On January 14, 2006, Norbert Link will give the final sermon on
certain aspects in the life of Abraham, titled, “Abraham, Part 2.”
The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org at 12:30 pm Pacific Time (which is 2:30 pm Central Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.
A new StandingWatch program
was posted on the Web, titled, “Stay Committed!” In the program, Mr.
Link discusses the importance of staying committed to our physical and
spiritual obligations.
by Eric Rank
They call it “The Problem of Evil.” The argument
states: If there is a God who is perfect and good in every way, why
does evil exist in this world? For many, this apparent contradiction
brings people to intellectually reason that God does not exist.
However, not only do we know that the existence of God cannot be
determined by our limited intellectual capacity for logic alone, we
also understand that the existence of evil is something that God allows
for a reason.
The fact that God allows evil to exist in this
world begs the question of why He allows it. The answer is simple. It
is part of God’s plan for us all to overcome evil, following Christ’s
example. Just as God placed the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
in the midst of the Garden of Eden to test the obedience of Adam and
Eve, evil exists in this world to test our obedience. The existence of
evil does not contradict the existence of God, but rather, it exists so
that our character may be refined when we overcome it.
We
are
provided with a choice in life. Choose righteousness, or choose evil.
Choose life, or choose death. We know through God’s Word that he wants
us, and even commands us, to choose righteousness. He gives us the
option to overcome evil, but He does not force us to do it. Overcoming
evil and sin is our responsibility every single day. If we obey His
Word, and remain faithful until the end, we will have the opportunity
to be a part of God’s Kingdom.
We must be very careful that we don’t fall into the trap of trying
to say that what Paul taught was just an instruction for his time, some
2,000 years ago–and that it is not necessarily binding for us today.
This wrong understanding was epitomized by an Anglican Bishop who, when
challenged on a particular issue a few years ago, wrote:
“My
disagreement stems partly from my understanding of the way in which I
read the Bible, praying that the Holy Spirit will enlighten my
understanding of what statements are unchangeable and what are
conditioned by social and cultural norms of the time in which God spoke
to those involved.”
He fell into the trap of “cherry picking”
those portions of Scripture that suited his particular stance and
ignoring those which he considered no longer applicable. This is a very
dangerous thing to do because God clearly states that “ALL
Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped
for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
The problem with the
“social and cultural norms of the time”-approach is that it allows the
culture of the day to become more important than God’s clear
instructions!
It is true that Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7:25:
“Now concerning virgins: I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I
give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy.”
The question is, did Paul, as an apostle of Jesus Christ, have the
authority, under godly inspiration, to “bind and loose” (Matthew
16:19)? That is, was he permitted to explain with authority, under
godly inspiration, God’s will on a certain matter, even though the
written record–until that point in time–might not have been totally
clear? Since he undoubtedly did have such authority, his commandments,
as revealed and retained in God’s Word, are binding for us today. When
Paul said, although there was no WRITTEN law, he was communicating
God’s inspiration to him. Therefore, it has the same strength as a
written command. God inspired it to be written down in the Bible, so it
has now become part of the written commandments as well. A
transgression of God’s written law (not just the Ten Commandments, but
all of God’s words which are still binding today) is sin. After all,
sin is defined in Scripture as the transgression of the law (1 John
3:4, Authorized Version).
The New King James Commentary has this to say about 1 Corinthians 7:25:
“Paul
is now about to deal with another subject about which the Corinthians
had written him (cf. 7:1). I have no commandment of the Lord. In our
Lord’s instruction regarding marriage and divorce recorded in the
Gospels, there is no record of His speaking directly to this issue. And
so, the apostle says, yet I give my judgment. This again is not to say
his advice is less inspired than something he may or may not quote from
our Lord. Rather, Paul gives advice under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit in order to fulfill this obligation to the Lord to be faithful.”
Matthew Henry’s Commentary makes these observations about this same verse:
“He
[Paul] acted faithfully, and therefore his direction was to be regarded
as a rule of Christ: for he gave judgment as one who was a faithful
apostle of Christ. Though Christ had before delivered no universal law
about that matter, he [Christ] now gives direction by an inspired
apostle, one who had obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.”
