***
You're in "It" for
the Long Haul!
A Comparision of Extreme
short term vs. Extreme long term Conditions
Introduction: What's this all about?
Well, think
about investors. They, fairly, regularly
consider whether the property they hold, (
real estate, stocks or bonds etc.), should be
classed as short term or long term holdings.
Then they plan accordingly.
One could say
that a bet on a horse race or a lottery
ticket would be "extremely short
term" investment and in contrast, the
usual family residence would be
"extremely long term" investment.
Or the "day trader" vs the 30 year
bond holder, would represent extreme short
and long term investment conditions.
But we
are now discussing conditions that are much
more extreme than that! And they deserve far
more attention than real estate, stocks,
bonds etc.
You see, every
thoughtful person knows as the years roll by,
(I'm crowding 80 as we speak!), that our
short life span is over very quickly and most
of us have a hope for a pleasant
"after-life" which falls into an
"Extremely Long Term" condition!
Even our
frustration and confusion regarding the
problems enveloping our planet become
relatively "Extremely Short Term"
compared to the extent of our after-life.
Polution, neuclear waste, vanishing species,
strip mining, vanishing rain forests etc. all
fall into the Extremely Short Term catagory.
In a similar
way personal problems tend to come into
focus, allowing various levels of solution
when we see how extremely short term they are
compared to the after-life. When this is
accepted, our thinking can clear up. And
one's determination to take the appropriate
action is greatly strengthened.
In this, we
are on "firm ground" as far as an
after-life is concerned. It's built into us
to have a belief in God (or gods), or a
"Force" etc. I know there are some
exceptions who are claimed athiests, but when
"push comes to shove" most of these
give up their "faith" in "no
God"! So, if we hold to a belief in the
existance of God, it goes without saying that
we probably believe in an
"after-life" of some sort.
Usually we
think of that after-life as an on-going,
probably, forever, condition. So, that being
the case, we are conparing a life time, at
the most of 100 years or so against an
after-life of "forever"! It doesn't
get more "extreme" than that!
Perhaps 100 years seem very long to you.
However if you were to take a sharp knife and
"slice" 100 years out of eternity,
(forever, infinity), you will have a thin
slice indeed!
Now, if a
smart investor, ranks his investment holdings
as short or long term and plans accordingly,
how much smarter would it be to give some
serious thought to the exterme short
term of this life vs. the extreme long term
of the after-life!?
So, what is your opinion
regarding an "after-life"?
----Heaven?
-----Hell? ---or simply---
---------------------------------"Non-existance"?
According to a survey by Barna
Research Group of
Oxnard, California, 7
out of 10 persons in America believe in the
existance of hell! Of course,
probably only some tiny 1/2 of 1 % think
they, themselves, are bound for hell! (In
addition, the survey, found that 7
out of 10 Americans also believe there is a
Heaven).
Does one's opinion on this, (or on
many other subjects, for that matter), really
make any difference? In one sense, it
makes no difference at all! You
see, the existance, or non-existance of
Heaven or Hell is not in the least
impacted by what you believe. Either
they do exist or they don't. Your opinion
makes no difference.
For instance, one may hold the opioion that
the earth is flat. Hundreds of years ago most
persons believed just that! Columbus' voyage
in 1492, proved them wrong. You see their
opinion didn't keep the earth from being a
globe, rather than flat! So, in this, the
majority opinion didn't make the earth flat!
Some, even today, continue to hold the
opinion that the earth is flat, arguing that
photos of the globe are a product of
Hollywood etc. and they continue holding
their membership in "The Flat Earth
Society"! Yes, such persons exist today!
You can view evidence on their Internet, home
page The
Flat Earth Society. Read about the President
of the Flat Earth Research, for chuckles!
So, neither majority or minority opinion
makes the earth flat!
However, your opinion could make all
the difference about the
impact Heaven or Hell's,
existance, (or non-existance), will have on you.
For, you see, if Heaven and Hell do
exist, there could be a reason for their
existance, and that "reason" could
have a real impact on you.
Here's a key question to
consider regarding any opinion
one may hold: If what
you believe, (your opinion on a subject), is
wrong, would you want to know it?
If your answer is
"NO", you probably won't have much
interest in the balance of this e-book.
Chapter
1. Does it Make any Difference?
So, for the sake of this discussion, let's
say that hell does exist, and the
important thing would then be to avoid ever
going there! (Later, we will discuss
how one may be certain their opinion on such
a topic, is valid and effective for them).
So, avoiding Hell, should direct our
attention to the possibility that Heaven,
too, may exist. And, possibly, one could have
Heaven as their destiny to avoid Hell. Again,
the existance, (or non-existance), of Heaven
is not based upon our opinion.
Heaven, the
Alternative to Hell!
Now, over the years, having taking hundreds
of "one on one" surveys, the writer
and his associates have asked this question,
"On a scale of zero to one hundred, if
you were to die tonight, how sure are you,
that you would go to heaven?" Only
a very small percentage would answer with
confidence, that, "they were sure they
would go to heaven!" Often, they will
say that there is no way to know, as if they
had exhaustivly studied the subject!
