The Christian Ledger

Saturday, January 10, 2009

THOUGHTS ON CANE RIDGE

LOOKING BACK TO THE CANE RIDGE REVIVAL

"It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me." John 6:45; Isaiah 54:13.

"Look here! In the paper! A Great Camp Meeting! They're going to have Holy Communion at Cane Ridge in August! We could go to that! It would only take three or four days to get there. And I think the Lord would be especially pleased if we would go to this."

A preacher wrote about the spiritual condition of the people in 1800 as they moved westward from the coastal area. "How many thousands … never saw, much less read, or ever heard a Chapter of the Bible! How many ten thousands who never were baptized or heard a Sermon! And thrice ten thousand, who never heard of the Name of Christ, save in Curses … ! Lamentable! Lamentable is the situation of these people."

At the Cane Ridge Revival, people came to a three day Gospel Meeting climaxing on Sunday with the celebration of the Lord's Supper. When they arrived there, the preaching was: REPENT! AVOID HELL! JESUS DIED FOR YOU! THERE IS POWER IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB! GOD WILL FORGIVE YOUR SINS! TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION! COME TO JESUS NOW!

Barton W. Stone believed the Cane Ridge Revival was a work of God. Christ was preached, lives were changed, God's purposes were accomplished. Certainly Satan was there also to do his worst. But as Jesus said to the Pharisees: "If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you." Matt 12:26-28 (NKJV)

Christ was preached at Cane Ridge, and just who was doing this preaching? Apostle Paul wrote: "What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice." Phil 1:18 (NKJV)

Robert Rainey wrote in 19th Century England this comment. "It is not true that the preaching of Christ serves no purpose and yields no fruits, in cases where it is not carried on in the right or the best spirit. . . Now the Apostle, looking at this, is glad of it. He is not glad that any men, professing Christ, give way to evil and unchristian tempers. But he is glad that Christ is preached. There were cases in which he vehemently contended with such persons - when they strove to poison and pervert Christians who had learned the better way. But now he is thinking of the outside world; and it was good that the making known of Christ should gather strength, and volume, and extension. And the Apostle knew that the Lord could bless His own message, imperfectly delivered perhaps, to bring thirsty souls to Himself, and would not fail in His unsearchable wisdom to care for those who came, and to lead them in the ways He thought best. Let Christ be preached. The converts do not belong to the denominations, but first of all to Christ. Neither is it appointed that the denominations shall permanently hold those whom they bring in; but Christ can hold them, and can order their future in ways we cannot foretell. . . . But GOD is not tied up to give no success to men acting under wrong motives: at least, if we are not to say He gives the success to them, yet in connection with them He is well able to take success to Himself. Through strange channels He can send blessings to souls, whatever He gives or denies to the unworthy workmen. Souls truly gathered in will soon get beyond their teaching."

Salvation is too important to be left entirely in human hands. God does want everyone to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). Some picture God as an Old Man with pad & pencil writing down everything He can find to keep us out of heaven. Some work hard to "prove" that no one can be saved! They are "defenders of the truth." Some Jewish leaders condemned the miracles Jesus did as being from the devil. But Jesus was RIGHT - and the Pharisees were wrong. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:14-17 (NKJV)

Although Satan APPEARS to be turning everyone away from God, this cannot be true. God is always working in ways we may not know. HIS DIVINE PURPOSE CANNOT BE DEFEATED! The battle between the Church and the Devil has already been settled in heaven. The Ascension of Christ meant the downfall of Satan, and every act of Christian sacrifice confirms it! Read Revelation ch 12.

Leapfrog ahead from the First Century to Cane Ridge in 1801. Stone believed that the evidence he saw of obedience to God and changed lives and then they continued in faithful obedience was proof that God was present in what had happened there. We see things like these in the New Testament. Compare Acts 19:11-20 and note the results. Live were truly changed!

Many factors went into the Great Revival at Cane Ridge. We note The Great Awakening in America in the 1730s and 1740s which had tremendous results. The number of people in church multiplied, and the lives of those converted showed a true Christian morality.

Quite by surprise there was a tremendous outpouring of response to the preaching of Jonathan Edwards. This movement of the Spirit surprised people because it produced something unexpected: people professing conversion to Christ. What Edwards said was: "You can't control salvation." But Puritans heard him saying, "if you try, God will aid your salvation." Phrases like "It is in your power to use means of grace" and "One can strive against corruption." Edwards wanted to make the point that salvation ultimately is in the hands of God, and that He empowers the Christian to resist evil. And people responded to what they viewed as an invitation to seek after salvation.

Alexander Campbell spoke of a "Christianity at large" which viewed the Ancient Order seen in the New Testament as superseding sectarianism to gather all to be One In Christ. Whitefield said: "Father Abraham, whom have you in heaven? Any Episcopalians? No! Any Presbyterians? No! Any Independents or Methodists? No, No No! Whom have you there? We don't know those names here. All who are here are Christians...Oh, is this the case? The God help us to forget your party names and to become Christians in deed and truth." In essence, Whitefield reduced Christianity to it's lowest common denominator--those sinners who love Jesus will go to heaven. Denominational distinctives were down played. This theme was picked up by Samuel Davies, one of the principle leaders of the Awakening in Virginia.

Denominational barriers broke down as Christians of all persuasions worked together in the cause of the gospel. There was a renewed concern with missions, and work among the Indians increased. Methodist "circuit riders" who rode from place to place worked to spread Christ and the Awakening.

America was much smaller back then and this Revival was mostly in the New England States. It is difficult to believe that in 1782 not one permanent settlement existed in the whole of Ohio (except perhaps Indian villages) and that by 1800 Ohio population was around 70,000 for the whole State.

Before 1800, western Kentucky was sparsely populated. The French & Indian war against the settlers had been a disaster. Midnight raids by terrorists - for that was what they were - created hopelessness and spiritual ignorance. Some of these early settlers were outlaws fleeing punishment by hiding in the wilderness. There were also decent God fearing citizens that came looking for a future. But it was a time of violence and fear. Men like Big & Little Harp (America's first serial killers) committed great crimes against the settlers.

Today we have Church every Sunday (Lord's Day). And every Sunday is Holy Communion. But it was not so in those days of the Frontier. There was not a church on every corner. Organized worship was mostly nonexistent. They did not know they could gather in a house-church assembly to praise God and eat the Supper of the Lord. Yet times of Holy Communion would be held in Revivals - three or four day meetings with all-day preaching and climaxing in the Supper on Sunday.

It is difficult to for us today to understand what happened at Cane Ridge. Our America is anti-supernatural (yet we believe everything we see on TV). Bultmann wrote: "we cannot use electric lights and radios and, in the event of illness, avail ourselves of modern medical and clinical means and at the same time believe in the spirit and wonder world of the New Testament." And some in the church do think that way. In the world of politics it would be the worst possible sin to be an intensely committed Christian. Yet read the Book of Acts. God The Holy Spirit jumps out at every page. Peter healed people (Acts 5:12-16). Amazing things were done in Samaria (Acts 8:5-8). The Holy Spirit sent Philip to the Ethiopian Nobleman and sent Paul to Macedonia. God is awesome, powerful, shaking things up, but above all - Loving, Cleansing, and Saving.

