Teach One Another

Colossians 3:16a

Teach One Another

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Col. 3:16a   Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you,

teaching. . .

 

After the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., synagogues became the most important institution in Jewish life. During the Babylonian captivity, the Jews were separated from their temple, priests, and holy city. To save their heritage they let any village, wherever located, that had at least ten Jewish men in it establish a synagogue. These small gathering places became the centers and preservers of Jewish culture. They served as schools where children learned to read and write, and were taught Israel's history and heritage. Synagogues were meetinghouses where adults socialized and discussed theology and religion.

Their worship services were very informal, and followed a simple agenda: prayers, Scripture readings, a lecture, and discussion. (Sounds a lot like a typical small group in any Baptist church.) Any approved layman wishing to speak could give the lecture. Jesus, Stephen, and Paul used this to their advantage.

The religious leaders in first century Israel failed in the synagogues. Their words carried no clout. They refused to express an opinion without bolstering every claim by quoting famous teachers of the past. They spoke as those who had not mastered what they preached. Their lectures contained no power, no punch.

Then came Jesus. He captivated and took over the synagogue crowds, speaking in thunderbolts, as a king voicing edicts, a judge passing sentence. The religious leaders quoted ancient authorities; Jesus was authority. He taught as if He were God, possessing the inherent authority to determine right and wrong, and the innate right to be heard and obeyed. He spoke with majesty, as one above the ordinary lot, more than a man, superhuman. Jesus taught as one who knew what He was talking about – no ifs, buts, or maybes, no hedging, no avoiding the issues.

The synagogues were so highly successful that after the temple was rebuilt, they continued to be used. By New Testament times, synagogues were everywhere in the Roman world--480 in Jerusalem alone--as if God had been preparing the world for an army of people who would serve as teachers. Teaching was to be the heart and soul of a new movement that would be based on history. The story would have to be told and explained, over and over and over again.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that every Christ-follower is expected in some way to be a teacher, to be verbalizing spiritual truth with others. The writer of Hebrews referenced all his readers when he wrote, "By this time you ought to be teachers" (5:12). He did not say they all "could" be teachers. He said they all "ought" to be teachers. Speaking truth was expected of all of them as their duty.

Don't misunderstand. Not all Christians are meant to be public teachers in front of large crowds. We do a terrible disservice to the role of teaching if we limit it to the pulpit or classroom. There is much more to teaching. All believers are expected to share in diverse settings what they learn from the Word. People near us at home, school, and work need spiritual truth, and each of us must teach them.

We are not to hoard what we know, but must share it with others. No gift of God is ever given to a person so that he or she would be a dead-end street. We ought to see ourselves as conveyors, not containers. We must listen to the Word not only to help us, but also to help others by passing it on.

To prove He meant for all of us to teach in some way, Jesus commanded us to do so in His Great Commission. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20 NAS). We are to go, make disciples, baptize, and teach. The latter is as much of a command as the first three are.

We are all to teach somewhere somehow this wonderful story of history. It is good for us to be able to give our lives to a cause worth living and dying for.

Jesus not only assigned us the task of teaching; He has prepared each of us to do it. First, He showed us how to do it by His own example while here on Earth.

The crowds loved His teaching. "The common people heard Him gladly" (Mark 12:37b KJV). Teachers, Jesus is your perfect role model. His use of props, parables, homespun stories, rhetorical questions, and piercing application made Him the greatest teacher of all time. Jesus, 2000 years later, still holds the world spellbound. He remains a force to be reckoned with, whether the listeners like Him or not. We cannot see His face, hear the inflection of His voice, or feel His touch, but even in cold, dry ink on paper, we feel the sway of His spellbinding authority.

Second, Jesus prepared us to teach by sending Someone to help us do it. For three years Jesus was the disciples' Teacher. After He ascended, this role was given to Another. Jesus' words continued to be the disciples' curriculum, but the Spirit became their main Teacher. He reminded, enlightened, and enabled them.

The Holy Spirit aided the disciples' memories, reminding them of Jesus' words. The Spirit then enlightened them, clarifying concepts they had previously found hard to understand. This reminding and enlightening work by the Holy Spirit made our New Testament possible. The Bible is reliable because the Holy Spirit helped the disciples precisely remember and better understand Christ's words.

The New Testament is the Holy Spirit's book. We agree with Paul; all Scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). What the Bible says, God says. What the heathen superstitiously believed they had in oracles, believers do have in the Bible. It is the mouthpiece of God, through which He speaks directly to us.

The Spirit reminded and enlightened the disciples; He also enabled them to teach effectively. They went out to tell the story they wrote, and did so with power.

            And now, what the Holy Spirit did for the disciples, He does for us, due to His presence in us. One, He helps us remember by prompting us to take the New Testament in our hands, to read in it daily. Two, He enlightens us with wisdom to help us to understand what we read. Three, He enables us to have the will to obey, and to teach with authority. When we put all this together, what do we have? The ability to do what Jesus did—to teach Scripture effectively.

This was the kernel, the innermost essence, of Jesus' teaching ministry. In synagogues and in people's everyday life, the Old Testament was Israel's textbook.

Jesus sought to convince people and stir their intellects by interpreting, explaining, and applying their own Scriptures. This is what we should be doing.

Sensing time is always short, Jesus felt compelled to run through His home area as quickly as possible to find as many lost sheep to teach as He could (Mark 1:38). In a desperate time, getting the word out was important to Jesus. It still is.

We live in another desperate time. Unbelievers are in many cases becoming more hostile and hardened to the Gospel message. Believers are being challenged in their faith, and a whole younger generation is teetering on a spiritual precipice.

As our culture sinks farther from the truth, and as it tries to woo our own people from the truth, don't despair. Instead, determine to rescue as many as we can as fast as we can. Time is short. Not all will be salvaged, but all should at least have access to hearing somewhere somehow the Bible's story about the Gospel.

Unbelievers have only one hope—the truth as taught in the Bible. Believers, ever in danger of learning error from a heathen world, must be protected by Bible teaching. It is no coincidence that all four church offices mentioned in Ephesians 4—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor-teachers—highlight the importance of teaching. The main ongoing, in-house, work of the Church is teaching. Nothing is more needed to build up believers.

This is why we include Bible teaching in our M28 one-on-one discipleship method. Our church motto is, "We exist to glorify God by making disciples through the Bible and relationships." We form relationships not just to fellowship and have a good time. We come together to spend time in teaching truth as taught in the Bible. We will not love God and each other, pray, or evangelize as we ought for very long without proper teaching.

Thus, find your spot. Where is it; a large class, a small class, discipleship, adults, youth, children, marrieds, singles? Wherever it is, find it and fill it. Teach one another.

 

 

Credible Bible #5

Our Credible Bible (Lesson 5)

What Scripture Says, God Says

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

            One way to undermine the significance of any teaching is to say it is unimportant. This is how some skeptics try to undercut the doctrine of inerrancy. They say, since we do not have the original manuscripts, the doctrine itself is superfluous. This is the equivalent of saying God Himself evidently did not think the written Scriptures were very important.

