August 1, 1995
An atheist farmer wrote the following letter to the editor of a local newspaper: “I plowed on Sunday, planted on Sunday, cultivated on Sunday, and hauled in my crops on Sunday, but I never went to church on Sunday. Yet I harvested more bushels per acre than anyone else, even those who are God fearing and never miss a service.”
The editor printed the man’s letter and then added this remark: “God doesn’t always settle His accounts in October.”
An atheist asserts that God does not exist yet sometimes talks more Him than do people who are convinced otherwise. Atheists are seldom found going to kindergarten, in foxholes or beside a dying loved one. Apparently, believing in no-God is not easy.
However, according to Scripture believing in God means far more than acknowledging He exists. James, half-brother of Jesus and writer of a New Testament book, said “So you believe in God? Even the demons believe, and tremble.”
The demons know God is there but their “belief” does not seem to do them much good. While the Bible says we do need to believe He exists, it adds we must also believe that “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
God’s rewards are not like those human beings give and receive. For one thing, they are eternal, not every October, yet He often gives a taste right now of what is to come.
For instance, faith in Christ results in peace with God. Sin separates everyone from Him but Jesus died for our sin so that separation could be removed. Believers often experience a wonderful inner peace from God as they live out their Christian lives.
Without faith, inner peace is fleeting at best. Writers H.G. Wells and George Bernard Shaw both rejected God and placed their trust in their own systems of belief based on human reason. They were brilliant men, yet neither found lasting peace of mind and heart.
Wells’ final literary work, has been called “a scream of despair.” Shortly before Shaw died in 1950, he wrote, “The science to which I pinned my faith is bankrupt . . . Its counsels, which should have established the millennium, have led directly to the suicide of Europe. I believed them once . . . In their name I helped to destroy the faith of millions . . . And now they look at me and witness the great tragedy of an atheist who has lost his faith.”
For seventy-five years, communist leaders tried that same notion in Russia. Now, after years of physical, social and spiritual decay, they admit they were foolish. Many of them have come to a personal faith in God through Jesus Christ.
It seems to me proving the grand notion of God untrue requires much more effort and faith than believing He is real. While circumstances in the world around us often make us wonder why Lord does not do something, even that question admits He is there.
As for rewards, this page is too small to list them, but if I did, their fullness would be difficult to describe. God reserves that for those who believe. Also, He never uses rewards to prove He is there. Instead, He reveals Himself to His people through the Person of Jesus Christ and the pages of His Word. He invites faith by being consistent with what He has revealed. He is a good, holy, powerful and changeless God.
He also rewards faith. He may not “settle His accounts in October,” but He promises His presence right now, all through an abundant life — a life that reaches into eternity, spent with Him. Then there will be no more sin and evil, sorrow or pain. Only fools would dare suggest bushels per acre is a worthy comparison.
Showing posts with label how to believe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label how to believe. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Monday, May 2, 2016
Need to see to believe? .................. Parables 426
June 21, 1994
The existence of Jesus Christ is established. Tacitus, a great Roman historian born in the first century, speaks of Jesus. Josephus, a Jewish historian born A.D. 37, tells of His crucifixion. The Roman calendar is based on His birth. Christmas, Easter, and several other holidays are celebrated because of His life.
Few contend that Jesus had an impact on history. Someone says one edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica uses 20,000 words in describing Him, more space than what is given to Aristotle, Cicero, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed or Napoleon Bonaparte.
With all this evidence and more, it is amazing that some refuse to believe only what they see and, for that reason, insist Jesus was a myth. Even more amazing is that one of His disciples, a man who walked and ate and talked with Jesus, also declared, “Unless I see... I will not believe.”
After Jesus was put to death, His followers were overwhelmed with grief and fear. How could He die who Himself had raised the dead? It was inconceivable. They were also terrified that the authorities who killed their beloved Teacher would do the same to them.
In the midst of this grief and fear, an unbelievable thing happened; Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene beside His empty tomb. She obviously did not expect Him to be alive because at first she did not recognize Him. She was shocked, then overjoyed.
The other disciples did not expect Him to be alive either. Despite seeing Him do many miracles, it never entered their heads that He would conquer His own death. They saw Him being crucified and the sword put in His side, so no one believed her glad report.
Later Jesus appeared to two of them as they walked along a road. They were so convinced He was dead, they didn’t recognize Him right away either.
Within a short time, Jesus appeared to all of the disciples except Thomas. This one had listened to their eye-witness accounts but he still did not believe Jesus was alive. He said, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it.” For that, he has been called the “doubting disciple.”
