Two of the basic premises upon which the premillennial concept is based are: First, that the prophecies concerning the coming and nature of the kingdom had to be literally fulfilled with a material, earthly kingdom. Second, that if the Jews had accepted Jesus as the King, he would have set up the kingdom as promised. However, since they rejected him, he postponed it and will set it up at some future time when he will reign for 1000 years. In all the literature we have read written by premillennialists, we have not seen any clear explanation of this problem: If the Jews were looking for an earthly king, and Jesus came to establish an earthly kingdom, and he was fulfilling all that they thought the prophets had spoken of him, why did they reject him? Why did Jesus say to his disciples in Luke 24:25,  “O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!” Why did he say in John 18:36, “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.” The truth is that the kingdom which he came to establish was so very different from the kingdom they envisioned that they rejected him and the kingdom. If it had been anything like the kingdom of Solomon or David, with a king that could feed multitudes …

Most of the time when I have been asked, “Is a man born into the family of God, or adopted?” I have replied, “‘Born’ or ‘adopted’ are simply two different terms indicating a method of entering a family, so it does not matter.” I was simply indicating what every reference work and dictionary to which I have access says. I now believe we have overlooked some interesting, though not crucial things. The Greek term translated “adoption” is “huiothesia” about which Thayer says, “The nature and condition of the true disciples of Christ, who by receiving the Spirit of God into their souls become sons of God.” He adds, “It also includes the blessed state looked for in the future life after the visible return of Christ from heaven — i.e., the consummate condition of the sons of God which will render it evident that they are sons of God.” We wish that our readers and we were always able to differentiate between a casual opinion expressed by an “authority,” and a scholarly, definitive conclusion, arrived at and proven by the proper analytical methods. Also, we wish the authority or the student would make a proper distinction between the meaning of a term and the thing to which the term refers in a particular context. For example, “baptizo” means “dip, plunge, immerse, overwhelm, etc.” It may refer to immersion in water for the remission of sin, being overwhelmed with grief, suffering, etc., or in some denominational terminology, “a water ritual by …

A friend recently requested help in defining the American Dream. My reply was my opinion — and that only — for the term is often used but vague in meaning. Many associate it with materialistic progress. To me, it is so much more than that. The American Dream unites high principles of the equality of all humans and the reward of a strong work ethic. It highlights potential and offers opportunity for the honest seizure of it through freedom from oppression. Many of history’s cultures have mired themselves in the dogmatism of racial and class distinctions. If one was born poor and enslaved, he stayed that way. There was no hope. Only with a democratic system that rewarded people for their individual effort were such binding shackles thrown off. The American Dream gives people hope to advance themselves. It provides opportunity for thinkers to propagate their ideas. It is not the license to serve one’s own pleasures, but the freedom for honest labor to be rewarded outside of the constricting boundaries of dictatorial societal castes and causes. Those rewards may be financial, but more often than not, they are otherwise. They are the rewards of knowing others have benefited from one’s research and work. That, to me, is the American Dream. The Christian Reality, if you’ll permit the coining of such a phrase, is, though, far better than such a dream. The American Dream is a lofty ideal, but it is often corrupted by man’s sinfulness. His greed hinders the …

It seems hard for many people to grasp, but the New Testament clearly teaches that one is not a Christian until he has been baptized. We are baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:27). We are baptized into his body (1 Corinthians 12:14). We are baptized for the remission of our sins (Acts 2:38). We are baptized to be saved (Mark 16:16; 1 Peter 3:21). Jesus demanded the new birth of water and the spirit (John 3:3, 5, 7). Baptism was clearly a part of the new birth experience, and that was the meaning attached to Jesus’ words regarding the new birth from the beginning of the church. Baptism clearly involved the immersion of the convert in water. In a Christian context, it never meant the sprinkling or pouring of water upon an individual. The meaning of the word is indisputable, and if correctly translated, would be translated immersion. Our English word is not a translation but a transliteration of the Greek word. The translators, by and large, have refused to translate the word because doing so would be devastating to those who have substituted the practice of sprinkling or pouring for the biblically mandated act of immersing the convert. Baptism is described as a burial followed by a resurrection to new life (Romans 6:3-4; Colossians 2:12). It involved a going down into and coming up out of water (Acts 8:38-39). John baptized converts at Aenon near Salim because there was much water there (John 3:22). Jesus was immersed (Matthew 3:16). Jesus …

