EvangelismRSA

Thursday, 1 July 2021

Grace: God's Redemption At Christ's Expense

1. The Author Of Grace. The Author of Grace is God, i.e. the YHWH (Jehovah) of Moses and Mt. Sinai who, at the time of His conversation with Moses, introduced Himself as the ‘I Am!” Can there be any gift or treasure more illustrious and precious as the Grace of God when God Himself has solemnly promised: “My grace is sufficient for thee.” (?) [2Cor12:9].

The Apostle Paul writes: “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” [2Cor12:9-10].

God clearly is the Author of divine Grace, as affirmed by the Apostle Paul in his letter to Philemon: “Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” [Philemon1:3]..

2. The Gift of Redemption. The Apostle Peter writes:

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” [1Peter1:18-19].

The Apostle Paul writes:

“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus … In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” [Rom3:24; Eph1:7].

P.S. Merriam-Webster defines ‘Redemption’ as ‘freedom from guilt or blame for having done something wrong.’ (Gk. ‘Apolutrōsis’: ‘ransom in full’, ‘salvation’, ‘deliverance’).

3. The Price involved. In terms of the well-worn mantra that “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch!” (TANSTAAFL) it stands to reason that there, of necessity, has had to be a price, i.e. the precious blood of Christ [1Peter1:18-19] to be paid to insure the redemption of mankind. The Bible affirms:

- "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” [Romans3:24].

- “But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.” [Romans5:15].

- ”For if by one man's offence [ADAM] death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.” [Romans5:17].

- “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” [Romans5:21].

- “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” [Hebrews2:9].

4. The First Adam vs. the Last Adam. It has pleased God to, in terms of the First Adam-Last Adam doctrine, redeem mankind by the sacrifice, resurrection and righteousness of Jesus Christ, His ‘Paschal Lamb’ of choice:

“Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come … For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive … And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [JESUS] was made a quickening spirit.” [Romans5:14; 1Cor15:22,45].

5. The Gift of God. God’s gift of Eternal Life is forced on none yet offered to all irrespective of race, colour, gender, age, socio-economic status, political affiliation or current religious persuasion (the atheist included): Why not accept it today? The Bible says: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” [Romans6:23].

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Wise Men Still Seek Jesus Christ

1. Wise men still seek Him. After al l have been said and done, and after all the dust had settled the words of Jesus Christ will begin to echo and again ring loud and clear with a divine clarion call unmatched by anything else ever heard on earth and in history … Jesus Christ has promised: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” [Matthew24:35].

2. Where true wisdom comes from. Why, in the Gospel narrative about the birth of Jesus Christ, were the wise men called the ‘wise men’; what constitutes wisdom and where does wisdom come from? The answer is clear: “And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding … The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” [Job28:28; Proverbs1:7].

3. What the Bible teaches about those who do NOT fear the LORD. The Bible warns:

“Fools despise wisdom and instruction … It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom … The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise … A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident … Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it? … He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered … The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” [Proverbs1:7b; 12:15; 14:16; 17:16; 28:26; Psalm53:1a].

4. Gifts of the Wise Men. The Bible says: “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; GOLD, and FRANKINCENSE, and MYRRH.” [Matthew2:11].

“As to the significance of the three gifts, it is said: The three gifts had a spiritual meaning: GOLD as a symbol of kingship on earth, FRANKINCENSE (an incense) as a symbol of deity, and MYRRH (an embalming oil) as a symbol of death. This dates back to Origen in Contra Celsum: ‘gold, as to a king; myrrh, as to one who was mortal; and incense, as to a God’ … Sometimes this is described more generally as gold symbolizing virtue, frankincense symbolizing prayer, and myrrh symbolizing suffering.” [Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Magi].

5. The Divine Mission of Jesus Christ. The Prophet Isaiah prophesies centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ:

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; o proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. [Isaiah61:1-3].

6. The Heavenly Gifts of God to Mankind. Centuries after this prophecy by Isaiah, Jesus of Nazareth went to the synagogue one sabbath as was His habit; the Bible says:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,” [Luke14:18].

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” [Isaiah1:18].

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” [Romans6:23].

“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” [Revelation22:12-13].

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The Grave Error Of Delayed Repentance

1. How Jesus Christ launched His ministry. Ask this question to the proverbial ‘man-in-the-street’ and you’ll be surprised at the variety of answers you’ll get. The historian (or student of Biblical prophecy) might probably say that He announced Himself from the back of a donkey during a ‘Jubilee parade’ through Jerusalem’s streets; whereas the derelict drunk or intrepid alcoholic might probably retort with, “He changed water into wine!”

Be that as it may, I believe that Jesus Christ began His ministry with this clarion call and message: “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” [Mark1:14-15].

