August 2013

The Truth in HD
The Worst He Can Say
Have you ever known anyone that has had cancer? In today's world, it feels like cancer lurks around every corner. If you don't directly know someone who has or had cancer you know someone who knows someone. It doesn't seem fair. But that's the thing about cancer and sickness and death - no one is exempt. 2 Kings 20:1-6 - 1In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, T " hus says the Lord, 'Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.'" 2 Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, 3 Remember now, O Lord, " I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight."And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 5" Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, " I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the
by Brianna Sherman

Truth in HD

Inside this issue:

Removing the Veil

Further Up and Further In!

The Church You Can Believe In Today: Loves One Another

The Nature of the Beast: It Denies the Truth

third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. 6I will add on fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David's sake." '" Sickness and death are not picky. It doesn't matter who you are, you are susceptible. Anyon e of us could fall ill or die tomorrow - "Neither greatness or goodness can exempt us from sickness" (Matthew Henry). The other truth about death is that no one knows for sure when it will happen. Hezekiah is the only man we are aware of that was ever given a time from God. You see, "God has wisely kept us at uncertainties, that we may be always ready" (John Wesley). Unfortunately, for some reason, we don't feel the need to be ready. According to Frederick Beuchner, "Intellectually we all know that we will die, but we do not really know it in the sense that the knowledge be-

comes a part of us. We do not really know it in the sense of living as though it were true. On the contrary, we tend to live as though our lives would go on forever." Thank goodness for prayer, or more accurately, thank God! Without it, we wouldn't have access to Christ or salvation. We wouldn't have hope of life after death. And prayer always brings healing. It may not be physical, but it is always spiritual, and sometimes emotional. When Hezekiah receives his death sentence, what is his first response? To pray - "He had now received the sentence of death within himself, and if it was reversible, it must be reversed by prayer" (Matthew Henry). Some say his prayer was simply meant to calm his anxiety or fears, others say it really was for healing (though he never asks for that outright). Not every prayer is answered with a "yes" or a "you have been healed" but the truth to learn here is that "we have not if we ask not" (Matthew Henry). God can change circumstances! He did it for

Volume 3, Issue 8

The Truth in HD

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Removing the Veil

man, as created by God, can God admire Himself. Man is the mirror image in which God looks to see Himself. Man is the reflection of the glory of God, which was the purpose and intention of God originally. Mans supreme function through all eternity is to reflect Gods highest glory, and that God might look into the mirror called man and see His own glory shining there. Through man, God could reflect His glory to all creation (The Purpose of Man).

by Josh Wilson

In the beginning God created. He said let there be and there was. He commanded and His creation obeyed. What was created revealed the glory of its creator. The very existence of anything at all proclaimed that there is a creator who is eternal and whose power is boundless and immeasurable. Even so, the Creator had a greater vision. Then God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:26 ESV). God created the heavens and the earth and saw ...mans greatest that it was good. But He battle is to still had a desire that was not overcome the fulfilled in that sinful nature creation. Take a second to conthat renders him sider the magnitude of this moblind... ment. God laid the foundations of a universe that none can even begin to comprehend. Job 26:7 says, He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing. Do some studying and you will see that everything in the universe works in perfect order. The work of His hand is a masterpiece beyond anything man could begin to create. Even so, He desired children that would be a mirror through which He could see Himself. Man would populate the earth and be a people that would commune with, and glorify their creator. A.W. Tozer said this about the creation of man, God made man to be like Him so that man could give more pleasure to God than all the other creatures. Only in

of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world Gods invisible qualitiesHis eternal power and divine naturehave been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Though the heavens declare the glory Him, but their thinking became of God, and the sky above proclaims His futile and their foolish hearts handiwork, Gods idea of a masterwere darkened. Although they piece was mankind. God and man claimed to be wise, they became dwelt together. He walked in the fools and exchanged the glory of the garden with them. God was a real immortal God for images made to presence with man. In spite of this, look like mortal man and birds and man chose to follow his own desires. animals and reptiles (Romans 1:18Man chose to be the ruler of his life 23 NIV). and as a result the relationship between God and man would be deep- Do you see that things have not changed? It is the same pattern ly scarred. At the moment Adam surrendered to his own desire man for thousands of years. Man has opportunity to have communbecame blind. A veil covered the heart of man keeping him from union with his creator. Man chooses not to glorify God or give derstanding the glory of the Living God. thanks to him, but man chooses to follow his own desires. As To this day, and until the final day, man follows his own desires his mans great battle is to overcome the heart is darkened and lives his sinful nature that renders him blind life governed by futile thought. to the very one who created him to A man governed by anything other than the Spirit of God is a be above all other things created. Though today we have this great man who finds himself wading hope in Christ who always lives to blindly through the murky waintercede, there are many who live ters of sin and death. Not only a life of spiritual blindness. Man has did God ordain laws to govern made every arrogant attempt to sci- the universe and allow it to entifically and philosophically exwork to precision in order that plain his own existence, all the while life may be sustained, but He he is unable and unwilling to see that ordained order that would be the foundation of all things holy human wisdom is weak and feeble. The arrogant wisdom of man has and pleasing to Himself. When come up with countless theories pro- man chooses to set on the throne claiming understanding of every in his own heart he steps out of subject you can think of. We should the order that God has ordained not be surprised by this! The wrath and chaos ensues leading to all