 

This doctrine matters. It is essential to the life and success of Christianity. In all of redemption history, Holy Writ has been deemed vital. For 40 years, Levites carried in the Wilderness the tablets God wrote. What Old Testament prophets wrote was often a product of "Thus saith the Lord".

 

In the early church, "Scripture says" and "God says" were one and the same thing. Luther, on trial at Worms, declared, "My conscience is captive to the Word of God." John Wesley said, "At any price give me the book of God!" My Grandpa Marshall called it "The Book", as if no other books were worth comparing to it.

 

No questioning of the authority of Scripture has ever had a positive impact on God's people. Whenever Israel strayed from God, they always strayed first from His word. Whenever they returned to God, they first returned to His Word.

 

I rejoice at calls to prayer for revival I hear in our day, but am appalled at the dearth of preaching I hear about the six great Old Testament revivals. This troubles me because by ignoring them we miss a deep truth; all six were begun, not primarily in prayer, but in response to rediscovering God's written Word.

 

Revivals under Joshua (JS 8:32), Asa (2 CH 14:4), Jehoshaphat (2 CH 17:9), Hezekiah (2 K 18:6), Josiah (2 K 22:8), and Ezra (EZ 7:10) were "Bible revivals". God convicted people by a re-discovery of Scripture.

 

If revival comes in our nation and churches, it will descend on the wings of prayer and ascend from the pages of the written Word. Revival hinges on both/and not either/or. Keep praying hard about revival. At the same time, let's ratchet up a notch our talking about the Bible.

 

Anyone who wavers on Bible-authority eventually fades off into trivial oblivion. Spiritual disaster looms at the end of this skepticism, as is being proved in Western Europe, and in High Protestantism in the USA.

 

The Trinity believed the holy writings were important. God the Father wrote the Ten Commandments with His own finger. God the Son said Scripture cannot be broken, that is, annulled; its authority cannot be denied (John 10:35). The Son began His post-baptism ministry with thrice saying "It is written" (MT 4:1-11). Near its end, close to Emmaus, He said, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!" (LK 24:25). "Beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures" (Luke 24:27).

 

God the Holy Spirit guided the authors themselves. "No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Peter 1:20b-21). They wrote for God because they were borne along by the Holy Spirit. They did not do this writing on their own initiative.

 

As a result, we have something better than if an eyewitness were giving testimony of something he or she saw firsthand. We have a Holy-Spirit-moved prophetic word. Scripture is more reliable than any eyewitness' testimony, for the latter is a matter of private interpretation. Scripture, though, is not a result of human investigation, or the production of the writer's thinking.

 

This role of the writers of Holy Writ in the moment they were writing Scripture is a study worth investigating. Paul dealt with this issue in his last epistle. After mentioning "the sacred writings" (2 TM 3:15b) Timothy grew up on, Paul gave us an analysis of their "sacred" nature, saying, "All Scripture is inspired by God" (2 TM 3:16a).

 

The word "inspiration" implies an influence from outside producing results inside. Inspiration means a supernatural impelling and directing of the words that were written. To say the Bible is inspired is to say its words are a divinely determined product given through the men Peter said were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 P 1:20b-21).

 

Literally interpreted, 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed". God breathed out the very words. Thus the words themselves have divine authority. The Bible not only contains the words of God, as if some of its words may not be God's words. It is the words of God. In Scripture the breath of God was often mentioned to picture the irresistible outflow of His power. The breath of His mouth made all the stars (PS 33:6b). God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living soul (GN 2:7). The "breath of the Almighty hath given (us) life" (Job 33:4b). If God withdrew His breath from us, we would perish (Job 34:14-15); therefore you and I are divine creations. So is the Bible, for it was birthed and lives on the breath of God.

 

The Trinity invested in the Bible. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit all focused attention on Holy Writ. This is why no one has ever been able to silence the Bible, and no one ever will. It is the God-book.

 

Just as we believe God directly intervened in human history to bring us redemption through the blood of Jesus, we also believe He intervened in human history to give us a guide whereby we could confidently know of His redemptive works among us. God did things in the incarnation no one can undo. God wrote things in the Bible no one can erase. God did not leave us ignorant of Himself. We are not adrift, totally clueless as to God's dealings among us.

 

Before ending these lessons on the credibility of the Bible, I want to allude to a matter Warfield called attention to in his classic book. He gave instances of where "God says" and "Scripture says" were used interchangeably in New Testament passages referring to Old Testament passages. In Matthew 19:4 Jesus stated that God was the One who said in Genesis 2:24, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife." But the Genesis passage does not mention God as the speaker. It is merely a statement of Scripture. Jesus was saying the verse can be assumed to have been a declaration of God solely because it was a saying of Scripture. Paul followed the Lord's lead in this, and handled the Gensis 2:24 passage in the same way in 1 Corinthians 6:16.

 

In Romans 9:17 Paul wrote, "The Scripture says to Pharaoh, For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you." But in the original text (Exodus 9:16) God, not Scripture, is speaking. Paul referenced this again in Galatians 3:8, where he wrote the Scripture says Abraham will be blessed. However, Genesis 12:1-3 records God said this.

 

When referencing Holy Writ, "God" and "Scripture" were, for Jesus and Paul, interchangeable. "Scripture" and "God" lay so close together in the minds of the writers of the New Testament that they could naturally speak of "Scripture" doing what Scripture records God as doing" (Warfield), and vice versa. In other words, what Scripture says, God says.

 

Other examples help reinforce this. Luke recorded the sermon of Peter, which stated the words of David were the words of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:16). Peter's thoughts on this matter were echoed by the congregation at large (Acts 4:25). Matthew (2:15) claimed the Lord spoke through the prophet Hosea (11:1). Paul believed God had promised good news through His prophets in the Old Testament (Romans 1:2).

 

A final addendum: we long felt the bulk of Jesus' teachings were passed down orally. Recent research indicates the early followers of rabbis in first century Palestine used wax tablets to write down the comments of their leaders. If the disciples did make private notes, it would help explain the recording of long speeches made by Jesus. Either way, the oral had to be made into the written fairly soon because of the demand for Scriptures to be read in church services.

 

 

Doris Facts

My brother, sister, and I began talking this morning about Mom. We were discussing how much she enjoyed the simple things of life. Then we began listing them.

Church mattered. She liked Diet Coke and a sausage biscuit from McDonalds, and her daily vitamins. Unsweet decaf tea was always nearby.

She loved sitting in her recliner while reading the newspaper, Guideposts, and Readers Digest; and while watching on TV Wheel of Fortune, News, and Cardinals baseball.

She was content, a trait we all want, but few find. We miss her.

Love One Another

Hebrews 13:1

Love One Another

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Before the resurrection, the disciples had a bumpy relationship. They argued over who was the greatest among them (Mark 9:34) and over which of them would sit in the seats of honor at Jesus's left and right in the Kingdom (Mark 10:37,41).

After the resurrection, their love for one another cemented. The ladies and the two Emmaus Disciples went first to the Eleven (LK 24:9, 33-34). The Eleven stayed tightly connected for 40 days, till Jesus ascended, and then went rejoicing as a group to Jerusalem (LK 24:52). The 120 prayed together as a unit for 10 days.

