OCTOBER 2000 DECEMBER 2000 THE READING ROOM HOME .
NOVEMBER 2000
(Kent Heaton)
Leonardo da Vinci is one of the greatest painters of all time. One of his greatest achievements in art is the portrait of the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, known today as the Mona Lisa. The dating of the painting is given to be during his second Florentine period (between 1503-1505). From its beginning, it was much admired and copied and even stolen. The painting hangs today in the Louvre, in Paris, France. The dating of the painting would make it to be somewhere around 495-497 years old. The original is worth an untold amount of money with counterfeit copies sold over the years for vast amounts of money. However, there is only one original copy, painted by the hand of Leonardo da Vinci.
If a person desired to possess the original painting of the Mona Lisa, the dating of the painting would be checked, the characteristics of the style of Leonardo da Vinci would be examined, the texture of the canvas itself would be searched until solid proof of the originality of the painting was determined. There are many copies today that are sold as copies and are sold for far less value than the original because they are not painted by the hand of the master painter. In any painting, the original is of far greater value than a copy or a counterfeit.
Let us suppose someone offered to sell the Mona Lisa and they suggested the painting they were selling was only 350 years old, would you buy it as an original? After examining the painting, you noticed there were some irregularities in the painting itself, suggesting Leonardo da Vinci did not paint it, would you buy it as an original? When you viewed the canvas under a microscope and realized the material was only a few hundred years old, would you buy it as an original? Most people today would buy it and believe they had the original because that is the way they look at religion.
Jesus Christ lived, died and was resurrected nearly two thousand years ago. Following His ascension, the apostles gathered in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost in fulfillment of the Lord's command. Luke records Peter's sermon as he opened the doors of the Kingdom of Christ in Acts 2. The church that Jesus promised to build in Matthew 16:13-20 began on that day:
"And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:47)The church is mentioned directly at least eighteen times in Acts and many other times by inference as the disciples of Christ preached the gospel in
"Jerusalem, and in all Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:8) The New Testament writers wrote to the churches in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colosse, Thessalonica, Crete, the house of Philemon, Pontus, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia and many other places where saints of God gathered to worship the Lord. The church of Jesus Christ began on the day of Pentecost and has existed for nearly two thousand years.Many people today are not a part of the original church created on a canvas of blood by the Son of God. The church you read about in the New Testament is the original. The churches of today are frail copies of counterfeit of the original. Compare the age of the New Testament church (2,000 years old) with the Roman Catholic church who can only boast an age of 1400 years. The Baptist Church is 393 years old; Christian Church is 141 years old; Holiness Church is 93 years old; Lutheran Church is 470 years old; Methodist Church is 271 years old; Nazarene Church is 105 years old; Presbyterian Church is 465 years old.
Does it make a difference how old the Mona Lisa is if you want the original? Of course it does because it means you find an authentic painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Does it make a difference how old the church is you belong too? Only you can answer that question.
We Have Elected A New President
(Kent Heaton)
Tuesday has come and gone by the grace of God. With the dawning of each new day, we are blessed with the opportunity to go about our lives in a fashion that we choose. Our country is a land of freedom and from those ideals of freedom seeking people throughout our history, we evolve with an ever changing flow of leaders. Tuesday was no exception as the nation took time and privilege to cast their vote for a man to lead our country for the next four years. History has been set and time will reveal the nature of the decision made for him who becomes the President of these United States.
Much has been said in the past few months about the leadership abilities of those who seek the office of the President. Their character, wisdom and honesty have been put to the severe test of examination to present themselves as the viable answer to the countries woes. Each man has put upon his shoulders the banner of leadership to strike cords of freedom for each citizen of this great country. On Tuesday, the people spoke and the mind of the people chose one man to be President. With the dawning of Wednesday morning, the country took on a new change.
The apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:13-17,
"Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men -- as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king." The Lord did not come to earth to destroy government but to establish the cause of civil government as ordained by God. The child of God's view of civil government is one of submission and obedience. The will of God is for the Christian to submit to the authorities in accordance with the law of the land. Peter illustrates the necessity of this point when he concludes with ... "Honor the king!"Has it been hard to be a Christian in the last eight years or in other administrations of the past to be in subjection? God demands the child of God not to present themselves in a manner that would dishonor His name. It can be argued that from the Clinton administration we have seen the office of the President drug through the pig slop of social degradation and shame. Does this license the child of God to not honor the role of government?