Question: “If a man possesses all the other attributes necessary to become an elder, is it wrong for him not to desire the position?” Answer: There are several elements pertaining to your question which need to be addressed. Please consider the following. 1. Development. Every congregation of the Lord’s church needs to be constantly developing sound men for the eldership. *Shepherds are not born; they are cultivated incrementally over time. They do not suddenly appear when the need for them arises. One author observes: We must face it — we really don’t want elders! Congregations exist for years without ordaining elders. Congregations with elders go for years without ordaining additional elders. Preachers, having had bad experiences, have a distaste for elders. Mediocre elders or power-hungry elders look upon prospective elders with suspicion and resentment. In such cases elders have to, literally, be forced into [office.] Cliques are always trying to get an opponent out or a champion in. …Most elderships have been born in necessity or strife — this is not as it should be. Young men are repulsed with such antics — they have no desire to qualify as elders. There must be a constant development of spiritual elders! Weak or bad leadership will catch up with you! It can be “crutched” or “covered up” only so long. We must develop godly elders! [Charles Hodge, “Elders Are Tempted,” Gospel Advocate, March 22, 1979, p. 184]. 2. Readiness. A brother is to “be ready for every good work” (Titus 3:1). Paul indicates that one …

Human beings are fascinated, not only by the existence and revolutions of the moon, but also by its beauty. The moon serves a utilitarian purpose in regulating the months and the tides, and it also serves an aesthetic purpose to earth dwellers. Up close, it is neither utilitarian nor beautiful, but from a quarter of a million miles, its yellow crescent or its white full-orbed splendor does something to everyone, especially to lovers. Did the moon’s Maker have something in mind for earth dwellers both practically and aesthetically? When one turns his eyes from the moon back to the earth, and examines a rose, several questions arise. How did it arrive? Why is it so symmetrically shaped, beautifully colored and delicately perfumed? If there is no practical value, did the rose’s Maker have an appreciation for things of beauty? Did he put in humans a corresponding sense of appreciation of symmetry, of colors and of fragrance? If one tries to make a list of beautiful things, he becomes exhausted. Long before the apples of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia become utilitarian nourishment, that valley in blossom season is more than any artist can imagine. Also, springtime in the Rocky Mountains has something more than mining and ranching. Furthermore, sunrise at sea is more than another earth revolution. The scientific explanation of a sunrise at sea leaves something to be desired: “the earth revolves until its tangent plane coincides once more with the solar azimuth.” The songs of the nightingale, the …

All Bible students are acquainted with the familiar story of God leading Israel out of Egyptian bondage using Moses, his servant, as their great leader. There is also the acceptance of how God divided the waters of the Red Sea, permitting Israel to cross on dry ground and reaching the other side safely. There was great rejoicing at that time. Songs were sung in praise to Jehovah for his deliverance. In contrast, God caused the waters to come together and drown and destroy the army of Pharaoh (Exodus 14 & 15).  I recall seeing the movie, “The Ten Commandments”, with my family many years ago and was amazed at the special effects as I watched the parting of the Red Sea. The real thing was, without doubt, more spectacular than the movie version. God made a seemingly impossible feat a reality. When God determines to do something, there is nothing too hard for Him to accomplish. However, when men have a part in his plans, matters can be more difficult than the miraculous that God can perform with his power. Did you ever consider that it was more difficult for God to get Egypt out of Israel than it was to get Israel out of Egypt? It was but a short time after the crossing of the Red Sea that the children of Israel began to murmur and complain, stating that matters were much better back in Egypt for them. At least they had the “flesh-pot” and plenty of bread …

She sat across my desk and desperately longed for an answer. Should she respond to the invitation and repent of sins — such as missing the worship assembly (cf. Hebrews 10:25) and using bad language (Colossians 3:8) — or should she just not worry about it? This was not the first time I had been asked this question during a counseling session. But it was the first time that I did not immediately say, “Yes, you should repent.” The young lady who was sitting across from me was suffering from a mental illness — something our society handles very poorly. Yet according to recent statistics, this woman is far from being alone. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates 22.1 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about 1 in 5 adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year. When applied to the 1998 U.S. Census residential population estimate, this figure translates to 44.3 million people. Of this 44 million, a fraction develops conditions that require major treatment and medication. Today 4 of the 10 leading causes of disability in the U.S. are mental disorders — major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Many of these individuals possess unstable neural chemistry — to the degree that they are unable to function in society or distinguish right from wrong. What is Their Condition In God’s Eye’s? The woman’s question was valid. She knew that after she stopped taking her medication she had lapsed into a …

