God's Name

In G. Campbell Morgan's book, The Ten Commandments, in addressing the first commandment lays the foundation of who the God is we are to worship -- Jehovah. Readers of this blog know this is something I've studied for a long time. I find it interesting that there is a rise in the number of books and authors who no longer use the name Jehovah. Morgan gives a defense of His Bible and the name Jehovah.

"There is deep significance in the name by which God here declares Himself, JEHOVAH. It is a combination of three Hebrew word, which may be translated into an English form thus: Yehi, "He will be," Hove, "being," and Hahyah, "he was." A combination is made from the tree workds by taking the fist syllable of the firs YeHi, the middle syllable of the second, hOVe, and the last syllable of the third, hahyAH, so that we have the name YEHOVAH. The whole name means, "He that will be, He that is, He that was."

In a footnote, Morgan went on to explain:

"This interpretation of the meaning of the word Jehovah has been severely criticized, and among other things has been designed "elaborated absurdity." The interpretation is that of the late Mr. Thomas Newberry, the author of the Englishman's Bible, a Hebraist of conspicuous ability. Of course it is a personal conclusion by one who interprets the Old Testament in the light of the New. The original Hebrew form YHVH left open the question of hte vowels. The generally accepted idea that the word Jehovah is a hybrid of the combination of the vowels ADONAI and YHVH is also a conclusion arrived at, and cannot be fairly stated to be a certainty. In correspondence with Mr. Newberry on the point, after the criticisms referred to, he said in a letter to me, 'The explanation of the Divine title Jehovah is given as a simple statement of facts on the authority of the Sacred Scriptures. In Revelation 1:4, the Holy Ghost has so interpreted its meaning." this may appear to some to be "elaborated absurdity," There are others of us who look upon it as sound and spiritual exposition."

Two Difficult Things

Thomas Watson, in his book, The Divine Cordial wrote, "There are two things, which I have always looked upon as difficult. The one is, to make the wicked sad; the other is to make the godly joyful. Dejection in the godly arises from a double spring; either because their inward comforts are darkened, or their outward comforts are disturbed." The reason a Christian does not experience the our promised is we forget God and His promises while trial and tribulation shake us until all we see are our troubles. When we don’t look to God and trust in His provision for us in Christ during life’s many or constant trials, we loose sight of our hope, which in turn, makes us miserable.

On my way to work this morning, I was listening to a podcast by a former Navy Seal talking discussing staying calm under pressure. He gave some practical tips but also a warning, knowing and doing are two different things. You can know what to do mentally but putting it in practice takes discipline and patience. Not an hour later, I was at work and with several deadlines approaching and passing me by, I was under pressure, and completely forgot the Seal’s advice. We may know, but we also need to remember. This only comes by constant meditation on the promises of God.

Romans 8:28 tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” All things, good and ill, work together for good for God’s people. Nothing will stop or slow God's will and everything God wants to do, He will do. What a wonderful thought, especially when I think that God loves me, and is for me; He is not my enemy, but my Father. Christ is my Lord, my Saviour, my friend, and sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for me.

The wicked, on the other hand, seem unconcerned with weighty spiritual truths of eternity. Living, as if God did not exist, with no regard of sin and eternal judgment. Where the Christian loses hope and comfort when they forget what God has done for them, the ungodly has a groundless confidence. The Christian has ever reason to look beyond their failures and heartaches and look to the Author and Finisher of their faith, but the wicked know not God. The Christian forgets they are justified in Christ and nothing can separate them from the love of God in Christ Jesus, while the unsaved justifies himself and finds contentment in his own good works.

If you have repented and turned to Jesus Christ and his finished work at Calvary and trusted in Him for the salvation of your soul, then believe Him and have assurance in what He has done for you. Take the promises of God, who does not change and cannot lie as a sure and strong consolation and rejoice in Him.

The Worry Business

This is from a sermon delivered by C.H. Spurgeon on Thursday January 27th 1876.

Have you, - You who are in the habit of worrying and fretting, ever made any profit by doing so? How much a year do you think that anybody would give you for all your fretting? How much has it brought you in ? Come, brother, if it is a good business, I would like to go into partnership with you; but I should like first to know something about your profits. As I look at your face, I notice that I is careworn and anxious. That does not seem to indicate that the business is a profitable one. If I listen to your speech, I hear you murmuring a great deal instead of praising God. That does not seem to me to be a profitable concern. In fact, as far as I have ascertained, either by my own experience or by the observation of others, I have never discovered that anxiety has comforted anybody, or that it has brought any grist to the mill, or any meal to the barrel. Well, if a thing does not pay, what is the good of it?