Jesus finally came to this sceptic. He did not scold him for his doubt; after all, the others also believed only after seeing Him alive. Instead, He invited him to: “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas did not need to touch the wounds. He only looked at Jesus and his doubts disappeared. He declared, “My Lord and my God.”
After that, the disciples, including Thomas, had no more doubt. Jesus was alive and that was enough to dissolve their grief and fear. From then on, they yielded their lives to His complete control.
Do we need to see the living Christ before we can believe that He died for us and rose from the dead? According to Jesus, there is a special blessing for those who believe WITHOUT seeing. Jesus told Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
For us, the evidence is not a visual sighting of Him in the flesh but a careful weighing of all that is known about Him: from history books, the Scriptures, and from observing the changed lives of those who did believe--including doubters like His own disciples.
The existence of Jesus Christ is established. Tacitus, a great Roman historian born in the first century, speaks of Jesus. Josephus, a Jewish historian born A.D. 37, tells of His crucifixion. The Roman calendar is based on His birth. Christmas, Easter, and several other holidays are celebrated because of His life.
Few contend that Jesus had an impact on history. Someone says one edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica uses 20,000 words in describing Him, more space than what is given to Aristotle, Cicero, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed or Napoleon Bonaparte.
With all this evidence and more, it is amazing that some refuse to believe only what they see and, for that reason, insist Jesus was a myth. Even more amazing is that one of His disciples, a man who walked and ate and talked with Jesus, also declared, “Unless I see... I will not believe.”
After Jesus was put to death, His followers were overwhelmed with grief and fear. How could He die who Himself had raised the dead? It was inconceivable. They were also terrified that the authorities who killed their beloved Teacher would do the same to them.
In the midst of this grief and fear, an unbelievable thing happened; Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene beside His empty tomb. She obviously did not expect Him to be alive because at first she did not recognize Him. She was shocked, then overjoyed.
The other disciples did not expect Him to be alive either. Despite seeing Him do many miracles, it never entered their heads that He would conquer His own death. They saw Him being crucified and the sword put in His side, so no one believed her glad report.
Later Jesus appeared to two of them as they walked along a road. They were so convinced He was dead, they didn’t recognize Him right away either.
Within a short time, Jesus appeared to all of the disciples except Thomas. This one had listened to their eye-witness accounts but he still did not believe Jesus was alive. He said, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it.” For that, he has been called the “doubting disciple.”
Jesus finally came to this sceptic. He did not scold him for his doubt; after all, the others also believed only after seeing Him alive. Instead, He invited him to: “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas did not need to touch the wounds. He only looked at Jesus and his doubts disappeared. He declared, “My Lord and my God.”
After that, the disciples, including Thomas, had no more doubt. Jesus was alive and that was enough to dissolve their grief and fear. From then on, they yielded their lives to His complete control.
Do we need to see the living Christ before we can believe that He died for us and rose from the dead? According to Jesus, there is a special blessing for those who believe WITHOUT seeing. Jesus told Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
For us, the evidence is not a visual sighting of Him in the flesh but a careful weighing of all that is known about Him: from history books, the Scriptures, and from observing the changed lives of those who did believe--including doubters like His own disciples.
Friday, December 12, 2014
God: Beyond my Imagination ................. Parables 208
(March 14, 1990)
“If believing in God makes you feel good, then for you there is a God. But I don’t feel the need for religion. For me there is no God.”
This is relative thinking. What is real for you is real for you and what is real for me is real for me, no absolutes. But what is the Biblical response to relative thinking?
The Christian to whom this was said answered: “I am talking about a God who exists apart from me and apart from you. I am talking about a God who exists whether we believe in Him or not. If God does not exist objectively, according to true truth, then all my prayers, all my devotion, all my religious fervor cannot bring Him into existence... I have the power to imagine things that are not really there, but I cannot ultimately create such things out of nothing. By the same token, if such a God does in fact exist, then all of your unbelief does not have the power to destroy Him. The God of whom I am speaking does not pass in and out of existence at our whims.” (From One Holy Passion by R. C. Sproul)
The idea that man created God is not a new one. In fact, the creation of gods is one of our oldest activities. Every culture, every tribe and peoples of the world have gods of various sorts. Some are carved images, some are imaginative manlike creatures. Others are grotesque shapes with supposed powers. Yet out of all what man may call “god”, the God of the Bible stands utterly and wholly apart.