One would hope that this would be one
question that the vast majority would want to
have settled, with certainty! But,
only a small percentage, would suggest that
they were more than 70% sure!
These are the same people who would likely
say that, "Death and taxes are for
sure!" They would be 100% accurate on
that! For, we may not like it, or behave like
it were true, but death is 100% in
every generation! (Later we, will
see that there are those from one generation
that will be the exception regarding death!)
Think of "life" as an
airplane flight - - Suppose you were
flying across the country from L.A. to New
York, and as you were boarding the plane, the
pilot walked alongside you and to your
amazement, he was obviously intending to fly
while significantly liquor impaired! And he
told you, in confidence, that he could surely
fly okay, but the co-pilot would have to
handle the take-offs and landings! Then you
go another few steps and the Maintenance Crew
Chief tells the pilot, in your hearing, that,
"the number 4 engine would only operate
at 1/4 power during the run-up!" The
pilot, responds. "What the hell! I can
fly this sucker on 3 engines! Let's go!"
Now, while you are absorbing this, the
co-pilot joins you and you see that he is
frantically flipping through his flight
manual(s), saying under his breath, "I
wish I had some 4 engine flight time!"
You are giving all this some serious
thought! Do you think you will have
even a 70% chance of seeing New York if you
commit yourself to this flight?? Unless, you
are crazy, you are NOT
going to board that plane! Wisdom
simply dictates that you stand aside and take
another flight. After all, you do have a choice!
Compare your "life destination" to
that airplane trip. That flight, as bad as it
appeared to be, might make it to New York.
But you, wisely, didn't take a chance on it.
On the other hand, the after-life is an issue
far more important than a trip from L.A. to
New York. For, everyone is on a "life
destination flight", that is certain to
end in physical death, (and, according to
God), is followed by an eternal spiritual
destination! And all but a tiny
percentage are unsure about which
"flight" they are on. A flight,
which, (again, according to God), ends up in
Heaven or Hell!
While you can't be absolutely certain that
the "sorry plane and crew" in the
story, will crash, you can,
(according to God), and be certain to spend
your eternity in Heaven! And you can
know that this is your destiny.
So, essentially, death is 100%! And,
70% indicate they are pretty sure there is an
eternity awaiting them. But, only a tiny
percent are sure where they are headed! Think
about it! This can't be very smart, can it?
According to God, man was
created in the image of God, meaning that we
have a life that in some ways is
"like" His. Among other of our
attributes, we were created to exist forever.
Yes, according to God, we will all be around
a thousand years from now, 10.000 years,
1.000,000 years etc.! No question about it!
However, we get to choose where we will be
spending the "time"!
Yes, the good news is that you can choose, and
be sure, that, now, and at your death, you
are bound for Heaven!
You may say that no-one can know for
sure that they are bound for heaven.
So you hope that God is some sort of a
"tolerant good guy" and that He
will take you into His heaven, if you have
enough "good works" to out-weigh
the "bad" that you have done in
your life. If this is your approach,
and you are living your life with this as
your "belief" then you are taking a
far bigger risk than if you took that
"sorry flight to New York"!
You see, from what may be
really "known" about God, He is the
ultimate "good". "Good"
even to the extent that He cannot tolerate
evil in any form in His final kingdom.
Hopefully, you will continue with the
discussion to see why one can
"know" these things about God!
Click here to return
to the Index
Chapter
2. Establishing a Valid Opinion.
Again, here's the question for you to answer:
"If what you believe is wrong, would you
want to know it"? Yes or No! If
your answer is really "No" then
forget the rest of this article! If
"Yes", then read on and see if it
doesn't make sense.
Now, you may ask,
"How can anyone know for a certainty
that they are going to God's heaven, when
this physical life is over?"
The answer is simple! God has given us a
clear road map. He has given us a remarkable
book, the Bible.
At this point, some readers will
"tune out" the balance of this
article, willing to take a chance that what
they presently believe, might be right! They
simply "believe about" and reject
the Bible and it's truths based on some
skimpy "evidence" passed on to them
by others who also are working with skimpy,
invalid, evidence.
Now, I know you've been told that the Bible
is just a fable or a legend. And while
Christians believe it is "God's
Word", any "knowledgable"
person will "know" it was just
written by some men trying to establish a
religion. Sadly, many accept
and furnish such claims about the Bible,
without any serious investigation, usually
without even reading it!
Such claims against the Bible
often come from persons with considerable
knowledge in other areas but with almost no
knowledge of the Bible.
This is an
example of a dubious opinion held by persons
who are on the "wrong" life
destination flight! They didn't have
the advantage of hearing from the
"pilot, co-pilot and crew chief",
getting a true picture of the danger existing
on the "sorry flight"! Or hearing
the same information, just choose "go
along" with the risk. This is the
situation with many today!
Really, there are many
opinions on these topics, held by many
persons! How are you to know which one of the
hundreds out there is the
correct opinion?
The truth is, that you can't know.
They will be in conflict with each other, and
if you choose one or more of them, you will
continue to be unsure of your destiny.