The effect of Cane Ridge on people was powerful. Someone wrote: "...everyone was crying out for mercy. The anguished screams caused trees to sway ... mother, she fell and was breathing hard, like a sheep on a hot day...The eyes of the crowd were blazed with the glory of heaven, seeing only the divine and the celestial." Stone said: "I saw sinners every where, of every age and sex, rich and poor, bond and free, old and young, weeping, praying, and converting to God--I saw enemies become friends, and sweetly united in the bonds of love--I saw brotherly kindness, meekness, gentleness, obedience, all the divine graces, growing and abounding among the saints of God. The Bible was read with intense desire to find the truth. This, this I call a revival. This I call the work of God."

Jesus said in a parable "Go out into the highways and byways and compel them to come in." (Matt. 22:9-10). Note they gathered both bad and good. The sorting would be done later. (Some want to presort people before preaching to them. But the identity of wheat and tares will be shown by what they produce.)

God is interested in results. God was being true to Himself when He worked miracles, and also when He gave orders to do things in an unusual way. Compel them to come in! And this was the order of things in the Kentucky Revival at Cane Ridge in 1801. Stone believed that the Hand of the Lord was at work in these things. Repentance and changed lives were proof to him. "Bring forth fruits of repentance." And this was surely happening!

The Kingdom of God is a spiritual nation of people who are called by the gospel of Christ. Their relationship and loyalty is to God-in-Christ. In the Lord's Supper we are to "show forth His death until He Comes." Christians, then, are to be a living demonstration of Who Christ Is. We let our light shine by the love and good works we do to the "least of these."

Elder David Purviance wrote in his Biography. [note: I have revised some of the language for clarity. RDI] "In due time a great camp-meeting to be held at Caneridge, in the coming month of August, was advertised widely. Such was now the general interest of the public mind, that when the meeting came, it was attended by about 25,000 souls. Persons were said to be in attendance from most of the States in the Union [as it was in 1801]. Particularly were gathered together, on that memorable occasion, the thousands of Israel [the church], from all the religious orders of the land. Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, &c., &c., were there, as one mighty spiritual host, assembled together, to fight the battles of the Lord. They had come up to the help of Zion. They preached and prayed and praised together; they mutually labored together for the salvation of sinners. Their objects and aims were the same; there was no schism (sectarian division). Nay, more than this. Together, in sweetest, holiest, symbolic communion, they sat down at the One Table of the One Lord, and together commemorated His sufferings and death, affording to a gazing and admiring world, a monumental exhibition of an answer to the memorable prayer of the incarnate Jesus (John 17), to His and their Heavenly Father for the union of His people. Such were the glories of the times that many good people thought assuredly the Millennium (Golden Age) had begun to dawn upon the world."

"THE GREAT MEETING AT CANE RIDGE commenced on Friday before the third Lord's day of August, 1801. From the commencement the roads were literally crowded with wagons, carriages, horsemen, and people on foot, all pressing to the appointed place, till by the Sabbath day (Sunday) the grove that was then open near Cane Ridge meeting-house, was filled with wagons, tents, and people. It was supposed that there were between twenty and thirty thousand people there. Elder Stone in his Journal remarks, "A particular description of this meeting would fill a large volume, and then the half would not be told." Stone's Biography, pg. 38.

"For the sake of the present and future generations, I will attempt a faint description.- From the very commencement, an uncommon solemnity appeared to rest on the countenance of the people. Not infrequently several preachers would be speaking within the bounds of the encampment without any interruption to each other. Wagons, stumps, and logs were used for stands. The preaching and exhortations were interesting and impressive. Salvation free to all mankind was proclaimed, and the willingness of Jesus to save all that would come (John 6:37) was urged universally by the speakers. "The word of God was quick and powerful, and sharper than a two-edged sword;" many sinners were cut to the heart, and fell prostrate under an awful guilt and condemnation for sin. This was not confined to any one class. The moral, genteel and well raised, the giddy and profane, the wicked, the drunkard, and the infidel, the poor and also the rich, as well as the proud and vain, with all their gaudy attire, were brought down by the SPIRIT of the ALMIGHTY, and they appeared to have forgotten every thing in this world in view of their souls' eternal salvation." [Compare Acts 2:36. "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"]

LET UNITY BE OUR POLAR STAR! Stone and the Campbells intended to join hands with true believers in a united effort to LIFT UP THE CAUSE OF CHRIST. Stone was first, and from Cane Ridge the gospel "spread like fire in dry stubble." The Campbells - father and son - joined in, along with a host of others.

Stone spoke of four thoughts on the unity of believers.
1. BOOK UNION. He spoke not of the Bible, but of creeds [patterns] which may be written in a book, or be unwritten, but still followed. Creeds written/unwritten when used as tests of fellowship tend to divide rather than unite.

2. HEAD UNION. He spoke of a common understanding of the Bible. Stone’s words, "Each one believed his opinion of certain texts to be the very spirit and meaning of the texts - and that this opinion was absolutely necessary to salvation." Daniel Somer once wrote in frustration: "The New Testament is the Book we divide over." Paul warned: "for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." 2 Cor. 3:6 (NKJV) And: "But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter." Romans 7:6 (NKJV)

3. WATER UNION. All who have been baptized into Christ are one in Christ. Stone says, "Water union was defined to be a union founded on immersion into water. But fact proves that this union is easily dissolved, and that immersion will not keep those who are immersed, united." In Stone's words: "How vain are all human attempts to unite a bundle of twigs together, so as to make them grow together and bear fruit! They must first be united with the living stock, and receive its sap and spirit, before they can ever be united with each other. So must we be first united with Christ, and receive his spirit [Spirit], before we can ever be in spirit united with one another. The members of the body cannot live unless by union with the head—nor can the members of the church be united, unless first united with Christ, the Living Head. His spirit [Spirit] is the bond of union. Men have devised many plans to unite Christians - all are vain. There is but one effectual plan, which is, that all be united with Christ and walk in Him."

4. FIRE UNION. By this Stone meant what we read in 1 Cor. 12:13. "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." And: "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Eph. 4:3 The Greek can be translated: "Do your best to preserve the unity which the Spirit gives by means of the peace that binds you together."

This is the only way to be faithful to Scripture. In the words of Stone: "We have been too long engaged with defending ourselves, rather than the truth as it is in Jesus. Let us trust our little selves with the Lord; and rest not, till by faith in the promised Spirit and by incessant prayer we receive and be filled with it, like they were of old in the ancient order of things."

The question we face then is not "How can we work toward unity?" but rather "How will we be faithful to the call to maintain the unity of the Spirit?"