No one could imagine a Being like He. For one thing, we in our imperfection can’t relate to His perfect holiness. We cannot understand One who is all powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, holy, a hater of sin, just and yet merciful. Our gods, if we imagine them at all, are extensions of ourselves; but He is totally separate. We may resemble Him (we were made in His image) but He is not like us.
Hebrews 11:6 says that God, who is spirit (without a physical body), is pleased when we believe He exists. He even reveals Himself so we can believe... “The heavens declare the glory of God... there is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.”
Creation gives us no reason not to acknowledge God. The awe felt when we (as well as pagan jungle savages) look at the stars or the colors on the wings of a butterfly or the variety of plants and trees is an awe that ought to be called worship and given to the One who spoke all these into existence. But the intellectual evolutionist attempts to explain away the awe. He claims all this was only chance, that none of these things are anything more than cosmic accidents.
However, God’s revelation of Himself in nature is not His only disclosure. He also appeared in a body, a perfect man, who changes lives and changed history, who cannot be explained away with pat theories and scientific jargon. This man, God in human flesh, burst into our creation, then proved His identity by healing diseases, commanding the wind and the sea, walking on water, turning some of it to wine, dumbfounding the wise and transforming the simple. Then He died and rose from the dead. His tomb is empty.
What can the relative thinker or the evolutionist say about the historic Jesus? All the world’s theories do not affect Who He is and what He did. He also is a visible rebuke to any of our imagined gods.
Furthermore, the relativist thought Christians make up “God” because He makes them “feel good.” Not so. There are many times His holiness makes me feel awful. I’d never invent a god who convicts me so deeply of my sin and unworthiness. Nor would I invent one upon Whom I am utterly dependent. I’m too independent to do that. Besides, the person of Jesus Christ is beyond even the most radical imagination.
Reject Him, or say YES and put faith in Him, but never dismiss God as revealed in His Son as a mere religious whim. None of us are that creative.
“If believing in God makes you feel good, then for you there is a God. But I don’t feel the need for religion. For me there is no God.”
This is relative thinking. What is real for you is real for you and what is real for me is real for me, no absolutes. But what is the Biblical response to relative thinking?
The Christian to whom this was said answered: “I am talking about a God who exists apart from me and apart from you. I am talking about a God who exists whether we believe in Him or not. If God does not exist objectively, according to true truth, then all my prayers, all my devotion, all my religious fervor cannot bring Him into existence... I have the power to imagine things that are not really there, but I cannot ultimately create such things out of nothing. By the same token, if such a God does in fact exist, then all of your unbelief does not have the power to destroy Him. The God of whom I am speaking does not pass in and out of existence at our whims.” (From One Holy Passion by R. C. Sproul)
The idea that man created God is not a new one. In fact, the creation of gods is one of our oldest activities. Every culture, every tribe and peoples of the world have gods of various sorts. Some are carved images, some are imaginative manlike creatures. Others are grotesque shapes with supposed powers. Yet out of all what man may call “god”, the God of the Bible stands utterly and wholly apart.
No one could imagine a Being like He. For one thing, we in our imperfection can’t relate to His perfect holiness. We cannot understand One who is all powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, holy, a hater of sin, just and yet merciful. Our gods, if we imagine them at all, are extensions of ourselves; but He is totally separate. We may resemble Him (we were made in His image) but He is not like us.
Hebrews 11:6 says that God, who is spirit (without a physical body), is pleased when we believe He exists. He even reveals Himself so we can believe... “The heavens declare the glory of God... there is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.”
Creation gives us no reason not to acknowledge God. The awe felt when we (as well as pagan jungle savages) look at the stars or the colors on the wings of a butterfly or the variety of plants and trees is an awe that ought to be called worship and given to the One who spoke all these into existence. But the intellectual evolutionist attempts to explain away the awe. He claims all this was only chance, that none of these things are anything more than cosmic accidents.
However, God’s revelation of Himself in nature is not His only disclosure. He also appeared in a body, a perfect man, who changes lives and changed history, who cannot be explained away with pat theories and scientific jargon. This man, God in human flesh, burst into our creation, then proved His identity by healing diseases, commanding the wind and the sea, walking on water, turning some of it to wine, dumbfounding the wise and transforming the simple. Then He died and rose from the dead. His tomb is empty.
What can the relative thinker or the evolutionist say about the historic Jesus? All the world’s theories do not affect Who He is and what He did. He also is a visible rebuke to any of our imagined gods.
Furthermore, the relativist thought Christians make up “God” because He makes them “feel good.” Not so. There are many times His holiness makes me feel awful. I’d never invent a god who convicts me so deeply of my sin and unworthiness. Nor would I invent one upon Whom I am utterly dependent. I’m too independent to do that. Besides, the person of Jesus Christ is beyond even the most radical imagination.
