.
Consider some of the memorials God had given Israel:

1. The Sabbath was to remind the Jews of their deliverance from Egypt (Deut 5:15).

2. Each of the Feasts that God gave Israel was to remember God’s actions on their behalf (Exodus 12:14).

3. God even instructed Israel to make a heap of stones from the river bed of the Jordan where they had crossed so that future generations might “remember” (Joshua 4:7).

Why did these memorials fail in helping Israel remember? Memorials are only effective when people of faith use them. Israel neglected theirs.

God has given the Christian Some Memorials

Just like Israel, Christians need to be reminded of their deliverance from Satan and the bondage of sin. Our God has also given us a feast and a day as memorials to the great things He has done and will do for us.

Here are some memorials God has given the Christian:

1. The Lord’s Day was given and expected to be recognized as His (Rev 1:10).

2. The Lord’s Supper was given “in remembrance of Me” (1 Cor 11:23-25).

These memorials are very simple and common to the carnal mind --- a day of the week and a simple partaking of bread and fruit of the vine. However, to the Christian, these represent powerful events that give power to one’s faith and bind one’s heart to God.

The Significance of the First Day of the Week

The evidence of the Scriptures points to Sunday as being the Lord’s Day. Consider these truths:

1. It was on the first day of the week that Jesus rose from the dead (Matthew 28:1-4).

2. It was on the first day of the week that Jesus established His kingdom. The day this occurred in Jerusalem was on the day of Pentecost, a day that is always on Sunday (Luke 9:1, 24:46-49; Acts 1:4-8; 2:1).

3. It was on the first day of every week that the Christians in Corinth were commanded to take a collection for a specific work. “On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come (1 Corinthians 16:2 - NASB)”.

4. It was on the first day of the week that the church at Troas partook of the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 10:16).

How are we using these Memorials?

It did not take long for the church at Corinth to change these God-given memorials into a man-centered, carnal feast (1 Cor 11:18-20). Can you imagine how the wrath of God was kindled when this great Memorial was turned into a fleshly centered activity where God’s Son was forgotten by the very people that were redeemed by His blood?

”Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep” (1 Corinthians 11:27-30).

Will God’s Memorial profit you?

One of the most common forms of memorials men make is in the gravestones that accompany their graves. For almost all of us those memorials will be used by no more than one generation. I will never forget how I stumbled across an abandoned graveyard a few years ago that had been revealed by a brushfire. Some of the graves were less than 30 years old, but they all had been forgotten. My heart ached at the message this neglect spoke.

If my assembling on the first day of the week is not producing the rejoicing, the self-examination and the strong anticipation of our returning Lord, then I am not remembering. Please do not blame that on others. It is up to you. Just like that abandoned graveyard spoke volumes to a generation that forgot their loved ones, so does the neglect of God’s memorials speak volumes about the real nature of your faith. Will you remember?

How I look forward to these special occasions the Lord has given to remind me of His grace, His love and His present and future care. Thank you Lord for all the rich provisions you have bestowed upon us!

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Me-Centered Religion
by Bobby L. Graham
www.cvillechurch.com

It has become increasingly fashionable to hear people protest organized or institutional religion in recent decades, as they have sought to invent their own religious systems, based on what they desire and think. This writer also finds much in current systems to protest, but for vastly different, biblical reasons. Their protests are grounded in their own selfish notions, and mine are based on the teaching of God’s Word. One main impetus giving rise to the community churches of recent decades has been the emphasis on selfish desires rather than the will of God. When human beings begin to view themselves as equal to God, they begin acting so by asserting their own will over His will and arrogating to themselves divine prerogatives. The importance of the individual truly has become the central organizing thread around which so much of the thinking and teaching of our time has clustered. For this reason there has been much discussion of “The Me Generation.”

Out of this emphasis on self, an entire “theology” has evolved, giving rise to me-centered religion. From beginning to end, however, such a religion is similar to those religions so often decried by “The Me Generation,” in its fundamental traits, to which we shall call attention in this article. Those traits form the basic tenets of the theology undergirding this religion.

I am my own person; nobody tells me what to do.