The Psalmist wrote: "A song of Ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain." Psalms 127:1 (NKJV)

The apostles and disciples could not begin their "witness" until God-The-Holy-Spirit came in power. They were to tarry in Jerusalem until that time. Jesus said of The Spirit: "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--" John 14:16 (NKJV)

Thursday, October 23, 2008

CHRISTMAS EVANS

CHRISTMAS EVANS AND HIS EXPERIENCE WITH SANDEMANIANISM AND SABELLIANISM

Alexander Campbell was influenced by the forces of John Glas and Sademanianism. This emphasized a sterile intellectualism that was in some ways anti-spiritual. Without the influence of Barton Stone and the "Christians" no Restoration Movement would have survived. We need both heart and mind in our spiritual development. The story of Christmas Evans teaches us some valuable things.

[adapted from Sermons and Memoirs of Christmas Evans by Joseph Cross, Kregel 1986.]

(Christmas Evans was born Christmas Day, 1766 in Wales and "was saved" at age 18. He was known as the "one-eyed man from Anglesea that is a prophet sent from God." Large crowds gathered to hear his powerful eloquence.)

About this time arose among the Baptists of North Wales a bitter and distracting controversy, concerning Sandemanianism and Sabellianism, which had been introduced by the Rev. Mr. Jones, a man of considerable learning and influence in the denomination. Mr. Evans was at first inclined to fall in with these doctrines, and participated largely in the strife of tongues. He says: "The Sandemanian system affected me so far as to quench the spirit of prayer for the conversion of sinners, and it induced in my mind a greater regard for the smaller things of the kingdom of heaven than for the greater. I lost all strength which clothed my mind with zeal, confidence, and earnestness in the pulpit for the conversion of souls to Christ. My heart retrograded, in a manner, and I could not realize the testimony of a good conscience. Sabbath nights, after having been in the day exposing and vilifying with all bitterness the errors that prevailed, my conscience felt as if displeased, and reproached me that I had lost nearness to, and walking with God. It would intimate that something exceedingly precious was now wanting in me; I would reply, that I was acting in obedience to the word; but it continued to accuse me of the want of some precious article. I had been robbed, to a great degree, of the spirit of prayer and of the spirit of preaching."

Mr. Evans thus describes the effect of this controversy upon his people:

"The Sandemanian spirit began to manifest itself in the counties of Merioneth, Caernarvon, Anglesea, and Denbigh, and the first visible effect was the subversion of the hearers, for which the system was peculiarly adapted; intimating, as it did, that to Babylon the crowd of hearers always belonged. We lost, in Anglesea, nearly all those who were accustomed to attend with us; some of them joined other congregations; and, in this way, it pulled down nearly all that had been built up in twelve or fifteen years, and made us appear once again a mean and despicable party in the view of the country. The same effects followed it in a greater or lesser degree in the other counties noticed; but its principal station appears to have been in Merionethshire; this county seems to have been particularly prepared for its reception, and here it achieved by some means a sort of supremacy."

Mr. Evans had been a long time in this controversy, destitute of all religious enjoyment, or, to use his own expressive phrase, 'as dry as Gilboa,' when he experienced a remarkable refreshing from the presence of the Lord. He wrote: "From this time, I was made to expect the goodness of God to churches and to myself. Thus the Lord delivered me and the people of Anglesea from being carried away by the flood of Sandemanianism. In the first religious meetings after this, I felt as if I had been removed from the cold and sterile regions of spiritual frost, into the verdant fields of the divine promises. The former striving with God in prayer, and the longing anxiety for the conversion of sinners, which I had experienced at Lëyn, was now restored. I had a hold of the promises of God. The result was, when I returned home, the first thing that arrested my attention was, that the Spirit was working also in the brethren in Anglesea, inducing in them a spirit of prayer, especially in two of the deacons, who were particularly importunate that God would visit us in mercy, and render the word of his grace effectual amongst us for the conversion of sinners."

Mr. Evans now entered into a solemn covenant with God, made, as he says, "under a deep sense of the evil of his heart, and in dependence upon the infinite grace and merit of the Redeemer." Some of this renewed determination can be seen in the following.

1. "I give my soul and body unto Thee, Jesus, the true God, and everlasting life - deliver me from sin, and from eternal death, and bring me into life everlasting. Amen."

2. "I call the day, the sun, the earth, the trees, the stones, the bed, the table, and the books, to witness that I come unto Thee, Redeemer of sinners, that I may obtain rest for my soul from the thunders of guilt and the dread of eternity."

3. "I do, through confidence in Thy power, earnestly entreat Thee to take the work into Thine own hand, and give me a circumcised heart, that I may love Thee, and create in me a right spirit, that I may seek Thy glory. Grant me that principle which Thou will own in the day of judgment, that I may not then assume pale facedness, and find myself a hypocrite. Grant me this, for the sake of Thy Most Precious Blood. Amen."

4. "I entreat Thee, Jesus, the Son of God, in power, grant me, for the sake of Thy agonizing death, a covenant-interest in Thy blood, which cleanseth; in Thy righteousness, which justifieth; and in Thy redemption, which delivereth. I entreat an interest in Thy blood, for Thy BLOOD'S sake, and a part in Thee, for Thy Name's sake, which Thou has given among men. Amen."

PRIVATE DEVOTIONS

THE PRIVATE DEVOTIONS OF
LANCELOT ANDREWES R.D.ICE

"The cow grazes in many pastures, but the milk she gives is her own." Just so writers are influenced by many and much as they generate the written word.
Many years ago I came into contact with this little book of "Devotions" written by Lancelot Andrewes during his lifetime. He died in 1624.

Andrewes was a leader and scholar of the English Church. He was appointed as one of the translators of the King James Version Bible in 1604. He translated Joshua through Second Chronicles.

He had a "gift" with language. His Devotions are a kind of "prose-poetry." He wrote in the language of the 16th century. I have attempted to keep the spirit of his writings, while condensing and revising certain things. Although his "world view" was quite different from ours, he loved God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, etc. He may have been overly pessimistic, which was likely due to the times in which he lived. This world is a dangerous and difficult place! Yet Christ Jesus brought in a Living Hope! May we all be people of hope! of Christian love! and of holy joy! R.D.Ice

A Preface to the Lord’s Prayer:

Grant, O Lord, to remember me
according to the multitude
of Thy mercies,
wink at mine infirmities,
O Lord, and cast me not away:
But sovereign Lord which lovest
mankind:
After Thine unspeakable love
account me worthy, O Lord,
remove mine iniquities:
without condemnation,
with clean heart,
with contrite soul,
with face unashamed,
with hallowed lips,
to make bold to call upon Thee
the Holy God and Father which
art in heaven.
Do not by reason of me and my sins
refrain Thy readiness to hear
my service and my prayer.
Holy is Thy Name above every Name!