This He then followed up with this grave warning: “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your

sins.” [John8:24].

2. The King’s Message is urgent. The Holy Spirit calls people to repentance today, because tomorrow may be too late; when I thus see the way in which atheists waver and nonchalantly dismiss the Biblical call to repentance I shudder at the thought of the dire consequences for such cavalier attitudes. Here we all are, being catapulted toward Eternity at the breakneck speeds of 107 000 kph (the velocity of Planet Earth in its orbit around the Sun); 828 000 kph (the Solar System on its way around the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy); 3 600 000 kph (the Local Group of Galaxies’ speed toward the ‘Great Attractor’) and 1 404 000 kph (the Earth’s speed toward the ‘Great Attractor’ using CBR (Cosmic Background Radiation) as frame of reference. The Bible says:

►“For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart, as in the day of strife, as in the day of testing in the wilderness … “ [Psalm95:7-8].

►“But exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin … while it is said, "Today if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation … He again marks out a certain day, saying in David, ‘Today,‘ (after so long a time). Even as it is said, ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.’ “ [Hebrews3:13,15;4:7].

3. Objections. Objections to the call to repentance are manifold, but, in all honesty, one cannot say that one does not believe in a ‘God’ that one ‘cannot see’ and in the same breath go and hide in the basement from a virus one cannot see … does one? Be reasonable.

“Show us the evidence!”, they say. ‘Evidence’ is embarrassingly abundant; every time I open my eyes and ears I see the beauty and hear the music of Creation playing out like a majestic (albeit sometimes mortifying and humbling) symphony. Writes C.S. Lewis: “Really, a young atheist cannot guard his faith too carefully. Dangers lie in wait for him on every side … I gave in and admitted that God was God ... perhaps that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.“ [excerpts from ‘Surprised By Joy’].

4. Charles Spurgeon on delaying repentance. He writes:

“No man would refuse to enter a lifeboat because he did not know the specific gravity of bodies. Neither would a starving man decline to eat until he understood the whole process of nutrition. If you will not believe until you can understand all mysteries, you will never be saved at all. If you allow self-invented difficulties to keep you from accepting pardon through your Lord and Saviour, you will perish in a condemnation that will richly deserved. Do not commit spiritual suicide through a passion for discussing metaphysical subtleties.” [‘The Anointed Life’].

5. No ‘Regret Revote’ in Eternity. There can be no second chances, ‘regret revotes’ in Eternity. The Bible says: “If the clouds are full of rain, they will pour out on the earth; if a tree falls toward the south or the north, wherever it falls, there it will lay.” [Ecclesiastes3:11 ISV].

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The Golden Voice And Scepter Of Authority

1. When God Speaks. When God speaks, He speaks with a voice of undisputed authority. The Bible says that when God first called Moses to deliver the children of Israel from Egypt, He replied to Moses as to His own identity as follows: “I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.’” [Exodus3:14b]. Later, in the Tent of Mee-ting, God spoke to Moses in another remarkable way: “When Moses entered the Tent of Meeting to speak with the LORD, he heard a voice speaking to him above the Mercy Seat over the Ark of the Testimony. He spoke to him from between the two cherubim.” [Numeri7:89].

2. The Voice of Authority. The Bible says:

►"God thunders with his wondrous voice; he does awesome works that we don't comprehend.” [Job37:5].

►“The voice of the LORD was heard above the waters; the God of glory thundered; the LORD was heard over many waters.” [Psalm29:3].

► “The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic.’ [Psalm 29:4].

►”The voice of the LORD snaps the cedars; the LORD snaps the cedars of Lebanon.” [Psalm29:5].

►”The voice of the LORD shoots out flashes of fire.” [Psalm29:7].

►“The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; the voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.” [Psalm29:8].

►“The voice of the LORD causes deer to give birth, and strips the forest bare.” [Psalm29:9a].

►“You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God! Sing praises to the Lord … to the one who rides the heavens, the ancient heavens. Behold! He thunders with a mighty voice.” [Psalm68:32-33].

3. During the days of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus speaks to His Heavenly Father: “Now my soul is in turmoil, and what should I say—'Father, save me from this hour'? No! It was for this very reason that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again!"

The crowd standing there heard this and said that it was thunder. Others were saying, "An angel has spoken to him." [John12:27-29].

4. Esther and the Scepter of Gold. When Queen Esther was hard-pressed to speak to the king in connection with the plight of Jews, the Bible says: "Every servant of the king and every person in the king's provinces knows that for any man or woman who goes to the king in the inner court without being summoned there is only one law—that he be put to death—unless the king holds out the golden scepter to him. Only then he will live. For these last 30 days I've not been summoned to come to the king." [Esther4:11].