The Decalogue and Gettysburg

In 2007, Kelton Research surveyed 1,000 Americans showed 80% of those surveyed knew the ingredients of McDonald's Big Mac. Of that same group, less than 60% knew the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," and only 45% knew "honor thy father and thy mother." I often wonder how many people who are for and against the 10 Commandments in public schools know them for themselves? Could you name them from memory?

When I was in 6th grade, I sat next to the wall with a poster of the Gettysburg Address. After staring at it for a couple days, I decided to memorize it. I may have been better served to do the work  assigned – but that is beside the point. My teacher asked me why I was staring at the wall, and I revealed my plan. Instead of scolding me for not paying attention, she was happy I was interested and thought it would be a wonderful idea for the whole class to memorize and recite. I was not the most popular person after that stunt.

I read and meditated on the Gettysburg Address and it began my lifelong fascination with the American Civil War. It changed me. No one (except for my classmates) discouraged what we were doing.  People were happy that we were studying a political, philosophical speech. But why? The speech draws from Biblical passages and themes (Psalm 90:10; John 3). I think it's because it's religious enough, but not too religious to turn people off. It talks of great ideas, but boils them down to generalities about freedom and equality. He speaks of God, but which God? It urges action, even unto death, to defend the cause. It deems any against the "idea" is worthy of death. The speech begins and ends with a proposition which is, "a statement that expresses a judgment or opinion."  And to declare someone worthy to die for opposing that proposition is a moral judgment. Apparently, people are not opposed to morality and moral judgments, just God's morals and God's judgments.

Americans have an opinion about the 10 Commandments, whether they know them or not. Just as Americans have an opinion about the Gettysburg Address, whether they have read it or not. As a boy, I was allowed to read and think about Lincoln's proposition, but not God's. Lincoln's philosophical idea, civil religion, and moral judgment is acceptable. God's law is unacceptable because it condemns us and shows us we have sinned. Men are not against moral judgments, just against God's law.  

Maybe Americans know the law. It's hard to say if that poll is accurate - it's hard to believe any poll anymore. I know many people who are tied of deceiving polls and pundits, spinning the truth to advance their agenda. It aggravates me when politicians and the news media manipulate polls to spin things the way they want. The pollsters and the media may have just been bearing false witness. There ought to be a law against that.

Who are you going to believe?

I was once at an event about Biblical creation. In the parking lot, I met a group of protestors. Atheists who came to tell me I was believing a lie and should be ashamed for bringing my kids to an exhibit based on blind faith. They told me (in many different ways) I should abandon "faith" and trust in reason. Scientist, they said, are neutral and are only concerned with the facts and come to a conclusion after fair deliberation. I suppose, once a man puts on the sacred white lab coat, they cannot lie and are infallible. It's a popular, albeit false premise. Both creationist and evolutionist deal with the same evidence. The difference stems from  faith and belief. You cannot recreate evolution to examine it by scientific method. Creation and the origin of the species are historical events. Observing changes in kinds of animals is not the same as observing one species evolve into another.  It comes down to our starting points and who we are going to believe.

Maybe you are thinking, “Sure, Bible believing scientists have the evidence, but they have a preconceived agenda.” But, how can an evolutionary scientist be fair and unbiased while excluding possible outcomes from the beginning? The assumption of evolutionist is God did not create the Heavens and the Earth in six literal days. Every test starts with the assumption there is no God, which is coming to the table with a preconceived bias. Everyone has a predisposition. Neutrality is a myth.

Here is some evidence I would like to bring to your attention. Not about creation or evolution, but about man.  You can test it out yourself and use your friends, family as subjects. Every man is a liar (Romans 3:4). All of humanity are liars (Psalm 116:11). We have all sinned (Romans 3:23) and have a deceitful heart, even fooling ourselves (Jeremiah 17:9). The evidence of our wicked heart is how we live (Matthew 15:19-20). If you tell me the Bible isn't accurate about the heart of man, then you are a liar and are deceived, and also prove my point. The same Bible that gives us such an unflattering, yet accurate look at our own heart tells us that the Bible is true (Psalm 119:160) and it's an enduring truth that will not be overturned (Psalm 117:2) from a source of infinite understanding (Psalm 147:5).  Who are you going to believe?