PRAISE TO THE TRINITY Lancelot Andrews

O GOD THE FATHER, of heaven,
who hast marvellously created
the world out of nothing,
who dost govern and uphold heaven
and earth with Thy power,
who didst deliver Thy Only-begotten
for us unto death:

O GOD THE SON, Redeemer of the world,
who didst will to be incarnate of
a virgin,
who hast washed us from our sins
by Thy precious blood,
who rising from the dead didst ascend
victorious to heaven:

O GOD THE HOLY GHOST, the Comforter,
who didst descend upon Jesus in
the form of a dove,
who coming upon the apostles didst
appear in fiery tongues,
who dost visit and confirm with
Thy grace the hearts of the saints:

O SACRED, HIGHEST, ETERNAL, BLISSFUL,
BLESSED TRINITY,
always to be praised, yet always
unspeakable:
O Father good -
O Son loving -
O Spirit kind -
whose majesty is unspeakable,
whose power is incomparable,
whose goodness is inestimable:
whose work is life,
whose love is grace,
whose contemplation is glory:

DEITY, DIVINITY, UNITY, TRINITY:
Thee I worship, Thee I call upon,
with the whole affection of my heart
I bless now and forever:
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.

* References:
1 Timothy 6:15-16
1 Timothy 2:3-6
Hebrews l:5-7
John 14:15-17
Romans 11:33-36

WORSHIP TO GOD:

Look down, O Lord our God,
from heaven Thy dwelling place
and from the throne of the glory
of Thy kingdom,
and come to hallow us.
Jesus, Thou that sittest on high,
with the Father, and art here
with us invisibly,
come to hallow the worship
that we set forth.
And give us communion and fellowship:
unto faith unashamed,
Love without hypocrisy,
keeping of the commandments,
alertness for every spiritual
fruit
turning aside of every spiritual
adversary,
healing of soul and body:
With the intent that we also,
with all the saints,
which have been wellpleasing
unto Thee since the world began,
may be made partakers
of Thine unalloyed and everlasting
good things,
which Thou hast prepared for
them that love Thee, O Lord:
in whom Thou art glorified
forever.

O Lamb of God,
that takest away the sin of
the world,
take away the sin of me who am
a mere sinner.
We beseech Thee, O Lord,
that with the witness of our
conscience clean,
receiving our share of Thy
hallowed things,
we may be united to the holy
body and blood of Thy Christ
and not unworthily
may have Christ indwelling in
our hearts,
and be made a temple of the
Holy Ghost.
Yes, Our God, grant us unto our
last and closing gasp,
worthily to receive hope
of Thy hallowed things and
appropriation of Thy kingdom.

COMMEMORATION

Blessed art Thou, O Lord
who didst bring forth out of water
moving creatures that have life,
and whales, and winged fowls:
and didst bless them,
so as to increase and multiply.

The things concerning the Ascension to heaven:
Set up Thyself, O God,
above the heavens and
Thy glory above all the earth.
By thine Ascension draw us
unto Thee, O Lord,
so as to set our affections
on things above,
and not on things on the earth.
By the fearful mystery
of Thy Holy Body
and Precious Blood
in the evening of this day:
Lord, have mercy.

FAITH

Coming unto God,
I believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of them
that diligently seek Him:
I know that my Redeemer liveth;
that He is the Christ
the Son of the Living God;
that He is indeed
the Saviour of the world;
that He came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
Through the grace of Jesus Christ
we believe that we shall be saved
even as our fathers were.
I believe verily to see
the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.

THANKSGIVING

O my Lord, my Lord,
I thank Thee for that I am,
that I am alive,
that I am rational:
for nurture,
preservation,
governance:
for education,
citizenship,
religion:
for Thy gifts
of grace,
nature,
estate:
for redemption,
regeneration,
instruction:
for my calling,
for re-calling,
further calling manifold:
for forbearance,
longsuffering,
long longsuffering towards me,
many times,
many years,
until now:
for all good offices I have received,
good speed I have gotten:
for any good thing done:
for the use of things present.
Thy promise and my hope
touching the fruition
of the good things to come:
for my parents honest and good,
teachers gentle,
benefactors
always to be had in remembrance,
colleagues likeminded,
hearers attentive,
friends sincere,
retainers faithful:
for all who have stood me
in good stead by their writings,
their sermons,
conversations,
prayers,
examples,
rebukes,
wrongs:
for these things and all other,
which I knew of,
which I knew not of,
open and secret,
hings I remember,
things I have forgotten besides,
things done to me after my will
or yet against my will,
I confess to Thee and bless Thee
and give thanks unto Thee,
and I will confess and bless
and give thanks to Thee
all the days of my life.
What thanks can I render to God
thanking Him again
for all the benefits
that He hath done unto me?

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY
Thou are worthy,
O Lord and our God,
the Holy One,
to receive the glory
and the honour and the power:
for Thou hast created all things,
and for Thy pleasure
they are and were created.

A PRAYER
O Lord and Father, our King and God,
by whose grace the Church was enriched
by the great learning and eloquent preaching
of your servant Lancelot Andrewes,
but even more by his example
of biblical and worthy prayer:
Conform our lives, like his,
to the Image of Christ,
that our hearts may love You,
our minds serve You,
and our lips proclaim the greatness
of Your mercy;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with You
and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

GOD BE WITH ME
Within to strengthen,
without to preserve,
over to shelter,
beneath to support,
before to direct,
behind to bring back,
and round about to fortify.
Be with:
Infants,
children,
youths,
young men,
grown men,
old men,
them that are in extreme age,
the hungry,
thirsty,
naked,
sick,
prisoners,
strangers,
those without friends;
the sick in soul, or body,
fainthearted, those that are past hope;
those in prison and bonds,
those condemned to death;
orphans, widows, strangers,
those that travel by land, by water;
those with child,
those nursing children,
those in solitude."

One prayer called "The Dial" goes through the various hours of the day, speaking of different events in the life of Christ. Andrewes related them to his own spiritual growth. Here are three samples:

"Thou who at the sixth hour
and on the sixth day
didst nail the sins of the world
with Thyself on the cross:
blot out the handwriting
of our sins which is against us
and taking it out of the way save us....
Thou who at the ninth hour
for us sinners and for our sins
didst taste of death:
mortify in us our earthly members
and whatsoever is contrary to thy will,
and save us....
Thou who at eventide
didst will to be taken down
from the cross and buried in a tomb:
take away our sins from us
and bury them in thy sepulchre,
covering with good works
whatsoever we have committed ill,
and save us."

In a beautiful prayer to be said upon waking in the morning, Andrewes associated the light of morning with light in the soul:

"Thou who sendest forth the light,
createst the morning,=>makast thd sun to rise
on the good and on the evil:
enlighten the blindness of our minds
lift Thou up= the light
of thy countenance upon us,
that in th� light we -ay see light,
and, at the last, il the light of grace
the light of glory."

A delight&ul eVening prayer was used by Andrewes when going to bed:

"Let me thin{ upon thy Name
in the$night season,
and keep thy lav:
let the evenmng prayer fo up unto Thee,
and thy pity come down unto us,
O Th/u which givest songs in the night.
which macest the 20 outgoings
of the morning and e~ening to praise Thee,which givest thy beloved wholesomesleep."