The apostle Peter wrote those words nearly two-thousand years ago and when he wrote about the king, he was writing about one of the most vile persons ever to walk upon the face of the earth. The Lord gave instruction through the hand of Peter for all men to honor Nero! Nero ordered scores of Christians into the arena to be killed by lions. He murdered his own mother, his wife, Octavia and his foster brother, Britannic. The Lord said,
"Honor the king."It is not that the Lord approves of such men but the Christian must realize his place in society and civil government. Romans 13 teaches that government is established by God. Jesus taught His disciples to
"Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Mark 12:17) The President of the United States is to be honored - whether we voted for him or not. Until that time that the laws of the land conflict with our worship of God, we must obey the ordinances of men. The apostles are examples of this in Acts 5. Notice verse 29 and also Gamaliel's advice in verse 39. My friends, the Lord still rules in the affairs of men. God is still in charge and no man can or will change that. Mr. President, our prayers go with you!(Kent Heaton)
The span of a man's life is thought to be ageless in youth, measured in manhood and brief in old age. Maturity redefines the mind in believing that life is unending. In our days of youth, days and weeks seem forever. As we mature in age and wisdom, days move quickly by and finally in older years, time is but a yesterday of memories. Life is much shorter than we expected.
The Bible tells us about the brevity of life in many descriptive ways. James tells us that life is like a flower that will pass away.
"As a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes." (James 1:10,11) Life is uncertain as the grass of the field. One day the ground is filled with the beautiful array of flowers, blooming with all the radiance of creation. The sun rises and in the burning heat, the flowers fade away. James is warning in the context of resting hope in riches because riches will not save one from dying. Death comes to all men.Peter also describes life as the grass of the field.
"All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away." (1 Peter 1:24 - quoting from Isaiah 40:6-8) Life is short but in contrast the word of the Lord will endure forever.James describes life as a vapor:
"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit;' whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.'" (4:13-15) The difficulty with life is that we believe life consists of the things that we have and what we plan to do. Jesus warned about trusting in what life has to offer in Luke 12:15, "And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." Life appears for only a little time and then it is gone. Even when man lives to be 100 years old, life is like a vapor.Job had much to contemplate about life. In his misery and suffering, he viewed life as
"My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope. Oh, remember that my life is a breath! My eye will never again see good. The eye of him who sees me will see me no more; while your eyes are upon me, I shall no longer be. As the cloud disappears and vanishes away, so he who goes down to the grave does not come up. He shall never return to his house, nor shall his place know him anymore." (7:6-10) Trials focus life clearly and place in mind the true meaning of our existence. Job realized the frailty of life and how life was like a breath or a cloud that vanishes away.Job further describes how short life is:
"Now my days are swifter than a runner; they flee away, they see no good. They pass by like swift ships, like an eagle swooping on its prey ... Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue." (Job 9:25,26; 14:1,2) Other passages that teach the brevity of life are Psalm 39:5; 89:47; 90:5,6; 102:3; Isaiah 38:12.Jeremy Taylor said, "Life is short and yet upon this short life eternity depends." The brief time we spend here on earth will determine our eternal home. The Hebrew writer exhorts:
"And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment." Life is so short and death is so certain. Ecclesiastes 12:13,14 tells us the meaning of life and how important it is to understand how short life is. Life is short!(Kent Heaton)
Man has spent his existence searching for truth - the truth of his relationship with the Creator. They have sought truth from themselves and found only an empty vat of dreams. Man believed that happiness could be found within himself and became corrupt and immoral. (Genesis 6:5; Romans 1:18-32) He sought truth in man-made gods created from the burning ashes of a tree. (Isaiah 44:6-20) Truth could not be found "
before a block of wood."Where do we find truth? Human reason is used as the basis for truth but found lacking. (Jeremiah 10:23) The voice of the masses could be used as a guide to truth but Jesus said that most people are wrong. (Matthew 7:13,14) Truth cannot be found in our parents, our feelings, our own personal desire or human traditions as they are all fallible. (Matthew 10:37,38; Proverbs 14:12; Judges 17:6; Matthew 15:1-9)
Searching for truth must be done from a spirit that desires truth, goes to the right source of truth, hears the voice of truth and obeys that voice. The heart of the individual must desire to find the truth. With no desire to find the truth, it will not be found. The character of desire is not just an interest in truth. The desire is based upon the understanding that a need exist. If a man does not first believe he is lost, he will never seek to be found. Seeking for truth is produced by a heart that knows the need of being saved.