A long time ago, I came to the conclusion
that, regarding my destiny, I didn't care
what "man's" opinions are. I'm interested in God's
opinion!
Of course, this assumes that we can
discover what God's opinion is. We
can look at the creation of the earth and the
entire universe and marvel at it's design and
wonder, confirming to us that God exists and
is a remarkable being.
But we can't even guess,
with any certainty, how He made it all
happen. (One of the latest
"guesses" is the "Big
Bang" theory). To know with assurance
the details about God and His creation we
need "special revelation" and we
find it in the Bible. We see that He, being
God, simply created the entire universe by
speaking, speaking a word! Psalm 33:6 "By the word of
the Lord the heavens were made - - - v9, For
He spoke, and it was done;"
No, the only way we can discover God's
opinion(s) is to find some special revelation
that He has given, telling us specifically
what His opinion is
regarding "this or that"!
Click here to return
to the Index
Chapter
3. God Declares & Proves His Opinion!
If God has any concern for us as His special
creation, He would surely have given us such
a revelation! He wouldn't have gone to so
much initial trouble, creating us, and then
leave us to "guess" our way through
life and on into His eternity!
Thankfully, that is just what He did!
He put together a complete road map for us, loaded
with hundreds of proofs that it is in His
"word". His word, even
though He produced it, interacting with human
authors, each reflecting their personal
writing styles!
For instance, God gave the detail of His Law
to Moses, (which Moses later documented). At
the giving of the Law, God furnished a
summary, The Ten Commandments, which God
wrote Himself on stone tablets, in Moses'
presence. Exodus 31:18 and 34:1. But for all
the detail, He chose to write through human
authors.
God had His Reasons
for using human authors
He could have done it the "easy,
magic" way, actually writing us
a "magic" book in His own hand,
perhaps written on some golden tablets,
furnishing an additional "magic"
lense through which the reader would get the
translation. And, being the all powerful
Creator, He could have had it delivered by an
angel with instructions that here is My
latest word on the whole "thing". I
wrote it Myself, and you'd better believe it
"or else"! (Some of you will
recognise a certain cult that gives us such
an account of how God furnished His
"updated" opinion(s) to us).
Of course if He'd actually done it this way
the book would have been as perfect as any of
His creation, complete, without contradiction
from beginning to end. It would deliver His
critical opinion(s) with great consistancy.
The "magic"
writings of the cult mentioned, (as described
by the cult founder), which surfaced some
1900 years after the Holy Bible, is laced
with inconsistancies, has required their
practices to adapt with the times. Rather
than complimenting the Holy Bible, it
contradicts it in many ways.
No, for our benefit, God did it the
"hard" way. He inspired
over 40 different writers, having varied
backgrounds, ranging from farmers and
fishermen to kings and prophets, scattered
over 1500 years of history, most with no
contact with the other 39, to write His road
map made up of 66 different "books"
for us!
He left them, all 40 authors, to write within
their own different personalities and within
their own different writing styles,
documenting material on the most
difficult subject known to man. The nature of
God and His eternal plan for man and His
universe!
Now, such a book, authored by men,
inspired by the Creator God, should have very
remarkable content! And it does! It
has literally hundreds of prophecies, many
documented as fulfilled within itself as the
1500 years of authorship progressed. Others
are yet to be fulfilled and give detailed and
graphic descriptions of what is in store for
us today! It tells us of the great love the
Creator God has for us and what He has in
store for those who trust Him and also what
is in store for those who don't!
One reason God did it the "hard
way" was to have personal
interaction with the human authors,
developing leadership qualities needed at the
human level. Also we see our faith
grow as we discover all the
evidences that God has given us just
what He wants in His chosen way. He gives us
the pleasure of discovery and acceptance.
He could have made his "book" so
"easy" that belief would be
virtually "forced" upon us. But
He didn't! If it could be
demonstrated that God had produced some sort
of a true "magic" book, it would
require small faith to accept it.
The Bible is the most published,
most read, most studied,
most analysed, most translated,
most loved, most honored
and yet most hated, and
most reviled, most destroyed
and yet the most preserved,
most authenticated by
archeology, book on the planet!
Let's expand on some of these
qualities that demonstrate that the Bible
truly furnishes God's opinions and can be
trusted!
1. Fulfilled
Prophecies:
There are literally
hundreds of them that have been given in
great detail and have been fulfilled to the
letter. Not vague, rambling as is almost
always true of the supposed extra-biblical
prophecies of Mother Shipton, Nostradamus and
others. Rather they deal with places, people
and events.
Henry M. Morris' The
Bible and Modern Science, discusses a
particular prophecy given in ancient times
and fulfilled in remarkable detail, years
later. It is regarding the city of Tyre of
the Phoenicians found in Ezekiel 26. It
describes the coming capture of the city by
Nebuchadnezzar (vv 7-11). This was quite
literally fulfilled. However the judgment
forecast in verses 4-5;
"They shall destroy
the walls of Tyrus and break down her towers:
I will also scrape her dust from her, and
make her like the top of a rock. It shall be
a place for the spreading of nets in the
midst of the sea," seemed
unfulfilled, at that time.
