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THREE BOOKS THAT ARE STUMBLING STONES TO MANY CHRISTIANS.

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THREE BOOKS THAT ARE STUMBLING STONES TO MANY CHRISTIANS.

“  Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,  AND A STONE OF STUMBLING, AND A ROCK OF OFFENCE, EVEN TO THEM WHICH STUMBLE AT THE WORD, BEING DISOBEDIENT: whereunto also they were appointed.” 1 Peter 2:7-8.

  1. MATTHEW-
  2. ACTS-
  3. HEBREWS-

THESE THREE BOOKS, MATTHEW, ACTS, AND HEBREWS, DEAL WITH THE NATION OF ISRAEL, THEIR KING, AND THE KINGDOM. THESE MAY BE THE MOST MISUNDERSTOOD BOOKS IN THE BIBLE. THEIR PURPOSE AND PLACEMENT CAUSE MANY TO MISUNDERSTAND WHY GOD PLACED THEM WHERE THEY ARE. EACH BOOK IS A TRANSITION FROM A MAJOR SECTION TO ANOTHER. THAT IS THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THESE THREE.

MATTHEW- GIVES DETAILS OF THE OFFER OF THE KING AND HIS KINGDOM, AND ISRAEL’S REJECTION OF BOTH, WHILE HE WAS ON EARTH. DURING THIS TRANSITION, NOTHING IS SAID OR KNOWN OF THE CHURCH, WHICH WAS A MYSTERY OR SECRET.  “NOW TO HIM THAT IS OF POWER TO STABLISH YOU ACCORDING TO MY GOSPEL, AND THE PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST, ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY, WHICH WAS KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN,” ROMANS 16:25. THUS, ISRAEL IS WITHOUT EXCUSE. THEY COULD HAVE, AND SHOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD FROM THE SCRIPTURES AND WORKS OF JESUS THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN WAS AT HAND. MATTHEW MAKES IT CLEAR THAT ISRAEL WAS MOVING FROM THE ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE OFFER OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN BY JOHN THE BAPTIST, JESUS, AND HIS DISCIPLES, TO THE TIME OF REPENTANCE AND RECEPTION OF THEIR LONG AWAITED KINGDOM. 

ACTS- GIVES AN ACCOUNT OF OUR LORD’S REJECTION BY ISRAEL, AND HIS REJECTION OF THEM. IT DESCRIBES THE CONVERSION AND COMMISSION OF PAUL TO THE GENTILES. THIS PERIOD DOCUMENTS PAUL’S TRAVELS, HIS PREACHING, THE REVEALED GOSPEL WHICH WAS A MYSTERY, AND THE WRITING OF THE CHURCH EPISTLES. JERUSALEM IS NO LONGER THE CENTER OF ACTIVITY.  PETER IS SET ASIDE, AND THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN FALLS ON DEAF AND DYING EARS OF A FALLEN AND REJECTED NATION. THE BOOK IS NOT AN ACCOUNT OF THE BIRTH AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH. RATHER, IT IS A RECORD OF HOW AND WHY ISRAEL WAS REJECTED, A NEW APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES WAS CHOSEN, AND A NEW GOSPEL MESSAGE WAS GIVEN TO ALL THE WORLD WITHOUT THE CONVERSION OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL.

HEBREWS-THE BOOK OF HEBREWS TROUGHS A “MONKEY RANCH” IN THE WHOLE MATTER OF RIGHT DIVISION. IT IS HERE THE AVERAGE CHRISTION GOES HAYWIRE. HE DOES NOT UNDERSTAND   THAT THE BOOK OF HEBREWS THROUGH REVELATION IS WRITTEN TO THE JEWS AND MUST BE SEEN AS A DIVIDING POINT FROM THE CHURCH, WHICH IS CHRIST’S BODY, TO THE DAY OF THE LORD.  RIGHT DIVISION TAKES ISRAEL THROUGH THE GREAT TRIBULATION AND INTO THEIR ETERNAL KINGDOM. THEREFOR, THE BODY OF CHRIST IS NOT THE SUBJECT OF THESE JEWISH EPISTLES. RIGHT DIVISION WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF RECONCILING HEBREWS WITH THE PAULINE EPISTLES. IT IS A TRANSITION BOOK.