Since science cannot recreate origins, everyone must start somewhere with an assumption to interpret the data. There may be millions of volumes of scientific writing on the big bang, or evolution, but that is a mountain of research, all written on the assumption of an unprovable theory, from fallible humans. Are you willing to build your view of the world, and eternity based on the words of biased, agenda based men?  Are their studies a sure foundation for your soul? Will you trust in the ever-changing works of scientist and live and die by their conclusions? 

Since the beginning, Satan has attacked God’s word telling Eve “Ye shall not surely die” when God said they would if they ate the fruit. Eve had to ask herself “who am I going to believe?” It was a direct attack on the authority of God’s word. Every since, man and Devil alike have attacked God’s word, its truthfulness, its accuracy, its reliability, its authenticity; yet the Word of God remains! The great shame of it is that God’s children put more faith in a fallible scientist and believe gap theories and theistic evolution rather than the Holy Spirit. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Hebrews 11:1-3 Who are you going to believe? Faith in a scientist or faith in the Word of God? We will use the Bible as our proof, because it is the best proof and it would be foolish not to use it. Why hide the very Word of God as our proof and try to use words of men when God has plainly told us in His inerrant word. Who are you going to believe?

Who are you going to believe? The scientist starts saying there is no God. We start with the text “In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth (Gen 1:1).” The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and to exclude the Bible from the start is to assume the evolutionist is correct in their claims about God. Evolutionist insists we start with the idea there is not God, then look at the facts, which of course is prejudice to the fact there is a God. It is not impartiality or objectivity to speak about creation without using the Bible, it is extreme bias. The Bible is our starting place. The Bible is the unchangeable, infallible Word of God, so we must look at everything through the eyes of the Holy Bible. Want to know about fossils? Look at fossils through the Bible. The Bible tells us that all creatures were created in the first six days of creation. Start first with scripture, the known truth, and then interpret the evidence. You may think that is biased, but consider what evolution does. They take a fossil and start with the premise of evolution, then interpret the fossil in the context of millions of years.

Who are you going to believe? Creation is not a developing science, it is history. One that studies the Civil War is a historian, one that studies Greek or Roman Empire, historian. A person that examines ancient ruins is called an archaeologist. How is creation any different? The science of origins is not an ongoing repeatable science but rather a onetime historical event. Any scientific study that occurs now in the study of origins will only prove a preconceived notion since it cannot be repeated, and it was a historical event.


Who are you going to believe? It is an act of faith; you will either believe the Word of God or the word of fallible men. The Bible is firsthand testimony from the one who was there! You cannot dispute He who never lied. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth."

Do not mistake a belief in creation for eternal life. God makes it clear that man naturally can see that there is a Sovereign God, in His creation. Believing God exists will not save your soul. Some confirm God’s existence, believe in creation, yet reject the Saviour. Many will call Him Creator and many will call His the Son of God; but few will call Him Saviour.

Who are you going to believe? Your heart, or the Word of God? What the bible says is true, from front to back. The Creator demands for His creation to be Holy. Failure to keep His commandments is called sin. The wages of sin is death, eternal judgment in the Lake of Fire. The Bible also tells us that there is salvation in Jesus Christ. That God sent His only begotten Son into the world to be a sin sacrifice. Christ Jesus bore the sins of His people on the cross and gave himself for a ransom for sinners, shedding His blood as the sin offering. He died and after three days and three nights rose from the dead.

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, trust in His word on the cross and be saved.




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Douglas Newell IV

Melchis-who?

  

Melchisedec  is only mentioned twice in the Old Testament, in Genesis 14 and Psalm 110:4. Why does that matter to a Christian today?  The latter part of Hebrews 5 and all of chapter 6 is a rebuke, a warning, and an exhortation to press on in the Christian faith. Those professing Christ at this point, should have been teachers instead of kindergarten students. They should have had their doctorate, not learning their ABC’s. Their lack of knowledge and spiritual growth was directly tied to their lack of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of the Bible. What brought about this lengthy rebuke? They didn’t know about Melchisedec. How is a man mentioned twice the Old Testament that important? The Psalmist, says the Messiah will be a priest forever after Melchisedec’s order, God swears it. From Psalms, we know this man is connected, in some way, to Christ. But how?