History tells us that
most of the people of Tyre escaped with their
valuables to an island 1/2 mile from the
shore, where they built a new Tyre which was
still great and powerful for 250 years.
But finally, Alexander
the Great finished what Nebuchadnezzar had
begun. He built a causeway from the remains
of the old city, literally scraping up the
dust and stones and timbers. He sacked the
new island city. The mainland city against
which the prophecy was directed, was never
rebuilt. There are not even ruins or mounds
to mark the spot! The causeway and island are
now a desolate peninsula, which is used by
fishermen to dry their nets!
On the other hand,
Tyre's sister city of Sidon had the following
prophecy uttered against her: "Behold, I
am against thee, O Sidon . . . For I will
send pestilence into her, and blood into her
streets; and the wounded shall fall in the
midst of her with the sword upon her on every
side." Ezek.
28:22-23.
No fate of extinction
was foretold for Sidon and even today it is a
city of about 20,000. However, it has had one
of the bloodiest histories any city ever had.
Two sister
cities, close together and of equal
importance, were subject to two very
different prophecies. Each was fulfilled to
the letter. That would be impossible except
as directed by God, who knows the end from
the beginning.
The book of Daniel
foretells the rise of the great Gentile
kingdoms hundreds of years in advance. From
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia to the end!
Medo-Persia, Greece, Egypt, Syria and Rome
are described with such wealth of detail that
all who study history recognize them. Daniel
wrote about 500 to 600 years before Christ
Critics try
unsuccessfully to move the authorship of
Daniel forward in time to negate the
prophecy, saying it was written after the
fact. Even if they were able to prove it was
written later, it would not overcome others
of his prophetic utterances that told of the
exact time of the coming of the Messiah
(Jesus) to Israel!
Here are a few
specific prophecies regarding the coming of
Christ as Savior;
Isa. 7:14 His
virgin birth.
Micah 5:2 His
birthplace, Bethlehem.
Zech. 9:9-10 Describes
His public entry into Jerusalem on
the foal of an ass.
Zech. 11:12-13 His
betrayal, including even the price
of 30 pieces of silver!
Psalm 22 Gives a graphic
description of His crucifixion.
(This was written by David about 800 years
before Christ at a time when offenders were
stoned. The Romans invented crucifixion much
later).
Isa. 53 Tells the
purpose of His death, some
details of His suffering and
trial.
There
are more than 300 prophecies in the Old
Testament that were fulfilled at Christ's
first coming!
To illistrate
how remarkable it is to have accurate
prophecies, the following
probabilities are taken from Peter Stoner in
Science Speaks (Moody Press 1963), to show
that coincidence is ruled out by the science
of probability.
Stoner says that by
using the modern science of probability in
reference to just 8 prophecies, (8 of the 300
fullfilled in the life of Christ), "we
find that the chance that any man might have
lived down to the present time and fulfilled
all eight prophecies is 1 in 10 to the 17th
power."
That would be 1
in 100,000,000,000,000,0000. In
order to help us comprehend this staggering
probability, Stoner illustrates it by
supposing we take 10 to the 17th power silver
dollars and lay them on the face of Texas.
They would cover all of the state two feet
deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars
and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over
the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that
he can travel as far as he wishes, but he
must pick up one silver dollar and say that
this is the right one. What chance would he
have of getting the right one? Just the same
chance that the prophets would have had of
writing these 8 prophecies and having them
all come true in any one man, from their day
to the present time, providing they wrote
them in their own wisdom.
Stoner continues and
presents an illustration to help us
understand the probabilities of 48
prophecies, (not 300!), coming true in the
life of one man. This raises the ratio to 1
in 10 to the 157 power! He uses the tiniest
item he could think of, the electron, to
illustrate the number of items to pile up and
mix for the test. He does a great job
developing this. It is too much for us to
include here.
You can
read all the detail in, "Evidence That
Demands a Verdict" By Josh McDowell,
Published by Campus Crusade for Christ
International.
Persons who reject
this level of authentication are similar to
the membership of the Flat Earth Society!
They chose to reject the solid, fulfilled
prophetic evidence of God's authorship of His
Bible, much as the Flat Earthers reject much
solid evidence of the "globe", to
say nothing of the evidence of our moon
shots!
2.
The Declarations of Scripture Itself:
II Tim. 3:16 "All
Scripture is inspired by God and profitable
for teaching, for reproof, for correction,
for training in righteousness; that the man
of God may be adequate, equipped for every
good work".
I Thess. 2:13b "...you
accepted it for what it really is, the word
of God, which also performs its work in you
who believe".
II Pet. 1:20 "But know
this first of all, that no prophecy of
Scripture is a matter of one's own
interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made
by an act of human will, but men moved by the
Holy Spirit spoke from God".
Psalm 119:160 "The sum of
Thy word is truth, and every one of Thy
righteous ordinances is everlasting".
Now, we know
that there are objections to using internal
proofs of a document's authenticity.
But think about it for a
minute. By having 40 different authors over a
span of 1500 years write the inspired book,
by establishing "tons" of fulfilled
prophecy, by sending His only begotten Son,
God has gone to a lot of trouble to
communicate His plan to mankind.
