1 Timothy 3:15, "...that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
According to the late T. W. Barnes, many people pronounce the name of Jesus without really knowing how to say it. He specified four ways to say the name of Jesus:
Say His name with love; the early church had great success, because they loved not their lives, they loved that Name. Love is powerful. Their love gave them reverence for the Name.
Say His name with vision. Say it seeing the invisible. A woman said, “I resist the devil and he doesn’t leave.” Bro. Barnes asked her, “What do you look for? The Bible doesn’t say resist him and see him sitting on your shoulder; when you resist him you should see him running. The devil no doubt left you when you said in Jesus Name, but since you did not expect him to go, your thinking made you as miserable as if he stayed with you.”
Say His name with faith. Religious leaders in Israel asked the disciples, “How did you heal the man crippled from his mother’s womb?” Peter answered, “…by the name of Jesus Christ…”
Say His name while living a life of sacrifice. The disciples sacrificed everything for that name. We need to love it enough that no sacrifice is too great to make for Jesus.
What evidence is there that the Bible is in fact God’s Word?[1]
By: Adrian Rogers
I want to give you five reasons to affirm the Bible is the Word of God.
First, I believe the Bible is the Word of God because of its scientific accuracy. The Truth of the Word of God tells us that God “hangeth the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7). How did Job know that the earth hung in space before the age of modern astronomy and space travel? The Holy Spirit told him. The scientists of Isaiah’s day didn’t know the topography of the earth, but Isaiah said, “It is [God] that sitteth upon the circle of the earth” (Isaiah 40:22). The word for “circle” here means a globe or sphere. How did Isaiah know that God say upon the circle of the earth? By divine inspiration.
Secondly, the Bible is affirmed through historical accuracy. Do you remember the story about the handwriting on the wall that is found in the fifth chapter of Daniel? Belshazzar hosted a feast with a thousand of his lords and ladies. Suddenly, a gruesome hand appeared out of nowhere and began to write on a wall. The king was disturbed and asked for someone to interpret the writing. Daniel was found and gave the interpretation. After the interpretation, “Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.” (Daniel 5:29). Basing their opinion on Babylonian records, the historians claim this never happened. According to the records, the last king of Babylon was not Belshazzar, but a man named Nabonidas. And so, they said, the Bible is in error. There wasn’t a record of a king named Belshazzar. Well, the spades of archeologists continued to do their work. In 1853, an inscription was found on a cornerstone of a temple built by Nabonidas, to the god Ur, which read: “May I, Nabonidas, king of Babylon, not sin against thee. And may reverence for thee dwell in the heart of Belshazzar, my first-born favorite son.” From other inscriptions, it was learned that Belshazzar and Nabonidas were co-regents. Nabonidas traveled while Belshazzar stayed home to run the kingdom. Now that we know that Belshazzar and Nabonidas were co-regents, it makes sense that Belshazzar would say that Daniel would be the third ruler. What a marvelous nugget of truth tucked away in the Word of God!
Third, from Genesis to Revelation, the Bible reads as one book. And there is incredible unity to the Bible. The Bible is one book, and yet it is made up of 66 books, was written by at least 40 different authors over a period of about 1600 years, in 13 different countries and on three different continents. It was written in at least three different languages by people in all professions. The Bible forms one beautiful temple of truth that does not contradict itself theologically, morally, ethically, doctrinally, scientifically, historically, or in any other way.
Fourth, did you know the Bible is the only book in the world that has accurate prophecy?When you read the prophecies of the Bible, you simply have to stand back in awe. There are over 300 precise prophecies that deal with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament that are fulfilled in the New Testament. To say that these are fulfilled by chance is an astronomical impossibility.
Finally, the Bible is not a book of the month, but the Book of the ages.First Peter 1:25 says: “But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the Word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” No book has ever had as much opposition as the Bible. Men have laughed at it, scorned it, burned it, ridiculed it, and made laws against it. But the Word of God has survived. And it is applicable today as much as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow.
It’s so majestically deep that scholars could swim and never touch the bottom. Yet so wonderfully shallow that a little child could come and get a drink of water without fear of drowning. That is God’s precious, holy Word. The Word of God. Know it. Believe it. It is True.
“A gift, to be a gift, has to be accepted. Otherwise it lies like a burden between people.” –Robert Fisher, The Knight In Rusty Armor
I think that we are too casual in explaining the present of the Holy Ghost. Since it is in fact the Spirit of Christ in us, it is no wonder that He would be grieved by those who would not want Him in them. I think of those in the nominal church world who have the same access to the Holy Ghost as all of us in this age of grace and Holy Ghost outpouring, but who merely put it on a shelf and never unwrap it. The gift then lies unwrapped, unaccepted, and a burden.