IT IS FUTILE TO ATTEMPT RECONCILIATION OF THE MANY DIVISIONS AND DISPENSATIONS FOUND IN THE WORD OF GOD, UNLESS WE “STUDY TO SHEW THYSELF APPROVED UNTO GOD, A WORKMAN THAT NEEDETH NOT TO BE ASHAMED, RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH.” 2 TIMOTHY 2:15. WE CONCLUDE THAT IF THERE IS RIGHT DIVISIONS OF SCRIPTURE, ONE MAY FAIL, AND WRONGLY DIVIDE THEM. NOWHERE IS THAT MORE EVIDENT THAN THE THREE EXAMPLES WE GIVE OF MATTHEW, ACTS, AND HEBREWS. THEY MUST BE AS DESCRIBED ABOVE.

FOR THOSE WHO DRINK A LITTLE WINE

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FOR THOSE WHO DRINK A LITTLE WINE

  1. THEY HAVE WOES, SORROWS, CONTENTIONS, BABBLINGS, WOUNDS, AND RED EYES-
  2. THEY ARE UNDER ITS POWER AND INFLUENCE-
  3. THEY SEEK FOR WHORES-
  4. THEY LOSE CONTROL OF SPEECH-
  5. THEY ARE AS THOSE WHO ARE SEASICK-
  6. THEY HAVE WOUNDS WITHOUT CAUSE-
  7. THEY ARE STUPID, AND WILL DO IT AGAIN-

Proverbs 23:  “Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling?

who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?  They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.  Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.  At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.  Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.  Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.  They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.” Proverbs 23:29-35.

THE PATH FOR BEAUTIFUL FEET

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THE PATH FOR BEAUTIFUL FEET

  1. IT BEGINS WITH THE RESURRECTED CHRIST-
  2. IT IS AS CLOSE AS YOUR OWN HEART AND MOUTH-
  3. IT IS THE SUBJECT OF EVANGELISTIC PREACHING-
  4. IT IS THE GIFT TO THE BELIEVING HEART-
  5. IT IS GIVEN TO ALL WHO HEAR AND RECEIVE IT-
  6. IT IS THE REWARD TO THOSE WITH BEAUTIFUL FEET-

“But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)  Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)  But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” Romans 10:6-15.

WHAT IS A CHURCH?

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WHAT IS A CHURCH?

It is strange but true that most people — even the great majority of religious people — do not know what a church is. Ask the average man what a church is, and he’s apt to reply: “Well, anybody knows that! A church is a building where people go to worship God.” But this is not correct. The word translated church, in our Bibles, simply means assembly. A church is not a building, but the assembly that meets in the building. Technically, a church is not even a religious gathering, for the same word is used in Acts 19:32 of a riotous mob which had assembled at Ephesus, and this verse says that this assembly was confused and that “the greater part knew not wherefore they were come together.” Perhaps this could apply to many a church today, but the point is that a church is not a building but an assembly of people.

 

The church of which the Bible has most to say is “the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28), and St. Paul calls the church of this present dispensation, “the Body of Christ,” or “the Church which is His Body” (I Cor. 12:27; Eph. 1:22,23).

 

Men cannot join this Church by water baptism or any other religious rite, but only by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. With regard to believers in Christ St. Paul declares: “By one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body” (I Cor. 12:13). And in Rom. 12:5 the Apostle says that “ye, being many, are one body in Christ.”

Many sincere people have had their names on local church rolls for many years before learning this great truth — that the true Church of God is not a building, but the assembly of those who trust in Christ as their Savior. Doubtless, people in and out of many of the religious organizations we call churches belong to this one great Bible Church, while others, with all their religious profession, do not. The question is: Have we sincerely trusted in Christ as the Savior who died for our sins?” C. S.

THE MYTH ABOUT A RED HEIFER

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THE MYTH ABOUT A RED HEIFER

There is much speculation about a Red Heifer arriving as the SIGN that Jesus is about to return. I have been hearing this for years. If anyone knows of a Bible prophecy that states it so, please let us know. We don’t need another myth. Only Bible fact, please.

 “And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,  This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke:  And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face:  And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times:  And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:  And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.  Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even.  And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.  And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.  And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.”
Numbers 19:1-10