Having done this, why
shouldn't He also have some of the different
authors declare its authenticity. In fact
what else could He do. If He is God, (and He
is!), He should remind us with written
documents that His word is really from Him.
He would be negligent to do otherwise. What
better place to have such declarations of
it's authenticity than to embed them in the
book He is determined to preserve forever!
And having declared it
for what it is, we should be happy to accept
His word on it!
Reject this
proof of His Word only after you have
rejected all the other things He has done to
get your attention!
3.
Multiple Human Authors Wrote Over a Long Time
Span:
If you have ever worked
on a committee, you know how difficult it is
for a few persons to agree on a course of
action and then to record it accurately,
without contradicting each other.
This is a challenge when
you are working in the same room at the same
exact time, conferring together! So, what
would be impossible for men to do on their
own, with God's inspiration, the book is
strengthened by having a large variety of
human authors.
Or, if you are a writer,
pick anything you wrote about 5 years ago and
tell me you are satisfied with it today! It
is humbling! Writers keep editors busy and
neither are satisfied.
4.
The Ancient Bible Remains Timely Today:
How about timeliness.
What Doctor is working from a medical manual
that is 50 years old. (Not mine, I hope!). As
an engineer, try reading a text book that is
10 years old! Do it for chuckles! 50 years?
Totally obsolete! But the Bible
continues to tell the truth after 3500 years.
5.
The Bible is Free of Contradictions:
You hear it said that
the Bible is riddled with contradictions.
I've not had one real one presented to me.
There are "apparent
contradictions", but they collapse when
reviewed in their context.
Dr. Harry Rimmer, for
years had a standing offer of $1000, (this
was back in the 1920's when $1000 was worth
something!), for the person who could make
one contradiction stand up in a court of law!
Never claimed!
6.
Archeology Authenticates the Bible:
Certainly, no book has
received more attacks from critics, claiming
it to be full of fables and legends, rather
that being truthful. Liberal theologins and
critics have been most active in
archeological digs, often attempting to
discredit the Bible. It is amusing. They
decide to prove the non-existance of a city
or a king etc.that is mentioned in the Bible.
They have declared, because they can't find
evidence of it in secular writings, it never
happened! So, they decide to dig in areas
expected to be fruitful in discrediting the
Biblical account. Not having location data of
their own, they go to the most reliable
source to locate the start of a dig. You
guessed it! They go to the Bible!
Then as they dig away,
they, at their expense, discover proof that
the topic under question actually did exist
or occur as stated in the Bible! The believer
has been comfortable awaiting their findings.
The skeptic becomes quiet about that
challenge and goes to another. Over the past
hundred years this has repeated numerous
times! Archeology is the Bible and
the believer's friend!
7.
God, Providentially, Surfaces Proof of
Biblical Manuscripts:
Of course, manuscripts
that were written 3000 years ago, pass away
with age. However, God designated a tribe of
Old Testament priests, in the Nation Israel,
giving them the responsibility to faithfully
re-copy the original Biblical documents.
These priests, (and also the Monks following
in the New Testament period), were extremely
careful in this work. When they detected
errors on a finished "page", they
would re-copy an entire new "page"!
They treated this material as holy, precious
writings. They feared for their souls as they
worked! Extreme rigid rules were followed. As
a result, when multiple manuscripts are
compared they prove to be of the highest
quality. And as a result of the continuity of
the Nation of Israel, as Old Testament
manuscripts were produced and handed down,
there is little doubt that they are
authentic.
Then with the
establishment of the powerful state church of
Rome in 325 A.D, and later the Greek Orthodox
Church, monks from these churches dedicated
their lives copying all the original writings
of the New Testament preserving them with
extreme care. As a result we have literally
thousands of these New Testament manuscripts.
(This compares to the relative few
manuscripts we have of ancient secular
writings). Certainly, God has been at
work preserving our Bible!
The Dead Sea
Scrolls:
In addition, God has
surfaced startling proof of the accuracy of
these manuscripts. In 1947, quite by
"accident", a Bedouin shepard boy
was searching for a lost goat. He threw a
stone into a cave on the west side of the
Dead Sea. He was surprised to hear the sound
of shattering pottery. He found several jars
of leather scrolls, wrapped in linen cloth.
Because the jars were carefully sealed, the
scrolls had been preserved in excellant
condition for nearly 1900 years. They were
placed there in A.D. 86. The Isaiah Text, of
these, was determined to have been written
B.C. 125. Isaiah lived between 740 and 681
B.C.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are
proving that our manuscripts have been copied
and preserved with remarkable accurracy. The
53 chapter of Isiah, for instance, of the
Dead Sea Scrolls, compares with near
perfection to the oldest manuscript of Isaiah
53, that we had before this discovery. This
manuscript is dated 916 B.C. So, with a time
gap of 1000 years, during which many copies
of the text were made and passed along, the
first and the last ones in the gap compare
with near perfection.
