VOLUME XXXII OCTOBER 26, 2009 #44
“ALL OR NOTHING!”
“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on Him.” (John 3: 36).
“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)
“If the great assertions of our Christian, faith are true—if there is one God over all the earth; if there is a Son of God calling us to rise and follow; if there is a Spirit of God speaking in our conscience through the Word convicting and convincing; if there is a Kingdom of God that shall outlast the stars; if there is an Eternity of God towards which we all are moving; if there is a Throne of God before which we shall stand to give account, when this earthly life is done; if these things which we say we believe are more than pious sentiments, if they are facts, then they are incomparably the most important facts with which every one of us has to reckon, implying, nay demanding, that we make Religion the master force of all our life, and God in Christ the burning center of our being!”
(Jas. S. Stewart – Adapted.)
If the Bible is true, if the Christian Religion is true at all, then serving God through faith and obedience in Jesus Christ indeed demands center place in our hearts and lives! Rather than circumscribing or hampering life, as many seem to fear if they take Religion seriously, the Gospel opens life up, makes it full, fills it with meaning, light, love, glory, and hope! It is life bereft of Gospel truth that is cold, dark, dismal, depressing, short-sighted, and checkered with excruciating pain!
And this glorious Gospel Religion we embrace is neither as confusing or impossible as some assume. What does it require? Believing in Jesus Christ. Doing what is right and fair and honest. Showing kindness, love, and mercy to all. Having a personal daily walk with God our Heavenly Father. Could anything be simpler? (And the tough times and the tight spots and the hard experiences He helps us with through the Holy Spirit, the angels, the Church, the Holy Word, and prayer!)
This holy Religion, it is all or it is nothing! Let us give it our everything!
Larry Atkin, Preacher
Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
"THE REGENERATION!" October 19, 2009
“So Jesus said to them, Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28).
“The creation itself will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Revelation 21:1).
“All the kingdoms of this world shall soon become the kingdoms of our Lord and King. He will hurl all the present potentates from their thrones. He will grind to powder the despotisms, civil and ecclesiastic, and with the blast of His mouth give them to the four winds of heaven. All antichristian power, whether called Papal, Muslim, Pagan, or Atheistic, will as certainly be destroyed as that Jesus reigns in heaven. No trace of them shall remain. The best government on earth, call it English or American has within it the seeds of its own destruction, carries in it a millstone which will sink it to the bottom of the sea. They acknowledge not that God has set His Christ upon His throne! They will not kiss the Son! Thus society under their rule is not blessed. The land mourns through the wickedness of those who sit in high places. Ignorance, poverty, and crime abound because of the injustice and iniquities of those who guide the destinies of nations, men who fear not God, love not His Son, and regard not His laws, yet wear the sword and bear the scepter!
“This is wholly adverse to the peace and happiness of the world. Therefore God will break them to pieces like a potter’s vessel and set up an order of society in which justice will prevail. Jesus will be universally acknowledged by all the race of living men, and all nations shall do Him homage. “At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father!” This state of society will be the consummation of the Christian religion in all its moral influences and tendencies upon mankind.
“How far this change is to be effected by moral and how far by physical means, is not the subject of our present inquiry. But the preparation of a people for the coming of the Lord must be the result of the restoration of the ancient Gospel and order of things. And come when it may, the day of the regeneration of the world will be a day as wonderful and terrible as was the day of the flood, of Sodom’s judgment, or of Jerusalem’s catastrophe!”
(Alexander Campbell – Adapted)
When Jesus returns all things will become new. The wicked and unbelieving angels and men will be judged and damned. The saints, raised and justified, will be transformed and glorified. The old heaven and earth perishes in flames, the new heaven and earth appears in resplendent beauty. Jesus, reigning on His throne, delivers up the Kingdom to the Father. Men of all nations worship the Lord, reign with Him, dwell with God, angels, and one another in peace, love, and joy.
Exactly how, exactly where, and exactly when this all transpires is not detailed in Scripture. Nor if it were would we all be able to comprehend it! It is enough to know that it is coming, and coming quickly!
But one thing is certain – all is contingent upon and accomplished through the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our living out that Gospel and sharing that Gospel with all men in this present world!
So our duty is clearly set before us. We have a great hope, but it can only be realized by our faithful obedience (by the grace and help of God) to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our participation in His Kingdom and Church! Let us be about it, for in so doing, we hasten the day!
Larry Atkin, Preacher
“The creation itself will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Revelation 21:1).
“All the kingdoms of this world shall soon become the kingdoms of our Lord and King. He will hurl all the present potentates from their thrones. He will grind to powder the despotisms, civil and ecclesiastic, and with the blast of His mouth give them to the four winds of heaven. All antichristian power, whether called Papal, Muslim, Pagan, or Atheistic, will as certainly be destroyed as that Jesus reigns in heaven. No trace of them shall remain. The best government on earth, call it English or American has within it the seeds of its own destruction, carries in it a millstone which will sink it to the bottom of the sea. They acknowledge not that God has set His Christ upon His throne! They will not kiss the Son! Thus society under their rule is not blessed. The land mourns through the wickedness of those who sit in high places. Ignorance, poverty, and crime abound because of the injustice and iniquities of those who guide the destinies of nations, men who fear not God, love not His Son, and regard not His laws, yet wear the sword and bear the scepter!
