Who Reads The Labels, Anyway?

How many have misread a label?  How many have failed even to read the label on a product?  There is a story of a lady who put super glue in her eyes thinking it was eye drops.  Fortunately, she quickly received proper medical treatment and her eyes were saved.  She attributed the mishap to “not reading the label.” 

Smart shoppers will always read labels and know how to get the most for their purchases.  In making legal transactions, we should always read the contracts.  When administering medicine to self or children, of course, we should read the labels, so as not to overdose or mix with another medicine that might be in the precaution lists. 

Spiritually, let us notice some results of “reading” the Bible:

When Paul was on his second missionary journey from Antioch, he preached in a synagogue of the Jews at Berea.  The Bereans were a receptive audience.  Notice the commendation they receive by Luke: “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11, emphasis W.R.).  Their nobility was because of their paying attention to the detail and studying the Scriptures.  This led many to obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Just as with medicines, food labels, and contacts, spiritually, the apostle Paul explains how simple and important it is to “read the label: “Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ” (Ephesians 3:4).  At closer look at the context around verse 4, we will notice that God revealed something that had previously been a mystery (hidden) in other ages.  Now God, through Paul, was making known this mystery to all mankind.  We have it written for us with the expectation that we would understand it and attain the proper knowledge from it.  

Simply put, by reading the Bible, one may come to know everything, which God has revealed and confirmed (2 Peter 1:3, 21-22).  We should become accustomed to using the phrase, “What saith the scripture” (Galatians 4:30).   We can “read the label” and know exactly what God expects of us.  As we read every fact, command, and promise of God, our faith is built and has a sure foundation (Romans 10:17; 2 Timothy 2:19). 

Christianity is a taught religion.  We must have knowledge of the truth, if it is to be obeyed (1 Peter 1:22).  Let us resolve to learn the Word of God and live by its teachings.  Read the label.

Carry Me Home

A privilege had,

A lesson learned,

A thought once bad,

A heart returned.

     Be all you can,

     Be while you can,

     But before you can,

     Be His Again.

          Could this be the end,

          Could this continue on,

          Could be too late,

          So, Carry me Home.

                       ~Wayne Rodgers (3-18-2011)

End of Time?

Time continues to move on long past those of old, whom many have put their faith in as to the end of time.  Men like William Miller, an Adventist preacher, who in the 1830’s prophesied that Jesus would return in 1843.  The world continued past that date. He said that he had miscalculated, when in fact, his prophecy failed two more times to be exact, 1844 and 1845.  Of course, time is still marching on by the time that Charles T. Russell, leader of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, taught that Jesus came to the earth (invisibly) in 1874, and that the ages would end in 1914.  Yet, time is still moving on. 

While many other dates have been predicted, here we are over a hundred years later from Russell’s folly (that which proves him to be a false prophet, Deut. 18:22).  Recently, there’s a buzz about 2012 being the end of time.  While many today try to place modern wars, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other events as “signs of the times,” we are to be reminded of Jesus’ words: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matt. 24:36).  While many have put their faith in the “false” words of men, let us put our faith in the “true” words of the Christ and His apostles: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” (2 Peter 3:10-12). 

The words of Jesus and His apostles should give faith and hope in the second coming of our Lord, but also give us a clue that NO MAN KNOWS when Christ will return.  It will be unexpected, in fact, therefore Peter admonishes Christians to be ready, having our lives in order.  Have you obeyed the Gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 1:7-9) and are you faithful in your service to the Lord (Rev. 2:10)?

Has The Kingdom of God Come?

     When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, He said, “…thy kingdom come…” (Mt. 6:10).  We ask, “What is this ‘kingdom’ and has it come?”  This kingdom was spoken of by Daniel, the prophet over 600 years prior to Jesus’ statement in Matthew 6.  Daniel foretold that “in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed” (Dan. 2:44), that the Son of man would be given a kingdom, and “that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom which shall not be destroyed” (Dan. 7:13, 14).  It was announced as being “at hand” when Jesus was upon the earth by John the baptizer (Mt. 3:2), by Jesus (Mt. 4:17), by the apostles (Mt. 10:7), and the seventy on the limited commission (Lk. 10:9).  The phrase “at hand” means near or nearby, approaching, ready to occur.  It must then be the case that the kingdom of heaven was established or set up near the time when Jesus was preaching that the “kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt. 4:17).

     The Lord gave the “time-frame” of the kingdom’s occurrence.  Jesus said, “Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power” (Mark 9:1).  The kingdom would come during the disciples’ lifetime.  So, either the kingdom has come, or there are men walking around who are nearly 2,000 years old.  The Lord also stated in this verse that the kingdom would “come with power.”  In Acts 1:3, Jesus was speaking to His apostles “things pertaining to the kingdom of God, and that they “should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4).  In verse five, Jesus promised His apostles that they would be “baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”  Notice verses six through eight of Acts 1:  “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying Lord wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (emphasis added by W.R.).  Jesus marked the time-frame by noting several key events: coming in the apostles’ lifetime, coming with power, and power from the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit came upon the apostles on the Day of Pentecost in the following chapter, Acts 2.  