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the problems we see in those around us today. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like (Galatians 5:19-21). Man traded the truth of God for a lie. Most will spend the extent of their time on earth storing up treasures that are founded in a lie. ing in life. Maybe you just simply allow your time energy and thought to be consumed by plans or desires that are not yet, or are never, to be. Only in the work of the Spirit of God in the heart of man can the veil that so blinds us be removed allowing the light of the Living God to shine into our hearts that we can be a mirror of the image of the Almighty God.

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites Again A.W. Tozer says, Before from gazing at it while the radiance was fading the Lord God made man upon the away. But their minds were made dull, for to earth He first prepared for him a this day the same veil remains when the old world of useful and pleasant covenant is read. It has not been removed, bethings for his sustenance and decause only in Christ is it taken away. Even to light. In the Genesis account of the this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their creation these are simply hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, things. They were made for the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is Spirit, We say the right words sometimes. mans use, but they were meant Pray for God to revive and move and and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is always to be external to the man freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all stir hearts. But do we really underand subservient to him. In the stand that His desire is that we surren- reflect the Lords glory, are being transformed deep heart of the man was a der everything that stands before Him into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, shrine where none but God was which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 in our hearts? How often do we go worthy to come. Within him was before God and willingly throw open Corinthians 3:12-18). God; without, a thousand gifts the doors of our hearts and tell Him to which God had showered upon Does the veil still exist in your heart totake whatever it is He wants? Do we him. But sin has introduced com- often open the doors to our deepest day? Is your life governed by the wisdom plications and has made those desires and plans and allow Him full of man? Are you willing to follow after very gifts of God a potential reign? How many will endure the suf- Him even if it means the Spirit of God source of ruin to the soul. Our fering of being crucified with Christ so searching the depths of who you are and woes began when God was forced that it is no longer we who live but He crucifying the things that hold you back out of His central shrine and who lives through us. There is pain to from being a true mirror of the glory of things were allowed to enter. God? I believe He still works in His peobe endured as ones nature is transWithin the human heart things ple. If we open ourselves fully to Him we formed. There must be a work of have taken over. Men have now God in destruction before we are free. will be transformed into a great mirror by nature no peace within their that reflects His image here on earth and We must invite the cross to do its hearts, for God is crowned there deadly work within us. We must bring proclaims to all mankind that HE IS! As no longer, but there in the moral our self-sins to the cross for judgment. we become this mirror we are fulfilling dusk, stubborn and aggressive We must prepare ourselves for an or- Gods purpose and vision for mankind. In usurpers fight among themselves deal of suffering in some measure like the beginning God had a vision for man. for first place on the throne. that through which our Savior passed As we allow Him to remove the veil over our hearts we become the creation about when He suffered under Pontius PiThe most unnerving part of this whom He can again say it is good. late. whole situation is that sometimes There are things in our lives today the churchs ideas and theories that stand in the way of revival. Mayare just as empty and hollow as be you had plans in life that never mans attempt at explaining how came to be. Maybe you thought you we all evolved from nothing. would have attained a certain stand-

I believe that there are people who genuinely want to see a move of God. Something that cannot be mistaken for human ingenuity. There is a lot of talk about revival these days. It is exciting to hear that there are people who are ready and willing to cry out to our God and intercede on behalf of others. It is exciting to know that there are people who still believe that God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. It is exciting to know that there are people who believe that Gods Church is alive and well today and that God does still move when His people come together in His name. I wonder though if we understand the kind of surrender it takes to experience that moving of God in our lives.