“This is wholly adverse to the peace and happiness of the world. Therefore God will break them to pieces like a potter’s vessel and set up an order of society in which justice will prevail. Jesus will be universally acknowledged by all the race of living men, and all nations shall do Him homage. “At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father!” This state of society will be the consummation of the Christian religion in all its moral influences and tendencies upon mankind.
“How far this change is to be effected by moral and how far by physical means, is not the subject of our present inquiry. But the preparation of a people for the coming of the Lord must be the result of the restoration of the ancient Gospel and order of things. And come when it may, the day of the regeneration of the world will be a day as wonderful and terrible as was the day of the flood, of Sodom’s judgment, or of Jerusalem’s catastrophe!”
(Alexander Campbell – Adapted)
When Jesus returns all things will become new. The wicked and unbelieving angels and men will be judged and damned. The saints, raised and justified, will be transformed and glorified. The old heaven and earth perishes in flames, the new heaven and earth appears in resplendent beauty. Jesus, reigning on His throne, delivers up the Kingdom to the Father. Men of all nations worship the Lord, reign with Him, dwell with God, angels, and one another in peace, love, and joy.
Exactly how, exactly where, and exactly when this all transpires is not detailed in Scripture. Nor if it were would we all be able to comprehend it! It is enough to know that it is coming, and coming quickly!
But one thing is certain – all is contingent upon and accomplished through the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our living out that Gospel and sharing that Gospel with all men in this present world!
So our duty is clearly set before us. We have a great hope, but it can only be realized by our faithful obedience (by the grace and help of God) to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our participation in His Kingdom and Church! Let us be about it, for in so doing, we hasten the day!
Larry Atkin, Preacher
Monday, October 12, 2009
"THE ENDURING WORD!"
The Word of the Lord endures forever” (I Peter 1:25).
“The Anvil—God’s Word”
Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith’s door,
And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;
Then, looking in, I saw upon the floor
Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.
“How many anvils have you had,” said I,
“To wear and batter all these hammers so?”
“Just one,” said he, and then, with twinkling eye,
“The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.”
And so, thought I, the anvil of God’s Word,
For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The anvil is unharmed—the hammers gone.
(Author Unknown)
The Hebrew and Christian Scripture have been repudiated, questioned, ridiculed, and attacked almost from their inception. Rationalists, skeptics, infidels, pseudo-scientists, and philosophers have done their best to either destroy the Bible or render it inauthentic. The Roman apostate Church, the French Revolution, and modern Communism have banned it and burned it.
But all to no avail. The Word of God is a mighty anvil of steel and the devil’s hammers have all been worn out, battered, and broken upon it. How could it be otherwise? The Word of the Lord is as Eternal, as Powerful, Indestructible, and Infallible as God Himself!
The Holy Bible has been relentlessly and repeatedly besieged by the enemies of God, imitated and rivaled by pagans and backsliders, and shamelessly perverted by sectarian translators. But still it stands as perfect, healthy, and vibrant as the day its various books were composed by its inspired authors. It is fully capable of doing all God sent it forth in this world to do. “So shall My Word be that goes for the from My mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55: 11).
Here is a Book that reveals God to men. Here is a Book that speaks absolute and unshakable truth. Here is a Book upon which we can build our lives. May we read it, heed it, and cherish it!
Larry Atkin, Preacher
“The Anvil—God’s Word”
Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith’s door,
And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;
Then, looking in, I saw upon the floor
Old hammers, worn with beating years of time.
“How many anvils have you had,” said I,
“To wear and batter all these hammers so?”
“Just one,” said he, and then, with twinkling eye,
“The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.”
And so, thought I, the anvil of God’s Word,
For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The anvil is unharmed—the hammers gone.
(Author Unknown)
The Hebrew and Christian Scripture have been repudiated, questioned, ridiculed, and attacked almost from their inception. Rationalists, skeptics, infidels, pseudo-scientists, and philosophers have done their best to either destroy the Bible or render it inauthentic. The Roman apostate Church, the French Revolution, and modern Communism have banned it and burned it.
But all to no avail. The Word of God is a mighty anvil of steel and the devil’s hammers have all been worn out, battered, and broken upon it. How could it be otherwise? The Word of the Lord is as Eternal, as Powerful, Indestructible, and Infallible as God Himself!
The Holy Bible has been relentlessly and repeatedly besieged by the enemies of God, imitated and rivaled by pagans and backsliders, and shamelessly perverted by sectarian translators. But still it stands as perfect, healthy, and vibrant as the day its various books were composed by its inspired authors. It is fully capable of doing all God sent it forth in this world to do. “So shall My Word be that goes for the from My mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55: 11).
