Bible and Christian book reviews, along with original articles.
In today’s culture, many people are embracing the doctrine of egalitarianism, as it is applied in theology. They go so far as to ignore what scripture says. For them, it is more important to confor…
Source: Marriage, as a Typological Representation of Christ and the Church. | Snyder’s Soapbox
What greater sign do you need than Christ and His resurrection?
Mat 12:38 — Mat 12:45 (NASB)
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The Desire for Signs
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” 39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; 40 for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
43 “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”
” (http://olivetree.com/b3/Mat.12.38-45.NASB)
MHCC
Matthew 12:38-45 Vs. 38-45. Though Christ is always ready to hear and answer holy desires and prayers, yet those who ask amiss, ask and have not. Signs were granted to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham and Gideon; but denied to those who demanded them to excuse their unbelief. The resurrection of Christ from the dead by his own power, called here the sign of the prophet Jonah, was the great proof of Christ’s being the Messiah. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale, and then came out again alive, thus Christ would be so long in the grave, and then rise again. The Ninevites would shame the Jews for not repenting; the queen of Sheba, for not believing in Christ. And we have no such cares to hinder us, we come not to Christ upon such uncertainties. This parable represents the case of the Jewish church and nation. It is also applicable to all those who hear the word of God, and are in part reformed, but not truly converted. The unclean spirit leaves for a time, but when he returns, he finds Christ is not there to shut him out; the heart is swept by outward reformation, but garnished by preparation to comply with evil suggestions, and the man becomes a more decided enemy of the truth. Every heart is the residence of unclean spirits, except those which are temples of the Holy Ghost, by faith in Christ.
So, you are a modern woman, and you have heard, perhaps even said, “I can do what I want! You don’t own me! I don’t need a man!” Well, if you are Christian woman, you should eschew such ignorant, godless, rhetoric. It is prideful and selfish. Very unbecoming of a Christian man or woman. I am so sick of how the world has been portraying husbands and wives. Let’s not allow the culture to define us. Let’s be defined by God’s word.
Imagine a man who claims to be Christian, and won’t submit to God’s word. Instead of doing what God has commanded, he does what he wants. Is that a man who is at war with his sinful flesh, or is that a man who is giving into his flesh?
Imagine a man who claims that nobody has ownership of him. We know that is wrong. God tells us in His word that our bodies do not belong to us. A husband’s body belongs to his wife. A wife’s body belongs also to her husband, but God owns them both. They are His creatures. The ones who die in rebellion, will burn forever in Hell. He will pour out His righteous wrath on them for eternity.
Imagine now, an arrogant, prideful, man exclaiming that he doesn’t need a woman. That man is calling God a liar. Why, the very first book in God’s word explains why He made Eve. It was because it was not good for man to be alone. God made for him a helpmate. Everyone knows that men need women. If we are to be fruitful and multiply it is obvious. So, to subdue the Earth, we must have wives and they must have husbands.
Modern notions of gender are so diabolically satanic. They defile, degrade, and mock what God has made for our good and His glory. The enemy loves it every time a feminist howls in rebellion, every time a man becomes a selfish boy. We need to embrace our roles as God has defined and ordained them to be. We should reject what culture says. The cultural hermeneutic says, “The verses in the Bible that tell a woman to submit to her husband, the verses that say a woman should not teach or have authority over a man, the verses that tell men to support their families, to be the spiritual leaders of their homes and Churches, the word of God that tells us how to live as godly men and women should not be applied as God intended because modern culture’s consensus is superior.” Well, last time I checked, we don’t ask culture to explain God to us, we read His words and hear straight from God Himself in the reading of it. I don’t have to consult the latest social pundits. God has spoken, and He has done so with the ultimate authority that entails.
Want to know why your marriage doesn’t work? Want to know why you are miserable in your Church? Want to know why your children run your home? Simple, you have forsaken God’s will as expressed in His word. Rebels and scoundrels, each and every one of us! Repent and believe the word of God and live to please the Savior who has bled and suffered for you on the cross of His crucifixion. Christ submitted to the will of the Father to cleanse for Himself a bride. That bride is the Church. It submits to Christ. Submit yourselves to His headship as Lord and master of your lives. This means even unto death. We must love our wives as Christ loved the Church. Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. We did not deserve His love or sacrifice. We were, by nature His enemies, and He died to save us. Men, love your wives when they don’t deserve it. Women love your husbands when they don’t deserve it. Men, submit to Christ. Women, submit to your husbands, not because he says to, but because the one, true, living God, almighty says to!