The Truth in HD

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Further Up and Further In!

ion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (ESV). In the last half of chapter 5 we see that sin and death came by one man, In Adam all die, that the one mans trespass led to condemnation for all men. We see that outside of Christ Jesus we all stand condemned, darkened in our understanding and alienated from the life of God because of ignorance and hardness of Heart (Eph 4) but God so loved the World that He gave His one and only Son to redeem all who will believe (John 3:16). Jesus paid the price and we now have peace with God, access to grace, and the hope of eternal Glory. Once dead in our sin we are now made alive in Christ by the free gift of Grace. And the condemnation we now face is not that we are born in Adam but that we choose as Adam did; independence from God, a going after our own way, a following after our own selfish desires. Jesus did not come to condemn us but to free us from sin. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. (Jn 3:18)
At Salvation, when we experience God's justifying grace, by faith, we come into, or are raised up into, that new life in Christ. For by Grace you have been saved through faith, this is not your doing, it is the free gift of God, not a result of works, none of us can boast that we did it (Eph 2:8-9). Faith is counted as righteousness to

by Kenny Seidler

I am sure that some of you reading this recognize the quote from the last book of the Chronicles of Narnia, The last Battle. I could not remember which character had said it but when I looked it up I found that many had said it. It was first said as an invitation by Aslan Come further in, Come further up, and the cry of Further up and Further in is repeated and carried as those that followed the Great Lion moved forward. But as I re-read the last few chapters, it was the whole of what the Unicorn said as he moved forward that is sticking with me now. It is important and relevant to us here in our worldyou see the story concludes with the end of Narnia and the beginning of something new, something better, bigger, and brighter. Just like those in the story we too need to move Further up and Further in.

us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification (Rom 4:24-25). This righteousness from God is an imputed righteousness; we stand before God righteous in Christ. As the last verse of chapter 5 tells us grace reigns through righteousness which leads to eternal life through Christ. Only in Christ can we receive the grace to overcome. Only in Christ can grace reign through righteousness. But that does not give us a license to sin: we cannot continue to deliberately sin, the grace we now have access to does not cover sin. As Christians we have died to sin so we cannot continue on in it. That would place us back with Adam. We have been baptized into Christ, immersed in Him. Can Christ sin? Can the Holy and the unholy reside in the same place? By no means! Our old sin nature, our old self is crucified with Him, as vs. 6 tells us; the body of sin is brought to nothing, done away with, or destroyed. No translation or commentary, that I could find, said that it was curbed or suppressed; it is crucified. Nailed to the cross, sin must die. It must be a willful act done before God by faith. Then, having been set free from the power of sin we can now live as grace empowered children of the living God raised up to the newness of life found in Christ Jesus! Baptism, as Paul expresses it here in chapter 6 is the outward sign of the inward work of Christ; it symbolizes our being buried with Christ and raised to new life. We are, as vs. 4 tells us, to walk in this newness of Life. Grace is Christ working in us, his enabling presence making us righteous and it is willful righteous obedience that keeps us

Volume 3, Issue 8

In Romans 5:21-6:11 we read as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has domin-

on the journey as we go further up and further in.

life we will be abiding in Christ, in the vine, and in Christ there is to be much fruit. Now what Jesus said next should be Remember grace reigns through an eye opener for those with a strong inderighteousness; righteousness is right pendent nature: Apart from Me you can living, right doing, being morally do nothing Apart from Christ there is upright. It is obedience that flows no new life; not walking with Him means from a right and loving relationship that you are on your own, apart from His with our Lord as we walk with Him. enabling presence, His grace, and His inThis is not about following a set of tervention on your behalf. Unrighteous dos and donts and this is not about and separated from Him we fall back to being legalistic. This is about walking the world. with someone because you want to. In Eph 4 there is a description of what that When you travel with someone you walk should look like: I therefore, a prisgo the way they are going and as you oner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a travel you talk and build a relationmanner worthy of the calling to which you ship with this person; it is a process. have been called, with all humility and I cant go my own way and end up gentleness, with patience, bearing with where you are going if I am going the one another in love, eager to maintain the opposite direction. And there are unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. only two directions: back to the There is one body and one Spiritjust as world or further up and further in you were called to the one hope that beas we walk with Christ. If we are to longs to your call one Lord, one faith, have new life we must walk in it! one baptism If a person is on their own, independent and far from you how can they build a relationship with you? 1 John 2:6 tells us that Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. Jesus said I am the Way, the Truth, and The Life. That life is what we are to walk in. In stating you are a Christian you are saying that you are a Christ follower, that in this world you walk with Christ in the newness of life that He provides. 2 Cor 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. The life we now live is in Christ. That one baptism into Christ is a baptism into His church, one body, and it is only in the local congregation that we can learn and practice the one-anothers of the New Testament while living the life we are called to live. But first we have to make a moral decision about sin: are we dead to it? In vs. 11 we are told that we MUST consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. How? If you, by faith, believe yourself dead to sin, then you must also consider yourself as alive to God. You now live for Him; vs. 8 tells us if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

nection with Adam is gone and we have died to worldly ways and now choose to further our relationship with Christ and His church.