Many of the prayers in this manual of private ddvotions are penitential. This is not reflectmve of a bad life or an evil soul on the part of Andrewes, but r`t�eR idis typicq| mf0thowe gpeav�s/uls who Are= j5mbl� and sensitive to imperfections on our part and to God's infinite holiness. Even before giving praise to God in one prayer, Andrewes confessed:

"But for me, O Lord,
sinning and not repenting,
and so utterly unworthy,
it were more becoming to lie
prostrate before Thee
and with weeping and groaning
to ask pardon for my sins,
than with polluted mouth to praise Thee."

O Lord, send your angel
with a live coal from off the altar
and lay it upon my mouth:
my iniquity take away,
my sin purge and cleanse.
Here am I O Lord, send me,
and let the meditations of my heart
praise Thee forever and ever.

Monday, October 20, 2008

TRINITY

CAMPBELL DID BELIEVE THAT GOD IS A TRINITY. R.D.Ice

Alexander Campbell thought the word "trinity" was misused and political, and objected to some things being said. Yet he showed his belief in the God who revealed Himself to us as Father/Son/Holy Spirit. Note that allowance must be made for Campbell's response to the challenges of the day. Both he and Stone said things that can be misunderstood and misused. And some deliberately did so. But we take note of things that they wrote and compare them to understand. Matthew's Great Comission from Campbell's Living Oracles Version of the New Testament. "All authority is given to me in heaven and upon th earth; go, convert all the nations, immersing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all the things which I have commanded you: and behold! I am with you always, even to the conclusion of this state." He emphasized baptism into The Name (singular) of Father/Son/Holy Spirit.

I wrote in 2002: "The Devil attacks God. First he attacks the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:24). Next he attacks Jesus (1 John 2:22-23). The Devil has always tried to replace God with idols. Even though "trinity" is not a Bible word, our fathers in the faith strongly believed in God Who Is A Trinity. Campbell said: "Jehovah the Father, Jehovah the Son, Jehovah the Holy Spirit." This should not be thought of as a conundrum, since each one of us is: body-soul-spirit (1 Thess. 5:23).

Rather than trying to solve the mystery of GOD, we need to refocus. The Triune and Living God helps us understand and deal with crucial practical issues facing all who seek to live in The Spirit of Christ in both church and world today. In the encounter with GOD we are invited to share in divine life and grace through Jesus Christ by the power of The Holy Spirit. At the same time we are called to live in a new relationship with one-another, as we are gathered by The Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ (note Eph. 2:19-22). The doctrine of The Trinity, then, explores the mysteries of love, relationship, person-hood and communion (sharing - note 1 Cor. 10:16-17) within the framework of God’s self-revelation in the person of Christ Jesus and the activity of The Holy Spirit."

This from Campbell's "Christian System." Chapter V.

II. The Spirit is said to do, and to have done, all that God does and all that God has done. It [He] has ascribed to it [Him] all divine perfections and works; and in the New Testament it is designated as the immediate author and agent of the new creation, and of the holiness of Christians. It is therefore called the Holy Spirit. In the sublime and ineffable relation of the deity, or godhead, it stands next to the Incarnate Word. Anciently, or before time, it was God, the Word of God, and the Spirit of God. But now, in the development of the Christian scheme, it is "the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" - one God, one Lord, one Spirit. To us Christians there is, then, but one God, even the Father; and one Lord Jesus Christ, even the Saviour; and one Spirit, even the Advocate, the Sanctifier, and the Comforter of Christ's body - the church. Jesus is the head, and the Spirit is the life and animating principle of that body.

III. The whole systems of creation, providence, and redemption are founded upon these relations in the Deity. Destroy these, blend and confound these, and nature, providence, and grace are blended, confounded, and destroyed. The peerless and supreme excellency of the Christian system is, that it fully opens to the vision of mortals the divinity - the whole godhead - employed in the work of man's regeneration and ultimate glorification. God is manifest in human flesh, and is justified and glorified by the Spirit, in accomplishing man's deliverance from ruin. Each name of the sacred three has its own peculiar work and glory in the three great works of Creation, Government, and Redemption. Hence we are, by divine authority, immersed into the name of the FATHER, the SON, and the HOLY SPIRIT, in coming into the kingdom of grace; and while in that kingdom the supreme benediction is, "The grace of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and the love of GOD, and the communion of the HOLY SPIRIT, be with you!" Indeed, in the old church that was in the wilderness, while matters were comparatively in the shadows of a moonlight age, the High-Priest of 'Israel was commanded to put the name of God upon the children of Israel, in the same relation of the sacred three - "The LORD [NOTE: In the Hebrew Bible it is Jehovah each time.] bless thee and keep thee - The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee - The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." [NOTE: Numbers vi. 24-28.] "Jehovah bless thee" is equal to "the love of God." "Jehovah be gracious unto thee" answers to "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." And "Jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace," corresponds to "the communion of the Spirit." [2 Corinthians 13:14.]

IV. The divine doctrine of these holy and incomprehensible relations in the Divinity is so inwrought and incorporated with all the parts of the sacred book - so identified with all the dispensations of religion - and so essential to the mediatorship of Christ, that it is impossible to make any real and divine proficiency in the true knowledge of God, of man, of reconciliation, or remission of sins, of eternal life, or in the piety and divine life of Christ's religion, without a clear, and distinct perception of it, as well as a firm and unshaken faith and confidence in it, as we trust still to make more evident in the sequel.

Look at http://www.mun.ca/rels/restmov/texts/acampbell/cs/ac4c5.html

Thursday, September 18, 2008

LIVING ORACLES VERSION

UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE
R. D. ICE
This was originally done around 1966 as a booklet; revised May, 2000. I intended to give these out at the Ohio Valley Lectures held at Zanesville that year. I set the type on a Linotype and ran them off on a handpress.

I had been given a copy of "Alexander Campbell and His New Version" (Bethany history series) by Cecil K Thomas (Author) by my good friend Doward Anguish.

Bible-researcher.com wrote: Alexander Campbell (1788-1866) was a leader of the "restoration movement" which gave rise to the Disciples of Christ and the Church of Christ. He produced this version of the New Testament for his early followers, before he had broken with the Baptists. As the title shows, it is not a new version, but a revision of versions of portions of the New Testament previously published by Scottish scholars. The Gospels are from a translation by George Campbell (Edinburgh, 1778), the Epistles from James MacKnight (London, 1795), and the Acts and Revelation from Philip Doddridge's New Testament (London, 1765). In 1818 a London publisher had reprinted these versions together in one volume, and it was this 1818 edition which Campbell slightly revised to produce his own edition in 1826. He is said to have spent less than a year in this work. Campbell himself was not so much a scholar as a controversialist.