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
[Ephesians 5:22-33 KJV]
Husband, head, protector, provider. Not what T.V. says, not what the movies show.
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” John Adams.
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Now let’s break this down. The first part obviously instructs that Congress will not make laws that elevate one theistic religion over another to a point of primacy. The time in which the Constitution was drafted was a time of very few options in what was called religion. There was Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, and Protestantism. Outside of these, other systems weren’t recognized by the writers of the Constitution as religions. Other systems were thought of as paganism. Paganism was not given consideration as a religion. Just imagine the founding Fathers considering satanism as a religion when they were writing the Constitution. Never in their wildest imaginings did they think that we would be considering, satanism, hinduism, buddhism, or islam as true religions. Since they weren’t in the realm of consideration as religions, they were not covered under the 1st Amendment.
The second clause states that Congress cannot prohibit the free exercise of the first three religions that I mentioned. (Protestantism, Anglicanism, and Roman Catholicism) Under the pale of Protestantism there are several denominations. Some have become heretical, but that is a matter for the Church to work through with Church discipline. It is not a matter for the Congress. So only something under the three religions above was considered true religion by the framers of our Constitution. They obviously didn’t consider the various religions of the Native Americans to be real religions. They called them savages, or pagans, just like they called the Hindus pagans. When you read their writings, you can see what they intended when they wrote the Constitution.
The next section guarantees our freedom to say whatever we would like to say, or print whatever we would like to print. It would not be stretching the historical context to assume that these freedoms would apply to the radio, television, and the internet now, and the Supreme Court has agreed. Again, considering the quote at the top of this article, they would not have imagined anyone wanting to spread pornography, profanity, or anything that would violate the morals of the specified religious systems.
What does it mean to, “peaceably assemble?” It doesn’t mean blocking the freeway so a politician can’t get to a rally. That impedes the free travel of other citizens without due process. It doesn’t mean a neighborhood can riot because they don’t like the way law enforcement behaves. It does mean that you can stand out front of federal building and picket. It does mean you can camp out on public land in protest while the government prepares to address your grievances. It doesn’t mean the government should come and kill you for exercising your right.
It is interesting that the, “occupy wall street” nuts didn’t get shot by federal agents while they impeded the rights of other citizens. We live in a day and age where the Constitution is being read with a cultural hermeneutic instead of a historical one that considers the intents of the authors. People attempt to read the Bible with that same cultural hermeneutic. They ask, “How should I understand this section of scripture given today’s consensus about the topic?” Instead of asking, “How should I understand this section of scripture considering God’s intentions for having it penned, who His intended audience was, how do we apply to us in this day and age keeping in mind His intent?” So as long as the secular popularists are the arbiters of good and evil, right and wrong, we will have an ever changing and interpretation of all of our foundational presuppositions, and as we well know, if you don’t build your house on the rock of Christ, it will be washed away when the storms of life come crashing in. All other ground is sinking sand.
In today’s culture, there really is none. Think about it. Because of feminism, promiscuity, abortion, birth control, and unfair divorce laws, a man has no reason to get married. For a young man today, he has women exercising their, “equality” by approaching him for promiscuous sex outside of marriage. He doesn’t have to court them, or win their affections. No, he just has to be attractive, and willing. He doesn’t have to worry about becoming a Father either. Birth control, and abortion have him covered there. Why become a Father when he can remain a boy? Not to mention what he witnessed growing up. His own Father was never in his life, because of the divorce his parents put him through. He only got to see his Father on the court appointed days. His buddies that have been divorced tell him of how they have to pay alimony, lose half their retirement accounts, take all of the debt, lose half of their assets, and only get to see their children when it is convenient for their ex. So if he can keep having all of the sex he wants without being married, or even in a committed relationship, why would he want to go through the rest of that trouble? This is why we need a Biblical world-view. This is one of the ways the enemy has engineered to take down our culture. Our culture was based on God’s word. This is one of the ways the enemy has decided to defile us, and mock God.
