MAY 2000 JULY 2000 THE READING ROOM HOME
The Heart Of The Problem Is Not Knowing The Scriptures
(Kent Heaton)
There is little doubt the religious world is divided. With each turn of the road, a different faith presents itself with different names, dogmas, organizations and teachings. Honest seekers of truth would question why this is so when the plea of Jesus was that all believers be one. (John 17:20,21) With all the accolades of unity, the religious world is as diverse as possible. The heart of the problem finds itself in a story taken from the life of Jesus.
A group of Sadducees (a Jewish Sect) came to Jesus and posed a most puzzling question:
"Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. Last of all the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her." (Matthew 22:24-28) This type of question would dizzy the head of any student of the Bible. Jesus - the Master Teacher - went right to the heart of the problem. Jesus told them they were mistaken and their mistake was because of two reasons: they did not know the scriptures and they did not know the power of God. (v29)While the question was difficult, the answer was simple. If these Jews had known the scriptures (vv30-32), they would not have asked such a question. At best they would have learned from scripture what the power of God was. They did not understand the power of God because they had not understood his word. Jesus affirms the word of God as being able to guide men if, and only if - they use it. The people of Jesus' day were not accustomed to a man teaching as Jesus taught (v33) as He directed them to listen to God's word and not man's word.
Today, religious division is borne upon the confusion that man teaches as the word of God. Peter declares in 1 Peter 4:11 -
"If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God." The answer to religious division is to return to the Bible and let the Bible stand as Truth. Most of what men teach today is not found in the word of God. When people allow men to sway their minds from the truth by failing to examine the words of men with the words of God, error will be the only result. The people of Berea had the boldness to examine what the apostles taught as to whether is was true to scripture or not. (Acts 17:11)The heart of the problem with religious division today is because men teach what men preach instead of what can plainly be seen in scripture as truth. The scriptures teach there is only one true church (Ephesians 4:4; 1:22,23) and yet men believe there are many. The word of God teaches salvation by obedience to the will of God (Matthew 7:21-23) but many believe they can be saved by faith only. The name of churches, the organization, the worship, teachings and every aspect of religious division is based upon men
"not knowing the scriptures, or the power of God."Jesus asked the Sadducees,
"Have you not read that which was spoken unto you by God?" (Matthew 22:29) Paul shows how we can come to an understanding of these words: "How that by revelation He made known to me the mystery [as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ]. (Ephesians 3:3,4) What have you read lately ... the word of men or the word of God? Only when we return to the word of God will we learn the Truth. Religious division is caused by man, despised by God and settled in the word of God.(Kent Heaton)
The hot days of Florida have been sparse with rain. Months without any significant rainfall have left a lot of people in a very bad way. The object of rain has been on everyone's mind and prayers have been lifted for a blessing from God. On this day, we received our first heavy rain and pray more will continue - as God sees fit. With rain on our minds, we can turn our attention to God's word and learn some important lessons about rain.
Rain is a blessing from God. The beauty of creation and the power of the natural world declare the glory of God. (Psalm 19) All things exist as they are by the design of God and rain is given by the hand of God.
"He gives rain on the earth, and sends waters on the fields ... Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water, or a path for the thunderbolt, to cause it to rain on a land where there is no one, a wilderness in which there is no man; to satisfy the desolate waste, and cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass? has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?" (Job 5:10; 38:25-30) See also Psalm 135:7; 147:8; Isaiah 55:10; Jeremiah 10:13; 14:22; 51:16.God used rain to destroy the wickedness of man in the days of Noah. The world became so wicked He broke up
"all the fountains of the great deep ... and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights ... So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive." (Genesis 7:11, 12, 23) The flood became a figure of salvation for man today in the waters of baptism. (1 Peter 20-22)Jesus used the example of rain to show that the Father was not a respecter of persons and that we should love our enemies.
"Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." (Read the whole text in Matthew 5:43-48) At the conclusion of this sermon, Jesus also used rain to show the need of hearing and obeying His words. Rain is shown as the destructive force that seeks to draw us away from Christ. We must build our house on the rock less the rains of doubt, despair and disbelief destroy our faith in God. (Matthew 7:24-27)Rain is given as a witness of God in Acts 14:17 -
"Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." The rainbow is a sign from the days following the flood that God will never destroy the earth by water again. (Genesis 9:12-17) The rainbow shows the love, mercy and grace of God as it continues to bear witness of God's faithfulness.James gives us two illustrations of the power of rain. First, he teaches patience for the coming of the Lord as we learn patience for the receiving of rain. (James 5:7) Secondly, the power of prayer is found in the example of Elijah who prayed that it not rain for three years - and it did not! (James 5:17 with 1 Kings 17&18) We learn from this story what is found in verse 16: "
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." There is a lot we can learn from rain. Most important we should remember from whence our rain comes - our God Almighty!When Did The New Testament Church Begin
(Kent Heaton)
Dates are important to many parts of our lives. Birthdays celebrate the day of our birth and we count our age by the years since that day. The Fourth of July is a National holiday as we celebrate the beginning of our country. Historical documents are based upon the year of their creation and antiquities increase in value based upon their age. Beginnings are important and so important to God that He gives us various times that should be important to all. The first day of the week is a day He has set aside to remember His son. The beginning of the church is important to God as He unfolds the early days of the church in the book of Acts.
