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The Church in Crisis By Edward O.
Bragwell, Sr.
The Reflector - June 2008
I have a sermon titled “Crises in the Jerusalem Church” that I preach from time
to time. It is based on notes that I took on a sermon I heard brother Clinton
Hamilton preach many years ago. It points to several crises faced by the first
congregation of Christians ever. The purpose of that sermon is threefold: 1) to
show that even the Lord’s church under the personal guidance of the apostles had
problems and 2) churches of Christ in every generation have had problems to
solve and overcome and 3) that by studying how Jerusalem weathered its crises we
can learn to deal with the crises as they come to churches today.
A study of church history, from its beginning until the present will reveal that
the Lord’s church has never flourished for any extended length of time without
facing a serious crisis. The results of each major crisis has been that a large
segment of brethren (individuals and congregations) have gone into apostasy. At
times apostasy has been so widespread that the New Testament church has all but
disappeared from the radar screen of recorded history for many years.
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From previous issues...
The
Bible and Fulfilled Prophecy
(This continues excerpts from an article by
Allan Turner in which he examines the proofs that the Bible must be from God
because of its pre-knowledge of scientific facts only recently discovered by the
field of science. In this installment, he turns to fulfilled prophecy as another
powerful proof of the divine origin of the Bible.)
Fulfilled prophecy is another powerful proof that the Bible is what it claims to
be. Many years before historical events occurred, the Bible was giving rather
detailed accounts of these distant events. In the space that follows, we will
examine some of these.
Prophecies About Christ
Henry Liddon is credited with the statement that there are 332 prophecies
fulfilled in Christ. The mathematical probability that all of these could be
fulfilled in one person by sheer chance alone has been calculated to be the
number 84 followed by 123 zeros. Some have suggested that Jesus knew of the
prophecies and simply went about the task of fulfilling them. The nonsense of
such thinking is absolutely overwhelming when one considers the fact that a
“mere-man Jesus” would have no ability to manipulate where he would be born
(Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1-6). This prophecy was made at least 700 years before the
birth of Jesus. In addition, there are many prophecies about Jesus that were
fulfilled by His enemies, who would not knowingly fulfill a single verse of
Scripture about Him:
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The
Bible and Scientific Knowledge Part II (This continues an
excerpt from an article by Allan Turner from our last issue. A link to the
entire article appears at the end of this installment.)
Ocean Currents
Bible Writers:
1015 B.C.
David said in Psalm 8:8 that God has subjected all things to men, including,
“all that swim the paths of the sea” (NIV).
ANALYSIS: The Hebrew word “paths” carries the literal meaning of “customary
roads.”
FACT: David knew there were “paths” or “customary roads” in the sea, and that
sea life passed through these paths.
History of Science:
1855 A.D.
Matthew Fontaine Maury is called “The Pathfinder of the Seas.” This American is
the father of today’s oceanography. A statue of him stands in Richmond,
Virginia. Inscribed on the base of this monument is a reference to Psalm 8:8,
which mentions the "paths of the sea." His Physical Geography of the Sea was the
first textbook of modern oceanography, and he is credited as being the first
person to undertake a systematic and comprehensive study of the ocean. There is
an apocryphal story associated with Maury's listening to a reading of Psalm 8:8
and determining to find the "paths of the sea" mentioned there, but there seems
to be no historical evidence for such a story. Nevertheless, Maury’s systematic
and comprehensive charting of the “paths of the sea,” has aided commercial
fishermen in finding the schools of fish that are frequently found passing
through the "paths of the sea" in search of the food (plankton, etc.) that these
currents carry along, just as God's Word had said.
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The
Bible and Scientific Knowledge (Excerpted from an article
by Allan Turner. The website link to the entire article appears at the end of
this installment.)
If the Bible is God’s divine revelation, then it is essential that the
statements of Bible writers, when describing or mentioning physical laws of the
universe, other than allowances for poetic license, must agree completely with
all known facts of science (this does not necessarily include theories). In
addition, they must do this regardless of the accepted theories and level of
scientific knowledge of the age in which they were written. If it can be
demonstrated that between the observations of science and a simple, direct
interpretation of the Bible narrative there exists a harmony such as would be
expected of a book having the same author as the physical world, then this is
ample proof that the Bible is what it claims to be—a divine revelation from God.
If proof of this can be shown, then you will have witnessed a miracle in the
scientific age as unexplainable as any recorded in the Bible. How do I know this
to be true? Because, it is beyond comprehension that men who lived 2000 to 4000
years ago could, without this age’s scientific instruments, arrive at the same
knowledge as men of science have in the past three hundred years.
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Make
All Things According to the Pattern (From a radio program
delivered by Jack Thompson of the Whites Park church of Christ on KSHN, Liberty,
Texas. Date unknown.)
God has always demanded that men follow His direction in matters of religion.
Taking as a text or starting point, Hebrews 8:5, may we all, as fellow travelers
to eternity, study together our duty to "make all things according to the divine
pattern" as revealed in the New Testament---not my pattern, nor yours, but
God's. This is a very practical line of thought for Christians and all men
alike, seeing that all men must mold their thinking, their speech, their life
and conduct in every way by this divine pattern. We are to be workers for Him
and must conform our work and worship to this pattern. It also helps us to teach
others the way of life and salvation more perfectly and helps us to fight the
"wiles" of error more efficiently.
God says: "It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jeremiah 10:23).
Hence, man must have a divine guide to be saved. God also says: "There is a way
that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death"
(Proverbs 14:12). Cain's way, no doubt, seemed right to him, (Genesis 4:3-7),
but not to God. Hence, it was the way of death. Nadab, no doubt, did what seemed
right to him when he offered strange fire: but not to God, and was smitten of
God while in the very act of worship, because he did not follow the divine
directions (Leviticus 10:1, 2). NOTE: God did not tell him NOT to offer this
kind of fire; neither did He tell Cain not to offer the fruit of the field as a
sacrifice; nor did He tell Moses not to smite the rock the second time. When God
tells us how and what to do, that forbids our substituting anything else—His
commands are both inclusive and exclusive. You, too, may be well pleased with
what you are and what you are doing religiously, but you are not the one to be
pleased in these matters.
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Abraham's
Land Promise by David Padfield
Premillennialism is a doctrine taught by many religious groups in our day. This
theory teaches Jesus will return to this earth and set up a literal, earthly
kingdom for a 1,000 years. Proponents claim that prior to His return there will
be a period of tribulation for seven years (some say three and a half years).
Then, according to their speculations, the Lord will reign in Jerusalem (like
David and Solomon) and the Jews will receive the land God promised to Abraham in
Genesis 12:7.
In 1970 Hal Lindsey wrote a best selling book, The Late Great Planet Earth. He
said, "For God unconditionally promised Abraham's descendants a literal
world-wide kingdom over which they would rule through their Messiah who would
reign upon King David's throne. The Jews who believe in the Messiah will also
possess the land which is bordered on the east by the Euphrates River, and on
the west by the Nile."
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