The world is crazy. People are unstable, and unreliable. They are selfish, and self-centered. They don’t care what other people need. They don’t care about other people’s feelings. They only think about their own problems, and their own feelings. They don’t believe in loving other people more than they love themselves. They don’t believe it is healthy to do so. They don’t love Christ above all. People around them are only there as extensions of themselves. Their egos are tied up in them, and when they aren’t rewarded, it is easy for them to destroy the relationships they have, without care for the other people. I’m sick of seeing this, and hearing of it. Being a spouse, and a parent is not for your fun. If you are a spouse or a parent, it is not an option to cease. If you are a spouse, you made an oath to God, and your spouse, in front of witnesses. How on Earth could you justify destroying that, just because you aren’t happy? If you are a parent of a child, how could you mistreat your child because they are interrupting your, “time” or perhaps they don’t give you what you want. Well, duh! They aren’t there to complete you, or make you feel loved, or better. You are the parent for crying out loud. God has given you a job to do. Train them up in the way they should go. Teach them about God, and His word. Preach the gospel of the grace of Jesus to them. Love them more than you love yourself. Sacrifice for everyone around you. You are NOT THAT IMPORTANT!!! Become everyone’s servant. Wash some feet, lower yourself! All of the self-esteem, feminism, everyone’s a winner, sexual liberty, no fault divorce, birth control, promiscuity marketed to women as women’s lib, defilement of marriage by divorce, adultery, and gay marriage, euthanasia marketed as dying with dignity, abortion marketed as a women’s choice under women’s lib/feminism, porn turning men and women into objects, defiling gender that is God given as a gift for the procreation of image bearers of God, that was to be for His glory, and on and on and on… I’m tired… I’m disgusted… Haven’t we had enough of us? Haven’t we had our fill of this delusion? We need God. We need repentance. We need to be broken so we can see the vanity of it all. WE NEED TO HUMBLE OURSELVES AND REPENT. We need to become lowly servants. That is my rant for the day. Like Paul when he said, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.” 1 Timothy 1:15 (NASB) We are the worst of sinners, I am the worst of sinners, you are the worst of sinners.
Every once in awhile I stop at our local used book store and look for goodies. Today was surprised to find this little gem.
I figured I’d write a little blurb about it, put some pictures up, and ask you, the reader for any information you might know about this interesting little New Testament.
The cover appears to be cowhide leather, with a perimeter groove, yapp style, with the words, “New Testament and Psalms” stamped in gold on the front. On the spine it says, “New Testament” at the head and, “Winston” at the tail.
It is about 3″ by 4 3/4″ and about 3/4″ thick. The page edges are art gilt. There is one purple ribbon marker. The words of Christ are in red. It is laid out in double column, verse format. It has some colored pictures of art work in it. There is a reading plan in the front, an article about the Lord’s Prayer in the back, and a list of Parables and Miracles. It has plain white head and tail bands. Here are a few of the pictures;
Here it is compared to my Crossway ESV Verse by Verse Reference Bible,
Please take a look at the rest of the pictures I took of it on my flickr page here.
I’m really interested in what you know about this particular edition, the publisher, the age of this edition, and any other things you might know about it. There was no date marked on it or written in it by anyone. From what I’ve read on the internet, it seems that it could have been made between 1890-1930, but that is speculation. Thanks in advance and enjoy the pics.