The scrolls are made up
of 40,000 fragments. From these more than 500
books have been reconstructed. Dedicated
scholars are eagerly analysing and studying
them.
This
data, regarding the Dead Sea Scrolls has been
drawn from "Evidence That Demands a
Verdict", pp 59-60 Authored bt Josh
McDowell, Published by Campus Crusade for
Chtist International.
8.
The Translation Process Insures Accurracy:
The manuscripts are
written in the original languages of Hebrew
and Greek. Translations into Latin, German
and English developed during the "Dark
Ages". With the advent of the printing
press, literally dozens of translations have
surfaced. It is commonly claimed that with so
many translations there can be no assurance
that we have a valid book in hand. (This
conclusion comes from the erroneus conclusion
that each translation depended for it's
source the previous translation. If that were
the case, one would expect errors to develop
as translations were built from each other.
However this is not how they were built).
All serious translations
go directly back to the original Hebrew
and/or Greek language manuscripts for their
source.The scholars doing the translation
work, weither liberal or conservative of
persuasion, realize that their work will be
closely scrutinized and therefore they are
careful to avoid injecting personal bias in
their work. (There is one common exception;
The Jehovah Witnesses have their own version
which contains several deliberate
"twistings" to support their
doctrine denying the diety of Jesus).
There are several
"paraphrase" versions that are not
considered "translations" since
they have openly re-phrased the English text
to read as fluently as possible, while
retaining the original meaning. The most
popular of these is 'The Living Bible",
by Tyndale House Publishers. I personally
have had a copy for years, that I cherish,
having spent considerable time in it.
Certainly, it attenpts to be faithful to the
English texts and clearly carries forward the
essential truths of Christianity, while
making it an "easier" read.
9.
The Divine Preservation of the Bible:
No book has been under
attack like the Bible! Kings and rulers from
Roman times to Communist dominated countries
today, have attempted to totally destroy it.
It is prohibited in much of the Muslim world
and Muslim converts to Christianity
frequently give their lives for their belief
and possession of it. Some athiests have such
a hatred for it that they go to great lengths
to destroy it.
Voltaire, the noted
French infidel who died in 1778, said that in
one hundred years from his time Christianity
would be swept from existance and passed into
history - - - only 50 years after his death,
the Geneva Bible Society used his press and
house to produce stacks of Bibles!
(In the small town where
my children grew up, Silverton Oregon, the
management of the large lumber mill located
there in the early days, wanted their
children to be "spared the Bible".
(Remember it was a school text book in those
days!) They founded what was locally called,
"The Infidel's School". The
management and the lumber mill have passed
away and a Catholic Church sits on the site
of that failed school!)
Translators have given
their lives for it.
Yet, for all this the
Bible is the most widely published book, a
best seller every year. Teams of Missionaries
are all around the world translating it into
tribal languages. It is loved by Christians
and respected by many Non-christians as they
recall their heritage.
Many discover their
Saviour and grasp eternal life simply by
reading it. The Gideon Society regularly
report such "victories" as people
stumble across the Bible in a hotel drawer.
Convicts too find eternal life in prison
cells by reading the book! Gideons furnish
millions of Bibles, without charge,
worldwide, each year.
10.
Finally, The Resurrected Christ Authenticates
The Bible:
I've saved the
best till last! All the above
demonstrates that the Bible is a remarkable
book. The Almighty God has used the previous
9 features to assure us that He means
business with His Book! Now since we are
dealing with Almighty God, it is foolish to
think that He is limited in His powers and
abilities. So, a thinking person, having
gotten this far, should be able to grasp that
Almighty God can, has, and does work miracles
when He desires to.
His greatest miracle was
not "parting the Red Sea",
"walking on water", "feeding
the 5000", "raising Lazarus from
the dead" or any of the dozens and
dozens recorded in His Bible.
God's greatest
miracle was the resurrection of His Son,
Jesus Christ from the grave! For
Jesus' resurrection, acomplished the hardest
assignment that God has placed upon Himself.
The hardest, the worst and yet the best
assignment of the whole universe!
For, you see, God, the
Father and Holy Spirit and Jesus the Son
agreed in eternity past that Jesus would take
ALL the sins of the whole world,
(from the beginning of time until the New
Heaven and New Earth of Revelation chapter
21-22), upon Himself, as He suffered, bled
and died on the cross.
When He rose from the
grave, that whole load of sin, (sin which He,
God, could not even look upon), was dealt
with. And when you and I accept His free gift
of salvation and believe in Jesus, trust Him,
realizing that He loves you enough to do that
for you or me, our sin is completely paid
for, forgiven and removed.
So, as we aknowledge Him
as our Lord and Saviour we will never face
Him as our Judge. He is our Saviour! It's a
choice! We are Heaven bound! Those who choose
to reject His free gift of salvation will
face Him as their judge and are Hell bound!
But how does
that also authenticate the Bible?
Well, the unbeliever and skeptic have a few
specific Bible accounts they consider ARE
real faith "killers". You know
them: Noah and the ark, Jonah and the big
fish and the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah. These are the biggies! The skeptic
thinks he has us on these for sure! They have
to be fables. So, all the rest of the Bible
that they don't want to deal with or believe
can also be relegated to myth and fiction.