Christ-followers would still have their interpersonal problems from time to time, but the dye was cast. Years later their hearts were still knit to one other.

 

Hebrews 13:1 (Holman)   Let brotherly love continue.

 

            Decades after the resurrection, the love of Christians for one another was continuing. "Brotherly love" translates the word, "philadelphia". "Phileo" means "love". "Adelphos" means "from the same womb." We could translate it brother-love, sister-love, sibling-love, or of-the-same-womb love. In other words, believers had for years loved one another as if brothers and sisters from the same womb.

The stark difference between before the resurrection, versus after it, had at least four causes. One, they did not have a clue as to how radically Jesus meant for them to love each other till after they saw it displayed at the cross. They were determined to obey their risen Lord, who had bluntly said, "This is My command; Love one another as I have loved you" (JN 15:12). Before the cross, they had no idea what the goal was exactly. Their notions were vague. After the resurrection, they had a precise prototype to follow. The bar had been lifted high. He had shown them in His own death what it entailed to love one another as He had loved them.

Two, on Resurrection Sunday night, Jesus breathed on the disciples and gave them the Holy Spirit in fullness. No Pastor would ever dare challenge his people to love one another as Jesus loved us if Jesus had not commanded it. He was justified in giving this "impossible" command because He gave them the Holy Spirit to accomplish it in them. They knew they could not do this on their own. A miracle was required. Thus, they trusted in the only dependable power source available to them, the Holy Spirit. Let our failures drive us not to despair, but to prayer and deeper dependence on Him. His high standards are meant to waken in us a need to depend on His strength.

Three, Jesus' death and resurrection proved how valuable believers were to Him. The disciples knew Jesus died and rose on their behalf, because He valued them. Thus they had to value each other. We treasure the lifeless objects, the trinkets and collectables, that belong to friends. If they love a treasured possession, we desire to protect it in their honor. We want to keep from hurting them.

If we are careful to regard our friends' lifeless treasures, how much more care should we show for their living treasures? People are crushed when their loved ones are torn away from each other by hard feelings. Jesus grieves when His children are ugly to each other. When we hurt each other, we hurt Him.

We worship One who is resurrected, alive among us, who has feelings. He hurts if we squabble, like parents hurt when their children argue with each other.

As the spokes of a carriage wheel draw nearer the center, they come closer to each other. One way we know we truly love Jesus, and are drawing nearer to Him as the center of our lives is; we see ourselves being drawn toward each other.

            Four, after the resurrection, the disciples knew what their assigned mission was, and how to accomplish it. They were to win unbelievers to their Master, and He had told them the best way to do this was to love one another. "All people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35).

They were willing to love one another, warts and all, due to their being desperate to accomplish their assigned task. Do we feel the same urgency? The first readers of Hebrews were part of a worldwide body of believers whose love exploded like dynamite in the Greco-Roman world, and pulled people to itself.

Love's force emptied the temples, demolished altars, and pulled down pagan philosophies. In a world where tyrants knew no mercy, and slaves found no relief, people looked up and felt the power of a new force, "philadelphia." Their hearts were eased and their burdens lifted as a new love enveloped them. 

Even the enemies of early believers were forced to confess, "See how these Christians love one another." When the great plague raged in Alexandria, the heathen drove out their own loved ones at the first sign of infection. They threw their own family members half-dead into the streets, and left their dead unburied.

In contrast with this cruel selfishness, "The Christians," Bishop Dionysius wrote, "in the abundance of their brotherly love, did not spare themselves, but mutually attending to each other, they would visit the sick without fear, and ministering to each other for the sake of Christ, cheerfully gave up their lives with them. Many died after their care had restored others to health. Many, who took the bodies of their Christian brethren into their hands and bosoms, and closed their eyes, and buried them with every mark of attention, soon followed them in death."

The world could not resist the drawing power of this love. It grieves me that we who follow the resurrected One are not known for our love for one another.

John Owens, who lived in England in the 1600s, a time of terrible strife between believers, said love had forsaken the visible church and had returned to Heaven. I fear his sentiment also applies to our day. To describe Christianity in the United States today as a loving family would raise a howl of scorn from the world. We are known for our wrangling, not our love. We have done better in the past, though, and with God's help can improve in the present, and into the future.

            The nearest thing to heaven on earth is having a family life and church life in which love reigns supreme. If believers display these things, the lost take notice.

Loving one another is the most fragrant flower in the Christian garden.

It proves we have accepted Jesus' death and resurrection as the model for how radically we are to love each other. Loving one another proves we are filled with the Holy Spirit, who was released to us due to the resurrection of Jesus.

Loving one another shows we understand the value Jesus' death and resurrection has put on each and every one of us. Loving one another shows we know how to fulfill our resurrected Lord's mandate to win the world in a winsome way. Being resurrection people, we serve a resurrected Lord who has given us His resurrection power that we might love one another.

 

 

April 15

In the temple, children praised Jesus, who appreciated them (MT 21:16). Mom and Dad taught me to quote John 3:16 before I knew what "begotten" meant. I believed and loved the Bible before I could read it. At age three, I tore a page out of Dad's Bible (from his favorite book Matthew) and received enough of a whipping to where I never showed disrespect to a copy of God's Word again.

 

Don't disregard children. On this day in the temple, no adults were heard cheering for Jesus. Children were the heroes of this scene. They were fearless, repeating what they heard at the Triumphal Entry. They got it, they understood, they remind us only those who become as little children can receive Jesus.

 

Surely, Jesus was blessed by hearing someone praise Him in the temple. Whitefield's diary tells about children at Moorfield who blessed him while eggs, mud, and stones were thrown at him. He said children at his feet refused to budge, endured the pelting with him, prayed for him, and cried when he was struck.

 

When Melanchthon overheard a group of children praying for the success of Luther and the Reformation, he told Luther, who was very discouraged at the time, "Courage, brother, the children are praying for us, and God will hear them." Don't underestimate the spiritual ability of children.

April 14

Children were at the temple, and cheered Jesus when He cleansed it (MT 21:15). Bring your little ones to church. We still, centuries later, need to hear their gleeful, high-pitched voices in church.

 

Parents and grandparents, do all it takes to bring your children and grandchildren to church. If need be, change Sunday School classes, change worship service times or venues, and yes, change churches if it might help.

 

As an adult who is a believer, you're going to Heaven when you die whether you want to or not. Make sure your beloved descendants will join you there.

Bring Jesus the littlest ones. Teach them to pray, sing, praise, and often say, "Thank You, God; I love You, Jesus." May they never remember not believing.

 

My Grandma Hill served Jesus till her death at age 95. She said she had loved Jesus and served Him as far back as she could remember. She said she could not recall a time when she first believed.

 

I'm grateful for parents who led me to believe in a virgin birth before I knew what a virgin was. I relate to the quaint story of the parent who put Santa Claus in a nativity scene and asked the child who it was. He said, "Round John Virgin."