Numbers are rather strange things when one stops to think about them. Often times what man cannot express in mere words he can express in terms of numbers. For example, when one desires to emphasize the fact that something is very large, very heavy or very tall, he will express those facts in terms of miles of width, tons of weight or hundreds of feet high. We deal with numbers every day, and many of the points of our own identification are expressed in terms of numbers. If we are describing a person, we will say that he/she is so tall, weighs so much or wears a certain size in clothing. We also express things in special numbers that we call statistics. These are used to set forth the ideas of how likely it is for some event to take place in your life. For example, we are told that the chances that you or I will eventually die in an automobile crash are very good. They are one in one hundred twenty-five. That means that out of every 125 times one goes out in his car there is at least the possibility that he could die in a crash. Doctors tell us that the likelihood that we can develop a brain tumor runs at about the rate of 1 in 25,000. So, there is a real possibility that one person reading this article will have to be treated for some sort of tumor of the brain before he/she leaves …

(Power, Vol. 9, No. 6, June 2000, p. 1.) Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:16, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” Paul knew well that as our bodies age, they begin to wither and decay. Our skin wrinkles, bones soften, normal body functions are no longer normal, sight diminishes, and aches and pains increase. These are all natural signs of a temporary body. They testify of the limited existence of the outward man. Imagine if this were all there was to man. There would be no purpose or hope. But God’s Word rings loud and clear that man is much more than physical matter. Man has a spiritual entity which will live forever — a soul (Matthew 10:28, 25:46). In our text (2 Corinthians 4:16), Paul not only discusses the “outward man,” but also the “inward man.” He informs us that unlike the outward man, which will decay and perish, the inward man is renewed daily. He is speaking to an actual event in the lives of God’s faithful children. When we grow and mature in the faith (2 Peter 1:5-11; 3:18) and continue to overcome sin in our lives — purging it out (Hebrews 12:1; Romans 8:3-8; 1 Timothy 5:22b) — our inner self is renewed day by day. The inner man does not decay and corrupt because we are no longer servants of sin (Romans 6). As we walk in the light, the blood …

It is a leading fact of the Gospel “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). The death of Jesus Christ is an astonishing event productive of so many marvelous consequences. It cannot be too reverently pondered or too closely examined. Millions of men have died, but only one Christ has died. All men who have passed into “the valley of the shadow of death” have done so because of sin (Romans 5:12). Christ alone has died for sin (1 Peter 2:24). The death of Jesus Christ upon the cross is not appreciated alike by all. To the world, it is mere foolishness.  Paul wrote, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). Paul named the unbelievers: “For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:22). To the children of God, however, the message of the crucifixion of Christ is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18). The crucified Christ constitutes the center of our preaching: “but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23). The evangelists give us their respective accounts of the crucifixion in Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23 and John 19. We are certainly impressed with the brevity of the crucifixion accounts. What restraint the inspired writers must have exercised as they put pen to paper to describe history’s most …

What does it mean to be spiritually minded? The question itself seems ridiculous, because the answer should be obvious. However, many people have exchanged spirituality for pseudo-spirituality. They want the appearance of being spiritual without the responsibility that goes with it. Some equate zeal with spirituality, yet Paul indicated that zeal alone does not insure the proper spiritual mindset (Romans 10:1-2). Others get caught up in emotional hype, relying on the excitement, often of externals, to give them the strength by which to live. But neither of these is true spirituality. They fail to provide any strength and comfort after the initial “high” and create a dependency on the fervor and emotion of the moment rather than a trust in the God of eternity. Somehow, people have equated these emotions with being “Spirit-filled” and spirituality. God, on the other hand, always connects spirituality with our reception of and our living by the message revealed by the Spirit (Romans 8:1-4). “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). Spiritual-Mindedness, then, is not a feeling but a determination — a determination to direct our thoughts and our lives according to God’s revealed will. Jesus taught in parables, especially early on in his earthy work, in order to stimulate spiritual thinking (Mark 4:10-12). “And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all  parables?” (Mark 4:10-13). In asking these two questions, Jesus showed that their problem in understanding the …