Yet in the years before the Civil War this Living Oracles Version had a profound effect on reaching out with the "Search For The Ancient Order" as Campbell called it. Finally opposition from the denominations prompted a return to the KJV.

UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE
We should not speak of the "King James Bible," the "American Standard Bible," the"Revised Standard Bible," and so on as though they were each different Bibles! There is only ONE Bible! This one Bible has been put into many languages and dialects, but it is still the same Bible!
We believe the Holy Spirit of God So guided the writers of both the Old and New Testaments that each word they recorded was exactly as God would have it to be. This being true, it must follow that God watches over the Translators to see that the glory of His message is not dimmed. William Luff words it this way:

It is the Spirit's Bible!
Copyright every word!
Only His thoughts are uttered,
Only His voice is heard!

This must be true, since God's word cannot pass away!

REVISING THE BIBLE
When the work was begun on the Canterbury Revision in 1870, sixty-five scholars were selected to do the work. A year later an American committee of thirty four was chosen to cooperate in this project. These scholars made many changes in the interest of clarity (because words had changed their meanings, etc.). But, it is worthwhile to notice that although they had in their hands no less than 2000 manuscripts of the Old Testament and 3000 manuscripts of the New Testament, they did not find changes necessary which would alter a single historical fact or essential doctrine of Christianity! In other words, the Hand of God has been active down through the ages, working through devoted men, to transmit to our age the Word in an unchanged form!

The Bible was given to people, not to scholars! It was not written in Old - fashioned, High - sounding words, nor in cherished theological terms. It was written in the living language of the people, words that a common man could understand. It is for this reason that fresh translations are necessary from time to time - to again put the Bible into the language of the common people! As we shall consider next, this is God's will!

The principle of TRANSLATION is a Scriptural one! The Holy Spirit Himself did this on Pentecost. Through His power the words were translated, and the people asked, "How hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born?" (Acts 2:8). Since that day the Bible has been put into many thousands of tongues or languages. Dedicated followers of God have made His voice understandable to the nations of the world by translating it into their languages! God has watched over the translators down through the age, to preserve His message! We cannot believe God Almighty would permit anyone to distort His word. Therefore each standard translation is the word of God!

TERMS Let us define some of the terms which are used in connection with the Bible. It will help us understand questions that arise from time to time.

AUTOGRAPH The original manuscript of the inspired writer. These original writings no longer exist, but are preserved in the many copies which were made from them.

MANUSCRIPT. - This is a copy of the original writings in the original languages. Copies had to be made for each to have access to the Bible. There are many thousands of manuscripts from early centuries still in existence. The last thirty years has seen a great increase in the discovery of manuscripts, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls. This increases our knowledge.

VERSION This is another name for a "translation." It is the process of transferring thought from one language to another. Many versions were made in the first century so that each could read in his own language - Latin, Syriac, etc.

TRANSLATION This is another name for "version."

PARAPHRASE This is a "free translation." It seeks to reproduce the meaning of a passage, without necessarily being literal. All translations are, of necessity, paraphrases to some extent, since it is not possible to simply substitute words of one language for another and produce understandable sentences. For example: a computer was programmed to translate English into Russian. When the phrase: "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak," was put into it, it came out: "The liquor is good but the food is lousy.".

Campbell said "The literal translation does not always give the correct meaning, especially with such languages as Hebrew. The Psalmist is quoted in Acts 2:25 as saying: "I foresaw the Lord always before my face." The meaning is, "I fixed my mind upon the Lord." The Sacred Scriptures, 1826 A. Campbell.

REVISION This is not a new translation, but the reworking of an old one. Thus the King James Version was not a new translation, but a revision of the work of Tyndale (1525) by way of the "Bishop's Bible." Further revisions are the "Revised Version" of 1880, the "American Standard Version" of 1901, and more recently the "Revised Standard Version" of 1952. [in 1966]

INTERPRET vs INTERPOLATE
To "Interpret" is to give the meaning of what someone has said. Paul speaks of "unknown tongues" not being profitable unless intepreted (1 Cor. 14).

To "Interpolate" is to "read into" a passage something which has not been stated: It may or may not be accurate, but, in the field of Bible study, it has no authority. We use the word in a bad sense, but we are doing this ourselves when we speculate on the meaning of certain verse. Technically, every word in the King James Version which appears in italics is an interpolation, since it does not appear in the original language. It has been added by the translators because they felt it necessary to complete the meaning.

AN APOLOGY FOR A NEW TRANSLATION A. Campbell

"A living language is continually changing. Like the fashions and customs in apparel, words and phrases, at one time current and fashionable, in a century or two, come to have a signification very different from that which was once attached to them: nay, some are known to convey ideas not only different from, but contrary to, their first signification. And were it not for books and parchments, which preserve from one generation to another, the language of the dead; and transmit from father to son the words and sentences of past times; it is not improbable that, in one generation, a living language would undergo as many mutations, and admit of as many innovations as it now does in two or three hundred years."

"We have, in writing, all the Hebrew and Greek that is necessary to perpetuate to the end of time, all the ideas which the Spirit of God has communicated to the world; and these languages, being dead, have long since ceased to change. The meaning of the words used by the sacred penman, is fixed and immutable; which it could not have been, had these languages continued to have been spoken."

"But this constant mutation in a living language will probably render new translations, or corrections of old translations, necessary every two or three hundred years. For although the English tongue may have changed less during the last two hundred years than it ever did in the same lapse of time; yet the changes which have taken place since the reign of James I do now render a new translation necessary. For if the King's translators had given a translation every way faithful and correct, in the language then spoken in Britain, the changes in the English language which have since been introduced, would render that translation in many instances incorrect." The Sacred Writings, 1826, A. Campbell

WORDS DO CHANGE MEANINGS

Because we still use many of the same words, (but with new and very different meanings) it is difficult to realize that as early as 1770, Benjamin Franklin said that people had ceased to read the Bible (the King James Version) because they could not understand it. (The reason being that while the words were the same, the meanings were different.)

J. W. McGarvey made this statement at the "Missouri Christian Lectures" (1883) concerning the (English) "Revised Version" of 1880 [which we have as the American Standard Version] : "The Canterbury Revision of the New Testament should now totally supplant the King James Version, not only because it is a great improvement as a version, but because it is the only representative in English of the corrected Greek text. A man is not safe in venturing upon the exegesis of a single passage by the aid of the old version until he shall have compared it with the new; and rather than be continually making these comparisons, it is better to at once adopt the new into exclusive use."

EXAMPLES -Here is the "Lord's Prayer" (Luke 11:2-4) as it appeared in some different translations. I have preserved the original spelling.

WYCLIFFITE BIBLE 1384
"Fadir, halewid be thi name, Thi kyngdom come to. Give to vs to day oure eche dayes breed. And forgyue to vs oure synnes, as and we forgyuen to ech owynge to vs. And leed not vs in to temptacioun."