Expressed in this assertion is the autonomy or independence of the individual from God and all others. Of course, such thinking runs into a brick wall when civil government is involved! To think that people can become so proud that they banish God from their concerns and lives in the thought that they are capable of directing their own course and that they are answerable to no one except self is the outrageous conclusion from this statement. Involved also is the idea of the authority of the individual, who views himself as supreme. He no longer is accountable to God, if there is a God. The Humanist Manifesto I and II from the last seventy years well express what has become dominant thinking with many. Many of this stripe believe that humans are the only “deity” involved in this world. Such thinking enthrones man and dethrones God. It is difficult to appeal to such thinking for self-denial, humility, lowliness, and trust in God (Mt. 16:24), or even for compassion, mercy, and kindness in human relations, when such arrogance prevails.

The entire record of divine revelation demonstrates man’s amenability to God. By reason of creation God has ever had dominion over His creation. Early He directed Adam and Eve in their lives, though they soon manifested the spirit of self-sufficiency and autonomy that we here condemn. Whenever human beings have obeyed the Lord, whether as individuals or as nations, they have benefited greatly. On the other hand disobedience to God has always brought troubles. The Christian belongs to God in a special sense, having been bought by Him for a price (1 Cor. 6:19-20). He is obligated to live to God’s glory in both body and spirit. Any doubters need to consult the inhabitants of Sodom, Jonah, or the nation of Israel to learn the value of seeking the guidance of God in their lives.

Be yourself.

Guided by the basic understanding of individual autonomy, legions have fallen victim to the appeal of one strain of modern psychiatry to live out their own individual dreams, to actualize their own potential in an effort to maximize their self-realization. The most important person is “you,” and the most significant culture is self-development along lines of one’s own choosing. Nothing that hinders the developing of self is allowable; all else become secondary.

Against this incorrigible spirit of self-determinism lies the demand of God for the alteration of self (Gal. 2:20). Only when the old self is crucified and the new self is formed in one’s life, according to the image of Jesus Christ, does one become spiritually useful to this world. To remain in the old mode of sinful living is to remain a spiritual drag and part of the world’s principal problem. The changes wrought by the Lord through the power of His Spirit-given Word produce a life that is both salt and light (Mt. 5:13-16). Only in subordinating oneself to the will of Christ does one escape the slavery to sin that captures the old self (Rom. 6:10-18).

Your own self-realization is more important than any externally imposed creed.

With the dominance of self imbedded in the modern psyche, the groundwork is likewise laid for rejection of creeds (any religious idea or ideal that infringes upon what the individual desires or conflicts with it). The stubborn will of the individual becomes the impenetrable wall guarding the person against any Biblical concept of God or man. As the Gentiles rejected the idea of God, so have many today similarly repudiated Him. Lip service is too often the only service offered, and that until conscience no longer cries out for something more. No one knows you better than you do, and nobody thinks more highly of you that you do. Thus one reasons himself into a stance of rejecting all that affords not the pleasure, contentment, or satisfaction that self demands. He then forms attitudes, speaks, and acts on the basis of what will promote his own self-realization (or self-actualization).

The value of the benevolent will of God should never be set aside. God has never spoken from whim but for man’s earthly and eternal good (Deut. 6:24). God’s own selfish pleasure has never been the motive behind the divine mind or plan, and man’s own selfish pleasure is always the motive that short-circuits the divine plan (Jas. 4:3; Mt. 6:24).

Express the deity (god) within you.

Though the materialist does not believe in any deity, he acts as if man is deity. He worships and serves the creature—both idols and self— rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:25). Others seem to think that the human being is somewhat divine, though they fail to believe in God in any genuine Biblical sense. The outcome of this endeavor is the defying of God and the deifying of man. The saddest reality of the present is that many live their lives as if there is no God. In doing so, they impede their own spiritual development and, to some degree, obstruct the salutary influence of the Bible.

Sources of me-centered thinking

Every major stream has its tributaries; this “stream” of thought is no exceptions. Into it have flowed the influential contributions of many decades, thus gradually conditioning the minds of people for an acceptance of what once was unthinkable. What are these sources?

1. Denominational creeds: They have fostered the idea of diversity of thought about God and His service is acceptable. They have also encouraged people to believe what they wish, making humans the final arbiters of what they choose.

2. New Age Thought/Eastern Religions: Being a hodgepodge of religious thought, it offers people something they want, encourages people’s autonomous view of themselves, and presents a view of humans as divine.

3. Secularism: Possibly its major contribution has been its “Don’t Worry—Be Happy” thinking.

4. Pluralism: This concept has become a major contributing stream in its stress on there being many paths to God.

5. Ecumenicalism: Recent decades have witnessed the merging of different religious bodies by the surrender of convictions and beliefs. In such a climate, it becomes acceptable to surrender God-required teaching to the preeminence of the individual.