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Being alive to God is consecration, sanctification, and holiness; it is being set apart for Gods use and that can only happen when we are alive to God in Christ Jesus. Having been raised to new life we now live, as verse 8 tells us, with Him. Being in Christ is also being a part of His Body, His Church and that can only happen as we move forward in grace. That grace now reigns in us and is what John Wesley referred to as sustaining Grace or what we call sanctifying grace. Todays underserved favor, Grace, is not about covering our sin as the blood of animals did under the Old Testament Law. This sanctifying grace is the power of Christ in us to overcome; it sustains us in our weakness, enables us, and gives us strength. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me - this is the grace we walk in, this is the newness of life that comes from being in Christ. And it is the grace of God that places us in His Church. As we, the church, are seeking the Lord, we will experience Gods love and grace and we will grow in the Grace and Knowledge of our lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:17-18 says, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Remember when we grow, we change and change and growth takes place as we move further up and further in together.

When we go further up and further in we will start to see the church as God created it to be, dead to sin and alive to God. And we will find what the Unicorn found, and we will echo his words, I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land In John 15 Jesus said Abide in me, Having died with Christ we must believe I have been looking for all my life, though I and I in you. As the branch cannot that we are to live with Him. Now! We never knew it till now Come further up, come bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in must take deliberate action based on our further in! And that joy filled cry is ours in the vine, neither can you, unless you faith in what we believe; that being in Christ. We too can find joy and purpose, a abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are Christ we are dead to sin and by dying to home, and a place to belong as we move forthe branches. Whoever abides in me sin, we are, as Adam Clarke says, ward, in Christ, as His Church. But we must and I in him, he it is that bears much brought into vital union with Christ in make the choice: back to the world and our old fruit, for apart from me you can do Christ we are made alive and become par- self-centered ways or continue on, in and with nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide takers of His Spiritual Life, which is eter- Christ, toward glory - Further up and Further in me he is thrown away like a branch nal. in! and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and Christians no longer live as Adams chilburned. dren; in independent self-righteousness. If we are walking in the newness of We are no longer of the World; our con-

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The Church You Can Believe In Today: Loves One Another by Bruce Wilson
ing of love. There are some who have control issues in relationships and would say that it is out of love that they are that way and need to control the one they say they love. There are even those who would use abusive discipline on their children to express what they say is love. These are all examples of perverted love that does not come from God. other.

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. (1 Pet 1:22 NIV) Love is expressed by our society in many ways, and through many avenues. Love is expressed in song. There are probably hundreds of thousands of songs with a theme of love, not only in the gospel music field but also in the secular arena. Some would express their love for another by gift-giving. Maybe some would express their love in giftgiving based on the monetary value of the gift. For some, they would expend significant resources in a gift to express their love for another, while others may put a lot of time and thought into just the right gift for a person and it may not be based upon the monetary value but a value based on how special the gift would be to the person receiving it. Still others may express their love for another by their willingness to be generous. Our willingness to be generous might be based on the persons relationship to us or how well we know the person or how well thought of the person is that we are being generous to. There are also many opinions about what love is and some of the acts that are done to another in the name of love. For example, there are some who live in abusive situations and the abuser would claim that they are treating someone a certain way because of how much they love them. Obviously a misguided understand-