TYNDALE NEW TESTAMENT 1525
"Oure father which arte in heve, halowed be thy name. Lett thy kingdo come. Thy will be fulfillet, even in erth as it is in heven. Oure daily breed geve us this day. And forgeve vs oure synnes: For even we forgeve every man that traspaseth vs; and ledde vs not into temptacio, Butt deliver vs from evyll Amen."

RHEIMS NEW TESTAMENT 1582
"Father, sanctified be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Our daily bread guie vs this day, and forgiue vs our sinnes, for because our selues also doe forgiue euery one that is in debt to vs. And lead vs not into temptation."

KING JAMES VERSION of 1611 (original spelling)
Our Father which art in heauen, Halowed be thy Name, Thy kingdome come, Thy will be done as in heauen, so in earth. Giue vs day by day our dayly bread. And forgiue vs our sinnes: for we also forgiue euery one that is indebted to vs. And lead vs not into temptation, but deliuer vs from euill."

TODAY'S ENGLISH VERSION 1967
"Father, May your name be kept holy, May your Kingdom come. Give us day by day the food we need. Forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone who has done us wrong. And do not bring us to the hard testing."

GULLAH ENGLISH
"Jedus tell um say, 'Wen oona pray, mus say, We Papa een heaben, leh ebrybody hona you nyame cause you da holy. We pray dat soon you gwine rule oba all ob we. Wasoneba ting you da want, leh um be een dis wol, same like e be dey een heaben.'"

PIDGIN ENGLISH
This is a real language, spoken by several millions of people in the Islands of the Pacific. It is now called Neo-Melanesian. This shows something of the work of the translators.

"Papa, nem bilong yu em i mas i stap holi, Kingdom bilong yu em i mas i kam. Kaikai bilong mipela inap long de, em yu givim mipela long olgeta de. Lusim sin bilong mipela. Mipela tu i lusim sin bilong olgeta man i ben mekim rong long mipela. Yu no bringim mipela long samting bilong traim mipela.

GOD SPEAKS OUR LANGUAGE
God is working out His PLAN! He has given us His Word -which is AT ONCE the infallible guide, and yet allows men to either accept or reject its message. It is truly a "two-edged sword," for it CUTS both ways! It is either life eternal or death - depending upon what we do with it. Make sure you DO understand it! Use several translations. Compare carefully. Open your mind. Let God's light shine upon you. Have the spirit of Christ in you!

TRINITARIAN FAITH
The Devil attacks God. First he attacks the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:24). Next he attacks Jesus
(1 John 2:22-23). The Devil has always tried to replace God with idols.

Even though "trinity" is not a Bible word, our fathers in the faith strongly believed in God Who Is A Trinity. Campbell could say: "Jehovah the Father, Jehovah the Son, Jehovah the Holy Spirit." This should not be thought of as a conundrum, since each one of us is: body-soul-spirit (1 Thess. 5:23).

Rather than trying to solve the mystery of GOD, we need to refocus. The Triune Living God helps us understand and deal with crucial practical issues facing all who seek to live in The Spirit of Christ in both church and world today. In the encounter with GOD we are invited to share in divine life and grace through Jesus Christ by the power of The Holy Spirit. At the same time we are called to live in a new relationship with one-another, as we are gathered by The Holy Spirit into the Body of Christ (note Eph. 2:19-22).

The doctrine of The Trinity, then, explores the mysteries of love, relationship, person-hood and communion (sharing - note 1 Cor. 10:16-17) within the framework of God’s self-revelation in the person of Christ Jesus and the activity of The Holy Spirit. 2 Cor. 13:13-14

COMPARING WORDS
Here is a comparison between the King James Version, Campbell's Version (The Living Oracles), and the New King James Version. It demonstrates the changes words have made, and shows why new translations must be made from time to time. Some recent Bible Bowls have been based on the New King James Version which is much like the Revised Standard Version in word choice and accuracy.

Matt. 1:18 KJV on this wise CAMPBELL thus NKJV was as follows
6:25 KJV take thought CAMPBELL be anxious NKJV do not worry
9:10 KJV sat at meat CAMPBELL being at table NKJV sat at the table
13:20 KJV anon CAMPBELLat first NKJV immediately
13:21 KJV by and by CAMPBELL instantly NKJV Immediately
25:27 KJV exchangers CAMPBELL bankers NKJV bankers
Mark 9:6 KJV wist not CAMPBELL knew not NKJV did not know
Luke 10:41 KJV careful CAMPBELL anxious NKJV worried and troubled
14:10 KJV have worship CAMPBELL do thee honor NKJV will have glory
John 13:26 KJV sop CAMPBELL morsel NKJV piece of bread
Acts 18:7 KJV deputy CAMPBELL proconsul NKJV proconsul
17:23 KJV devotions CAMPBELL objects of worship NKJV objects of your worship
17:30 KJV wink at CAMPBELL overlook NKJV overlooked
26:14 KJV pricks CAMPBELL goads NKJV goads
27:30 KJV under color as CAMPBELL under pretense of NKJV under pretense of
28:13 KJV fetched a compass CAMPBELL coasted round NKJV circled round
Romans 1:13 KJV let hitherto CAMPBELL hindered NKJV was hindered
3:4 KJV God forbid CAMPBELL by no means NKJV certainly not
1 Cor. 13:1 KJV charity CAMPBELL love NKJV love
2 Cor. 8:1 KJV do you to wit CAMPBELL make known to you NKJV make known to you
1 Thess.4:15 KJV prevent CAMPBELL anticipate NKJV precede
5:14 KJV feebleminded CAMPBELL faint-hearted NKJV fainthearted
1 Tim. 4:12 KJV conversation CAMPBELL behavior NKJV conduct

Thursday, September 11, 2008

FAITH - TRUST - CONFIDENCE

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY "FAITH'? R.D.Ice 11/99

I have rewritten some things said by A. Campbell on Faith in his writings.

Churches of Christ follow Campbell's "Common Sense" method of understanding the Bible. When we read a newspaper we use the "laws of language" without micro-examining each individual word. Campbell looked for direct commands, approved examples, and necessary inferences. Since the Bible cannot contradict itself, what is said in one place must be understood and qualified by what is said in other places. And all that JESUS said, did, and taught was exactly right.

"Faith, as it is commonly used, means both the act of believing, and also the fact or system believed. The underlying idea is trust and confidence. "Proof" is defined as the evidence that compels acceptance - the mind of a truth or fact. In a court of law, evidence is given by witnesses who may or may not be telling the truth. A pattern of testimony is built up, and judge and jury must decide the probability of truth or falsehood as accurately as they can about the facts of the matter. Faith is quite closely involved. "Proof" is rarely based upon first hand knowledge. Our technical society is made possible by the "faith" which allows us to accumulate empirical knowledge that comes "second hand" to us and to then act upon it with certainty.

Campbell pointed out that the power in faith was the FACT believed rather than the act of believing. He told this story (which I have updated) to illustrate this.

