Thursday Evening Blog With Pastor Williams (March 2008)
Posted on March 1st, 2008 by TADCCBLOG
Pastor Williams will be active on this blog site THURSDAY from 8:30 to 9:30pm. Please suggest topics or questions for discussion.
Filed under: Discussion Topics, Live Blog on Thursday
5 Responses to “Thursday Evening Blog With Pastor Williams (March 2008)”
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Well, for someone who believes their scripture is sacred over the Bible, it seems wise to respond in two steps. First we should make sure that we explain the gospel to them, because whether they believe the Bible or not, “it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)”
Second, we should also explain to them why the Bible is credible and our ultimate source of authority in matters pertaining to God. The Bible claims to be the very word of God…”All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).” Realizing this, we should explain that the Bible has over 5,000 manuscripts many of which date from the 1st century. No other book even approaches this number of ancient manuscripts. The accuracy of these manuscripts as compared to each other is astounding! Every major doctrine completely agrees and and the small percentage of descrepancies are mainly careless scribal errors…such as reversing the word order of Jesus Christ to Christ Jesus or accidently leaving out a letter in the spelling of something.
Also, we should speak of prophecies concerning Christ such as Isaiah 53 which speak of Jesus suffering and sacrifice to atone for our sins. The numerous prophecies fullfilled offer proof that the Bible is truly God’s Word. The unity of the entire Bible definitely reflects the God who inspired it. As one examines the messages and prophecies spoken about and fulfilled in Jesus Christ, it becomes transparently clear that the Bible is about God’s plan to redeem mankind through Jesus Christ. Here’s a brief outline that is just an example of how to answer the skeptic who believes his “scripture” is right and the Bible wrong:
Genesis 3:15 is God speaking to Satan who is in the form of the serpent. “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” This is the first prophesy concerning the coming Christ. Satan will temporarily kill Christ, but the ultimate defeat will come upon Satan as Christ rises from the dead. This is seen as the text says Christ’s heel will be bruised (his death followed by resurrection), which is a much lesser injury than Satan’s, which will be upon his head(complete defeat by Christ’s victory over death).
From hear we could progress to Genesis 22, and explain how God calling Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac was a small picture of what Jesus Christ would become…our sacrifice.
Then we can demonstrate how scripture becomes more and more decriptive about this coming sacrifice of Christ… Isaiah 53 ”
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”
What an incredible prophesy that was completely fulfilled in Christ! As the New testament expounds on and calls people to faith in this sacrifice of Christ, who, if they had eyes to see, could deny the inspiration of this scripture?
Also, the life we live in front of these skeptics is a powerful testimony of the power of God to transform lives. In addition to providing information concerning the reliability of the Bible, it is wise to share our own testimony about how God turned our hearts from stone to flesh through hearing the Word of God…”faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)”
Pastor Williams,
We in the Triangle are reeling from recent murders allegedly perpetrated by young black males. Recently, the government released figures that 1% of all Americans and 9% of young black men are currently incarcerated. My question is what should the Christian perspective be on the death penalty and gun control? Regarding the death penalty for murderers, what do the scriptures suggest?
The Bible is very clear when it comes to the death penalty.
Numbers 35:17 And if he smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death
The Bible goes even further than taking a person’s life for taking another person’s life. Christ Jesus our Lord said that if a child dishonors his parents let him be put to death.
Matthew 15:4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
The death penalty is why mercy and grace are so important for Christians. God has judged us guilty and worthy of death. His mercy and grace spare all of us the death sentence.
The next obvious question is, does the government have the right to kill someone. Some will point to the verse in the Ten Commandments that says thou shall not kill. The word kill in the Ten Commandments is better translated as the word murder. Murder means to take an innocent life. Where it says thou shall not kill it also says a person should be killed for blaspheming the name of God, committing adultery and as was already stated, a child dishonoring his parents.
Roman 13:1-4 states the following:
1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
To keep order in the land God ordained rulers or governments to execute the death sentence on those intent on committing evil works such as murder.
The one big problem is if an innocent person is executed. This has happened. How can we insure that the system will only execute those that have perpetrated the crime? There are a large number of African Americans on death row. How many are innocent? We do not know. This is where the burden is on the government to make that the death penalty is executed in a judicious manner.
Regarding your last question, there is a system for the world and a system for the children of God. The sword is a euphemism for the gun. Notice what Christ our Lord said.
Matthew 26:52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
A believer should trust Christ Jesus to take care of us.
Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
If God will take care of you, why do you need a gun? I do not know the statistics, but most homicides are committed by acquaintances of each other. Based on the statistics, more people would be alive today if not for guns.
To ABrooks;
Is God truly in control? Some believe He is not in control when talking about local and national elections. A few verses to consider;
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace
Daniel 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
Jeremiah 3:15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
The word PASTOR in Jeremiah 3:15 refers to rulers. God gives us leaders that fit the type of lifestyle we live. Ronald Reagan lived in opulence and our economy was strong during his term. Bill Clinton represented promiscuity. The current Bush presidency represents Christians without commitment.
We must believe that God is in control and gives to us leaders that reflect our moral climate.
I felt like the writer of the article tried to be objective, sometimes the headline chosen by the press can put a negative slant on things though. I feel many of the explanations given in the article for the wealth disparity particularly, the likelihood of Conservative Christian households to have one income, (stay at home moms) can actually be seen as positives. I would have liked the article to go into more detail about the other religions (i.e. Mormon issue, i.e. the statement that they tend to have wealth) I would like to understand that more. The important thing is that as I was reading this article I was thinking back to specific scriptures that I have heard and I feel that the findings are in line with Christian folks living in accordance with the Bible.