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The Christian and voting Posted by LD Admin on 2014-09-25 at 17:20
Q. (1) It is often said by some believers that our citizenship is in heaven and this is justification for abstinence from politics as earth-bound Christians. Historically, however, some nation's revolutions occurred on Christian principles and values – the best example of which is the United States. Were the Christians, acting on conviction back then, wrong in their political convictions? (2) How can we separate our earthly testimony from politics; or is it not necessary? (3) Today, if all liberty-minded Christians abstain from taking part in the political process, policies that make daily life more evidently sinful will be put into place. (4) Can voting in a process, that used to be Christian, be a testimony or is it human weakness seeking to alter God’s will.
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A. The question as it is given consists primarily of comments rather than questions. We have therefore broken it into parts. Four of these we'll address in our answer.

  1. This part really relates to the revolutions, which were generally accompanied by bloody wars. We follow a Master who has told one who was ready to defend Him: “Return thy sword to its place; for all who take the sword shall perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). The Lord’s instruction seems plain enough! Peter’s conviction to take up the sword flowed from genuine love for His Lord, there was nothing amiss with that, but genuine godly conviction can nevertheless very easily lead to a totally wrong action. And so we see this very frequently in history. Yet the Lord used it, but this does not excuse those who should have known better.
  2. The answer to this question is really simple: Do not take part in politics and you will have the separation that is needed. Lot tried to help control Sodom’s town council; he had no success in that, but his entire family life was a spiritual disaster! The Lord Jesus has been cast out because the world did not want this Man to reign over them. Are we now to appoint another one in His stead? Did our Master ever take part in politics? He bowed in everything to the authorities (there is no authority except from God) even to the evil ones as long as He Himself was not asked to do anything that would dishonor God, His Father.
  3. Your remarks show that you consider that your country has been established on Christian principles. Yet its basis was in rejecting the God-given authority of the English crown. True, those men spoke a good deal of God, but they showed by their actions that they greatly misunderstood what God wanted from them. Yet, here again, God used it for good, but also: that did not excuse those who should have known better.
  4. Your question assumes that the voting process was originally a Christian testimony. That which we wrote before already shows how questionable your assumption really is. But let me address the last part of that sentence. It would be wrong to say that all those who vote are knowingly seeking to alter God’s will. Whatever the outcome, good or bad as we might think it to be, it is allowed by God and He will use it to bring about a world condition that is ripe for judgment and the introduction of Christ’s millennial kingdom, the great ultimate event of God’s purpose with this sinful world. His reign will begin by severe judgment of all that man has set up – just as God took king Saul, the choice of the people, away in His wrath.
The role of the Holy Spirit Posted by LD Admin on 2014-09-25 at 17:18
Q. What role does the Holy Spirit play in understanding/learning of Christ and God’s word? (Keeping in mind He is a divine person indwelling us as believers).
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A. In 1 Peter 1:8-9 we read that we now can rejoice in our salvation as a result of our faith in the person and work of the Lord Jesus. Then from verse 10 to the first half of verse 12 we read that these things were a mystery even to those who wrote the Scriptures. In writing they were prompted by the Holy Spirit, yet they lacked what was needed to understand the full scope of what they wrote about. All they knew was this: We write for others who will be reading these words later and they then will understand them. Because of this also, the Lord Jesus said to the disciples before the Holy Spirit was given: “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He is come, the Spirit of truth, He shall guide you into all the truth: for He shall not speak from Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear He shall speak; and He will announce to you what is coming” (John 16:12-14). Those in the world, since they do not have the Holy Spirit indwelling, cannot understand those things, they are foolishness to them. But to those who are born of God they are precious and clear.
Facts about Heaven, Hell & Satan Posted by LD Admin on 2014-09-25 at 17:17
Q. What facts do we know about heaven (what does it look like, will we recognize people), about Hell & Satan (how and when he fell as an angel)?
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A. For questions like it is best that you yourself read the following Scriptures. First as to heaven, read Luke 16 which will answer at least in part what heaven looks like. It is a place where we have fellowship with those who went before and we will recognize them. Then read Isaiah 14:12-17 which will give you a picture of what Satan was before his fall. It shows us that pride was his undoing, and that he was responsible for making the world a waste, for we read in Isaiah 45:18 that God did not create it as a waste, so it was made a waste after God created it, likely at the time of his fall. So from this we know who did so and when: after God created the heavens and the earth, but before He spoke: “Let there be light.” Also in Ezekiel 28:11-15 we read of him who energized the king of Tyre. From verse 13 it is very evident that it was one who was in Eden, the place we often refer to as Paradise; and we know who was there besides Adam and Eve, Satan. In Matthew 25:41 the Lord tells us that hell was prepared for the devil and his angels, not for men, although those who do not love God will end up there. Revelation 20:10-15 confirms this. There we read that the Lake of Fire, hell, is the final destination of all who are not written in the book of life of the Lamb, of all who have not believed in the needed and sufficient blood-shedding work of Christ on the cross for forgiveness of their sins.
No glory without suffering? Posted by LD Admin on 2014-09-25 at 17:02
Q. In a lesson I attended, the speaker used the words, “there is no glory without suffering” : why & how is that?
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A. Note: Glory=displayed excellence
Without the context of this remark, it is hard to say in what manner the speaker meant this. It is definitely true that the full glory of God could not have been restored and therefore seen without the suffering of the Lord Jesus on the cross. However you cannot say God had no glory for “the heavens declare the glory of God”.

