Newsletter Vol.3, #6—February 18, 2007

Matthew 10 ¹⁷Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, ¹⁸and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.

Who Changed The Rules

(Kent Heaton)

Continued from last week…  (Remember, brother Heaton was writing about English and the rules pertaining to sentence formation, etc.)

I have pondered this for many months and decided there has to be some lessons in this. First, the standard has changed – we no longer use manual typewriters (I still have one). That is a good thing but it is a little hard to change from the old ways to the new ways. The standards created by man will change with the changing winds of time. Imagine the shock of putting aside the pencil for a machine. While these matters of typewriters and computers are of no consequence, the nature of man to change the rules of salvation have serious consequences.

The standard of Jehovah never changes – man does. “Forever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants” (Psalms 119:89-91). A quick study of history will show that men change their standards in religion when they base their beliefs on what they determine is right and wrong. What was accepted as truth from the word of God is no longer held as truth. The Lord said that “Every one that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). Has that changed? It has in the mind of man but it has not in the mind of God. Who changed – God or man? Man has changed but the standard of God has not.

Adultery and homosexuality was viewed as wickedness by the religious world but no longer. Who changed? Salvation was not by faith only but now most religious groups teach salvation of grace alone. Who changed? The early church never used instruments of music in worship to God but now it is standard fare. Who changed? Does it make it right because man changes or society changes? The Psalmist reminds us, “The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever” (Psalms 119:160).

A second lesson that I thought of from Paul’s admonition was that even though I had been taught by a great teacher, why would it be so difficult to change today? Let me illustrate that in a spiritual sense. The apostle Paul fought against the church of the Lord in “good conscience” (Acts 23:1) but he was wrong (1 Timothy 1:15). The apostle Paul changed because he knew the truth and was willing to obey it in sincerity of heart. “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as ye all are this day” (Acts 22:3). He counted all of this as “loss for Christ” (Philippians 3:1-11). He changed because the will of God was found to be true and his understanding of truth was not. Are we willing to change our lives because of the will of God or do we stubbornly hold on to what our parents or teachers believe – even though the Bible teaches different. God’s word is true and will never change. Will you? The truth of scripture should always be our guide no matter what our family, friends or society says is right. What God says is right and no other!

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WHAT IS A MIRACLE? (I)

Phil Roberts

I am going to begin this article by making an assumption. I am going to take it for granted that the great majority of you readers understand such a thing as a fortunate escape from an auto accident is not a miracle in the Bible sense of the term. True, most people today will call almost any unusual happening a “miracle” -- if it turns out good! But I believe that all of you know that a Biblical miracle is something quite different from a lucky escape.

In attempting to correct the popular but false idea of miracles described above, it has been common for preachers to stress the supernatural element in miracles. Usually this is done by citing some famous theologian who has defined a miracle as “any supernatural intervention in the ordinary course of natural events.”

In close connection with this, it is also frequently necessary to demonstrate from the N.T. that the “age of miracles” in the church was a temporary period, to be done away with once revelation was complete.

So far, so good. We have established that miracles are not “lucky escapes,” but are supernatural interventions in this world. And we have further established that such supernatural interventions were only for the apostolic age and we are not to expect supernatural interventions on the part of God in our lives today.

But, without realizing it, we have established the firm foundation for total confusion on the part of thousands of Christians.

For the very same preachers that emphasize so strongly that the age of supernatural intervention has been done away will turn right around to teach a beautiful and thoroughly Biblical sermon on the power of prayer. And that’s where the confusion comes in. The Bible plainly teaches that we are to pray to God making requests for our needs. We are to pray for our daily bread (Matt.6:11). We are to pray for guidance and protection (Matt.6:13). We are to pray for the rulers of nations that we may lead “quiet and peaceable lives” (1 Tim.2:2). And we are to pray when we are sick (James 5:13).

But if the age of supernatural intervention has passed away, why pray for God to do any of these things? Either God does still intervene with supernatural acts in our lives, or there’s absolutely no point whatsoever to our prayers.

Now some have tried to dodge this difficulty by saying that God does answer our prayers, but he does not do so by supernatural acts. Rather, God answers our prayers indirectly, through natural laws. Thus many brethren pray, not for God to heal the sick, but for Him to “be with the hands that minister unto them.” Somehow this leaves the feeling that we are not praying for a direct act of God, but only for some vague, indirect act on his part. But friends, it doesn’t make a bit of difference whether God intervenes directly on the sick man or directly on the hands that are ministering to him. In either case, there is still a supernatural intervention on the part of God that causes something to happen that would not have happened if the workings of natural law had been allowed to run their course.

(One brother, apparently realizing the difficulty presented above, recently wrote me that “God does not heal the physical ills of anyone today.” He likewise let me know -- in a kind way -- that we ought not to pray for the sick at all today!)

Another attempt that is sometimes made to explain how God can answer our prayers without supernatural intervention is to say that he acts through the written word to answer our prayers. The same brother mentioned above made the oft repeated assertion that God has no power on earth at all today except in the written word. Now brethren, I have no desire whatever to minimize the role of the gospel contained in the written word as the power of God unto salvation. But again brethren, if God’s only power on earth today is the written word then our prayers are totally absurd. We ought to quit praying altogether and simply study our Bibles and preach them to others.

On this basis, it would be wrong for us to even pray for God to “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” For God has already given us all the guidance He is going to give us in the written word, and we should not ask for any additional help. We should not even ask God to give the teacher a ready recollection of the things he has prepared to say because the only way he can get a ready recollection is by studying the word.

Now let me repeat that I do not wish to minimize the role of the written word by any portion whatsoever. After all, there is no way a teacher can have a ready recollection of the things he has prepared to say unless he has studied the word enough to have something to say to begin with.

But, on the other hand, if we try to deny that God exercises the power to intervene supernaturally in our lives, then our prayers are worthless. And I have a difficult time seeing the difference between us and the rank modernist who says that prayer is nothing more than pious wishing anyway.

So what are we to do with this seeming contradiction? On the one hand the Bible teaches that miracles are temporary and confined to the apostolic period. But, on the other hand the Bible commands us to pray in such a way that we are logically forced to expect some sort of supernatural intervention from God in answer to our prayers. Are we caught in an insoluble dilemma? Are we going to have to cease teaching that miracles were only for the apostolic period in order to maintain our belief in the reality of prayer?

To both of these questions I answer emphatically “No.” We do not have to start teaching that the N.T. miracles are still for our use today. Nor do we have to give up our belief in the power of prayer.

The dilemma that we seem to have fallen into is a false dilemma, but it is a dilemma of our own making. Our error has not been in teaching that miracles were only temporary. We are correct in that, and we must continue so to teach.

To be continued…