It has been nearly two-thousand years since our Lord walked on the earth and Peter preached that powerful sermon in Acts 2. From these simple beginnings, Luke records the marvelous transformation of the work of the early disciples to the power and glory of the church of Jesus Christ.
"Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved ... So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things ... Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem." (Acts 2:47; 5:11; 8:1) From these passages (and many more) we see the church of the New Testament was in existence from the First Century.Jesus told Peter in Matthew 16:18,
"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." The establishment of the church and its continued existence would not fail in the plan of God. Jesus affirmed the church would never cease to exist, save until He returns. The Holy Spirit warned "that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons." (1 Timothy 4:1) The history of man has shown these two scriptures to be true. The church has always existed and many went into apostasy.The beginning of the church Jesus died for is found in Acts 2. The beginnings of the churches of man reflect a different time. Men began to build their own churches and by 606 had established the first Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. In 1054, a division occurred resulting in the formation of another man-made church - the Greek Orthodox Church. All denominations or Protestant churches are less than 500 years old. The Lutheran Church was established by Martin Luther in 1530. John Knox, adopting the teachings of John Calvin, established the Presbyterian Church in 1536. The Anglican Church or Church of England (1540) was a result of King Henry VIII's desire to divorce his wife and he severed relations with the Pope.
The Episcopal Church is an offspring of the Church of England as the early days of our country filled with those from England who sought in 1789 to establish a constitution apart from the Church of England. John Wesley founded the Methodist church in 1729 and established a set of general rules in 1739. The Baptist Church was founded by John Smyth in 1607. The Mormons were established in 1830, Seventh-Day Adventist in 1860, Church of God in 1880/1886, Church of the Nazarene (1886/1895), Jehovah's Witnesses (1886), Assembly of God (1914) and the list continues to grow daily.
The church of the New Testament began in the First Century. This is the church Jesus died for and not for churches begun by men. The beginning of the church you belong to has great importance to whether Jesus died for that church or not. Are beginnings important to God? The only true church we can belong to is the one established on the day of Pentecost. What does Jesus say about all the religions of men? See Matthew 7:21-23.
(Kent Heaton)
A common term used to describe a religious body is the word, "Denomination." In a discussion of religion, someone may ask, "What denomination are you." What they are asking is what organization of faith do you prescribe and follow after. The dictionary helps us understand the meaning of this word and the Bible will show us how this word fits into the plan of God.
The word "denomination" is defined as: "an act of denominating; a value or size of a series of values or sizes (as of money); a religious organization uniting in a single legal and administrative body a number of local congregations." In the same use of the word we find "denominationalism" defined as: "a devotion to denominational principles or interests; the emphasizing of denominational differences to the point of being narrowly exclusive; sectarianism." The root word from which these words are found is "denominator" which gives an understanding to the nature of denominationalism: "the part of a fraction below the line signifying division that functions as the divisor of the numerator."
Taking these definitions and applying them to religion explains why believers in Christ are not united. If a denomination is a denominator, then a denomination is the part of a fraction below the line of God signifying a spirit of division that functions as the divisor or agent of division of the numerator which is Christ. By its very description, to be part of a denomination is to be part of the division among those who profess to be followers of Jesus Christ. Does the Bible approve of denominational concepts in the church?
How many divisions did Jesus die for?
"The church of God which He purchased with His own blood." (Acts 20:28) How many divisions did Jesus say He was going do build? "I will build My church." (Matthew 16:18) How many body's are there? "There is one body." (Ephesians 4:4) If the body is the church - "The church, which is His body." (Ephesians 1:22,23) how many churches are there? Only ONE! Jesus did not die for division. Jesus did not build many churches. Paul affirms there is only one church. One is not a fraction and is not part of a division.Jesus prayed that His disciples be ONE! John 17:11 says,
"Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are." Paul challenged the Corinthians with this probing question: "Is Christ divided?" The answer is "No, Christ is not divided.""Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment."
(1 Corinthians 1:10) There should be no divisions among the believers in Christ. Why is there division? Is God please when men choose their own way to worship Him? Does the blood of Jesus Christ become of no effect by the divisive nature of man?The Bible condemns division and so condemns denominationalism. Jesus said,
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) There is only one way to salvation and the eternal reward. Jesus is the one and only way to salvation. Denominational organizations cannot be part of the oneness found only in Jesus Christ. Matthew 15:13 declares the words of the Son of God: "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted." Denominations will be rooted up because they are not planted by God but by man.