Here is a Book that reveals God to men. Here is a Book that speaks absolute and unshakable truth. Here is a Book upon which we can build our lives. May we read it, heed it, and cherish it!
Larry Atkin, Preacher
Monday, October 5, 2009
"LIVING BY THE RULES!" OCTOBER 5, 2009
“LIVING BY THE RULES!”
“For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5: 18).
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24: 35).
“The Scripture cannot be broken” (John 17: 17).
“We have come to see that Huxley was right when he said that “a man’s worst difficulties begin when he is able to do as he likes.” The evidences of these greater difficulties lie all about us. And in this age when a great word like “Puritanism” is so often merely a sneer; when scores of voices are perpetrating the fallacy that man can have, and ought to have, absolute, unbridled freedom to do as he likes, and to drive his way down any path of self-expression that he chooses; when so many others (taking their cue from that) begin to believe that almost anything can be justified in the sacred name of “the new morality” – and proceed to talk in a silly conceited way (thinking themselves the champions of emancipation!) about things which are supposed to be clever, but which are not clever in the least, which are indeed just common sins, and rotten, selfish sins at that – in this age we need to have it written upon our minds, as with a pen of iron on the rock, THAT GOD’S WILL, GOD’S TRUTH, GOD’S THRONE, GOD’S EVERLASTING DECISIVE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG, THAT DIFFERENCE FOR WHICH CHRIST DIED, STAND AS FAST AND AS BINDING AS EVER, AND CLAIM EVERY DECENT SOUL’S ALLEGIANCE!”
(James S. Stewart – Adapted)
Recently a radio report revealed that students of all levels in American schools and colleges are using the sophisticated technology of computers, cell phones, cameras, etc., to cheat on home work, term papers, and exams—and do not perceive it as cheating, but as merely using available technology as “helps”! The conclusion of the academic investigation was that “we are obviously going to have to come up with a new definition of cheating!”
This is but one symptom of a much larger problem. Ours seems to be a generation which refuses to live by the rules. The response of those in authority appears to be “Let’s change the rules! Let’s redefine right and wrong! Let’s implement better laws!”
What’s wrong with the rule of right and wrong the world already has—that taught in the Holy Bible? Nothing, of course! You cannot change or improve upon that which is divinely inspired, already perfect, incapable of mistake, never becoming obsolete! No matter how many break God’s laws, deny them, ignore them, or blaspheme them, yet they are perfectly intact and fully in authority!
When people break the rules, one does not need to redefine or re-write them, but merely to enforce them! For by these rules—God’s law and Jesus’ teachings—we must live, and will be judged!
Larry Atkin, Preacher
“For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5: 18).
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24: 35).
“The Scripture cannot be broken” (John 17: 17).
“We have come to see that Huxley was right when he said that “a man’s worst difficulties begin when he is able to do as he likes.” The evidences of these greater difficulties lie all about us. And in this age when a great word like “Puritanism” is so often merely a sneer; when scores of voices are perpetrating the fallacy that man can have, and ought to have, absolute, unbridled freedom to do as he likes, and to drive his way down any path of self-expression that he chooses; when so many others (taking their cue from that) begin to believe that almost anything can be justified in the sacred name of “the new morality” – and proceed to talk in a silly conceited way (thinking themselves the champions of emancipation!) about things which are supposed to be clever, but which are not clever in the least, which are indeed just common sins, and rotten, selfish sins at that – in this age we need to have it written upon our minds, as with a pen of iron on the rock, THAT GOD’S WILL, GOD’S TRUTH, GOD’S THRONE, GOD’S EVERLASTING DECISIVE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RIGHT AND WRONG, THAT DIFFERENCE FOR WHICH CHRIST DIED, STAND AS FAST AND AS BINDING AS EVER, AND CLAIM EVERY DECENT SOUL’S ALLEGIANCE!”
(James S. Stewart – Adapted)
Recently a radio report revealed that students of all levels in American schools and colleges are using the sophisticated technology of computers, cell phones, cameras, etc., to cheat on home work, term papers, and exams—and do not perceive it as cheating, but as merely using available technology as “helps”! The conclusion of the academic investigation was that “we are obviously going to have to come up with a new definition of cheating!”
This is but one symptom of a much larger problem. Ours seems to be a generation which refuses to live by the rules. The response of those in authority appears to be “Let’s change the rules! Let’s redefine right and wrong! Let’s implement better laws!”
What’s wrong with the rule of right and wrong the world already has—that taught in the Holy Bible? Nothing, of course! You cannot change or improve upon that which is divinely inspired, already perfect, incapable of mistake, never becoming obsolete! No matter how many break God’s laws, deny them, ignore them, or blaspheme them, yet they are perfectly intact and fully in authority!
When people break the rules, one does not need to redefine or re-write them, but merely to enforce them! For by these rules—God’s law and Jesus’ teachings—we must live, and will be judged!
Larry Atkin, Preacher
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