Reject Him, or say YES and put faith in Him, but never dismiss God as revealed in His Son as a mere religious whim. None of us are that creative.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Faith gives peace, not control ...........................Parables 008
Last Friday was an interesting day. I dropped my article off at the Record office, came home, and the telephone was ringing as I unlocked the door. A man’s voice said, “Don’t be alarmed . . . I have your son at the hospital.”
Surprisingly, I was not alarmed. He went on to describe a minor accident at school, painful for our son, but not serious. This incident followed on the heels of the article that I had just given to this newspaper. It appeared with the following title, FAITH IN GOD’S WORD KEEPS OUR KIDS SAFE but that title did not match what I was hoping to convey, making me realize the importance of clarity.
So I will say it again -- faith in God’s Word can keep us from going into a state of panic during the crisis times, when the circumstances of life are unpleasant. However, contrary to what the headline may have suggested, faith does not prevent the unpleasant from happening.
Maybe that is what we would like to believe . . . something like, “I’ll just trust God and everything will be the way I want it.” The Bible doesn’t guarantee that. In fact, it says we should not be surprised at trials and problems, that they will come . . . and all of us will have them.
What God’s Word does say is that we can have confidence and even rejoice in those trials because they have a purpose. God is not allowing them out of vindictiveness or indifference, but uses them to develop qualities that make Christians more like His Son. That is not only our goal, but our eternal destiny. (1 John 3:2)
Our faith then, is not a hopeful escape from the realities and pressures of life, but a gift from God to help us meet them head on. In those trials, God supplies the needed strength, wisdom, courage, and even joy to carry us through the trials and out the other side with even greater conviction that our God is entirely sufficient for these things.
I would not want anyone to think, “If I only had more faith in God’s Word this would not have happened to my child.” What pathetic theology that would be to the MacMillans, the Wilgoshs, the McClenaghans, or any other suffering parents. They, and all of us, need to know that faith in God is not a guarantee of a disaster-free life, nor is faith to be measured by the lack of pain that we go through.
Faith is simply the means by which we KNOW that God is not being unkind or indifferent to our sufferings, nor are they dropped on us haphazardly. And Biblical faith is not something we can conjure up, but is a gift to us: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). Our responsibility is to read it, and to respond to trials by placing our lives and the lives of those we love, into the Lord’s care, fully trusting that He knows what we do not know, that He sees what we cannot see, and that His peace is available, even in those trials.
Surprisingly, I was not alarmed. He went on to describe a minor accident at school, painful for our son, but not serious. This incident followed on the heels of the article that I had just given to this newspaper. It appeared with the following title, FAITH IN GOD’S WORD KEEPS OUR KIDS SAFE but that title did not match what I was hoping to convey, making me realize the importance of clarity.
So I will say it again -- faith in God’s Word can keep us from going into a state of panic during the crisis times, when the circumstances of life are unpleasant. However, contrary to what the headline may have suggested, faith does not prevent the unpleasant from happening.
Maybe that is what we would like to believe . . . something like, “I’ll just trust God and everything will be the way I want it.” The Bible doesn’t guarantee that. In fact, it says we should not be surprised at trials and problems, that they will come . . . and all of us will have them.
What God’s Word does say is that we can have confidence and even rejoice in those trials because they have a purpose. God is not allowing them out of vindictiveness or indifference, but uses them to develop qualities that make Christians more like His Son. That is not only our goal, but our eternal destiny. (1 John 3:2)
Our faith then, is not a hopeful escape from the realities and pressures of life, but a gift from God to help us meet them head on. In those trials, God supplies the needed strength, wisdom, courage, and even joy to carry us through the trials and out the other side with even greater conviction that our God is entirely sufficient for these things.
I would not want anyone to think, “If I only had more faith in God’s Word this would not have happened to my child.” What pathetic theology that would be to the MacMillans, the Wilgoshs, the McClenaghans, or any other suffering parents. They, and all of us, need to know that faith in God is not a guarantee of a disaster-free life, nor is faith to be measured by the lack of pain that we go through.
Faith is simply the means by which we KNOW that God is not being unkind or indifferent to our sufferings, nor are they dropped on us haphazardly. And Biblical faith is not something we can conjure up, but is a gift to us: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). Our responsibility is to read it, and to respond to trials by placing our lives and the lives of those we love, into the Lord’s care, fully trusting that He knows what we do not know, that He sees what we cannot see, and that His peace is available, even in those trials.
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