My first date occurred at a banquet on February 14th, when I was twelve years old. I gave the young lady a present that night, which she accepted. However, later that evening, as she was preparing to go home, I misunderstood something she said. She wanted to go get her present, but I thought that she was saying something else. Consequently, she thought that I was refusing to let her keep the gift. To this day I think she still has little time for me and that event is a burden between two individuals.
LOL!! What a catastrophe!?!?
God is not like that. He not only gives a gift, but He never takes it back and He always knows exactly what we communicate – even when we don’t know how or what to say.
My grandfather began his journey towards God in the late 1940s. He had such an experience in repentance that he received the joy that the Samaritans had in Acts 8, but he had not received the Holy Ghost. His wife then met some Pentecostals and received the Holy Spirit. Grandpa would get upset with her at night because she spoke in tongues before going to bed at night and insisted that he needed more than what he had. It lay as a burden between them. Finally, Grandpa prayed to God and said that he knew he had all that God had for him, but to make his wife happy, would God let him speak in tongues. Instantly, the presence of God that he’d felt since his repentance left him. This was when he knew that God had more for him – it lay as a burden between him and God. He then cried out in repentance for His pride and God filled him with the Holy Ghost speaking in tongues.
Salvation is a gift that unless received in totality will be forfeit no matter who we are. Paul wrote about receiving the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness, which is only accessible through Jesus Christ, who is our portion and free gift through grace (Ro. 5:21). Refusal of this gift, in this particular text, results in the refusal of eternal life.
Paul also wrote of the gift he was given charge of by the churches of Macedonia, who gave it to bless the Corinthian church (2 Cor. 8). I imagine that if this gift had been refused that there would have been ought among these two groups.
Unrequited love is often mentioned in literature and even God Himself is mentioned by some as a jilted lover covering His eyes in grief as His Jewish bride rejects Him and He then turns to the Gentiles for succor. I only know that He wept at their obtuseness and they became a people who had eyes but did not see. This rejection of Jesus still lies as a burden between God and the nation of Israel as a whole, but, praise God, Israel did not stumble to fall. I believe that the burden will be lifted when they look on Him whom they pierced and acknowledge Him as Messiah.
We call it the gift of the Holy Ghost and it is, by one man’s estimation, being received by 35,000 people a day throughout the world. Why wouldn’t people want to receive this phenomenon that Christ has paid for with His blood and made available to all people?
Ex. 29:38-46, “38 Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. 39 The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even: 40 And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering. 41 And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 42 This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee. 43 And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office. 45 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. 46 And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the LORD their God.”
Altar of Sacrifice / Brazen Altar
The Word of God contains specifications for how the Hebrews could go about fulfilling a perpetual/continual sacrifice unto God (Numbers 28 & 29).
Altars play a central role in the Word of God. It is the place where man meets his Maker. It is a hallowed place necessary for the relationship between the man and his God to flourish.
The Law of Sacrifice is that we are to be in constant communication and prayer with God. Altars play an important role in fulfilling this law.
Exodus 20:24, “An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.”
According to Walter L. Wilson, “It is called an altar of earth because it belongs strictly to this earth. God makes no provision for forgiveness and salvation after death. No sacrifice of any kind is available to the lost sinner after he dies. There is no altar in hell.”[1]
There is no altar in hell! In hell you become totally and eternally cut-off from God.
There can be no relationship without communication.
Psalm 66:18-20, “18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: 19 But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.”
To paraphrase this passage in a more common vernacular: “If I hold with affection an evil or unjust act, God will not listen to me.” God is not going to listen to my prayer when He knows that I am insincere about my relationship with Him and that I enjoy sin.
The Apostle Paul put it another way when writing of those who “did not like to retain God in their knowledge” and were “full of all unrighteousness,” by stating: “Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (See: Romans 1:18-32).
These regarders of iniquity and seekers of sinful pleasures will not be heard by God when they pray to Him in their insincerity, but for the sincere the psalmist did write, “But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer” (Ps. 66:19). Why? Because the psalmist cried out to God and extolled Him (Ps. 66:17). He was retaining God in his knowledge – – acknowledging God and prioritizing Him above all else.
Ps. 84:1-4, “1 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! 2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. 3 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. 4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.”
Vs. 3 = A Deserted Altar
Again, Wilson writes, “God’s people had forsaken both the worship and the service of the Lord to such an extent that the fires had gone out, the altar was cold, and no priest was near. The birds felt so much at home around these altars that they built their nests where the priests should have been serving, and the fires should have been burning.”[2]
The people of the Name failed to make Him the true Lord and King of their life and lost their intimacy with Him.
They allowed idols to replace their time at the altar of God. When do you pray? Where do you pray? How often do you pray? Have you a specific place of prayer? Is your daily and continual desire to be in constant communion with the Lord? What is the constant in your daily affairs?