It
is important to note that Paul’s writings are now Scripture. In 2 Peter
3:16 we read: “…as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of
these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which
untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do
also the rest of the Scriptures.”
This is critical
understanding because this verse reveals that there will be those who
will twist Scripture [including Paul’s writings], not only for their
own purposes, but to their own destruction; and, secondly, it states
that Paul’s writings were considered Scripture. Jesus Christ is the
same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8) and the Word of God,
likewise, is unchangeable. We must not “cherry pick” Scripture. Rather,
we must take the Bible in its entirety. That includes Paul’s writings
which are part of Scripture and which cannot be dismissed as only
applicable to his own time.
Lead Writer: Brian Gale
On January 7, 2006, Norbert Link will give the sermon, titled, “Abraham.”
The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org at 12:30 pm Pacific Time (which is 2:30pm Central Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.
The hard copies of our new booklet, “Are You Predestined to be Saved?” were sent out Tuesday.
In the passage in question, Paul was addressing the yearly Passover
ceremony. Beginning in 1 Corinthians 11:23, Paul reminded the disciples
of the event when Christ instituted the New Testament symbols of bread
and wine at the annual Passover service (compare verses 23-26). He then
continued:
“Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup
of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood
of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the
bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy
manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s
body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.”
The
Sacrifice of Jesus Christ includes His death for the forgiveness of our
sins, as well as His suffering for our physical healing. While the
symbol of the wine points to Christ’s shed blood for the forgiveness of
sins, the symbol of the bread points to His physical suffering for our
physical healing.
Passages regarding the forgiveness of our
sins, by our acceptance of His supreme Sacrifice, can be found in
Isaiah 53:12; Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 9:11-14; 1 John 1:7; and Romans
5:6-11.
Passages regarding our physical healing, by our
acceptance of His supreme Sacrifice, can be found in Isaiah 53:3-5;
Psalm 103:1-3; and Matthew 8:16-17. The symbol of the broken bread,
pointing to Christ’s wounded, torn body and His stripes, stands for our
physical healing.
When Paul talked about the need that we
discern the Lord’s body, he was addressing Christ’s PHYSICAL body which
was beaten for our physical healing. Some have said that Paul was
talking about Christ’s SPIRITUAL “broken” body, the Church. They claim
that Paul wanted to make reference to the broken, shattered condition
of the Church (having in mind many different corporate Church
organizations). They teach that we don’t experience physical healing if
we are responsible for any of the divisions in the different Church
organizations, thereby failing to “discern” the spiritual body of
Christ–the Church. It is true that we cannot expect to be healed, if
we refuse to be spiritually reconciled or “healed” with God and with
His people. It is also true that we cannot expect physical healing if
we don’t repent of our sins and trespasses or refuse to forgive our
brethren their trespasses against us (James 5:13-16). However, this
does not mean that Paul was addressing our discernment of the Church,
as Christ’s body, in 1 Corinthians 11. Rather, he spoke clearly of the
idea that we must consider the totality of Christ’s
Sacrifice–including His broken PHYSICAL body–if we want to experience
physical healing.
Let us again notice the context: Paul quotes
Christ in verse 24, saying that we are to eat bread, “which is [or,
which symbolizes] My body which is broken for you.” We are obviously
not to “eat” the Church, but we are to internalize Jesus Christ in our
lives so that He can live in us continuously (compare Galatians 2:20).