6. Segmental Role of God: Too often God has been assigned His place in life, which has usually been some small part of life or some particular time in life, instead of the totality of one’s life. Such thinking motivates one think of himself as superior to God.

It is easy to see the convergence of these varied sources into the stream of me-centered religion. How many of have not been victimized to some extent by the thinking here reviewed. May all of us guard out hearts diligently, that we might subject ourselves to God. We must view ourselves as bondservants of Jesus Christ and even speak of ourselves in this way. What a difference between the way we have viewed such matters and the way Paul frequently spoke of himself!

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The Danger of Doubt
by Larry Rouse
www.cvillechurch.com

“If you were to die today, do you know where you will spend eternity?” This is a question that others have asked me and one that I have asked others. John wrote so that “you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). Men today fight this truth for various reasons, preferring to leave others wandering in doubt and darkness. Is it arrogance and pride, as some suggest, to say, “I know” about this question or any other Bible subject?

The powerful claims the Bible makes for itself will correctly lead one to the conclusion that certainty about the truths which God has revealed is not only possible, but expected! Luke wrote about the life of Christ so that everyone who read would “know the certainty of those things…” (Luke 1:4). He wrote by the guidance of the Holy Spirit and as a result had a “perfect understanding of all things from the very first” (Luke 1:3). A perfect revelation will provide certainty in the path a Christian is to walk. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17).”

How Faith Comes Through Doubt

However, there is a place for doubt in the building of our faith. Consider the struggles that must take place before a certain faith is found. During His ministry Jesus’ own brothers did not believe in Him. “…If You do these things, show Yourself to the world. 5 For even His brothers did not believe in Him” (John 7:4-5). I can understand why they would struggle this way. From the standpoint of sight, how could they believe that their older brother was the Creator of the universe? Jesus gave undeniable proofs of His deity but He did not answer every question that a man might ask. Jesus would often leave a man to struggle with his doubts. Yet, He always gave them a path that would lead to certainty, only if they had the commitment to follow it. His brothers followed that path and later came to know with certainty the truth about Jesus. After the ascension of Jesus, His brothers are named as being among the believers. “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with His brothers” (Acts 1:14).

How Satan Uses Doubt

Satan wants to destroy the effectiveness of God’s work in every way he can. In the parable of the sower, Satan is pictured as a bird that snatches away the seed of God’s word before it can penetrate a man’s heart. Why might the seed not enter a man’s heart? “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside” (Matthew 13:19). A lack of understanding, a doubt about the value of the message, caused this one to quit and turn away from the powerful word of God.

Satan often employed shallow “arguments” that effectively discouraged many from further investigation. The very name “Jesus of Nazareth” brought forth doubts. “Others said, ’This is the Christ.’ But some said, ’Will the Christ come out of Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?’” (John 7:41-42).

Satan also used false charges against the character of both Jesus and John the Baptist by saying that John “has a demon” and that Jesus was a “glutton and a winebibber” (Luke 7:33-35). Those without a heart to pursue the truth would easily turn away from Jesus.

How False Teachers Use Doubt

Like Satan, false teachers have the goal of ending the pursuit of the truth found in God’s word. They will use any tactic to cut off the influence of a faithful teacher. Raising questions about anything and everything, creating confusion by switching to unrelated subjects and interrupting any answers with more questions are the preferred tactics of such men. The “cloud of dust” that is raised is then cited as proof that the subject cannot be completely understood and therefore is not an issue worthy of our concern. A careful observer will note that the one who raises all the questions often will not lift a finger to find any answers. It is also not uncommon to find the false teacher closely guarding his doctrinal positions, not allowing them to be openly examined. Please remember, there is a difference between raising an honest question to pursue the truth and raising a question just to defeat an “opponent.”

Another common, but effective, tactic of a false teacher is to correctly diagnose a problem among the people of God, but then offer a “solution” that is worse than the problem itself. Upon hearing an effective analysis of the problems of worldliness and divisiveness among some Christians, many are treated to a number of “solutions” that will “solve” these problems. People are then urged to cut off “traditional teaching and traditional teachers.” They are encouraged to purse a direct leading of the Holy Spirit apart from the written word. They are even persuaded to reject foundational principles of Bible study for a nebulous “hermeneutic of love.”