 

April 13

Once Jesus purged the marketplace of its robbers, the den of thieves became a hospital. "The blind and the lame came to Him in the temple complex, and He healed them" (MT 21:14). The sick did not fear Jesus. Having heard what He had done for others who were sick, they felt He would be kind toward them. They were not disappointed. The infirm came, and Jesus healed them.

 

The blind and lame, ever needing a place to beg alms, understandably gathered in the moneyed part of the temple. They were there when Jesus cleansed the area. Once the noise and din ended, an eerie silence probably dominated the area. A blind man asked his lame friend, "What happened? Where is everyone?" "Jesus drove them off." "Did you say Jesus? My friend who used to beg with me, and comes to see me often, was born blind, and says he was healed by a man named Jesus." "Several of my formerly lame friends say the same about Him."

 

"Is Jesus still here? Can you see Him?" "Yes." "Can we get to Him?" "If you'll carry me, I'll tell you which way to go." "I'll be your legs; you be my eyes. Let's go. Hurry, before He leaves." One came with legs but no eyes, the other with eyes but no legs. Each left with both.

 

Jesus made the temple beautiful again. In a stormy moment of restoration, Jesus ended the temple's desecration, and replaced it with consecration. Whenever Jesus comes in power, blessing follows.

 

Credible Bible #4

Our Credible Bible (Lesson 4)

Perceived Bible Problems

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

The Bible is by far the most reliable book ever produced in the ancient world. Manuscript evidence supporting its trustworthiness is overwhelming. The abundance of manuscripts available to us has let us determine with reasonable certainty what the original autographs said. Very few passages are left in doubt as to what the writer wrote. Thus the question: why is this fact not enough to convince most unbelievers to become Christ-followers?

 

One, some refuse to take time to investigate the evidence. Rather than do research, they often make a prejudgment based on hearing arguments against us that are one-sided and distorted. In some public settings, nothing bars attacks against Christianity. Other religions are off-limits, negativism toward them is deemed politically incorrect, but brutalizing Christianity is fair game. People often hear this onslaught against us, but ignore thousands of articles, books, blogs, etc., that present cogent arguments defending us.

 

Two, some say they cannot understand the Bible. This is not true. The Bible is noted for what theologians call perspicuity; it is understandable. It is the world's #1 best selling book in all of history because people can read and understand it. Parts of it are difficult to read, but any person can take a Bible, read it from cover to cover, and walk away understanding what the Bible is all about. "The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple" (PS 119:130 NAS). The Bible's main truths can be grasped.

 

Often the problem is not misunderstanding, but understanding, the Bible, and not liking what it says. Mark Twain said, "It ain't those parts of the Bible I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts I do understand."

 

Three, some reject the Bible not based on whether or not we have a reliable transmission of original writings, but due to what they consider to be culturally offensive messages in it. For instance, does the Bible promote slavery, or relegate women to a secondary role; did the Old Testament prescribe genocide? These attacks are specifically refutable with Apologetic rebuttals, but for our purposes we'll take an overarching look at the issues.

 

We err in interpreting any writings if we fail to enter into the worldview of the writers when we try to judge their beliefs. We have to understand their setting in life. For instance, it would be easy for me to condemn my great-great-grandfather for supporting slavery and fighting for the Confederacy in the Civil War. To do so, though, would make me an elitist--as if to say I would have been above such behavior. Humility is a winsome virtue, even when exhibited across the ages. Was my ancestor wrong? Yes. Do I thus write him off as a terrible man? No. In fact, he became the spiritual patriarch of our family. He lived till 1924, and had a profound spiritual impact on my Grandpa Marshall, who in turn heavily influenced my spiritual formation. Perfection is not required for us to be effective, and it should not be required for us to think kindly of others.

 

Four, some reject the Bible because they feel the original writers were not trustworthy men. The manuscript evidence doesn't matter because we can't be sure the writers wrote the truth. The answer to this objection lies in whether or not Jesus rose from the dead. If Christ rose from death, all of Christianity is true. If Jesus did not rise, none of our faith is valid. Paul bluntly said, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep (died) in Christ have perished" (1 Cor. 15:17-18 NAS). I believe we can confidently say the original followers of Jesus, including the writers of the New Testament, were credible, believable, trustworthy eyewitnesses of His resurrection.

 

When in college, I met an older student who was an ex-priest. He had renounced his vows, Roman Catholicism, and Christianity as a whole. We were one day discussing our lives. He had left behind the ministry and faith. I was in the beginning stages of ministry. I asked why he had renounced the faith. He answered, and asked why I believed. No one had ever confronted me with the question. My spontaneous answer to him then remains my more developed answer today. I believe primarily because the original followers of Jesus were willing to die for what they claimed about His resurrection.

 

Five, some reject the Bible because they believe it contradicts what they deem obvious teachings of science. Did creation take only six 24-hour days? What about evolution, geological dating, dinosaurs, the fossil record; was Noah's flood worldwide? What about those miracles (BL 11)? This kind of questioning especially matters because many of our young adults who grew up in church are forsaking the faith, often due to these very issues. The arguments against our beliefs are often expressed in settings hostile to our faith. Our kids can find themselves bombarded with pressures of unbelief, and are in danger of ridicule or worse if they opt to believe and vocalize it.

 

Our churches and families need to do a better job of providing credible evidence to our youth to help them refute our critics. We are not doing well in preparing our own for the cultural wars they are entering. Sometimes the problem is not so much knowing a precise answer, but rather finding somewhere in our churches a safe place to ask and debate the tough questions. We would hope those who grow up in church could find there places of gentle Christian understanding, but many times they are inculcated with a sense of a harsh all-or-nothing choice from their childhood.

 

            We in the church too often come across as being impatient with any who disagree with us, including our own children. We must be careful. Our Master said, "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew 18:6 NAS).

 

An atheist, Loftus, wrote in "Why I became an Atheist" that for many who leave the faith, there are three factors often involved (p. 24). One of the three relates to this very point. He says many leave the faith due to an initial serious investigation of a different worldview they had never examined in any detail previously. One problem is; young adults who ask questions are cut off quickly by their family and friends because they don't know the answers; the questioner is thus treated like their having questions is wrong in and of itself. There is nothing wrong with questioning and debating issues. Many of us are too embarrassed to admit we do not know the answer, and rather than admit our weakness, and offer to take time to do some research, we cut off the questioner, which in essence usually drives them farther away.

 

Six, some reject the Bible due to a failure to understand how a good God can allow suffering. Surveys say the problem of suffering is the main reason people who seriously consider the faith refuse to accept Christianity. The atheist Loftus says one reason people leave the faith is a personal crisis of some kind that forces one to struggle with why God allows suffering.

 

Would a kind loving omnipotent God allow suffering among the innocent, or send people to an everlasting lake of fire? These question marks turn like fishhooks in many people's hearts.

 

The 9/11 attacks, done in the name of religion, are seen by some as the event that spawned our modern day attacks from attacking atheists. These attacks are more and more aimed at Christianity. "How could a good God let this happen? Religion seems more bad than good."