That is why we read in John 6:48-58 that we need to partake of the
annual Passover symbols of bread and wine to have a continued part with
Christ. We are also told in 1 Corinthians 11:26 that we proclaim the
death of Christ until He returns, when we eat the bread and drink the
wine on the annual occasion of the Passover service. Obviously, Paul
was not addressing the Church in verse 26, but the body and blood of
Jesus Christ. Paul continues with the same theme in verse 27: “Whoever
eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner…”
Again, there is no hint that Paul was suddenly
talking about anything else but Christ’s physical body–it was CHRIST
Who was tortured and killed. Verse 28 continues that we must eat the
bread and drink the cup after self-examination. Verse 29 warns us that
we eat and drink judgment to ourselves, if we don’t eat the bread AND
drink the wine in a worthy manner, “not discerning the Lord’s body.” It
is still the same theme and context; to say that Paul suddenly
addressed the Church as Christ’s [spiritual] body, while still talking
about eating the bread and drinking the wine, is introducing a thought
which is clearly not contained in that passage. After all, if the
“Lord’s body” was suddenly meant to refer to the spiritual body of
Christ–the Church–are we to EAT the CHURCH (verse 29)? And what would
the meaning of the “blood” be in that context (same verse)–as we are
to eat AND to drink? It is obvious that the analogy of Christ’s body
referring to the Church simply does not fit in 1 Corinthians 11:29.
The
Bible Commentary: Revised agrees: “Every Christian is unworthy, but
Paul defines his meaning as not discerning (lit. not distinguishing)
this bread as signifying the body… of the Lord. Some think body here
refers to the church (cf. 10:17), but a change of meaning from v. 27
seems unlikely.”
Matthew Henry’s Commentary concurs: “The
Corinthians came to the Lord’s table not discerning the Lord’s
body–not making a distinction between that and common food.”
Unger’s
Bible Handbook explains the meaning of the passage in this way: “in an
unworthy manner … means in an attitude of unconfessed sin, and thus
being guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, transgressing against
the very essence of the meaning of Christ’s death… Self-examination
is necessary… to avoid condemnation and consequent chastening,
entailing physical weakness, sickness and even death.”
In
conclusion, when we partake, during the annual Passover ceremony, of
the bread and the wine (as well as the preceding footwashing ceremony,
compare John 13:1-17), we must understand and accept, in faith, the
supreme meaning of the totality of Christ’s Sacrifice. If we discern
Christ’s body, with the knowledge that CHRIST was severely beaten and
then killed on our behalf, we understand that we can have forgiveness
of our sins, as well as physical healing, because of what Christ did
for us: “…having made peace through the BLOOD of His cross… now He
has reconciled [you to the Father] in the BODY of HIS FLESH THROUGH
DEATH, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His
sight–if indeed you CONTINUE in the faith…” (Colossians
1:20-23). And: “By that will [of God the Father] we have been
sanctified through the offering of the BODY of Jesus Christ once and
for all” (Hebrews 10:10). And finally 1 Peter 2:24: “… who Himself
bore our sins in His own BODY on the tree, that we, having died to
sins, might live for righteousness–by whose stripes you were healed.”
The
message rings loud and clear: As Christ suffered and died for us in His
own body, we are to discern His sacrifice and let Him live in us, so
that we can live for Him.
Lead Writer: Norbert Link
On December 31, 2005, Dave Harris will give the sermon, titled, “The Word of God.”
The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org at 12:30 pm Pacific Time (which is 2:30 pm Central Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.
A new StandingWatch program
has been posted on the Web, titled, “Evolution or the Bible?” In
the program, Norbert Link discusses the dangers of both the concepts of
Evolution and Intelligent Design, and points out the real answers for
man’s existence.
by Manuela Link (22)
Many of us may be familiar with a popular TV
series called Smallville. It depicts the adolescent to young adult life
of the famous person, Superman. Despite his incredible abilities, Clark
Kent portrays a wonderful character to the public: having a soft-spoken
tongue, being compliant and respectful to parents, helping those in
need, being a true friend, trustworthy and strong — mentally and
physically.
Everyone knows him as Clark Kent, a hard-working farm
boy, but they don’t know his secret, his true calling or destiny —
that of which he will one day save the world. He keeps his abilities a
secret because he believes that if he accidentally shows his strength,
people may not accept him for the man he really is.
In the real
life, we too have a true calling. We not only have to be a light to the
world by showing our true Christian character, but we cannot hide from
the person we were called to be. We cannot be afraid of what others may
think of us, because we understand that God will help us through
anything. We should be willing to explain anything about the person we
really are, when asked, because in these situations, secrets only
separate friendships. I know why I’m here. I am not of this world, and
like the fictional Clark, my future of faith contains greater
possibilities.