Melchisedec means “king of peace”. He lived in Salem, which means peace. He was also a priest. But wait a second -- the priesthood came into effect in Exodus, not Genesis. Moses received the law, and that won’t happen for around another 400 years. The patriarchs of the family offered sacrifices during this time. Genesis 14 is the first time the word priest is used in the Bible. So how did he become a priest? Who was his family? Well, we don’t know. He just came on the scene and sort of disappears. He isn’t connected to Abraham or his family. 

When Melchisedec came to Abraham after the battle of the kings, he brought bread and wine and Abraham tithed the spoils of war to him. The tithe came before the law as we see Abraham tithed to God through a priest. But the law in the Old Testament says only the tribe of Levi could be priests, and the children of Israel tithed to them only.  Hebrews 7:7 the less is blessed by the better. Or, the higher office blesses those under him. The office of priesthood is higher than the rank of those they bless. So Melchisedec  was higher than Abraham, the father of Isaac, the Father of Jacob, the father of Levi and the priesthood.

You could only be a priest based upon your family tree. Israel tithed to the Levites, who had a higher office. But in the family tree of Abraham, Melchisedec is better than Levi, since the family tithed in Abraham. The very thing the priests were proud of, their family tree and their lineage, was evidence that the family tree was “lesser” to the line of Melchisedec. Jesus, is greater than the Levitical priest. He is the true king of righteousness, the true king of peace, taking the office of High Priest, not out of inheritance, but sworn by an oath by God the Father. A Priest in an everlasting line, one where no one can or will take his place. We have a sure salvation in Christ, who ever lives to make intercession for us.

Wimbledon and the Family

This is Peter Hitchens’ Mail on Sunday column:

"Nobody seems to have asked for it. No real reason was given for it. But female players at Wimbledon will no longer be referred to as 'Mrs' or 'Miss' by the umpires. It will just be bare, unadorned surnames. Why is this small thing so dispiriting? Because it is by a thousand such small things, imposed by faceless people, impossible to prevent, that our world is being changed beyond all recognition.

I will be told that it is trivial and that it does not matter. But if that is so, why did they bother to do it? Because it matters greatly to them, just as the incessant, relentless imposition of the metric system matters greatly to them. Oppose any of these things and you will be told that you are fussing about trivia.

But you didn't start it. They did. And see the expression that comes over their faces if you accuse them of obsessing over trifles. And that is why it should matter to you. These titles symbolise a great deal.

Wimbledon has done away with titles for women . Above all, they refer to the distinction, once enormously important but now more or less abolished, between those who were married and those who are not. The force behind this is the same force that caused the British State to seek out and destroy every possible mention of the words 'husband' and 'wife' from official forms and documents. You would have thought that this stately old practice might have been allowed to continue in picturesque, old-fashioned bits of biscuit-tin Britain such as Wimbledon, in so many ways a museum of pre-1939 middle-class suburbia. But no. The thing about totalitarians is that they have to control everything, that everything must be brought into line.Every last trace of the old regime must be discovered, erased, painted over, demolished or chiselled away.

 The process is still not quite complete. Marriage, that fortress of private life, has pretty much been destroyed in this country.It still has an official existence, but the authorities give it no privileges or help, and the law waits like a vulture to pounce on every united home, and impose a high-speed divorce at the first sign of trouble.The whole way in which we deal with each other has been transformed by this sort of change. The main beneficiary has been the all-powerful State, which now reaches into what were once our personal lives in ways that would have been quite shocking even in 1980. And the main sufferers, as always, are the abandoned, neglected, baffled, misled, miseducated children, so many thousands of them, with no secure place to turn to, just more freedom than they have ever been shown how to cope with."

Christians and the Commandments

What happens if a child of God sins? Since there is no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus, does that give us the freedom to sin? God forbid. There are consequences when God's children disobey His commandments. Here are a few.

1. Loss of fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
1 John 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

2. Loss of assurance of salvation.
1 John 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

1 John 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

3. Hinders prayer life
1 John 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

4. Makes you a liar
1 John 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

5. Causes you to loose your joy.

John 15:10-11 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

I John 1:4-10

Romans 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

6. The chastisement of God.
Hebrews 12:5-11

7. Blinds you where you will eventually fall
II Peter 1:9-10

“The key to the mystery that the doctrine of redemption, although not demanding good works, produces them, is to be found in the fact that love excites love and the desire for holiness. Hence obedience is no longer slavish. We strive to obey, not in order to be saved or to please God, but because God saves us with out works or merit of our own, whom, because he is reconciled in the Beloved, we delight to serve.” Charles Hodge in his book Romans.

