Christian Growth

By W. Bruce Tooley

Baptism puts an end to one’s life as an alien sinner and begins one’s life as a child of God. And it must be followed by spiritual growth or it was submitted to in vain. If a newborn baby does not grow we carry it to the doctor. If a child has no appetite we know there is a serious problem. The same is true of the spiritual babe. Something is wrong if one fails to develop—grow—into a mature disciple. If he fails to develop there must be a deficiency of faith. Such might be the result of the failure of others to properly teach—feed, edify, nurture—the babe in Jesus. But it must be attended to.

We are commanded to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). This means we must grow in order to be pleasing to the Lord. Christians must continue, “As newborn babes, [to] desire the pure milk of the word that [they] may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). If we have no appetite for the word of God, we will not grow. Jesus said if we hunger and thirst after righteousness we will be filled (Matt. 5:6). The more we grow the more of God’s word we will desire. The reader might ask, “How can I know if I am growing?” Here are a few questions one might ask himself.

1.    Do I pray to God every day? He wants us to communicate with Him (Phil. 4:6, 7).

2.    Do I read God’s word every day? He wants to communicate with us, and every Christian needs to have a daily diet of Bible reading; God’s word contains all that “pertains to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).

3.    Have I broken at least some of my bad habits? We must put off the old man by making new friends of God’s people (1 Cor. 15:33).

4.    Am I involved in good works or have I neglected the needy? We were created for good works (Eph. 2:10).

5.    Do I regularly attend all the assemblies and Bible classes of the local church that I can? We are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Heb. 10:24, 25).

6.    Do I love the brethren more and feel closer to them than before? We are to love one another as Christ has loved us (John 13:34).

There are other questions one could ask himself, but these are ample to prove spiritual growth can be seen and measured. Paul told Timothy to grow in such a way that his “progress may be evident to all” (1 Tim. 4:15). Let us look to our spiritual growth and take note of our progress. &

Embalming Practices in Ancient Egypt

By Gary P. Eubanks

"Seti I died in 1279 B.C., and the grave builders had just 70 days - while priests mummified his body - to ready the tomb to receive the pharaoh's remains" (National Geographic, Sept., 1998, pg. 21). "To prepare the deceased for the afterlife during Pharaonic times, funerary workers removed most internal organs, then sterilized the body and dried it by packing it - inside and out - with natron salts. About 40 days later the body was wrapped in linen strips, placed in a series of wooden cases and an outer stone coffin, and laid in a crypt" (National Geographic, Oct., 1999, pg. 80).

There appears to be a contradiction between these two accounts of embalming practices in ancient Egypt. The first seems to say that mummification took seventy days, but the second says forty days were required. So, those who are disposed to look for contradictions may even find them in reputable, modern publications, as well as the Bible. In fact, this is exactly the kind of "contradiction" which has been claimed against the Bible: facts, which seem to clash but not necessarily. If people were to treat other literature like they treat the Bible, they would undoubtedly find many more "contradictions." Yet, prejudice against the Bible makes itself evident in a readiness, if not eagerness, to find contradictions even where they do not exist.

Closer examination uncovers several possible ways to resolve the apparent contradiction between these two statements. (1) The second account says "about 40 days" were required (although seventy is hardly an approximation of forty). (2) The first account does not actually say seventy days were required for mummification but to get the tomb ready. (3) The second account actually says the forty days were how long the body was packed in natron salts before being wrapped. Of course, there is always the possibility, not to be overlooked, that, since National Geographic is not divinely inspired, one or both figures may actually be in error.

However, the Bible itself may provide the explanation to the discrepancy, for it cites both the forty- and seventy-day periods as being involved in funerary preparations in ancient Egypt. The forty-day-period over which the second account says the body was packed in natron salts agrees precisely with what the Bible says. "And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. Now forty days were required for it, for such is the period required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days" (Gen. 50:2, 3).

Perhaps the additional thirty days of the traditional Egyptian period of mourning allowed the funerary workers to complete preparations on the body and the tomb. On this point, it is interesting that, though Jacob was a Hebrew, it is the Egyptians who weep for him seventy days. The Bible seems to be relating the traditional process the Egyptians followed in burying their dead. This idea is supported by the fact that when Moses died, the Israelites mourned for him only thirty days (Deut. 34:8).

Also, both history and the Bible indicate that the ancient Egyptians placed the bodies of their dead in coffins (op. cit., Gen. 50:26), while the Hebrews only swathed corpses in cloths (cf. Jn. 11:44; 19:40) and did not use coffins. [The "coffin" or bier mentioned by Luke (7:14) was apparently nothing more than a platform on which the dead were borne to burial.]

History and the Bible enjoy a relationship that is mutually supportive. While these two accounts confirm the antiquity and precise accuracy of the Bible, it comes to their aid with a simple and reasonable explanation for an apparent discrepancy. &

"It Can Be Done"

By Guy Orbison, Jr.

I am put off by people who say "it can't be done." I know that occasionally I have exhibited such negative thinking, but generally I am optimistic and try to think positively about everything. Whenever you say to yourself, "it can't be done," then all efforts toward the project can only be half-hearted. We don't give anything our best effort unless we think "It can be done."

I have been helped in thinking positively by three passages of Scripture that reveal God's will on the subject.

"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me" (Philippians 3:14).

"The things impossible with men are possible with God" (Luke 18:27).

"Now to Him who is able to do exceeding, abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us" (Ephesians 3:20).

Maybe it's time that we got our thinking right. Where there is a will, there is a way.... where there is a problem, there is a solution. But even more, whenever we bring God into the picture, there is always possibility.

Let's think positive ... and move forward! &