False teachers will often replace the doubt they planted with a confidence in the student’s relationship with himself. Praise, flattery and needed attention are lavished upon this one who shares in this new “spirituality.” “They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them” (Gal 4:17).

My Personal Observation

Over the years, I have seen those who were once close to me overcome by these men and their relationship of pride. I was marked as “traditional” and unworthy of study though their influence. In time, my friends accepted the “wisdom” of their new teachers and, as a result, cut me off without as much as a word to me. On my part, I longed for open Bibles and open hearts and prayed for some time with the friends that I loved. I was never given that opportunity--for my friends had found a new “certainty,” one that involved closed Bibles and closed relationships.

How to Find God’s Certainty

1. Never be satisfied with questions alone. God’s power will never be found among those who are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7).

2. Do not accept “easy answers.” Those who rejected Jesus because of the easy answer that He grew up in Nazareth failed to look deeper into the question. He grew up in Nazareth, but He was indeed born in Bethlehem! Be like Nathaniel, who raised this very objection, but was willing to investigate further when invited to “come and see” (John 1:46-49).

3. Never give up. In my own life I had to study some challenging subjects while I was first learning how to study the Bible. At times, I needed to lay aside a difficult subject for other studies. I always returned to the challenging question at a later date. Some of the greatest blessings God has given me were from these studies! Be like the brothers of Jesus, and pursue, over time, those doubts you may possess.

4. Pray. Let a faith in God be the foundation of all of your studies. Remember the examples of His own prophets who struggled with doubt, but always took that doubt to God in prayer (Habakkuk 2:1-4).

5. Do not run from an open study of any truth that you have found (John 3:19-21).

Are you running from your doubts? If so, you are running from a living faith. It is my prayer that you will begin the struggle today to open God’s word and find the assurance that will only be found in the knowledge of the truth (John 8:31-32).

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Eternity
by Mark Larson

Four out of five Americans believe in life after death, according to a General Social Survey by the National Opinion Research Center that has tracked such convictions in the United States for nearly 25 years. 81% of the U.S. population is convinced there is a Heaven or Hell, or something awaiting them on the other side. Are you one of them?

Do you believe in an afterlife in which all who die will enter an eternal realm?

Inevitably, questions about Eternity also lead people to questions about life and an examination of the meaning of life. That is why understanding the truth, as revealed in Scripture, is so very important. Knowing the truth about Eternity can make a big difference in the way a person views life and the way he or she chooses to spend it.

Our Understanding of Eternity Comes from God

Though man is bound by time, we have the capacity to image Eternity beyond this present world: “He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set Eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end” (Eccl. 3:11, NASB). We cannot fathom or comprehend all that God has accomplished from beginning to end in all that He has made. However, everyone one of us has the ability to understand Eternity! Though it may seem difficult to imagine Eternity, it is not impossible for us to do so.

God’s eternal power is seen in the Creation (Rom. 1:20). We are privileged to be able to recognize the eternal God that is behind this temporary, present world. The Universe exhibits great power. Only power that has existed from all Eternity could have caused it. God is that great eternal power! It is in this sense that God will set Eternity in our hearts as we come to see His eternal power in this world that He has made.

By looking to the Eternity of God, God’s eternal nature, we can understand what Eternity is. Eternity is an important attribute of God. God is the “I AM,” the Eternal One (Exod. 3:14). God “lives in Eternity” or “lives forever” (Isa. 57:15). He is “the everlasting Father” (Isa. 9:6). God has always existed. He is without beginning and will never end: "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev 1:8). Since God represents Eternity, we can learn much about what Eternity means by looking unto God who is eternal as revealed in the Scriptures.

Imagine Eternity!

Like God, Our Existence in Eternity Will Last Forever and Ever. The duration of God’s existence stretches backward in time without limit and stretches forward in time without limit: “Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were born, Or Thou didst give birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God” (Ps. 90:1-2). The Lord is eternal or forever God. Likewise, all who enter Eternity will stay in Eternity forever and ever. Some will “go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal” (Mat. 25:46).