You can’t hear God clearly if you are not listening to Him.
Active Listening is part and parcel of continual prayer, which is why the Apostle admonished the early Church to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).
However, it is often too true that we allow the cares and troubles of life to gather in the place we once dedicated to God and now those birds and nests live in the place where once we came regularly for fellowship, repentance, communication, and relationship with God.
2 Cor. 10:3-6 contains what should be our response to the nesting birds that attempt to lodge themselves into our lives: “3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
Two men in the Old Testament found themselves in opposite positions of relationship to God due entirely upon their habits regarding the altar and the law of sacrifice.
ABRAHAM:
Gen. 19:27, “And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD.”
Do you have a place where you daily stand before the Lord? A lifestyle of faithfulness in communion with the Lord?
The Akedah (binding of Isaac) & The Seven-Fold Blessing of Abraham (Gen. 22). Abraham prioritized his relationship with God above all things, and the Lord revealed to him an attribute of His character – Jehovah-jireh (“Jehovah sees”).[3]
Abraham is known in Scripture as the friend of God.
JOAB:
1 Kings 2:28, “Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.”
There is no other passage in the OT where a pattern of prayer and sacrifice was established by Joab.
He had no resources to pull from because he had no relationship with God. He attempted to gain the mercy and the authority of the altar without first building a foundation of relationship with God.
God was not his priority.
Joab’s first allegiance was to himself.
Jesus Christ has paved the way for our access to the Divine with His sacrifice on the altar of Calvary. He said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (Jn. 12:32). This “lifting” refers to the lifting up of the sacrifice upon the brazen altar by the priests. Because of Christ’s sacrifice we have been granted an avenue of access to God that Man lost in the Garden of Eden.
Hebrews 4:14-16, “14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Heb. 13:15-16, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”
The continual faithfulness of Abraham carried eternal significance for himself, his lineage, and the rest of mankind. Our prayer habits also carry eternal weight, not only for ourselves but for others as well. When we begin to comprehend this truth we can understand the wisdom of that great missionary Billy Cole, who espoused the following ideology: “The reward for sacrifice is more sacrifice.” He also opined that “Until Jesus Christ comes there is no end to sacrifice,” which is, in this author’s opinion, the definition of the law of sacrifice because it contains the necessary ingredient of constancy.[4]
__________________
SOURCE: [1] Wilson, Walter L. (1957, 1999). A Dictionary of Bible Types. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. p. 9-11.
The following is derived from a symposium paper co-authored by Stewart A. Bertram and myself in the Spring of 2005 and presented to Parkersburg Bible College (Parkersburg, WV) during their annual colloquium.
The oldest permanent English settlement in America was established on April 26, 1607, in Jamestown, Virginia. This plaque was posted on the wall of the lobby of the first church built there – Acts 2:38.
History undeniably records various elements of distinctly Orthodox Apostolic doctrine in North America as early as 1677, which was only 70 years after the first permanent settlement was established in Jamestown.[1] What we will attempt to show is a chronological outline of these various apostolic doctrines and practices as they appear in the index of North American history. While many will view this as a restoration of Apostolic Pentecostal experience we maintain that it actually proves the continued existence and growth of the orthodox teaching of the book of Acts. We further assert that there have always been pockets of true believers in every century following and obeying the true message of the New Birth. Some examples record partial alignment with the Apostles’ doctrine, the following is a list of some of those instances:
Society of Friends (Quakers) – “…our tongues loosed and our mouths opened, and we spake with new tongues as the Lord gave utterance, and as His Spirit led us.”[2]
John Wesley (1703-1791) – “What so impressed and encouraged John Wesley and his followers, what so shocked, startled, and bewildered his contemporaries, is no mystery to the modern psychologist, to whom it is known as glossolalia…”[3]
Charles G. Finney (1783-1875) – “I received a mighty baptism in the Holy Ghost…No words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart. I wept aloud with joy and love; and I do not know but I should say, I literally bellowed out the unutterable gushings of my heart.”[4]
John Miller – a Presbyterian minister wrote Is God a Trinity in 1876 and “believed that the doctrine of the trinity was not biblical and that it greatly hindered the Church….He emphatically declared the full deity of Jesus Christ.”[5]
D. L. Moody (1837-1899) – According to R. A. Torrey, Moody’s friend and associate, he once witnessed Moody walk to the pulpit to preach but instead of addressing the crowd in English he began to speak in another language. This occurred one more time before he was able to gain control and preach to the audience, but “only after much prayer and praise.”[6]
Lowell, Ohio (1835) – a group of Camisards and/or French Huguenots establish an Orthodox Apostolic Acts 2:38 believing Church, but article IX of the church constitution changes the baptismal formula from Jesus’ name to the trinitarian formula in 1847. In 1980 Dr. Nelson preaches the Apostolic message to the congregation and they convert back to the orthodox message of Acts 2:38.[7]
Dan Huntington (1850) – baptized people in Boston, Massachusetts in Jesus’ name.[8]
Canada (1854) – “There was an organization of Acts 2:38 clergymen in Canada.”[9]
America (1865) – More than 160,000 Americans spoke in tongues.[10][11]
2) Baptized over 1,500 people in Jesus’ name in Wisconsin.
