Category: human viewpoint / human wisdom / philosophy

Be a Berean Bible Student

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11 KJV).

The believing Jews of Berea (verse 10) were certainly not like most professing Christians today. According to today’s Scripture, there are two defining characteristics of a Berean:

  1. “They received the word with all readiness of mind.” — A Berean will have a balance between an open mind and a mind that cannot be “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14). Lost people, and even some saved people, are so set in their ways they do not want to believe the Bible, especially if it contradicts what they have always heard in religion/church. We should be open-minded about what someone says, but we do not want to be swayed by every whim of religious leaders and hierarchies. What is most important is that we receive God’s Word—not “preacher talk”—“with all readiness of mind.”
  2. “They searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” — Here is man’s number one failure: he believes anything and everything except what God’s Word says. Even the average Christian is guilty of ignoring the testimony of God’s Word! Never depend on what the preacher says, and never depend on what I say. Rather than “going by what the preacher said,” these saints actually studied the Bible to determine if what the preacher said was really what God’s Word said. The Bereans compared what Paul said to the Old Testament Scriptures. God’s Word “rightly divided” is the standard whereby we judge the veracity or the dishonesty of anyone’s statements. Study the Bible “rightly divided” as 2 Timothy 2:15 instructs, believe the Bible “rightly divided” as 2 Timothy 2:15 instructs, and you will be a Berean Bible student… never mind you do not live in Berea! 🙂

“Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things” (2 Timothy 2:7).

Trust in the LORD

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5,6 KJV).

What is the basis for your worldview? Who (or what) is your final authority? What gives you guidance in life? In our world of “glorified fools” and “educated ignoramuses,” Christians can quite easily fall prey to the “wisdom” of human viewpoint.

Human viewpoint seems wise and authoritative, yet the Bible pronounces, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Corinthians 3:19a). Paul admonished the Corinthians: “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:5). The Holy Ghost through Paul warned the Colossian believers: “Beware lest any man spoil [rob] you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Colossians 2:8).

Today’s Scripture reaffirms what the Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” We are so wicked we even deceive ourselves! We should not trust in ourselves or anyone like us; therefore, we need to trust in the LORD.

All aspects of your life should be lived with God’s will in mind. So, how will God “direct your paths?” In Psalm 119:105, the Bible says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” The Bible is our guidebook, the only Book that God wrote: “we have the mind of Christ” in the form of the Bible (1 Corinthians 2:16).

King David wrote (Psalm 62:7,8): “In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.”

May we always trust in the King James Bible rightly divided, and not rely on our intellects, or anyone else’s human viewpoint. May we always trust in the LORD!

Something More Evil Than Science

Sunday, August 28, 2011

“And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition” (Mark 7:9 KJV).

Many Christians complain that science accomplishes Satan’s work because it brainwashes kids into believing lies such as an old universe and the ridiculous “molecules-to-man” theory (that all living creatures descended from a common ancestor). Indeed, Satan has used science to mislead the masses, but these fervent church members seldom realize that religion, not science, is Satan’s “favorite hiding place.”

Science is the study of the natural world. The Bible is not anti-science—repeatable, testable, falsifiable science. God’s Word is opposed to “science falsely so called” (1 Timothy 6:20), man’s idle speculations that contradict Scripture. Apart from its numerous silly, unbiblical conjectures, science is not evil. But there is something more evil than science.

Something far more dangerous and misleading than “science falsely so called” is the infamous “Christianity falsely so called.” Religious tradition is more deceptive than false science because the Bible is used to teach some of it (the Bible cannot be used to teach false science). Religion is dangerous because, unlike false science, it has a godly appearance.

In today’s Scripture, Jesus Christ rebuked Israel’s religious leaders (notice He condemned the religious community, not the scientific community): “well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.” Church tradition and false science are equally guilty of contradicting the Scriptures.

Scientists without God know they need God, whereas religious people are deceived into thinking they have God (all they really have is empty tradition). Scientists know they are not good enough for heaven, but religious people have been taught they are good enough. It has been appositely stated that, “Religion will send more people to hell than anything else.” Religion will do more harm to your soul than false science ever will because religion encourages you to pit your “righteousness” against God’s.

Many genuine Christians condemn science as “evil,” yet they have no idea that Satan is working just as heavily in their denominational church as he is in the science classrooms. Frightening!

Be not deceived… by false science or religion!

Be of the Same Mind in the Lord

Sunday, August 21, 2011

“I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord” (Philippians 4:2 KJV).

In today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul mentions two Christian women, Euodias and Syntyche, in opposition to one another. We know not the nature of that disagreement, but it was disruptive in the Philippian church, so Paul addressed the matter and begged them to resolve it.

There should be unity within the Church the Body of Christ, but there is very little because human viewpoint and religious tradition divide. Unfortunately, even among some “grace brethren,” we find “strange doctrines” that generate arguments. We should make every attempt to get along with our Christian brethren, but we should never, ever seek unity at the expense of sound doctrine. There should be no disagreement in the Body of Christ regarding matters clearly taught in the King James Bible.

The Corinthian church was noteworthy for its divisions (“denominations!”). Some Corinthians followed Christ according to His earthly ministry, others followed Peter, some followed Apollos, and still others followed Paul (1 Corinthians 1:10-13). Paul wrote, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (verse 10). How were they to avoid these divisions? They were to follow Paul as he followed Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).

The Bible says (Galatians 5:15,16): “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Arguments can get rather nasty amongst Christians (spiritually “biting and devouring” each other). As long as we “walk in the Spirit,” allowing God’s Holy Spirit to teach us to follow the doctrine in Paul’s epistles, we will believe what the King James Bible says where it says what it says, and not argue with God. This is the unity that God desires the Body of Christ to have.