The plot thickens: “On the third day, Esther put on her royal attire and stood in the inner courtyard of the palace in front of the king's quarters. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the throne room, opposite the entrance to the building. When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard, she won his favor, and the king extended to Esther the gold scepter that he was holding. Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter. The king asked her, "What do you want, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even if it's half of the kingdom, it will be given to you." [Esther5:1-3].

5. Kings just love to show mercy. Legend has it that when El Cid, the legendary Spanish knight and hero of Valentia was confronted with a decision where the death penalty for the accused (his enemy) was well-deserved, he mercifully granted the man a reprieve with these famous words: “Any fool can kill; only kings can show mercy!”

Today the God and Creator of Heaven and Earth still comes to us, though deserving of the death penalty, with the words: “And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.” [Exodus33:19].

The King is extending His Gold Scepter of Mercy in the shape of the Gospel of Jesus Christ today for us to touch. The Bible says: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” [Romans6:23].

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The Strange Paradox Of 'Hate Crimes'

1. Introduction. The idea of or case for the legal concept and term of ‘Hate Crimes’ can, it would appear, more or less defined as follows: “An act motivated by (some types of) bigotry, hatred, or bias and manifested as discrimination against certain minorities.” Also: “At the federal level, a crime motivated by bias against race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability.” [The US Dept. Of Justice).

The term ‘hate crimes’ is an odd, out of place misnomer which logically suggests such a concept as ‘love crimes’, i.e. crimes committed against persons because one ‘loves’ them. There anyway probably are enough laws in the justice system to describe just about any kind of crime today, with the possible exception the everchanging field of technology etc. where the relatively new and novel term e.g. ‘cyber-crime’ now springs to mind. Why the category ‘hate crimes’ should be accorded special, elevated status comes across as somewhat superfluous. Besides, any criminal act on the law books can, should the need arise, be loaded with ag-gravating circumstances calling for a stiffer sentence in specific (‘hate crime’) situations and to accommodate criminologists with profiling and research. Some notes:

1.1 Proposition #1. ’Love’ cannot be legislated by governments anymore than ‘hatred’ can be delegislated, as it has never been legislated in the first place. The choice to love or to hate is, legally, a free choice founded on the principle of ‘freedom of association’.

1.2 Proposition #2. There probably are in existence enough laws and categories of crimes to cover just about any kind of harm illegally and maliciously visited upon any person for whatever reason which ought to make the odd expression of ‘hate crimes ‘ superfluous.

1.3 Proposition #3. All crimes are hate crimes. Coming back to the term ‘hate crimes’ as odd; it is akin to saying that all unlawful acts are illegal (or vice versa). All crimes are by default ‘hate crimes’ anyway that will in the final analysis represent some kind or another of bigotry or bias against someone in society:

►Hijacking is a bias against people with cars

►Embezzlement is a bias against people with money and the employees and shareholders of the affected company

►Burglary/Housebreaking is a bias against people with furniture and TV-sets

►Bank robbery is a bias against the shareholders of the bank, its management and employees.

►Tax evasion is a bias against taxpayers, the Revenue Services’ employees and the Fiscus.

►State capture, corruption and fraud on government level (in conjunction with private individuals and ‘big business’) is a bias against taxpayers in general, against the employees and shareholders of the businesses that have been unethically excluded from tender and pro-curement processes as well as against citizens countrywide who have been defrauded out of services (housing, health, education etc,).

►The persecution of e.g. Christians, Muslims and Hindus in places where these groups are in the minority is a bias against religious minorities (the way Adolf Hitler was biased against Jews, Christians and Jehovah’s Witnesses during WW2). The same is true where religious majorities persecute or confront religious minorities unnecessarily without extreme provocation (by e.g. Jihadist terrorists etc.).

2. The term ‘Hate Crimes’ is an indictment against humanity and secular governments. The confusion of legislators and (secular) governments i.r.o. the issue of ‘Hate Crimes’ was born the day the Bible, the only source of true moral authority in the entire world, and Christianity were banned from the unhallowed halls of parliament and public schools.

Do the math: Who in his right mind would ban the only Book that teaches citizens:

- to love others the way they love themselves

- that to love people is the fulfilling of the moral law,

- that they should do no one any harm and that one should love and pray for one’s enemies?

Who but those who today are battling with the problem of ‘Hate Crimes’, violence in schools and violence and heinous crimes against minorities?

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Everybody Needs Somebody Sometime

1. The roses were white. When I was still active in corporate training during the period 2007-2012, I once was in Durban (South Africa) to present a workshop over a few days on Occupational Health & Safety to a number of employees from a well-known company engaged in the countrywide production of dairy milk and cheese.

