April 19, 2017

Who Knows?

Young man thinking

The Hebrew writer said, “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). This is the one thing in our future that is certain – death followed by judgment. Besides that, we cannot say with certainty what will happen in our future. James wrote, “You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow” (James 4:14). The wise man asked, “If no one knows what will happen, who can tell him when it will happen?” (Ecclesiastes 8:7).

Who knows what will happen in the future? None of us do. How then do we approach life with this kind of uncertainty? The Scriptures provide some lessons for us to consider. In this article, we will examine several passages that discuss uncertain futures. In each of them, the phrase “who knows” is used to express the fact that mere men could not know where the events would lead. We will consider the events that were happening and see what lessons we can learn from them.
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April 12, 2017

You Have Become Dull of Hearing

Ear, static

In making a point about the superiority of Christ’s priesthood over the priesthood of Aaron, the Hebrew writer cited the priesthood of Melchizedek. Since Jesus was “a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:10; cf. Psalm 110:4), His priesthood was superior. He would go on to explain why this proved the superiority of Jesus’ priesthood later in the epistle (Hebrews 7:1-10).

However, he paused the discussion about comparing the priesthoods because it was “hard to explain” (Hebrews 5:11), even though it was certainly not impossible. The problem was not that the facts were difficult. Instead, the problem was that these brethren were “dull of hearing” (Hebrews 5:11). As the Hebrew writer would explain, this problem affected more than just their understanding of Jesus’ priesthood – it had the potential of costing them their souls.

We need to understand what it means to be “dull of hearing,” what the result is of being in that condition, and how to fix it.
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April 5, 2017

What Happens After Death?

Cemetery

Job asked, “If a man dies, will he live again?” (Job 14:14). Many people wonder about this: Is there life after death?

  • Many say “no” – They believe that our existence here is all that there is.
  • The Bible says “yes” – There is life after death, but what happens after death?

In this article, we will consider some various theories that people have about the afterlife and compare these theories with what the Bible teaches.
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March 22, 2017

What We Should Not Pray

Woman praying

On one occasion, Jesus’ disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). It is important that we know how to pray as we should. However, when we think of learning how to pray, we usually think in terms of praying for certain things. Yet there are also some things for which we should not pray.

So in this article, let us consider five things for which we should not pray.
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March 15, 2017

Cities of Refuge

City of Refuge

Since the Levites were not given a territory in the land of Canaan like the other tribes, they were given “forty-eight cities” (Numbers 35:7). Six of these cities would be designated as “cities of refuge” (Numbers 35:6). If someone killed someone else unintentionally, he could flee to one of these cities.

“Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, “When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your cities of refuge, that the manslayer who has killed any person unintentionally may flee there. The cities shall be to you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands before the congregation for trial”’” (Numbers 35:9-12).

In this article, we are going to notice five key points about these cities of refuge and how they parallel the church today.
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March 8, 2017

Why “Book, Chapter, and Verse” Preaching?

Bible on a lectern

After the wall around Jerusalem had been rebuilt, the people gathered to hear the law read to them. Ezra and the Levites “read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading” (Nehemiah 8:8). What they did was very simple – they read the law and explained it so that the people understood what it meant.

This is the same thing we must do in our preaching today. We want people to understand what God’s word means, but how can we help them do that? We sometimes hear brethren use the phrase “book, chapter, and verse” preaching. This is the kind of preaching that is necessary to accomplish the goal of explaining the Scriptures so that people will understand them. In this article, we will consider why “book, chapter, and verse” preaching is the method we need to use in our preaching.
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March 1, 2017

Friendship with the World

James 4:4

“You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).

When James warned Christians about “friendship with the world,” he did not say that it was possibly unwise or potentially dangerous. Instead, he used very strong language indicating that being “a friend of the world” makes one “an enemy of God.”

Knowing this danger, it is important that we know what the inspired writer meant by “friendship with the world.” In this article, we are going to consider what “friendship with the world” looks like and also see what a Christian’s relationship with the world should be.
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