We are commanded to love one another deeply, from the heart. Sometimes church people have a strange way of showing love. I have seen allout war in some congregations and they say they love one another. A strange way to express love. Ive seen some church There are psychologists and others people who will not speak to who try to explain love and help us others in the congregation. A to understand love based on theory strange way of showing love. or experience other than a loving Ive seen church people gosrelationship with God. sip about their brothers and sisters, a strange way of showing love. Ive seen church people As Christians, however, we need to be judgmental to their brothers love Gods way, with the love that and sisters, and when I say judgonly comes from God flowing mental, I mean talking about through us. Notice that the verse in 1 something in someones life Peter 1:22 tells us that love ultimate- without knowing the facts or ly comes from purity and the purity circumstances; in complete comes from obedience to the truth. speculation. A strange way of Gods Word and the witness of the showing love. Holy Spirit would be the truth. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have What I am saying is that there sincere love for your brothers. are times we, as the church, fail miserably at expressing love to others. If I speak in the tongues We are first called to purity. How is of men and of angels, but have that accomplished? By obedience to not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I the truth of Gods Word. Jesus, as have the gift of prophecy and He prayed for His disciples said, can fathom all mysteries and all Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17 NIV) As knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but a result of this obedience to Gods have not love, I am nothing. If I truth, we are admonished to have sincere love for our brothers, and give all I possess to the poor sisters. The word used in the KJV for and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain sincere is unfeigned which nothing. (1 Cor 13:1-3 NIV) means undissembled or sincere: That passage goes on to say, without dissimulation (hypocrisy). In other words Christians are to love And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the sincerely and that means not being hypocritical in that love for one an- greatest of these is love. (1 Cor 13:13 NIV)

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and is found.' So they began to celebrate. (Luke 15:24 NIV) The celeGod loves unconditionally and so bration was about this young mans should we. I want to be clear redemption, not the ugly sinful lifethough about something else. This style he had lusted after and lived. If love that we need to be expressing you read that whole passage you will to others does not mean that we notice that the Father did not run to condone ungodly conduct or that the son until he had a change of heart, we should condone sin and we do not judge what is right and wrong. had come to his senses. The Bible guides us into all truth with the help of the Holy The truth is, God hates sin! The Spirit. Some think that we should LORD examines the righteous, but not ever say anything about unthe wicked and those who love viogodly conduct or someone that is lence his soul hates. (Psa 11:5 NIV) living in sin. Jesus certainly said enough about it. We have gone too far in the life of the church There are six things the LORD condoning sinful activities in the hates, seven that are detestable to lives of some who profess to be him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, Christians. In fact, its about time hands that shed innocent blood, a we start to raise the bar, so to heart that devises wicked schemes, speak, with respect to holiness. feet that are quick to rush into evil, a Gods expectations have not false witness who pours out lies and a changed for Christians and ours man who stirs up dissension among should not change either. brothers. (Prov 6:16-19 NIV) From the heart is the only way we can love one another deeply. The word in the KJV for deeply is fervently. Some of the synonyms for the word fervent are: passionately, ardently, enthusiastically, eagerly, zealously, fanatically, feverishly, and excitedly. If we indeed loved like these words describe, I do believe congregations in our country would be growing by leaps and bounds. We would be loving one another and loving sinners into the Kingdom of God.

The world is indeed looking for love, but many are looking in the wrong places with the wrong motives. There are warped and perverted ways some define love and live it out. The only true love that is fulfilling is loving Gods way and through allowing Him to express is unconditional love to us through Jesus Christ. Jesus said, By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."(John 13:35 NIV) The world needs to see the beauty of the pure Church of the Living God, not all the apostasy, heresy and division that the Unconditional love is not to be You love righteousness and hate world sees being lived out among many confused either with the consewickedness; therefore God, your God, who call themselves Christians. The quences of sin or of spiritual disci- has set you above your companions Church should be a shining example of pline. Unconditional love is the by anointing you with the oil of joy. showing and expressing love to one anothlove that God has for mankind (Psa 45:7 NIV) er. It is commanded by God and in fact, if that no matter what happens, no we have a right relationship with Him, we matter what we have done; God will then be motivated to love others like will forgive us and restore us spir- Let those who love the LORD hate God loves us. itually, but dont forget, HE PAID evil.. (Psa 97:10 NIV) A HIGH PRICE TO EXPRESS THIS LOVE! It is not cheap grace We are called to have motives that are and once we surrender to Him, we I will set before my eyes no vile thing. pure, sincere and based upon Gods truth. do not continue in a life of sin. The deeds of faithless men I hate; That is Gods way of loving. We dont get saved IN our sin; we they will not cling to me. Men of perget saved FROM our sin! Howev- verse heart shall be far from me; I er, sometimes the consequences of will have nothing to do with evil. (Psa sinful activity affect our lives and 101:3-4 NIV) we are unable to change that. To fear the LORD is to hate evil.. In the story of the prodigal son (Prov 8:13 NIV) there was a great celebration when the son came to his senses and confessed his sin and came home. We are commanded to, Love one For this son of mine was dead another deeply, from the heart. and is alive again; he was lost