However, Jesus,
in His teaching, deliberately and carefully
authenticated each of these, referring
to them as the historical events they truly
are! Since the Resurrected Christ accepts
these I can too! Easily!
Well, I hope
this gives you the assurance that God has
furnished valid, reliable documentation of
His "opinions". And, I hope that
you are now interested in His opinions rather
than the conglomeration of opinions held by
men. Of course, it's logical that, God being
God, His opinion will over-rule all other
opinions. Naturally, too, you would expect
His opinion to reflect certainty and
precision.
Now, here is the "heart"
of God's plan (His opinion!), for you! He
stated it shortly before He left the planet,
ascending to Heaven: Then Jesus said, "I am the
way, and the truth and the life; no one comes
to the Father but through Me".
John 14:6. When you have this
clear statement from God, settled in your
mind and agree with Him, it becomes
"easy" to discard all other
"opinions" and trust God's!
Click here to return
to the Index
Chapter
4. We Get to Choose to Agree with God
If you
"skimmed by" the question I've
posed a couple times before, here it is again
for your consideration:
Here's the question, for
you to address; "If what you
believe is wrong, would you want to know
it?" Yes or No! If your answer
is "Yes", please review the
following brief steps to be in a position to choose God's
salvation, as seen in the Bible, and have
your eternal destiny to be, Heaven rather
than Hell! And you can also have the best
life, here on Planet Earth, in the meantime!
What one
believes is "wrong" only if it
opposes God's belief. It is not
"wrong" because it differs from my
belief or any other person's belief. For, you
see, I could be wrong too!
So, you need to check
the "wrongness" of your belief
against what God believes. At this point, you
would be smart to ask, "How can
I know what God believes?"
Well, you've read this
far and received much evidence that the Bible
tells us accurrately what God believes. You
may agree with that, but be thinking,
"The Bible is such a big book. Do I have
to "master" all of it to know what
God believes?" Good Question!
No one completely
"masters" the Bible! Neither would
one know all that God believes if they did
master it! Think on it a bit - - God is all
knowing! He knows all about the stars of the
heavens and He knows all about the tiny
microbes that are a part of the fruit fly!
But, you can know what He believes about your
eternal destiny, which is the most important
thing in the whole universe as far as you are
concerned!
You may also be
thinking, "How will I know when the
Bible is dealing with the answer to my
eternal destiny? Will I need someone to
interpert the meaning of those sections
pretaining to my eternal destiny? If so, how
will I know if I'm getting the correct
interpertation?" More good
questions!
Click here to return
to the Index
Chapter
5. God Has Made His Most Important Opinion
Very Clear!
Happily, while some or
even much of the Bible may seem to be
difficult to understand, God in His wisdom
has made the sections that tell what He
thinks about your eternal destiny fairly
straight forward, and they don't really need
interperting by experts!
These are
passages that you can understand. You simply
accept or reject them. The theme of
your eternal destiny is found throughout the
Bible, and by simply listing passages that
support the theme, you can be looking at and
progressively coming into agreement with
God's opinion on the subject.
So, I'm simply
going to show these passages to you, one
at a time, in a reasonable order, suggesting
that when you have seriously reviewed them,
you will know what God's opinion is
and be in a position to agree with Him:
As I list them, I'll
furnish an introductory phrase or statement:
1. Man is
sinful, therefore, is at odds with the Holy
God. Romans 3:23a,
"For
all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God- -" Habukkuk
1:13, "Thine
(God's) eyes are too pure to approve
evil"
2. God's
holiness requires sin to be "paid
for". Romans 6:23a, "For the
wages of sin is death -"
3. Non of us can
save ourselves or others. Psalm
49:7a "No
man can by any means redeem his
brother". We are helpless.
4. But God loves
us and CAN save us. John 3:16 "For God so
loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him
should not perish but have eternal
life".John 5:24 "Truly, truly, I
say to you, he that hears My word, and
believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life,
and does not come into judgment, but is
passed out of death into life".
5. It is your
faith, (belief, trust), in Jesus, not your
works that saves you. Ephesians
2:8-9 "For
by grace you are saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God; not as a result of works, that no one
should boast". You
cannot work for a gift! It's a gift! You
either receive it or reject it!
6. You simply
receive and believe in Him. John
1:12 "But
as many as received Him, to them He gave the
right to become children of God, even to
those who believe in His name".
7. Salvation,
(eternal life), is God's gift to you! Romans
6:23b "-
-but the free gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus".
8. We must be
honest with God regarding our sin.
We must aknowledge our sin and repent of,
(turn away from), our sin. Proverbs 28:13 "He who
conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will
find compassion". 1st John 1:9, "If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and
righteous to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness".
9. Jesus is
asking you to receive Him.
Revelation 3:20, "Behold,
I stand at the door and knock; if any one
hears My voice and opens the door, I will
come in to him, and will dine with him, and
he with Me".
As we said
earlier, here is the "key" to God's
opinion: John 14:6 Jesus said to
him, "I am the way, and the truth and
the life; no one comes to the Father, but
through Me".