 

Seven, a sensed lack of love and support from believers at a critical crossroad in life. This is the third reason the atheist Loftus gives for why people forsake the faith. Many who adopt a sinful lifestyle sense the absence of love and care from the Christian community they were depending on; there is no place in the Christian community where they can be enfolded, accepted for what they are; not told their sin is okay, but where they know they are loved; only in a loving community like this can people who made wrong choices find a runway greased to make their return to the faith easier.

 

Eight, some reject the Bible because they think if it is the powerful Word of God we say it is, there shouldn't be as many hypocrites as there are. Our detractors say many who say they believe the Bible don't live the Bible.

Christianity groans under the burden of heavy baggage, sinful lives lived by people claiming to be Christians. We bear the burden of bad history, including the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Salem witch trials, racism, anti-Semitism, ethnocentricism, being perceived as cultural hit-men who disrespect the views of unbelievers we disagree with. If reminded of these past failures, rather than becoming defensive, we must reply with humility.

 

This is a complex issue requiring long answers, but one thing I would like to interject here is; it is wrong to always equate failure with hypocrisy. A hypocrite is a fake, a person who knowingly pretends. Many sincere believers fail often. Their shortcoming is not hypocrisy, but rather frailty. We believers are not perfect.

 

We also need to distinguish between cultural Christians and committed Christians. Not all who claim to be Christians actually are.

 

Jesus spoke bluntly to this truth. "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven: but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). Many were baptized as infants, or as adults merely went through the formality of becoming members of a church, and yet never entered into a personal relationship with Jesus.

 

 

April 12

As Jesus cleansed the temple, He said, "My house will be called a house of prayer" (MT 21:13). A building of corporate worship is a place of prayer, where we individually realize, and collectively acknowledge, our utter dependence on God.

 

The Psalms, a vital part of temple worship, were often prayers.

Many of the songs we sing are prayers. In our singing, our public praying, and preaching, we must have a prayerful spirit, an attitude of totally leaning on God. In church we come to rivet our focus on Him.

 

This does not mean our church building is sacrosanct. I hesitate to call our main meeting room a sanctuary or a worship center. I don't make a big deal of this personal conviction, but I prefer to call it an auditorium. It is filled with God when it is filled with God's people who are filled with God.

 

The auditorium has importance in that it represents what is important to us. When we neglect God's public house through non-attendance, a lack of prayerfulness, or disrespect, we show the neglect we harbor for God.

 

April 11

Jesus upended the chairs of those selling doves in the temple (MT 1:21). Doves were the offering of the poor, God's provision for those who could not afford a cow or lamb. Oh the burden this bazaar put on the poor. They had to scrape to buy one dove, and if they wanted to show extra love by buying another to offer God, the more they were penalized. The holier a person wanted to be, the harder their life was. The sellers cheated the poor by taking advantage of their piety. What was meant to be a benefit for the poor degenerated into a burden.

 

Do not think Jesus' cleansing of the temple is ancient history, having no bearing on us today. Jesus still needs to come cleanse His people. He is the only one who can do this. We must seek His face, and plead for Him to glorify Himself, whatever the cost. We have to be willing to be changed.

 

Jesus was able to cleanse the temple, but the religious leaders wouldn't let Him cleanse their hearts. Let's not be like them. From preacher to back pew, let's admit our sins, and yield to knowing cleansing is our primary need.

 

When Jesus comes in answer to His people's prayers, no church can remain impure. As people draw closer to Him, all around them is touched with holiness. He may choose to cleanse us through persecutions or failures or setbacks. Are we willing to pray "Whatever it takes, Lord Jesus. Do a mighty work in me first"?

April 10

In the temple, people were forbidden to use ordinary money as an offering to God. Amy heathen symbol or picture rendered coins unacceptable. Money changers pilfered a king's ransom by shoving righteous money across the table, which kept returning to them through the offering receptacles.

Meanwhile, dirty money they received in exchange for holy money stacked up. It wasn't good enough for God, but made Annas' family rich. The money was rolling, and Jesus couldn't stand it.

He cleansed the temple by Himself. Jesus did not have an army with Him. He did this purging alone, yet the sellers "scurried from Him like vermin from the light" (IDB). Why? One, they knew Jesus was popular. They had seen and heard the crowd as He entered Jerusalem. Two, the tradesmen knew the people didn't like them to start with. Decades later the masses rebelled against this merchandizing. Religious swindlers are still considered among the most despicable of any society.

Three, the dealers probably had guilty consciences. They knew what they were doing to honest, God-fearing, hardworking people. David Thomas well said, "Men will flee as panic-struck cowards before the ghosts of their own crimes". Poe's telltale heart still beats loud and clear in guilty people's consciences.

Forgive One Another

Ephesians 4:32d-e

Forgive One Another

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Eph. 4:32d   (Holman) ". . .forgiving one another. . ."

 

          "Forgive" is a sticking point for many believers. A wrong done to us by others often leads to a root of bitterness being long nursed within us. This is tragic. The depth of our commit­ment to Jesus should not be de­termined by the actions of others.

          As Christians, we represent our Lord, and thus have to forgive, for for­giveness personifies the essence of all we know about Jesus. He showed it in His earthly life, to the very end. Soldiers beat and mocked Him, and gambled for His garment, but in His dying hour, He prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

          "Forgiving" is essential among Christians. It is unbefitting for us to participate in public worship if we know we have not forgiven, and been forgiven by, others. In public worship, we are forced to ponder the extent of our forgiveness for others.

          Our Master said, "If you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (Matthew 5:23-24). The door also swings the other way. "Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you" (Mark 11:25). Christians must be "forgiving."

          Each believer has many opportunities to obey this command to for­­give. A church consists of sinners saved by grace, not angels. Many Chris­tians need to accept this fact and become less sensitive about their feelings. We need to take the chip off our shoulder, and be as slow to take offense as to give it. Remember, people are creatures of emo­tion, beset by temper and infirmities. We all have a prideful nature.

          Each of us will be affronted at times. Expect to have in­ter­personal conflicts. John the Beloved had trouble with Demetrius (3 John 9). Paul was opposed by Alexander the coppersmith (2 Timothy 4:14). Jesus met opposition every­where.

          Christians, of all people, should be realistic about this. Our faith is not naive.  Our theology should make it easier for us to forgive people because we understand human nature. We each realize all others are sin­ners, and we know we too have a sin nature. Don't be harsh toward affronts from others. We have our own aplenty. It is easier to forgive if we remain mindful of our short­com­ings.

 

Eph. 4:32e   ". . .just as God also forgave you in Christ."

 

          We are not at liberty to decide how far we will go in forgiving others. The standard is predetermined. God has set the example we are to imitate. We are to forgive "as God also forgave you in Christ." Forgiven ones should forgive. The reason we can be called Christ-followers is; we are the people God has for­given. We who live due to forgiveness from God must surely be willing to forgive like God.

          God forgave us without retaining a grudge. Our sins are gone, as far as the east is from the west. God shows no displeasure. Consequen­ces abide, and we must someday give an account at the Judgment Seat of Christ, but our relationship with God here on earth can be as absolutely flawless as if the sin were never com­mitted.