     

     In that sermon preached, the Gospel was proclaimed (Acts 2:22-36), reference is made to Joel’s prophecy concerning the miracles being poured out from God’s Spirit on that day (Acts 2:14-21), and also prophecy is shown to be fulfilled by Jesus sitting upon David’s throne (Acts 2:30).  The response of those gathered on that day was “men and brethren, what shall we do” (Acts 2:37)?  Peter responds with their salvation needs by saying, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38).  They “gladly received his word” and “were baptized: and the same day there were added about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41).  The closing statement of chapter two is: “the Lord added to the church (to their number – ESV) daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).  The kingdom had begun at this place where all of these prophecies were fulfilled of David, Joel, Daniel and Jesus. 

     When instituting the Lord’s Supper recorded in Matthew 26:26-29, Jesus said, “I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”  If the kingdom has not come, then the Lord’s Supper cannot be eaten.  But, we know that it was observed by the 1st century church (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:17-30).  Logic dictates that the kingdom existed at that time.  Concerning the Colossian Christians, Paul reminded them that they had been “translated them from the power of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son (Col. 1:13-14).  One could not be translated into something that did not exist.  Therefore, the kingdom was in place at that time, and the Colossian Christians were in it.  The Hebrew’s writer says this concerning the kingdom: “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28-29). 

     

     Yes, the kingdom of God has come, and if we wish to be in it, we must do as they did on that 1^st Pentecost Day after Christ’s ascension into Heaven.  Obey the Gospel as given to those who believed on the Day of Pentecost and asked, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).  Peter told them to “repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…” (Acts 2:38).  Let us live faithful unto Christ and “serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” in the His kingdom (Heb. 12:28-29).

WILL YOU BE MOCKED?

Approximately 3,000 years ago, the wise man Solomon wrote, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise” (Prov. 20:1).  A lot of wine has “passed under the bridge since then,” but lots of folks are still being deceived by the “rag­ing mocker,” alcohol.  The statistics tell the sad story of alcohol abuse in America.  More than 70% of adult Americans drink alcoholic beverages, and 1 out of 10 becomes an alcoholic.  Alcohol is the most abused drug in our society, costing our nation over $100 billion dollars annually in lost production, medical costs, property damage, violent crime, and death, not to mention the misery which results from the effects of this deadly drug.

Did you know that over half of all fatalities, resulting from car crashes, are caused by drivers who are “under the influence?”  Every 48 seconds a person is injured in an al­cohol related auto accident, disabling over 500,000 people annually.  Alcohol is involved in 30-40% of all sexual abuse cases, and over 675,000 children annually are the victims of child abuse at the hands of a sub­stance-abusing caretaker.  Over 5,000 babies are born each year with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and according to a former Surgeon General, alcohol causes more deaths, than all major diseases combined.  Law enforce­ment experts agree, alcohol abuse is the leading cause of nearly every type of crime.

                 

When all the statistics are considered, how foolish it is that some “Christians” still advocate the consumption of alcohol in moderation, so long as one does not become drunk. Again, Solomon gave wise counsel when he wrote, “Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath bab­bling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup…, At last it biteth like a ser­pent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall be­hold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea... They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake?  I will seek it yet again” (Prov. 23:29-35).   

A careful study of God’s Word reveals the devastation, which results from consuming alcohol, referred to in the Scriptures as, “the raging mocker.”  For instance, Lot became guilty of incest with his daughters because he became drunk (Gen. 19:33-35).  Nadab & Abihu were likely “under the influence” when they offered “strange fire” leading to their demise (Lev. 10:1-11).  Amnon was easily slain by the servants of Ab­salom, because he made the foolish mistake of getting drunk (II Sam. 13:28-29).  Queen Vashti was dis­honored by her husband, Ahasuerus, when at a drunken feast he ordered her to pa­rade her beauty before the crowd (Esther 1:1-22).  Belshazzar lost the kingdom of Babylon to the Medes and Per­sians, because he desecrated God’s sacred temple vessels, during the midst of a drunken feast (Dan. 5:1-31).

                 

God’s Word says the human body is to be preserved in purity as the temple of the Holy Spirit. “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (I Cor. 6:19-20).  However, alcohol destroys that temple. Ethyl alcohol reaches the bloodstream 30 seconds after ingestion, where it begins its damaging work.  Consuming it, in even small quantities, kills brain cells, impairs judgment and coordination, and adversely affects nearly every major organ of the body.  Overwhelming medical evidence shows there is no level of drinking that is not harmful to the body.

Christians are warned to guard our influence and not become a stumbling block to the weak.  We are not to abuse our freedom in Christ, by causing the weaker brother to sin, and social drinking falls within the jurisdiction of this counsel.  “Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.  Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God (I Cor. 10:32).

Yes, wine is still “the rag­ing mocker,” and millions are still being deceived by its influence.  However, the faithful child of God will wisely avoid strong drink, lest he become addicted to this work of the flesh, and miss inheriting the king­dom of God (Gal. 5:21, I Cor. 6:9-10).  Has “the raging mocker” fooled you?  Please think about it seriously.  

The bold letters tell the story of exactly what alcohol will do for you.  It will take you AWAY from God, your family, your job, and your life.