Just As the Years of God Have No End, the Years of Eternity Will Have No End. On average, our life on earth, at best, lasts a mere 70 or 80 years (Ps. 90:10), a very short moment of time in comparison to Eternity! Just as the years of God’s existence have no end, neither will the years of our existence have no end in Eternity. "But Thou art the same, And Thy years will not come to an end” (Ps. 102:27). Our life span on earth is as brief as a vapor that quickly vanishes away (James 4:14). “Our days on earth are as a shadow” (Job 8:9). While on earth, a lifetime may seem like a long time, yet from the standpoint of Eternity, it is a very short or brief period of time.

In Eternity, the years are countless or without number, far beyond all comparison to any amount of time we have ever known or have measured in earthly history. Consider this example by way of comparison: In Astronomy, the distance light travels in a year is called a “light year.” A “light year” is six trillion miles, the yardstick astronomers use for measuring large distances. Since many stars and galaxies are so far away, it takes lots and lots of time for photos of them to arrive to us. So as we look out into the Universe, we are, by necessity, looking back in time. If, for example, the Sun exploded, we wouldn’t know it for 8.3 minutes, because that’s how long it takes light to get to us from the Sun. The planet Pluto is 5 light hours away, and the next nearest visible star, Alpha Centauri, is 4.4 light years away. So then, how many “light years” shall we measure Eternity?

How far of a distance would Eternity reach and extend in time? Not even the distant stars seen by the most powerful telescopes some 13.7 billion light years away can measure the infinite, unlimited time or years in Eternity!

Time Will Be Insignificant in Eternity. “For a thousand years in Thy sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night” (Ps. 90:4). To God, time is insignificant in Eternity, no matter how long or how short that length of time is. The longest length of time a man has ever lived on the earth was in the case of Methuselah who lived 969 years! (Gen. 5:27). As impressive or amazing as that may be, in comparison to Eternity, it was to God like one single day! (2 Pet. 3:8).

When we enter into Eternity, time will be irrelevant. Time will be a non-issue having no bearing on Eternity itself. The favorite hymn “Amazing Grace” written by John Newton, expresses this truth very well in the verse which says: “When we’ve been here ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun; We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise then when we’ve first begun.” When God’s people are with Him in Heaven for all Eternity, it will not matter whether ten thousand years (as we count them) pass by or ten zillion years pass by, there will be no less days to sing praises unto God!

Are You Preparing for Eternity?

What we “sow” in this life will have a direct impact on what we shall “reap” in the life to come in Eternity (Gal. 6:7-8; See also 1 Tim. 6:17-19). That is why we must sow carefully. How we spend our lives on earth will determine our eternal future!

The Egyptians believed in Eternity or at least an “after life.” When a Pharaoh died, he was buried in a tomb called a pyramid designed to protect his body forever. They believed that if a Pharaoh’s body was destroyed, his “Ka” (i.e., soul) would have no where to go and would die. If his “Ka” died, he would not be able to be united with the Sun. This in turn would cause the gods to become angry and they would no longer protect the land or the people of the Pharaoh. Therefore, they put forth much effort to preserve the body of Pharaoh. On average, it took forty years and about 100,000 workers to build just one pyramid!

Why did the Egyptians go through so much effort and spend so much time to build their pyramids? They understood that the afterlife or “Eternity” would last a lot longer than their lives on earth and that the afterlife was a whole lot more important than life on earth. Despite their false concept of God, the Egyptians worked hard to prepare for Eternity as they understood it. How much time and effort are you putting forth to prepare for Eternity?

“For a little reward men make a long journey; for eternal life many will scare lift a foot once from the ground.” – Thomas a Kempis. As the saying of Kempis well illustrates, many people scarcely “lift a foot”, let alone obey the gospel to prepare for Eternity (2 Thes. 1:8). Yet, these same people will make great sacrifices to gain earthly rewards that do not last (Mat. 6:19). Such people do not truly believe in Eternity nor understand that Eternity lasts forever. They may claim to believe in Eternity, but their lives spent on themselves instead of God says otherwise (Luke 12:15-21).

If we want to ready for the Judgment Day and be ready to enter into Eternity, we must prepare by taking heed to the words of Jesus Christ (John 12:48; e.g., Mark 16:16; Rev. 2:10) as also revealed to His apostles (Gal. 1:10; e.g., Gal. 5:16-24; Heb. 10:24-25; 1 Cor. 15:58). How we “build in life” or whether or not our lives are founded “upon the rock” (i.e., Christ and His word) will determine where we will spend an Eternity (Mat. 7:24-27). When “the storm of the Lord” arrives (Jer. 23:19-20), will you be ready to enter Eternity?

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