          God forgave us eagerly. He thoroughly enjoys forgiving us. When affronted, spontaneously pray, "How can I ini­ti­ate reconcilia­tion?" If the chance comes, forgive with so much gladness left that we could do it seven times again—no! 70 times seven again—for we draw forgiveness from One who forgave us eagerly (Joseph Parker).

          God forgave us freely. We did not merit His forgiveness. It came by grace. People who wrong us may not deserve our forgiveness. We did not deserve God's. The forgiveness we enjoy was unmerited, and since we cannot forgive God in return, we express our appre­ci­ation to Him by forgiving others who do not deserve it.

          God forgave us at great cost to Himself. Forgiving is often painful. It cost Jesus a cross. We don't play make believe, fantasize, or pretend the offense was not as painful as it really was. We face reality, face pain head on, and choose to absorb the hurt into our heart, even as Jesus absorbed into His own body the pain of our sins.

          God forgave us generously. He forgives all sins, the worst without exception. He does not pick and choose, forgiving some sins, but leaving others uncovered. Have we decided some offense done against us was extra heinous? Have we chosen to forgive some, but not all, wrongs?

          If we grasp the vast amount of mercy that was need­ed to pay our huge debt, we say, "I cannot refuse to forgive, whatever the offense." Once we understand the enormity of our own can­celled sin debt, our ability to forgive others is as natural as opening a hand. Christians who cannot forgive have not begun to grasp the amount of forgiveness they received from God. No one can ever wrong us as much as we wrong God. All the abuses we endure are noth­ing compared to what we do against God.

          God forgave us, in a way, before He was asked. Our sins were legally for­given when we repented and asked for forgiveness, but God's for­giveness sought us long before we sought it. New believers think we find God; mature saints know God finds us.

          God's forgive­ness of us took wing before we were born, and kept flying our way long before we turned to receive it. Has someone hurt us, and not apologized? Have we forgiven them already, even before they ask our forgiveness? When they speak to us about it, can we honestly say the incident is already a thing of the past?

          In relationships, a believer should always have all accounts up to date. Others may hold a grudge against us, but we must refuse to sink to their level. With people, we should be bold as a lion, no hesitation in our handshake, no fear to look anyone in the eye, no need to avoid any hallway or store for fear of seeing a particular person.

          We are to forgive others "as God" forgave us in Christ. My im­medi­ate reaction to this challenge is hopeless­ness. I cannot do this. We all stand powerless before this challenge. Adhering to this standard requires a miracle, which is what God pro­vides. Every Bible com­mand is a promise by God to supply power needed to obey it. What He commands us to do, He empowers us to do.

          By the Spirit's power, we can forgive. Others have done it. Archbishop Cranmer was so forgiving that it became a proverb; be unkind to Cranmer and he will be your friend as long as he lives. A Christian, being brutally beaten for his faith, was asked by his tormentor, "What great thing did Christ ever do for you?" The Christian cried in pain, "That I can forgive you."

          Living like this is hard to imagine, but is possible. During the Revolutionary War, Peter Miller served as Pastor of a small Baptist church in Pennsylvania. In his community lived a man who hated and derided Baptists.

This antagonist was found guilty of treason during the War and sentenced to die. When Peter Miller heard of his persecutor's plight, he made a decision that still blesses all who hear of it. He chose to seek a pardon from George Washington for the old enemy. Miller walked sixty miles to see the General at Philadelphia.

Washington told the Pastor his request could not be granted "for his unfortunate friend." The pastor replied, "My friend! I have not a worse enemy."

Washington was stunned, "You walked 60 miles to save the life of your enemy? This puts the matter in a different light; I will grant you his pardon."

The pardon was written and handed to Peter Miller, who immediately began the fifteen mile walk to where his enemy was to be executed. Miller arrived not long before the man was to be conducted to the scaffold. The condemned man, seeing Miller approaching, scoffed, "There is old Peter Miller; he has walked all this way to have his revenge gratified today by seeing me hung." These words had no sooner left his lips than he was told of his pardon, and his life was spared.

          There is a beauty in such behavior that the world cannot resist, and the Church cannot thrive without. Our Master said people would know we are His disciples if we love one another (John 13:35). Taking this one step farther, we can say people will know we love one another, if we forgive one another, as God forgave us.

 

April 9

Jesus cleansed the temple twice, once near the beginning of His public ministry (JN 2:14-15), and once near the end (MT 21:12). The mall in the temple was started with good intentions, as a convenience for travelers. On a long trip, bringing money was much easier than transporting an animal.

 

The selling started out good, but went bad due to greed. Somewhere along the way, the merchants crossed the line from being servants to being robbers.

At the temple, for an animal to be offered, it had to be without blemish.

 

Corrupt, bribed inspectors made it impossible to offer any animal other than those sold in the temple. They could always find a flaw in any animal. Once sellers had the monopoly, prices soared, and what had begun as a blessing became a curse.

 

Beware. This sin is easy to slide into. People who make their own personal income from other people's piety, as I do, are ever in danger of succumbing to this evil. There is always money to be had in religious dealings. Desperate people will pay anything for help. Their distress can open the door to unscrupulous charlatans. As your Pastor, I urge you to investigate any agency you give money to.

 

April 8

On Palm Sunday, Jesus went to the temple, Jerusalem's spiritual center, not to the palace. He was not on a political mission. Why would He have wanted a palace? He left one in Heaven.

 

Jesus went to the temple. He was always conscientious about attending the synagogues and temple, places of public worship. The book of Hebrews reinforced this by saying we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together (10:25).

 

Jesus cared about the public expressions of worship. Some believers say they don't need church gatherings, and can be spiritual on their own. They evidently see themselves as stronger than John the Baptist, the second greatest man who ever lived. When isolated from other believers, John doubted (MT 11:3).

 

"The man who neglects private devotion may often attend public; but it is very seldom, I think, that the man who customarily neglects public, attends private worship. I confess to have little faith in the private devotions of those who systematically neglect the social devotions of God's people" (David Thomas).

 

What is your valuation of public worship? I fear many of us attend public worship only if we happen to have no other commitments on our calendar. It can become easy to let all other excuses, however trite, cause us to okay our absence from church.

 

April 7

The Palm Sunday crowd kept asking, "Who is this" (MT 21:10? You can almost hear the buzz flying across the crowd. They weren't the last to ask the question. Everything hinges on Jesus. He always has to be reckoned with, and if He is not God, He is very hard to classify.

 

"Who is this?" The question must be asked now in humility and love, or later in terror. "Who is this?" Some ask out of curiosity. They are truly seeking.

 

"Who is this?" Some ask out of contempt. I'm sure many in the crowd snarled at Jesus being a carpenter. "Next thing you know, fishermen will be sitting on thrones." Frustrating. But don't count angry people out. The Gospel has power. The cynic says, "No it doesn't." I say it has enough power to get your dander up.

 

A person angry with the Gospel is often easier to win than a complacent person. "We cannot do anything with logs" (Spurgeon). People with no energy are listless. Give me a spirited argument before you give me a boring nap.