10. When we
receive a gift, it is appropriate to thank
the giver - - here is a simple
prayer you can pray to thank Him and confirm
that you are in total agreement with Him
regarding your eternal destiny. Praying is
simple "talking to God". He knows
your thoughts, so when you are in agreement
with Him, it helps to confirm your decision
to speak aloud to Him. You can say something
like this,:
"Lord Jesus, I need
You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my
sins. I open the door of my life and receive
You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for
forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life.
Take control of my life and make me the kind
of person You want me to be."
Now, don't you agree
that these 10 points are very clear, not
needing interpertation. They simply
demand acceptance or rejection? When
you receive Him, you make the greatest
"trade" of the universe! He
takes your sin and gives you His
righteousness!
2nd Corinthians 5:21 "He made Him
who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that
we might become the righteoisness of God in
Him".
And, all your
sins are gone! Our past, present and future
sins. All gone! Psalm 102:1, 3, 11 and 12, "Bless the
Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me,
bless His holy name - - - who pardons all
your iniquities - - For high as the heavens
are above the earth, so great is His
lovingkindness toward those whofear Him. As
far as the east is from the west, so far has
He removed our transgressions from us."
Click here to return
to the Index
Chapter 6. Conclusion, It is
Your Choice!
So, it is your
choice! Make the wise choice,
accepting His free gift, having your eternal
destiny with Him in heaven. Or
foolishly, reject His gift and have
an eternity away from Him under His wrath.
Think about it! Consider the folly of
rejecting the GREATEST GIFT of all the
universe! John 3:36 "He who
believes in the Son has eternal life; but he
who does not obey the Son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God abides on him".
And when you are serious
with God, you can know for certain that you
have heaven as your eternal destiny!
Read my written
contract from God! It can be yours
too! 1st John 5:11-13 "And the
witness is this, that God has given us
eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He
who has the Son has the life; he who does not
have the Son of God does not have life. These
things I have written to you who
believe in the name of the Son of God, in
order that you may know that you have
eternal life."
This passage, like all
the ones you've been reading, is crystal
clear. There are just two kinds of
people, having two different destinies.
Having real life now and an eternity in
Heaven with God depends upon your Choice!
Incidentally,
most people make the wrong choice! Jesus
said, in Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter at
the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and
the way is broad that leads to destruction,
and many are those who enter by it. For the
gate is small and the way is narrow that
leads to life, and few are those who find
it". Surely,you
should want to agree with God's opinion and
enter through the narrow gate!
Again,
recall that Jesus said, "I
am the way, the truth and the life. No one
comes to the Father but through Me". John
14.6
Our
great hope! The Christain's
"hope" is the sure return of Jesus
Christ! "Hope" in the Bible is not
as we currently use it. We say, "we hope
it will not rain" etc. But in Scripture
it is used as a certainty. Yes, He is
returning! There are many promises in the
Bible that Jesus Christ is returning to this
planet to rule as King. Several promises in
the Bible that Jesus is coming back to gather
the Christains, living at that time, to go to
Heaven with Him, without seeing death. This
"rapture" or "snatch" is
to take place a few short years ahead of His
return to ruke as King..
As a
result, Christians have always had the
expextation that they might be in that
particular generation. Paul speaks of this in
1st Thess. 4:13-18, He concludes in v17,
saying, "Then
we who are alive and remain shall be caught
up together with them in the clouds to meet
the Lord in the air, and thus we shall ever
be with the Lord".
This
return of Jesus Christ to gather the
belivers, of that particular
generation, is the next thing on His
agenda. We can't know the exact time
this will happen, but we can know it is next
and probably soon! We are to be
ready!
This great
event will introduce all the events He has
planned to judge the world in just 7 years,
known as "the great tribulation".
This is followed by His own righteous rule,
to last 1000 years with Satan bound, unable
to impact the earth as he does presently.
Then, finally, He will deal with Satan and
evil with total success, creating a New
Heaven and New Earth! Clues to all this are
scattered throughout the Bible. Jesus gave
much of the detail in the close of His
ministry here on earth. Then all this is
spelled out with considerable detail in the
last book of the Bible, The Revelation of
John.
So, you can have eternal
life now and know that you have it - - - or -
- - you can go with the crowd, continue on, simply
clinging to your own opinion, favoring
your opinion over God's.
The Lord
Jesus is waiting for your response: (This is
Christ speaking) "Behold I stand at
the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice
and opens the door, I will come in to
him". Revelation 3:20
Choose
to agree with God! Tell
Him in prayer, vocally, or sincerely in your
thoughts, that you are a sinner and need His
forgiveness and salvation. Tell Him you want
to have Him help you to change your life. He
knows our thoughts and He hears us when we
talk to Him. Here is a simple example prayer:
"Lord
Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the
cross for my sins. I open the door of my life
and receive You as My Savior and Lord. Thank
You for forgiving my sins and giving me
eternal life. Take control of the throne of
my life. Make me the kind of person You want
me to be. Amen."
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Duane
Gilchrist, ablesoftex@comcast.net
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