"As we came near to the city we met crowds of people, both men and women, who appeared to be running for their lives! Some had not brought a thing with them; husbands had left wives; parents their children; and children their parents. I asked everyone who would stop and listen, what was happening? Everyone always answered: 'The Enemy have invaded and are near to our city!' 'Have they reached it,' I asked? 'No,' they said. 'Are they in sight,' I asked? Again they said no, 'Why the frantic rush,' I asked? Every line of their face and tone of their voice showed the terror which gripped them, 'Twelve men of undoubted honesty have brought us word that the enemy are just at hand with weapons of destruction and the war is upon us!'

I joined the crowd of fugitives, and as we reached the safety of an underground shelter, I thought: 'What an advantage to mankind to have been given by God the ability to be so certain of things they have not seen, nor experienced, and to be impelled into action because of what they believe to be true, just as though they had already seen it. The people in this shelter have been saved from destruction - saved by faith, It was not their faith, in the abstract, but rather the fact believed that impelled them to take this action. These people were saved by the belief of one fact, and that fact was so important to them that it changed their views and practice"

We draw these conclusions:

1. All men and women act on the basis of what they believe to be true.

2. Faith always proceeds according to the fact believed. Joy and sorrow, love and hate, fear and hope, are the effects of the fact believed, and not the effects of the manner of believing.

3. Evidence alone produces faith - testimony which can be believed is all that is necessary to faith. Romans 10:17.

4. Faith, by itself, abstract, produces nothing, Faith and opinions have nothing to do with each other. It is not a man's believing that saves his soul, but what he does believe to be true. 1 John 5:4-5

5. The great question is: What is fact or truth?

6. No person can help believing when the evidence of truth catches his attention. And without evidence it is as impossible to believe, as to bring something out of nothing.

7. Men may be deceived and may deceive others, therefore we sometimes put little confidence in those things they say, God's testimony is infallible, Compare John 20:24-31; Acts 17:11.

FAITH - Compact Bible Dictionary

"In the OT, the word "faith" is rare, but the concept is conveyed by the use of such verbs as "believe," "trust," and "hope." Abraham exemplifies faith for he believed and obeyed God unreservedly. The basis of the covenant of Sinai from the Israelite side was the accepting and believing God in His self-revelation in the Law and saving acts. The prophets persistently called the people to believe, to trust, and to obey their God."

"In the NT, faith is obviously an important concept and the word is common. Jesus called for faith in God as the Father and in Himself as the Messiah. The apostles called for faith in, and commitment to, Jesus as God’s divinely appointed Messiah and Lord. in particular, Paul emphasized faith centered on Christ and active in love as the primary response of sinners to the gospel of God. James emphasized that merely believing the facts of the gospel was not enough; true faith results in acts of love. True faith is faithful to God for it means both believing or trusting and obeying. Deut. 32:20; Habakkuk 2:4; Genesis 12:1-2; 15:1-6; Romans 4:18-22; Mark 11:22; Matt. 18:6; John 14:1; Luke 11:28; Gal. 5:25; 6:8; James 2:17-26."

Thursday, September 4, 2008

CHRISTIAN RESTORATION

RESTORE WHAT???
R. D. Ice

My computer has a refresh command which will return to the original (default) setting of a program. I read that there have been some 176 "restoration movements" in our western world alone. Each of these had the goal of trying to reset to the Original Church (as they understood it).

1. We are in the church because we are saved. Acts 2:47 God adds the saved to the church. Therefore it is because we are saved that we are in the church. When I was baptized into Christ, God added me to His church. I am sure He did not add me to the wrong one.

2. We say things about "church" that may be incorrect. Since the church is the kingdom, substitute the word Kingdom for Church and see whether it makes sense. "Denomination" and "Brotherhood" do not apply to Kingdom. (Yes. I know there were Tribes among the Nation of Israel.)

3. The church did not immediately die following her birth. Jesus said His church was indestructible. Campbell did not "reinvent" the church. He spoke of continuing reformation. God has raised up many people over the centuries who have struggled to give form to their faith. We stand on the shoulders of these people - even when we are totally ignorant of their existence. There has been much faith, action, and cross-pollination over the centuries.

4. Restore a vital and dynamic sense of the reality of the Christian Faith. Note how Paul stresses Christ-on-the-cross in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. In chapter 15 Paul shows that the whole Gospel stands or falls on the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It is vital to believe that Jesus came in flesh and blood. 2 John 7 And that Jesus the Christ was tempted in every way that we are tempted - on a human level. Hebrews 4:14-16 Yet He did not sin - even though we are sinful. 1 John 1:6-10

5. Restore community of believers as a fellowship. Koinonia is the word which describes this family of the faith. Body life is vital to our faithfulness to Him. In fact our love of God is defined by our love of "brother." 1 John 4:19-21 Note what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:13 to illustrate the fact that we Christians are One Body. "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."

6. Restore a spiritual UNITY that transcends barriers. We humans tend to choose up sides. We think more in terms of "why God won’t accept you" than in "how can I be right with God." We claim to be undenominational yet it is probably impossible to avoid a "denominational" way of looking at things. Campbell and Stone were consumed with a passion for the glory of the primitive church. As Ed Fudge put it: (Campbell) gazed at a distant past and hoped for an imminent future. His heart almost burst at the glory of the vision; he could scarcely wait to sit in God’s kingdom in peace with all his brothers and sisters, there to raise together the praises and choruses of Zion! For him, restoration was the path to that place."

7. Restore an active and dynamic spirit of MISSION. We cannot be content to just keep house for the Lord. Mark says: "And they went out and preached everywhere..." Paul said he was given the commission: "to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me" (NKJV). Paul was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. Perhaps by being intently focused on "authority" and "rightness" we have neglected our mission to be light to the world.

8. Restore John’s last hour situation. "Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour" (NKJV). Many enemies of Christ (antichrists) are here in our world. Some even in the church, as John warned when he wrote. Hope is the anchor of our soul. We need the sense of otherworldliness which Hope and Faith give us. This world is unfair! But - plug into the fact that Jesus is Coming Again and everything changes! We need to EXPECT Christ to Come!

9. RESTORATION HAS BEEN FULFILLED IN CHRIST JESUS. Note Acts 3:18-26. Jesus did come with the express purpose of being the world’s Savior! John 3:16-17. Jesus is Coming Again! The world must be converted to Christ. Christians must united if the world is to believe. John 17:21. Pray for BOLDNESS! Acts 4:23-33.

"Awesome God! You are Holy and Holy Beings praise You daily! We pray against all the sin and evil in our world. We pray for justice and righteousness. We pray for compassion and mercy. We pray for the peace that passes understanding. We pray for the Holy Spirit to pour into our hearts the kind of love You have for us (Romans 5:1-5). Send us Revival, Renewal, and all the Fruit of the Holy Spirit. We confess our sins to You. Forgive us and cleanse us and save us. In Jesus' Name. Amen."

The Christian Ledger

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

THANKSGIVING

Thursday, October 26, 2017

CANE RIDGE REVIVAL

HARBINGER TOO