 

April 6

One reason we avoid the zeal that was shown on Palm Sunday is; we are underestimating the vast extent of our city's spiritual problems. If we focus only on our holy huddles, we don't see how unchurched our area is. Lostness abounds in Springfield. At least two-thirds of the people in our county are not in church on a given Sunday.

Springfieldians generally don't hate the Gospel. They just don't care to hear it. They have, like people elsewhere in the Bible Belt, just enough religion to be dangerous. They suffer from repentance immunity due to religious inoculation.
Doses of religion in the past are making it harder for unbelievers to absorb it now. Something extraordinary is needed to shake them from their spiritual stupor. That "something extraordinary" is a mighty work of God in us believers.

Sadly, being catalysts for shaking our city is often the last thing we believers want to do. We expect no power in prayer, and seem to fear the title fanatic. You who love calm or dull, worry not. There's little danger of our shaking Springfield.

We need Heaven-sent help, a mighty touch from God. If we are not praying for revival, we're playing. Our task is to stay faithful, keep our hands to the plow, and pray without ceasing for God to touch Earth. The Holy Spirit is our only hope.

Praying Pastors

Connection Card Prayer Requests

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

Building Dynamic Pastors Conference

Greene County Baptist Association

Paul was prolific in his intercessory prayers.In at least nine letters, he let individuals and churches know he prayed for them. He claimed he prayed "always" for the Romans (1:10), Corinthians (1:4), Colossians (1:3), Thessalonians (I Thessalonians 1:2; 2 Thessalonians 1:11), and Philemon (Phil. 4). He "constantly" remembered Timothy in prayer "night and day" (2 Tim. 1:3), and also prayed for the Ephesians (1:16) and Philippians (1:3).

The only way he could have fulfilled all these claims would have been to have a method, a systematic approach to prayer. He either had a written list, or committed them all to memory. Whichever way it was, the main thing is; he obviously had some type of system. Paul was intentional in his praying for others. 

Often we fail in inter­cession not because we don't want to pray, but because we don't plan to. With­out foresight, and unless we plan otherwise before­hand, we constrict our pray­ers, narrowing them down to our own little circles.

In the matter of intercession, "the power of prayer is gained by systematic discipline" (West­cott). Emphasize the word "system­at­ic."

Two practices have kept my circle of prayer from constricting to me, my four, and no more. Nothing has been more helpful in keeping me faithful in intercessory prayer than these two customs. One, for years I have kept a prayer fold­er containing various lists of names--family, fellow staff, church members, peo­ple with special requests, etc. Two, I pray over prayer requests turned in on connection cards each Sunday.

Second used a trifold Sunday bulletin until May 2016. The information card, which included a place for prayer requests, was inside the bulletin. We would receive some written prayer requests, but never a lot. 

In May 2016 we went to a simpler bulletin; one piece, no fold, with limited info on each side. At the bottom of the front side, we included a tear-off prayer card. Immediately our number of prayer requests skyrocketed. Evidently, having the card "in their face" caused people to see it and use it.

Once I saw what was happening, I decided to catch this prayer wave, and provide more momentum. At our Sunday worship services, I began referencing this prayer request tear-off section, and promised people I would pray for them every day that week if they shared a written prayer request. This increased the number of requests even more.

I then began asking them to pray for Ruth and me in return for my praying for them. This seemed to add a personal touch the people responded to well. 

I soon found myself wanting to make contact with some who made prayer requests, especially ones I knew fairly well and/or those whose prayer requests contained urgency. I would guess I started contacting 10 or so people a week. Then it went to 15; now it sometimes approaches 20.

When I contact a person I draw a line diagonally across their card. Sometimes I write at the very top of the card pertinent info I glean from contacting them.

I use texting, Facebook Messenger, and email. Each of these has their advantage. Texting is by far the fastest and surest way to reach people. In each text, since most of those requesting prayer are not in my phone contact list, I begin the text by greeting the receiver by their name, followed by my name. This allows me to identify them when they write back, and lets them know who is contacting them.

Messenger gives me direct access to many who follow me on Facebook. Email info comes from our church database, which allows me to click on a member's email info. Email allows me to quickly print out responses, and put them in my prayer folder. One drawback to email is sometimes it is not checked by people. It is the least reliable of these three forms of communication. I do not telephone unless I know the person extremely well.

When I see people I have prayed for, I tell them I have been praying for them. I consider this to be vital, and to be a following of Bible precedent. 

When we give to the poor, we are to do so "in secret" (MT 6:4), but this does not apply to intercession. We don't want to be self-righteous or ostentatious about it, but the Bible clearly lets us know it is okay to tell others we are praying for them.

Moses let the people know he was praying for them (Deut. 9:25-26). Samuel did too (1 Sam. 12:23). Jesus told Peter He had prayed for him (Luke 22:31-32a). He let the disciples know He prayed for them (John 17:9), and let us know He would pray for us (John 17:20). Paul, as stated earlier, let individuals and churches know he prayed for them. Intercede, and then tell each other you are praying for them. Love can fly on the wings of this. 

I receive the connection cards on Monday. I pray over them Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I am not legalistic about these days. I may do the cards twice on one day. My intent is to pray over the cards 5 times that week.

At week's end, most cards are discarded, but some mention definite future dates, or pressing requests I think merit more of my prayer time. I keep some cards long term. When finished with the cards, I shred them. I don't want someone to see their card in a trash bin, and think I was casting them off.

Credible Bible #3

Our Credible Bible (Lesson 3)

Inerrancy and Textual Variants

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Throughout church history, believers have considered the Scriptures to be accurate and reliable, both historically and theologically. Many words have been used to try to express this belief in concise, precise form. The two most common terms of late have been "infallible" and "inerrant".

 

Infallible refers to the unfailing nature of Scripture. It will not let us down. If we are sad, it comforts us. When tempted, it strengthens us. When lost, it saves us. If doubting, it assures us. When we stray, it rebukes us. When discouraged, it encourages us. When worried, it brings us peace.

 

The Bible is a reliable, sufficient, trustworthy guide for us in our daily lives. It will never misdirect us. It will accomplish the purposes God meant for it to achieve; it won't return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11).

 

"Inerrant" means without error, wholly true. The Bible verses being considered are deemed to be true, not false. We will never be led into error by anything it teaches. Baptist confessions have often conveyed this concept by saying the Bible has "truth for its matter, with no mixture of error."

 

The word inerrant refers only to the original documents, never to copies. Since we do not, as best we know, have originals, some people do not like the term inerrant, but belief in inerrancy of the autographs is what fuels our drive to find ever-older manuscripts. As more manuscripts are found, we feel confident we are getting ever closer to what the originals said.

 

We want to know what the originals said, for we believe they contain the very words of God. Our embracing inerrancy means we believe the authors gave a true and accurate statement regarding what God wanted said.

 

Some people are very uncomfortable with inerrancy. When they see in their versions of the Bible footnotes that point out variants, discrepancies, and seeming contradictions, they cannot understand how there can be any inerrant originals if there are so many differing interpretation-alternatives. I personally think much of this discomfort today stems from the fact the KJV had no footnotes. I think this may have left the impression with most readers that there were no issues regarding the actual wording of any texts.

