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WHY WE SHOULD ACCEPT THE BIBLE'S INSPIRATION (Part 1) By Bob Myhan The Bible claims to be the inspired word of almighty God (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:19-21; 3:14-16; 1 Cor. 14:37; Eph. 3:1-12). But are there good and sufficient reasons for accepting this claim? This writer believes that there are. #1 MAN'S UNBRIDLED RELIGIOUS NATURE Man's religious nature cannot be denied any more than his intellectual nature! When guided by the Bible, man (anthropos—”the upward looking one”) looks upward to God and worships Him in spirit and truth. In the absence of the Bible’s influence, however, this nature has led him to practice extreme cruelties and abominable customs. Man will worship someone or something! Throughout the Bible, God is pictured as demanding sacrifice. In the Garden of Eden there was no sacrifice, because man had not yet sinned. After Adam and Eve sinned, however, they were expelled from the garden and animal sacrifices began to be demanded by God (Gen. 4:1-5). Since Abel offered his sacrifice by faith (Heb. 11:4) and faith comes by hearing the word of God (Rom. 10:17), we know that God commanded Cain and Abel to offer animal sacrifices. Animal sacrifices continued to be required in both the Patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations. These sacrifices had a twofold purpose—they were acts of worship by means of which men demonstrated faith in God and they were prophetic types to prepare man for the sacrifice that God Himself would one day offer on man’s behalf (John 1:29-36; Heb. 9:1-14). It was not long before man became so exceedingly wicked that God destroyed all mankind, except for Noah and his family (Gen. 6:1-8; 7:21-23). After the flood God continued to demand animal sacrifice (Gen. 8:20). Eventually, man ceased worshiping the Creator and began worshiping mere creatures and their images (Rom. 1:22-25), the folly of which is shown by Isaiah. Those who make an image, all of them are useless, And their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses; They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed. Who would form a god or mold an image That profits him nothing? Surely all his companions would be ashamed; And the workmen, they are mere men. Let them all be gathered together, Let them stand up; Yet they shall fear, They shall be ashamed together. The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals, Fashions it with hammers, And works it with the strength of his arms. Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails; He drinks no water and is faint. The craftsman stretches out his rule, He marks one out with chalk; He fashions it with a plane, He marks it out with the compass, And makes it like the figure of a man, According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house. He cuts down cedars for himself, And takes the cypress and the oak; He secures it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it. Then it shall be for a man to burn, For he will take some of it and warm himself; Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread; Indeed he makes a god and worships it; He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it. He burns half of it in the fire; With this half he eats meat; He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He even warms himself and says, "Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire." And the rest of it he makes into a god, His carved image. He falls down before it and worships it, Prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god!" (44:9-17) Some, who were worshiping false Gods, rather than Jehovah God, went so far as to “burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.” God forbade the children of Israel to practice such atrocious, idolatrous worship (Deut. 12:29-32; Lev. 18:21). Such was punishable in Israel by death (Lev. 20:1-5). It is true that God once commanded Abraham to offer up his son as a burnt offering but this was a test of Abraham’s faith. And God did not allow him to follow through but provided a ram as a substitute (Gen. 22:1-13). The question that Isaac asked his father (v. 7) shows that a lamb was the customary sacrifice. By the time of Jeremiah, the covenant children of God were practicing the same atrocious acts (Jer. 7:28-31). Because of this, God dispossessed them of their land (Jer. 7:32-34; 2 Chron. 36:14-21), which is exactly what He had said in the law He would do if they were to go into idolatry (Lev. 26:14-33). God said, through Zechariah, that He would put an end to idolatrous practices. "In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. (Zech. 13:1) "It shall be in that day," says the Lord of hosts, "that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land. ” (Zech. 13:2) Under the New Testament even animal sacrifices are not demanded of those who worship God. The types have been fulfilled by the antitype—Jesus, the Lamb of God, having died on the cross. Rather, the Lord’s people, under the New Testament, “….are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5) Human sacrifice has never been either approved or accepted by God. But that is the depth to which man has descended in the expression of his religious nature when he has refused to follow the supernatural revelation of God’s will. & For more extra-biblical info on human sacrifices: http://www.livescience.com/history/human_sacrifice_050123.html http://nv.essortment.com/aztecsacrifice_raif.htm http://www.digitalmedievalist.com/faqs/sacrific.html
SOME THINGS FOR WHICH WE STAND By Bob Myhan Inasmuch we do not wish to be “too negative” in our teaching, here is a list of some things for which we (the members of the Forest Hills church of Christ in Macon, GA.) stand. Of course, being for these things puts us squarely against other things. 1 Local churches using the power of the gospel to convert lost souls; this places us squarely against local churches using carnal rewards and motivations to “convert” lost souls. 2 Individual members doing "individual" work and local congregations doing "congregational" work; this compels us to oppose local churches doing the work of individual members as well as individual members delegating their “individual” responsibilities to the local church. 3 Local churches overseeing their own work; this places us directly against local churches delegating their work to other local churches. 4 Scriptural cooperation between congregations that preserves local independence; this causes us to diametrically oppose the overseen cooperation of churches. The operative word, here, is “overseen.” 5 Local churches providing for their own needy members; this places us squarely against local churches providing for the physical needs of non-saints. & THE FOLLY OF BEVERAGE ALCOHOL (Proverbs 23:29-35) Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it swirls around smoothly; At the last it bites like a serpent, And stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, And your heart will utter perverse things. Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying: "They have struck me, but I was not hurt; They have beaten me, but I did not feel it. "When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?" &
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