Hello, my name is inconsequential. My Boss has sent me to you with a message. You belong to Him. You are His property. He owns you. You are His person, and he is very angry with you. You have broken His laws. For that, He is going to kill, and punish you. It is not a matter of if, but when. It is a certainty. You will not escape it. My Boss will kill you. You will meet Him. You will bow to Him, and be judged for breaking His laws. He will punish you. You will bow to Him in this life, or the next. Because He is good, and loving, while you still breath my Boss makes you this offer, apologize, ask Him to forgive you, search yourself, see the truth, that you are not innocent, but you are guilty. Humbly bow down, and submit yourself to His rule. Serve Him. Believe in the work that His Son did on the cross to pay your debt to Him. If you become His servant, as I have, He will change you into a new creature. You will hate what He hates, and love what He loves. You will still die, but you will not be punished for eternity. Instead you will enter into rest. Because His Son endured the eternal punishment, He offers you grace, and mercy instead of giving you what would be just for Him to do. You will be in His glorious presence, and enjoy Him forever. This offer is only good for a short time. You have moments, days, years, or perhaps He will kill you right now…
The Church has been robbed of one of it’s greatest joys, and duties. Mark 12:31, “ “The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” ” Since we have surrendered this joyful grace and duty to secular government, we will not experience some of the fruit of the gospel the way our predecessors did.
Think about the things that are done by the government, with tax dollars, allegedly on our behalf. Here is a short list of some semi-socialised and socialised systems in America; public schools, universities, health care/hospitals, social security, disability, medicare/aid, housing subsidies, foster homes, nursing homes, and government jobs. Before there was a large centralized federal government, the Church performed most of these functions. If you were born in a hospital chances were that it was built, and paid for by the Church. Education was a priority of the Church. Schools and universities were started by Christians to train up men of God, for the service of our Lord. Children were treated like spiritual beings, in need of the same gospel as their parents. They were instructed in doctrine and theology. They were catechised and experienced confirmation, before acceptance in the Church. The most prominent building in the center of most towns was the Church, with its high steeple holding the cross aloft for all to look upon. Orphans were taken care of by the Church. Christians built, funded, and staffed orphanages, and sanitariums, to help those in need. The hungry and needy came to the Church for help. The Church taught people to put away money for themselves in their old age, and to leave an inheritance for their posterity. The elderly were taken care of by their families. People sought provisions from God, dispensed through His Church.
The Church was blessed with the duty and ability to love their neighbor as themselves. The joy they must have known, demonstrating God’s love and grace to His creatures in their state of need. The fellowship they shared, the sense of community, the sympathy for the suffering, identifying with other humans in their sorrow, feeling and sharing together the human experience of the divine, ministering to the elderly and dying, all of this service flowing from hearts that have been regenerated by Holy Spirit, people in the newness of spiritual rebirth, obedient to God and their new affections, all testifying to the glorious work of His gospel on and in them.
All of this grace and love shown to those in need, brought their gaze tenderly upon Christ and His cross. The faithfulness of the Church, worked out in their lives, gave them a glimpse of the gospel they had heard, but never known. Being blessed in such a way, as to have been helped and provided for when in deep distress, grows a fondness towards God and His body. People were brought into the communion of believers, as the Holy Spirit convicted them, in light of the goodness of God, demonstrated through His people.
Our current state is so much the worse. We’ve attempted to alleviate the, “burden” of the Church with social programs funded by taxation. We’ve removed God as our King. We’ve taken Him from His throne and cast an idol to be placed upon it. Human government on the throne, accepting our praises, worship, and our supplications. We abide atrocities, in hopes of a morsel of provision, to be doled out for the loyal subjects, while waiting expectantly for our false gods to take care of our children, widows, orphans, sick, needy, and old. Everyone one of us, isolated and in our own compartments, safely tucked away from the suffering of our fellow man. “It is not my problem, isn’t there a government program for that?” We cry out when we gaze up from our electronic distractions to see the plight of a poor unfortunate soul in need.
Our reliance has shifted from the providence of God in His mercies, to the politburo. The few political elite imagine new laws to solidify their reign, and foist them upon us, as new commandments to be followed without question. What was once the domain of the Church is now being dictated by our new secular gods. What is marriage? Who is my brother? What is tolerance? What is a right? Are all questions our world asks the government to answer. We wait for them to rule from on high and give us answers. People wait in lines the first of the month for their food, after receiving their unemployment, social security/disability, welfare, food subsidies, and so on, with nobody in particular to thank, just the nebulous government, who doles out just enough to get by and keep them enslaved. We need to repent, and enter into the realm of politics and public service as we are called vocationally. We need to be the salt and light in all arenas of public affairs. We need not be afraid, but rather boldly proclaim the joy of knowing the Lord. “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21 NASB
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