The right source must be sought in order to find the truth. When Naaman sought to be cured of his leprosy, he went to the wrong source. The maiden had said that there was a
"prophet who is in Samaria." (2 Kings 5) The first place Naaman went was to the king of Israel and he was the wrong person. When Naaman came to Elisha, he was told what to do to be cleansed of his leprosy. The rich young man in Matthew 19 came with the right desire and the right source when he came to Jesus and asked, "Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" (v16) Jesus had the answer and He was the source of salvation.In both of these two stories (Naaman and the rich man), they were told what to do. Naaman was told to dip seven times in the Jordan and he would be cleansed of his leprosy. The rich man was told to sell what he had, give it all to the poor and follow Jesus. They desired truth, they came to the right source and were told the right thing to do. However, they did not obey the truth because they thought the answer would be different.
Naaman said,
"Behold, I thought" and he left in a rage. The rich man "went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." The searched for truth and found it but were unwilling to obey it. Truth must be obeyed in order for it to have value. It was not until Naaman came to himself and obeyed the command to dip in the Jordan river that he was cleansed of his leprosy. The rich man is never heard from again in scripture.Many people today are searching for the truth. Many seek to find the truth within themselves. Others go to the wrong source. Truth is heard but not obeyed because it is not what they thought it would be. To be a disciple of Christ, you must desire to find the truth, seek for truth, believe in the truth of the gospel and obey it.
"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32)The book of Acts is filled with the stories of men and women who were searching for truth and found it. They obeyed the word given to them,
"because when [they] received the word of God which [they] heard ... [they] welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in [those] who believe." (1 Thessalonians 2:13)The Signs Of The Times And The Coming Of
The Lord
(Kent Heaton)
The doomsday prophets of today continue to fill the airwaves with their messages of doom as our society takes on a more sinister character of degradation. We live in a time where crime is on the rise, families are being destroyed, sins of the flesh abound all around us. The prophets of doom would have us believe these events point to the direct coming of the Lord. I heard a man on the radio Sunday describing how the world is on the verge of destruction from the Lord because of the rise of ungodliness all around. Early in the morning, a woman decried the condition of the country and the coming of the Lord must be imminent.
Having had the opportunity to live in other countries, I have seen firsthand the
moral structures of other societies. I can also read in the papers and magazines
of the intolerable conditions found throughout the world. On the streets of
Sofia, Bulgaria newspapers were covered with naked women. Markets that had
little food and no milk were filled to capacity with alcohol and cigarettes. The
immorality was evident in many areas of society.
In some countries today, if you try and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ, you
will be arrested. Sever persecution befalls any who try to convert their
neighbor to Christ. The political, social and moral structures of many societies
today are writhing in immoral decadence. If what the doomsday prophets say is
true, the Lord should have come many years ago. If the things that are happening
in our country today are the indication of the coming of the Lord, He would have
come long ago when other cultures were much more wicked than we.
The problem with this type of mind-set is to believe that the Lord was only
writing to good Christian people in America. The words of the Holy Spirit were
not written to describe events happening in our land today. The coming of the
Lord will not be preceded by these immoral, decadent and tragic events we seem
to feel point to His coming. The only purpose doomsday prophets serve is to stir
the imaginations of the people to believe in the great delusion that Christ is
coming back to earth to reign and fight some great battle with the forces of
evil.
The Bible clearly teaches that when Jesus comes back again, it will not be
with all these terrible signs that people keep pointing too. 2 Peter 3:10 says, "But
the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will
pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both
the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." The apostle
Paul also tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:2, "For you yourselves know
perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night."
A thief does not announce his coming no more than Christ will announce His
coming. The signs of the times are not to be taken as a prophetic utterance of
the coming of the Lord. He will come but when He comes it will be as in the days
of Noah. (Genesis 6-9) The world knew it was coming but only eight people
believed it enough to get ready. When the rain started and the fountains of the
deep were broken up, it was too late for everyone except the eight people inside
the ark. There was no warning, no signs, no social events that took place to
warn of the coming of the flood.
God told the people what was coming and what to do to prepare for it. He did not
tell them when it was coming. Those who were ready were saved and those who were
not ready were lost. The same holds true for today. All of the doomsday prophets
believe that Jesus will return to earth to set up a kingdom and reign for a
thousand years. The Bible does not teach this. The Bible teaches the coming of
the Lord will be like a thief. Are you ready?