Know Your Bible
VOL. 14 June 14, 2015 NO. 14
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CHEETAHS AND CHRISTIANS
The fastest land animal is a large cat called a cheetah. It can run like a car driving down the interstate—almost 70 miles per hour. The cheetah is built for running. It has long legs, a very strong flexible spine which works like a spring, bending up and down allowing it to take even longer strides. It has a very long tail which helps in balance. The claws of the cheetah, especially when worn down some, act as cleats which give the animal better traction.
Although the cheetah has “speed to burn,” it has one big problem. It can only maintain this velocity for a short time. If it cannot catch its prey in a few seconds, it has to give up. Even when the animal catches its prey, it has to rest for around thirty minutes before it can start to eat. Thus, the cheetah, as fast as it is for a short time, does not have endurance.
Many who become Christians are like the cheetah. They start very fast with a great deal of enthusiasm. They do not, however, have “staying” power. They only last for a short time and then fall away.
The stony soil, in the Parable of the Sower, represents such a person. Of the four soils in the parable, one was stony. The seed which fell on this soil immediately sprang up (Mt. 13:5). Later, Jesus explained the parable and pointed out specifically that the seed which fell on the stony place represents one who hears the Word and receives it immediately with joy. He also said, “yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while” (NKJV). This person started well but due to difficulties, he fell away.
In the book of Galatians, Paul addressed the churches of Galatia. Many there had erred in their teaching. They were trying to bring the Jewish ordinance of circumcision into the law of Christ. Paul told them that he marveled that they were “turning away so soon from Him who called you to the grace of Christ, to a different gospel.” Later he told them ( 5:7), “You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?”
Various passages are found in the letters to the seven churches of Asia which encourage endurance. The Lord told the church at Smyrna (Rev. 2:10) to, “…Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Christians are to be faithful as long as they live, and they are to endure even to the point of being put to death. He also told others in these letters, to hold fast (Note also Rev. 2:13; 3:3,11.)
An Olympic sprinter would have real problems trying to keep up with a cheetah. With all of its speed, however, the cheetah just cannot run fast for very long. Sadly, in a similar way, many have no endurance in their service to God today. They start with the speed of a cheetah but they don’t last. We must have perseverance in serving God. Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”
—Mike Johnson
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WHAT’S WRONG WITH “EXCLUSIVE”?
A sad reality in our current political and religious world is that we are being constantly drawn into a condition of shared mediocrity. The main pillar of a communist state is the mandated sharing according to ability, and receiving according to need – the ultimate consequence of which is to remove the incentive to work for what you have, both on the part of the worker, and the “receiver”. Only the extremely naïve refuse to acknowledge the relationship between the two.
Socially and religiously, this goal is accomplished through the denigrating of “exceptionalism”. More and more, we seek to be “like the nations around us,” and find a common ground based on meaningless banalities. Individual achievement and excellence are minimized, and it is no longer politically correct to praise victory and face the reality of defeat. (unless it can be done without the winner receiving greater praise than the loser, or the loser feeling the sting of failure).
Borrowing from the political and social “multi-culturalism” which promotes the “advantages” of diversity, the religious goal now is “inter –faith interaction”, and a passivity toward distinctions in doctrine and practice. In other words, in the name of “unity”, anything goes!
BUT:
GOD IS EXCLUSIVE – there is only ONE!—Eph 4:3-6 And He is not a “generic” god, to be addressed as Allah, Buddha, or some “new age” caricature of Jehovah.
THE BIBLE IS EXCLUSIVE – It is the ONLY source of divine revelation.—2 Tim 3:16,17 And it should not be confused with, or relegated to an equal status with other so – called writings. The ONE God says all He wants to say in it, and condemns these counterfeits.
THE CHURCH IS EXCLUSIVE – There is ONLY ONE body –Eph 1:22,23 And it is not intended as an “umbrella” under which many diverse groups serve according to their unique view of truth..It is identified by its relationship to God’s truth – and truth is EXCLUSIVE!
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS EXCLUSIVE – The ONLY life is one where the gate is “strait”, and the way is “narrow” – Matt 7:13,14
AND, HEAVEN IS EXCLUSIVE — Rev 21:27 “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.”
Me? I don’t work at finding “middle ground” with the world, it will not work! (2 Cor 6:14-18)
—Aubrey Belue
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THE DEVIL LAUGHS
1. To hear a man say he has no way to attend the services when he can attend all the sporting events held within miles.
2. To hear a woman say she can’t attend the services because she has nothing to wear, when she can parade herself before hundreds in any uptown bargain basement or movie.
3. To hear parents say they cannot make their children attend Bible study when they can make the children attend public school, go to the dentist or doctor, or anywhere else they choose to have them go.
4. To hear a man say he doesn’t have money to give to the Lord --- as he breaks open another pack of cigarettes or sticks a cigar in his mouth.
5. To hear a Christian say he wants to see the gospel preached in all the world, and then puts only 50 cents or one dollar in the collection plate to be sure he is doing his part.
6. To hear some filthy-tongued hypocrite tell a smutty and nasty story to attract attention of other weak and feeble-minded people.
7. To hear some spineless church member excuse sin by saying, “Oh, I guess there’s no harm in it just this one time.”
8. To hear some seemingly pious preacher talk about love and unity, and then bring something into the church which God’s word says nothing about, thereby causing division.
—Selected
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