We are not under the law, in that we are justified by the law; there is no hope in the law, there is not comfort in the law, there is no mercy in the law. It is black and white either guilty or not guilty. When God gave the law to Israel, they were terrified (Hebrews 12:18-22) because they were guilty.

But, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ, we have been justified before God but that doesn't free us from our moral obligations to live and follow Christ.

James Boyce says in Abstract of Systematic Theology

It will be seen, from the preceding statements, that the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints does not deny that Christians are liable to sin, not that they do sin, nor that they do turn away from God, and backslide from their Christian profession, and even fall into grievous wrong, by which they displease God, and lose confidence and hope in him, and become barren and unfruitful in good works: nor does it deny that final apostasy would be possible to the Christian if he were left to the exercise of his own will, subject, as he would be, not only to the natural fallibility of a creature, but to the still continuing lusts of his flesh, and tempted not only by these, but by the attractions of the world, and the malice of Satan. But it asserts, that it is the purpose of God that none shall finally be lost who have been given to Christ by the Father, and have been by faith vitally united with him, and justified through him; and that, for the fulfillment of this purpose, the power of God is sufficient to keep them unto final salvation, and the love of Christ is so invincible, in his forbearance, mercy, and grace, that nothing can separate them from it. It also teaches, that they are not saved while indulging in sin, and walking after their own lusts; but that they are sanctified through the work of the Holy Spirit, which enables them to persevere in the divine life in co-operation with his influences, that their life and salvation is not a mere gift without effort on their part, but a growth through perseverance unto the end in the use of the appointed means.

A Vision for Interpretation

"A church without a vision is a church that will never grow." I've seen that statement and many like it for years. “Vision” is a mystical way of talking about a plan for the future. It sounds more spiritual to have a "vision" than it does to have a "plan".  It's good to have a plan, but the church should be driven by the mission of God rather than the vision of a man. But, what about Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish," doesn't that show you must have a vision? If there is no plan for the future, if there isn't a vision caster at the helm, we're all going to die! That is a dreadful proposition, unless, of course, this verse means something else.

According to the dictionary, the word vision has three definitions: 1) the power of sight; 2) something seen in a dream or revelation; 3) the power of imagination, i.e., foresight. The Hebrew word translated vision correlates with our second definition, Divine revelation. I don't like to hear people always "correcting" their Bible. They see a verse like this, go to Strong's Concordance, look at Mr. Strong's definition of a Hebrew word and say their Bible is mistranslated because vision doesn't mean planning prudence, in the Bible! Words can have more than one definition. Instead of correcting the Bible and saying a word is mistranslated, look up the word in the dictionary – you may misunderstand the meaning of the word. It's always better to question your own vocabulary than to question the Bible and pronounce it wrong.

Despite the smart set declaring the Bible has been mistranslated, it appears those who misapply this Scripture, do so because they didn’t take time to understand the English word. Besides, we can know what the word means by the context, and by knowing the rest of the Bible. The Hebrew word translated vision is found 34 times in the Old Testament. In each instance, it refers to God’s revelation, or false prophets not having God’s revelation. Three books of the Bible are called "visions" (Isaiah, Obadiah, Nahum). Never is the word used in the sense of a man’s plan for the future. If a vision is God's Word, it must be followed - no questions asked. Indeed, it is sin NOT to follow God's Word and believe God's vision. But, a man's "vision" for the church is not infallible. It is not God's revelation. It may be a good plan. And if he's a good pastor, it is probably a wise plan and you should seriously consider what your pastor thinks. But it's not a sin to disagree with another man. If I say what I want is God's word, I took God’s name in vain by claiming God’s authority for my desires and plans. The context of Proverbs 29:18 proves this to be true. "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." The first half and second half of the verse parallel each other. Vision parallels law. Perishing contrasts with happy people. No word from God equals death. Keeping the law equals happiness. 

We have a vision, a revelation from God. It's important that we understand what God is telling us. It takes time and diligence to make sure we understand what God is telling us, but it is well worth the effort.