February 14, 2013

“They Thought More of Me Than of My Lord”

The following is a quote from J.D. Tant (1861-1941) in which he described an experience he had with some brethren who differed with him on the issue of instrumental music in worship. Tant opposed instrumental music. The brethren he mentioned here accepted it. Yet for Tant’s sake, they did not use it while he was with them.
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December 22, 2012

The Silence of the Scriptures (12/22)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Hebrews 7-10.

As the Hebrew writer explained to his readers that Jesus was the new high priest (Hebrews 2:17; 3:1; 4:14-15; 5:8-10; 6:20), he made it clear that the priesthood of Jesus after the order of Melchizedek would be different and better than the Levitical priesthood. But the fact that the priesthood would be better did not provide authority for the new priesthood. The law would have to change for the new priesthood to be authorized. The Hebrew writer explained:

“For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. For the one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests” (Hebrews 7:12-14).

Priests coming from the tribe of Levi was not a matter of tradition but a matter of divine law (Numbers 3:5-7). The reason given by the Hebrew writer as to why Jesus, being from the tribe of Judah, was prohibited from being a priest under the Old Law teaches us a fundamental point about Bible authority.
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November 1, 2012

“By What Authority Are You Doing These Things?” (11/1)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Matthew 20-21.

After Jesus drove the money changers and merchants out of the temple (Matthew 21:12-13), it is not surprising that the chief priest and elders questioned Him about those things He was doing.

“When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?’ Jesus said to them, ‘I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?’ And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, ‘If we say, “From heaven,” He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?” But if we say, “From men,” we fear the people; for they all regard as a prophet.’ And answering Jesus, they said, ‘We do not know.’ He also said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things’” (Matthew 21:23-27).

Their question was a good one. What Jesus was doing was not something that was commonly done. Therefore, unless He was acting lawlessly, He had to have been given authority to do these actions by someone in a position to give Him such authority. Their problem was that they were not asking honestly, which is proven by their refusal to answer Jesus’ question. But their question itself was good.
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October 11, 2012

The Centurion’s Great Faith (10/11)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Matthew 8:1-13; Luke 7.

When Jesus was informed of a centurion’s servant who was near death, He headed to the man’s house. But before He arrived, the centurion sent a message to Him. His message to Jesus proved to be a great expression of faith.

“Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far away from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, ‘Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, “Go!” and he goes, and to another, “Come!” and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this!” and he does it.’ Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, ‘I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith’” (Luke 7:6-9).

Notice some characteristics of the centurions “great faith“:
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September 30, 2012

Uselessly Kindling Fire on the Lord’s Altar (9/30)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Malachi 1-4.

In the final book of the Old Testament, Malachi revealed God’s condemnation of worship that is not done in sincerity and truth.

“‘Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on My altar! I am not pleased with you,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘nor will I accept an offering from you’” (Malachi 1:10).

It might seem strange to some that God would wish that someone would prevent others from offering sacrifices to Him. This shows, without any shadow of a doubt, that God does not accept all worship that is offered to Him. Notice the reasons why God rejected their worship here:
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September 18, 2012

Undocumented Priests (9/18)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Ezra 1-3.

We hear people today talk about “undocumented immigrants.” This term refers to immigrants who have come into this country but do not have the necessary papers (documentation) showing that they can legally be here. This has led to a great political debate about what to do with these “undocumented immigrants” – deport them, grant them amnesty, ignore their lack of documentation, etc.

When the Jews returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the city, they had to deal with another “undocumented” group. Certain priests did not have the appropriate documentation showing their ancestry and, therefore, could not prove that they had a lawful place in the priesthood. Notice what was done with these undocumented priests:

“Of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and he was called by their name. These searched among their ancestral registration, but they could not be located; therefore they were considered unclean and excluded from the priesthood. The governor said to them that they should not eat from the most holy things until a priest stood up with Urim and Thummim” (Ezra 2:61-63).

Notice a few points about the undocumented priests.
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September 16, 2012

An Everlasting Kingdom (9/16)

Thought from today’s Bible reading from Daniel 7-9.

When we think of prophecies in the book of Daniel regarding the Lord’s kingdom, we typically think of the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel 2:44-45). But the following passage also speaks of the coming kingdom:

“I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).

There are a few points to notice from this text about the kingdom:
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