3) Preached in various locations along the Mississippi River.
4) Preached a considerable amount of the time in the Salvation Army.
Charles Fox Parham – “the first leader in the twentieth century Pentecostal movement, began to administer water baptism in Jesus’ name, although he apparently did not link this practice with an explicit denial of trinitarianism.”[13] Parham also “formulated the basic Pentecostal doctrine of ‘initial evidence’ after a student in his Bethel Bible School, Agnes Ozman, experienced glossolalia in January, 1901.”[14]
[1] Weisser, Thomas. After the Way Called Heresy. 1981.
[2] Bresson, Bernard L. Studies in Ecstasy. New York: Vintage Press. 1966. p. 48-52.
[3] Bowen, Marjorie. Wrestling Jacob: a study of the life of John Wesley. London: Watts & Co. 1948.
[4] Finney, Charles G. Memoirs of Charles G. Finney, being an Autobiography. New York. 1876.
[5] Bernard, David K. The Oneness of God. Hazelwood: Pentecostal Publishing House. 1993. 31 May 2005.
[6] Darbee, Lennard. Tongues: the Dyanmite of God.
[7] Nelson, Joseph. Church History. Parkersburg Bible College. Lecture given and Church Constitution shown to class on 18 November 2002.
[8] Synan, V. Aspects of Pentecostal-Charismatic Origins, NJ: Logos. 1975.
[9] Arnold, Marvin M. Apostolic History Outline. Arno Publications, Inc. 1985.
Romans 5:12-21 12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
In the beginning God made Man perfect and complete in His image and after His likeness (Gen. 1:26).
Man (Adam & Eve) was absolute in his spirit, soul, & body.
ABSOLUTE = “Perfect in quality or nature; complete. Not mixed; pure. Something regarded as the ultimate basis of all thought and being.” [1]
There are absolutes of truth, which are held by all true orthodox Christians (Christians who follow the teachings of Jesus, first century Apostles, and the prophets), and these truths include:
The eternality of the Word of God: “For Ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Ps. 119:89).
One God
The Bible standard of salvation: “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38).
The necessity of the “born again” experience: “Jesus answered…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3).
With the existence of these (and other) absolutes, there is also another truth. The devil wishes to pervert the beauty of Man’s original design and separate him completely from his Maker.
The spirit of perversion is at work today and began with Lucifer and his rebellion against God, moved to the Garden of Eden and the serpent’s tactic of questioning and corrupting the relationship between Man and God.
PERVERSION in 1388 was defined as “action of turning aside from truth, corruption, distortion (originally of religious beliefs).”[3]
This is the devil’s tactic; to subvert, corrupt, bend, misshape, and distort what God calls “good” into something perverse. Perversion is not, of necessity sexual in connotation, but it is the turning of something pure into a wrong use.
The Fall of Man resulted in the perversion of our original state into a nature – – the Adamic nature. Because Man has fallen so far from his original state we find examples in the bible of many types of perverseness (one such illustration is the Jezebel spirit found in 1 Kings 16:31-21:25; 2 Kings 9:7-37; & Rev. 2:20-23). Trinitarianism, cessationism, & the Jezebel spirit are all perversions, but Jesus has given the Church the power and authority to help bring those stuck in error back to completeness in God and in truth.
Sin is the state of perversion from the original design and purpose of Man. The account of the Good Samaritan can be viewed as Jesus’ attempt to warn the Apostles and Church of the dangers of perversion.
Jesus came to return what was once perverted back to its original state, by His love: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Ro. 5:6-8).
Because of Jesus Christ we now have the opportunity to walk in right relationship with Him. You’ve never met a man like Jesus. He never withdrew Himself from the lost sinners of the world (as many in the church do once they are “saves”). Instead, He went to the perverted (in spirit, soul, and body) who were looking for a change and a return to purity. He did not condemn the world, but He saved it through the work of redemption and reconciliation. He did not revile the perverse, but He removed the crookedness in them and returned them to a state of completeness. He, as the Potter, took the misshapen clay and created vessels of honor. Jesus heals, delivers, sets the captive free, restores broken homes, and places His love into right relationships.
Although tempted in all things, Jesus is our perfect example of a sinless life, and His obedience is what has reconciled Man to God. This ministry of reconciliation is the recovery of purity in our relationship with God.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:17-21).
The Pillar and Ground of Truth 