Ps. 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the expanse shows the work of his hands.

Ps. 97:6 The heavens declare his righteousness and all the peoples see his glory.

If he was speaking of Christ, we can read what the Lord said to the two on their way to Emmaus in Luke 24. He addressed them as being “senseless and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken” before asking them: “Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” In asking this question the Lord intimated that had they believed the prophets they would have known that the Christ would suffer before entering into His glory. Peter in 1 Peter 1:11 also speaks of Christ’s sufferings “and the glories after these.” He says this by referring to the Old Testament Scriptures.

But possibly the speaker may also have referred to the experience of true Christians, not just the experience in our own lives, but as foretold in the New Testament. To begin with the Lord Himself said: “In the world you have tribulation” (John 16:33). This would be our lot before we will be glorified with Him. And in Romans 8:17 Paul writes that we are “heirs of God, and Christ’s joint heirs; if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him.” This shows that suffering before our being glorified is even an imperative for those who through faith have become children of God.

Significance of Tabernacle measurements Posted by LD Admin on 2014-09-25 at 17:01
Q. There is a purpose for all things given in scripture. When we read through Exodus and the instructions that are given for the building of the tabernacle, what is the significance of all the exact measurements (cubits) given?
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A. First, Hebrews 9:23-24 states that the items of the tabernacle are patterns of things in heaven. If He had not provided the detail then it would have been left to man to add to God’s plan – viewed in this way we can see that it was necessary for God to provide the details of his dwelling Also taking the altar as an example: Since animal sacrifices were required there were practical reasons for the measurements. But there is spiritual significance as well: The altar was 5 cubits long and 5 cubits wide; the number 5 is the number of responsibility – there are 5 commandments covering man’s responsibility to God and 5 commandments covering his responsibility to his neighbor (Ex. 20). (I have 5 fingers on each hand and 5 toes on each foot – I am responsible for what I do and where I go.) There is much more detail in the booklet “House of Gold” (usually available from Believer’s Bookshelf Canada).
Were children possible before sin? Posted by LD Admin on 2014-09-25 at 17:00
Q. Before sin could people have children?
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A. In Genesis 1:28 the Lord told the sinless couple to be fruitful and multiply. In other words the Lord Himself told them to have sexual relations and not just once, but frequently, for to multiply a couple needs to have more than two children. So: Yes, they were told to have children, so it was quite possible for them to have children.
Where was Jesus for the 3 days after he died? Posted by LD Admin on 2014-09-25 at 16:58
Q.  Where was Jesus for the 3 days after he died?
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A. Luke 23:43 tells us that the day of His death He would be in Paradise.

But some would say; But what about 1 Peter 3:18-20?

To answer this question we need to read especially verse 19, for this is often misunderstood. This has resulted in the wrong teaching that the Lord perhaps was then in prison. So here is what the context of verse 19 says: “Christ was…made alive in the Spirit, in which [i.e. in the Spirit] also going He preached to the spirits which are in prison.” Compare this verse with Colossians 2:5. “For if indeed in the flesh I am absent, yet I am with you in spirit.”

So then the Lord was not present in the flesh, just as now He is made alive in Spirit: we do not see Him, yet He is with us in Spirit. But so it was in Noah’s day He then, though absent in the flesh, preached in Spirit by the mouth of Noah to the spirits which are now in prison because they did not believe the words Noah spoke to them on the Lord’s behalf.

Importance & Inspiration of ages recorded in Scripture Posted by LD Admin on 2014-09-25 at 16:55
Q. Why are the ages lived to in the genealogies of both testaments important/inspired?
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A. The most important point in this question is the question of inspiration.

“Every scripture is divinely inspired, and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, fully fitted to every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

But what benefit do the ages of these ancient people have for us? First of all, although all Scripture is meant for profit to man, this does not mean that we understand everything, nor is necessarily every piece of information given to us, for the benefit of us who live today. Still, the ages given in Genesis give us a clear picture of the age of the world. This, together with the creation account gives, to those who believe God, the assurance that the Theory of Evolution is not of God, but of man.

Matthew

Jesus is at once presented in a twofold way. He is Son of David and therefore the royal crown that God originally bestowed on David belongs to Him. He is also Son of Abraham, therefore He has the title to the land and all the promised blessing is vested in Him. Having stated this, we are given His genealogy, from Abraham, through Joseph the husband of Mary. This would be His official genealogy, according to Jewish reckoning. The list given is remarkable for its omissions, since three kings, closely connected with the infamous Athaliah, are omitted in verse 8; and the summary as to the "fourteen generations," given in verse 17, shows that it is not an accidental omission, but that God disowns and refuses to reckon the kings that sprang more immediately from this devotee of Baal-worship.

Luke

Now Luke introduces His genealogy through Mary to show how really He is also Man. Matthew traces His descent down from Abraham, the depository of promise and David, the depository of royalty. Luke traces Him back to Adam and to God, for it is simply His Manhood that is the point and that was through Mary, for Joseph was only supposed to be His father. He is truly a Man, though the Son of God. He is the Second Man, the Lord from heaven, the One overflowing with the grace of God.    F.B.H