 

 

The variants should not crush our faith. The Bible is a God-book; it is also a man-book. God condescended to use human beings to write, preserve, and transmit Scripture. Thus we should expect to see human touches in it.

 

Also, is there any other Christian doctrine that we require all difficulties to be resolved before we believe it? What about the Trinity, the Incarnation, Predestination, Creation, etc.? Do we feel we must have 100% understanding of these doctrines in order to believe them? Questions about Bible doctrines often perplex us, but we usually let this drive us to adoration, not skepticism. To resolve all difficulties, we would have to be living by sight, rather than by faith. Do not be surprised if belief in inerrancy leaves us with unresolved questions. We are not going to understand it totally.

 

All Bible doctrines have to end in some measure of mystery because they are dealing with God, whose innermost being and unfathomable ways are beyond our full comprehension. In this life, we see in a mirror dimly, and know in part (1 C 13:12). Therefore, we will never have all the answers regarding any Bible doctrine, including the inerrancy of Scripture.

 

When we come to textual variations, what we cannot fully explain, we leave unresolved, believing the problem is our limited knowledge, not the Bible. If there are seeming discrepancies we cannot solve, we leave it with the Lord. He knows all. Fortunately, we do not have to know everything.

 

Having said this, we still have to face the pesky question, what about all those textual variants? Skeptics smugly use this to ridicule our claim the Bible is the Word of God, and believers are sometimes aghast at their own inability to answer these cynicisms. Fortunately, the issue becomes less disheartening when we are willing to ask the pertinent questions, and to take time to delve into what the variants actually entail.

 

We have 25,000 partial and/or complete New Testament manuscripts from Greek and other languages, containing about 400,000 or so textual variants. This means we have an average of only 16 variants per manuscript. The United Bible Society fourth edition of the Greek New Testament contains 1,438 of the most significant variations in its footnotes and presents manuscript info for them. Less than one percent of variants are significant enough to make it into the footnotes of our English translations.

 

The evidence for a trustworthy transmission of what the Bible originally said is overwhelming. Our manuscript evidence holds up well against other writings of antiquity (See Blomberg, p. 35). In addition to the manuscripts, we have over 30,000 scriptural quotations in sermons and commentaries of early church fathers. Even with no manuscripts, the latter would reconstruct the vast majority of the New Testament.

 

Our earliest manuscripts offer convincing help for us. We have 12 manuscripts from the 100s, 64 from the 200s, 48 from the 300s. By the way, each of these early manuscripts is written with the careful handwriting of an experienced scribe. None of them is "scrawled".

 

Most of these early manuscripts are fragmentary, but taken together, the entire New Testament is found in them multiple times. Later manuscripts add less than 2% more material to the text--that's 2% over 1600 years. This indicates a very stable transmission history. We have so many manuscripts that few new variants will ever be found. We can safely assume the first writing of any given text is in one of the variations.

 

Studies of ancient libraries of antiquity have shown that manuscripts were used anywhere from 150 to 500 years before being discarded. For instance, the fourth-century Codex Vaticanus was read and used for at least 600 years after it was produced. Facts like this show there may not have been various time-gapped generations of texts between the originals and the earliest manuscripts we now have.

 

Greek is not the only language we draw confidence from. In the 100s the New Testament was translated into several languages, including Latin, Coptic, Syriac, Georgian, Gothic, Ethiopic, and Armenian.

 

Having many manuscripts with variations actually helps textual analysts. Varying streams of thought from different languages can provide confirming evidence of what the original said. For instance, 20 manuscripts would be more helpful than one in trying to find precise original wording. Thus, thousands of manuscripts is better than having few. A preponderance of similar texts helps confirm what the original said, and in the New Testament manuscripts there is almost always overwhelming agreement.

 

For one thing, a proliferation of manuscripts proves no one tried to manipulate the text. No hierarchy was trying to promote their own agenda.

 

The variant problem diminishes substantially if we look at it closely. For starters, 70% of all variations are spelling variants. Ancient scribes had no standardized spelling guidelines. Thus, in the 25,000 manuscripts with 400,000 variants, 280,000 of the latter are spelling variations. This means we have 120,000 other types of variations spread across 25,000 manuscripts, which reduces the number of variants per manuscript from 16 down to 5.

 

Other variants involved confusing similar letters, substituting similar sounding letters or words, omitting a letter or word, writing a letter or word twice, reversing order of two letters or words, incorrect word division, changes in spelling due to archaic language or grammar, and replacing rare words. Today's textual critic has to work as a private detective in trying to find original words (For types of errors, see Cowan and Wilder, pp.127ff).

 

Of these variants, only two disputed passages in the United Bible Society Greek text are longer than two verses: the end of Mark (16:9-20), and the woman taken in adultery (John 7:53-8:11). In over 25,000 manuscripts, no other passages are anywhere nearly as long as these two.

 

When considering the variations, our chief concern should be, do they affect any major Bible doctrines? The answer is no. Let's consider a few samples (For more cases, see Blomberg, pp. 21ff, or footnotes in a Bible).

 

            Should Matthew 5:22 contain "without a cause"? Does the Doxology belong at the end of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:13? Does Mark 1:41 say compassionate or indignant? Many manuscripts omit Luke 22:43-44 and Acts 8:37. Does Romans 5:1 say we have peace, or let us have peace? Is 1 Corinthians 13:3 saying burn or boast? In Philippians 1:14 is the message "of God"? The three testifying in 1 John 5:7-8 is hard to unravel.

 

An interesting footnote: The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (www.csntm.org) seeks to preserve Scripture by taking digital photos of all known Greek New Testament manuscripts. 5800 documents are known to exist (about 5000 after AD 1000; about 800 before). Some are fragments, especially older ones, but the average Greek NT manuscript is over 450 pages long. There are a total of 2.6 million pages of text.

 

 

April 5

Matt. 21:10a "When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken." The word "shaken" translates the word we derive "seismic" from. Jesus always seemed to be shaking things up. He had already shaken Jerusalem at least twice. Thirty-three years earlier the Holy City was shaken by traveling Magi, who asked, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?" (MT 2:2a). Twelve years later, Jerusalem was shaken again, this time by the presence of a child prodigy whose knowledge astounded the religious leaders.

 

Springfield, Missouri, like every other city in the USA, needs a spiritual shaking. It has had other kinds of shakings. President Truman came here in 1952 for a reunion with his WW1 buddies. While he was here, an actor named Ronald Reagan was in town promoting his new movie. There's a famous picture of the current and future Presidents close to one another during a parade here.

 

Elvis Presley performed here in 1956 and 1975. It's fair to say our city was "All Shook Up". Now Springfield's greatest need is for a shaking that is spiritual. I remind us, the excitement at the Triumphal Entry was started by the disciples. They were the first to lay robes down. As long as we are in a society where over 80% of believers have never shared their faith with an unbeliever, we need to quit wondering why things are going sour spiritually, and to pray for a shaking that starts with us.