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The Nature of the Beast: It Denies the Truth

Scripture reminds us that God is not subject to the standards, or the wisdom of the world. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God (1 Cor. 1:2730). God told the people of Israel, For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isa. 55:9). If we believe these statements to be God-inspired truth, why do we continually measure truth against the standards set in place by man? Those who continue to seek Gods truth find themselves in the same position as Christians in the first century. We stand in opposition to a beast.

by Nick Wilson

Volume 3, Issue 8

And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bears, and its mouth was like a lions mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. -Rev. 13:1, 2 I recently read a blog written by a professor from Warner University. He was commenting on a book that was written in defense of creation, and explaining that the authors of the book did not have the academic credentials to write authoritatively on such a topic. He asks how the authors are competent to address college biology instruction since they do not possess masters degrees in biology. That is a fair question if our concern is primarily college degrees, but when do we forget about such things in favor of seeking the truth? The fact that this professor challenged the credentials of the authors rather than the assertions they made raises such a question. Are we really looking for truth, or do we simply take the word of those who have worldly credentials?

the first beast in chapter 13 represents the man-made Roman Church. (I make no pretense about the fact that I believe this interpretation to be true.) Others believe that this beast represents some form of emperor worship. My contention is that regardless of which interpretation we follow, we find ourselves standing against the same type of beast today. Whether we consider the beast Papalism, or worship of the government of man, we are in a position where the standards of man oppose Gods Word.

There is nothing wrong with education, and certainly nothing wrong with pursuing the knowledge of God. However, it seems that sometimes we value the things we have put in place so much that we forget that Gods truth is Historically, the Church of God greater than our ideas. We has interpreted the symbols of forget that Gods truth is the 13th chapter of Revelation eternal, and is to be discovin one of two ways. F.G. Smith ered by His people, not creand many of the early teachers ated by them. Os Guinness wrote, With postmodernof the movement taught that ism teaching that truth is

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created, not discovered, the premium on the best and brightest increases and the prize becomes the triumph of intellect over reality (A Time for Truth, 60). We may not admit it, but Gods truth is reality even when it is contrary to our opinions and ideas. We can make every attempt to rationalize and explain it away, but we cannot change the truth any more than we can change God Himself. To attempt to do so is to follow the way of the beast. And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous wordsIt opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them (Rev. 13:5-7). The word blasphemies literally means vilification. So the beast that man has created vilifies the work of God. It vilifies the truth of God, and makes war on the saints who live in light of this truth. Is

this not what is happening when those in positions of influence attack the credentials of those who are brave enough to stand upon Gods Word even in a hostile environment? The desire for truth has largely given way to the rationalization of mans structures. Guinness explained the results of such an occurrence, In short, rationalization not only quenches the true Christian spirit, it helps turn the revolutionary into the routine, the insight into the institution (The Last Christian on Earth, 142).

wonder how we could be so gullible as to accept some of the ideas that we have put in place, and how we could have denied what God had taught so clearly in His Word. We see the results of mans rule in the world, and in the church, but we seldom seem to learn from history. The people of God were oppressed when the church decided that they were not adequate to read the Word and apply it under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When the common man had nothing to offer God, and the Word was given only to those in positions of man-made authority dark times ensued.

Are we really that much different The beast in Johns vision must today? By whose authority do we have been an awesome sight: live? Where do we look for truth? and they worshipped the beast, There is nothing wrong with books, saying, Who is like the beast, and those who write them. There is and who can fight against nothing inherently wrong with our it? (Rev. 13:4). The institutions institutions of education. But are they really the final word? Are they we have put in place today are no less impressive. Man stands an avenue to find the revelation of in awe of his own creation as it Gods truth, or have we elevated them to the position of a beast? leads us into the wilderness. It turns our attention from the source of all truth, and speaks blasphemies as it teaches us to deny the Word of God. We look back on history wondering how man could be misled by some of the tyrants who have appeared through the course of time. We

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Volume 3, Issue 8

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The Worst He Can Say ...Continued From Page 1

Hezekiah and He did it for many others...and He will do it for you! God is bigger and better than sickness. And He is MUCH bigger and better than death! God IS life! It doesn't mean He will always run to the rescue - His plans are much bigger than ours and there is this tiny thing called "free will" that tends to make a mess of things sometimes. But He is there. And you will never know if the answer is "yes" or "no" unless you ask. My parents always reminded me growing up: "The worst thing they can say is no." I didn't really understand it when I was really young, but