Our previous post began the series on the person of the Holy Spirit, although there will be much more written in future posts on this subject, we are deviating this time for an inspired reason.
We are currently reading in the book of Acts, and reacquainting ourselves with the Acts of the Apostles. In Acts 17 while Paul was waiting for Timothy and Silas in Athens, he preached in the synagogue and disputed with the Jews there and also in the market place. We were particularly inspired when reading vs. 22-28, which led to this blog post.
Act 17:22-28 KJV Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said “Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 23) For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an alter with this inscription; TO THE UNKNOWN GOD, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him I declare unto you. 24) God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25) Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing; seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26) And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth. And hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27) That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from everyone of us. 28) For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
As so many others, this too is a powerful piece of Scripture.
Perhaps many of us can relate to being born again into the Christian life and the subsequent effects it had on family and immediate friends. With our zealous attitudes but lacking in thorough Biblical knowledge, we were on fire for Christ and wanted to share this experience with everyone. Many years have come and gone since then and we realized that a new born again Christian should listen more, study more and read more before he speaks. Speaking prematurely alienates the ones closest to us at times and causes more harm than good. Having experienced this within our own family, the topic of the Bible does come up at times, is taboo at times but is generally loosely tolerated. Recent discussions with one family member inspired this blog post. A letter was written which we would like to share with our readers.
Dear Robert:
On the heels of our many conversations regarding God, I thought it best to put my views down on paper. Please do me the honor of at least reading the context of my writing. Check the facts out for yourself, even if you do not agree. I will be writing over several days as the spirit and knowledge move me.
Oct 9, 2018 I begin with a request from you to research some people in history, using any other historical documentation, not the Bible.
Nimrod – Nebuchandnezzer – King David – Saul – Paul (Jewish name Saul)
Pon’tius Pi’lot – Simon Peter (Simon the Zealot) – Tiberius
A research of places should also take place.
Ephesus – Iconium – Pergamum – Nazareth – Judea
These are just a drop in the bucket to begin understanding that these are real places and real people in history, not just the Bible. They provide documented accounts of historical events. If, as you say, the Bible is just someone’s words written on pieces of paper or (scrolls) as they used then and are not credible, then no other historical event ever written is credible, nothing Charles Darwin wrote is credible and the list can go on. Again, science documents experiments with definitive results, these are repeated and the results are the same. You cannot repeat history, and history cannot be proven by science. Winston Churchill, said, “history will be good to me, for I intend to write it.” Eye witness accounts to history prove to be very reliable and cannot be discounted. Much of the New Testament accounts come from eye witness accounts.
The Bible begins with “In the beginning, God”, this presupposes that God existed before the beginning. God is outside of time and within time, time, space and matter came into being together, one cannot exist without the other. When we know the universe is so big, by scientific measure, how does that translate into denying the existence of God. Again, one has to know everything there is to know, to know that there is no God. King David wrote in Psalm 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God, they are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Biblically speaking in Scripture “fool” is with respect to moral, meaning (wicked) rather than intellectual deficiencies. It applies to one who is rash, senseless or unreasonable. Foolishness is opting for folly and opposing sound thinking.
Then we come to the Gospel of John, where it states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2) The same was in the beginning with God. 3) All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made.
The Word was Jesus Christ who became flesh and walked among men, He was fully man and fully God. History provides many eyewitnesses to His existence, His birth, His ministry, His crucifixion and His resurrection.
God gave us dominion, choice and free will. His will for the lives of all human beings is to live according to His will. This sadly is not what has happened. The evil that is so commonly applied to God (why do so many ugly and evil things happen in this world, if there is a God it should not be so), these things have not happened because God has caused them, it is because mankind has caused them. Just look at history itself.
God did set a people aside for Himself to carry His word and Oracles, and on careful study of the Old Testament, the people constantly went sideways. They were warned, they were overtaken again and again and they received just punishment for what they have done. The just punishment they received, they brought on themselves. The Catholic church as well as the Protestants which followed, allowed and perpetuated the thinking that God controls almost everything, Read Romans chapter 1 in its entirety. This chapter shows the character of God, His instructions and when they are not heeded even after countless intervention, He will give a person or a people over to their fleshly passions and desires, be they greed, power, sexual, addiction, idolatry or any number of other lusts mankind can muster. This is the character of God from the beginning to the end of the book we call the Bible. He does not change.
In Genesis, God holds each one accountable, in Genises 3:11-14 To Adam, “Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? To Eve, What is this that thou hast done? To the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
Sadly, some of our history books are being altered and each time the Bible is rewritten and copyrighted, the contents are required to be different by 10%.
In the third century when Constantine was Emperor, he declared Christianity to be the state religion while still allowing other religions to exist. He joined the governing system to the church. This practice was enhanced by the Catholic Church and history proves it was not corrected but carried on under the Reformed Churches. The Bible does not support this, but endorses separation of church and state.
I’ll leave you with this message and perhaps we can discuss it when we see each other again. I come from a place of caring for my family members, whether they agree with me or disagree, my choice is LOVE.
Lots of Love
Both Old and New Testaments document many miracles with hundred and sometimes thousands of witness. These miracle displays enforced God’s power, but mankind lacks the ability to believe wholeheartedly, his earthly, fleshly desires somehow often triumph over true faith. The Scripture from Peter’s first Epistle reads:
1:7-9 7) That the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 8) Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 9) Receiving the end of your faith even the salvation of your souls.
What does it take to prove God? There are no simple answers, walking in love though will go a long way in telling God’s truth.
PRAISE BE TO GOD, FOREVER, AMEN
Blessed Assurance 