My firm had arranged for me to be billeted in a guest-house in Cowie’s Hill, a posh suburb strategically located along the famous Comrades Marathon route, the world’s largest and oldest ultra-marathon race between Durban and Pietermaritzburg in the Kwazulu-Natal pro-vince with a gruelling distance of approximately 87km (the ‘up race’) or 90km (the ‘down race’). “The 2019 race was capped at 25 000 runners.” [Wikipedia]. Vic Clapham was the founder of the marathon (1921) and it was won by Wally Hayward five times and by Bruce Fordyce a record nine times.

Be that as it may, Cowie’s Hill is, like the many other suburbs in the area, located in a picturesque subtropical paradise overgrown with indigenous trees and plants, all kinds of palms, botanical wonders and some of the loveliest residential gardens in Durban eclipsed perhaps only by the upmarket suburb of Kloof (to rhyme with ‘roof’).

2. The reality of human frailty aptly demonstrated. At the guesthouse breakfast was served at 7am on a patio fringed by a charming row of Avon (‘Groundcover’ and shrubby) white roses in full bloom, and, having arrived somewhat early, the patrons were standing around on this patio sipping orange juice, getting acquainted and chatting away about the events of the day while waiting for the tables to be laid.

Now, I must have wandered too close to the edge of the patio (about one metre high) and not barricaded by a handrail of any sort, of course a serious oversight by the owner of the facility. At some point I inadvertently proceeded to miss my step and to find myself catapulted head over heels onto the row of rose-bushes fringing the patio. There I lay, spread out on my back like a beached whale on the row of rose-bushes with thorns from all sides harassing me with every subtle movement I endeavoured to make to save myself or ‘alleviate my plight’.

It was a hopeless case, and within seconds the rest of the shocked patrons, momentarily paralyzed, were upon me to extricate me from where I appeared to lay prostrate like an Indian mystic engaged in some popcorn version of transcendental meditation. In all of my adult life I had never been that helpless before and it has left me quite shaken, humiliated and silently outraged by the guesthouse’s lack of foresight in this regard as well as by my own lack of professional vigilance as a corporate trainer in health & safety.

3. The object lesson learned. No man is an island, and no matter how gifted, talented, qualified or self-sufficient, everybody will need somebody sometime. Eve was created for Adam as a ‘help’ and a ‘mate’; the Bible clearly teaches:

“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. [Ecclesiastes4:9-12].

4. The Great White Throne Judgment. At the end of the age there will come a moment when, as the Bible says:

“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” [Revelation20:11-12].

On that day no one will be spared by his fame, political connections, talents, gifts, eloquence, intellect or great learning … those who stand there will be standing there as naked and helpless as the day they were born. The priceless invitation to divine help from God, however, still stands:

“I [JESUS] counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” [Revelation3:18].

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Flood Legends Of The World

1. Introduction. Obviously an event and catastrophe like the Biblical Flood ought to have elicited conversations among communities about it for many centuries afterwards. According to B. Nelson ['The Deluge Story In Stone' – 1968] a study of the flood-legends of many (41) nations has produced some remarkable results:

1.1 Nations Involved in the study. Assiria-Babilonia; Alaska; Andaman Island; Asia Minor; Aztecs; Brazil; Cherokee; China; Cree; Egypt; Lenape; Lithuania; Leward Islands; Mandan; Michoacan; Nicaragua; Papagos; Esquimaux (Canada); Fiji; Hawai; Greece; India; Italy; Lapland; Lenni [Mexico]; Persia; Peru; Pimas; Russia; Scandi-nawia; Sumatra; Siria; Takoe; Thlinkut; Toltecks & Wales.

1.2 Similarities between nations discovered in the study.

- The story of destruction by a flood (Told by 41 nations);

- Some people saved (Told by 38 nations);

- A boat saved them (Told by 36 nations);

- Universal destruction by a flood (Told by 24 nations);

- One family was favoured to survive the flood (Told by 15 nations);

- The flood came as a result of peoples’ transgressions (Told by 14 nations);

- The flood was engineered by divine-intervention (Told by 10 nations);

- Birds were sent out first, then afterwards (Told by 9 nations);

- Animals were also saved by the boat (Told by 8 nations);

- The survivors worshipped GOD as soon as they left the boat (Told by 7 nations);

- The boat came to rest in a mountainous area (Told by 6 nations);

- After the survivors had left the boat GOD visited the saved with His favour (Told by 5 nations).

['International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia', Vol.2 p.822, as quoted in Vance Ferrell, B.A., M.A., B.D. Science vs. Evolution. Evolution Facts Inc. 2001. Also see evolution-facts.com].

2. Jesus Christ affirmed the Flood of Noah and veracity of the Bible (!).

“But as the days of Noah were, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark. And they did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also will be the coming of the Son of Man.” [Matthew 24:37-39].

3. Point to ponder: Jesus Christ never lied.

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