tag:www.forthright.net,2010://1 2010-09-02T17:11:30Z Forthright Magazine offers original, unpublished content in biblical, spiritual and practical articles published daily by published authors. Movable Type 4.21-en tag:www.forthright.net,2010://1.18764 2010-09-02T17:09:33Z 2010-09-02T17:11:30Z

The Holy Spirit preserved the Old Testament for Christians that we might read it and learn that we should not lust after evil things as Israel did and God punished them.

Don Ruhl Unfortunately, many Christians believe that they do not have to read or listen to instruction from the Old Testament. Listen, friends, it is the word of God, and we always do well to know God's word. In First Corinthians 10, Paul spoke of Old Testament events and said, "Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted" (1 Corinthians 10:6). The Holy Spirit preserved the Old Testament for Christians that we might read it and learn that we should not lust after evil things as Israel did and God punished them. Is that a good reason for reading the Old Testament? tag:www.forthright.net,2010://1.18763 2010-09-02T16:41:05Z 2010-09-02T16:43:15Z

Either we are one with the Lord or we are not.

Don Ruhl Paul urged the brethren in Corinth to flee idolatry, explaining that when we eat the Lord's Supper, we have communion with Him (1 Corinthians 10:14-16). He explained further, "For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread" (1 Corinthians 10:17). When we eat the Lord's Supper, we have communion with His body and His blood. How then can we partake in idolatry? Either we are one with the Lord or we are not. We have to make a decision. tag:www.forthright.net,2010://1.18586 2010-09-02T08:00:00Z 2010-09-02T12:46:11Z

It's simple. I'm your friend, and I won't tell anyone what I saw. This can be our secret!

Stan Mitchell By Stan Mitchell Joe was an avid golfer. He was also an elder in a local church. It had been a frustrating week, and he hoped to make up for it on Saturday with some links-therapy. But the day dawned raw and windy. He felt clumsy and uncoordinated in his heavy jacket, and the gusting crosswinds made hitting the ball down the fairway a lottery. Joe's shots whipped and bounced unpredictably. On the eighteenth hole he had to make three puts after hitting the green. He was livid. Entering the dressing room and seeing no one, he flung his golf club against the wall, and as it clattered to the floor, he gave the door a mighty kick. Then he turned and saw David, his best friend. "Not having a good day are we?" David's smile was grim. Joe was immediately ashamed. He had let his temper control him rather than the other way around. "Dave," he said, "I'm really sorry you had to see that. I have no excuses." "On the contrary," David replied, "I'm glad I saw it!" "Huh? What do you mean?" asked the puzzled Joe. "It's simple. I'm your friend, and I won't tell anyone what I saw. This can be our secret!" "Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends" (Proverbs 17:9, ESV). Someone has said that our friends love us in spite of our bad points, and our enemies hate us in spite of our good ones. It is not necessary to repeat everything that we know, and the mark of a truly good friend is his willingness to gently put our mistakes to rest. This week, you will make a mistake. May you do so before a true friend! tag:www.forthright.net,2010://1.18760 2010-09-01T16:13:55Z 2010-09-01T16:19:15Z

Do we consider Him our place of safety? If so, He will gladly work out our deliverance.

Don Ruhl If you are in a desperate situation, like David was in Psalm 142 (he was in a cave fleeing Saul), then begin prayer as he did, I cried out to You, O LORD: I said, "You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living." (Psalms 142:5) That is what God wants to know. Do we consider Him our place of safety? If so, He will gladly work out our deliverance. tag:www.forthright.net,2010://1.18759 2010-09-01T16:07:57Z 2010-09-01T16:13:48Z

Here is the thing. If you can go there, surely God can go there!

Don Ruhl Today think on the questions David asked of God, Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? (Psalms 139:7) Here is the thing. If you can go there, surely God can go there! If we think we can escape His Spirit or His presence, we think we have become greater than God. Yet, if that thought repulses us, then God remains greater than us and can go wherever we can go, and even be there ahead of us, waiting to greet us! Think on the fact that He is present everywhere. tag:www.forthright.net,2010://1.18750 2010-09-01T08:02:29Z 2010-09-01T11:45:02Z

Consider the resurrection of Jesus. At first impression, a skeptical perspective would counsel that we reject such an incredible event. We have never seen the dead raised.

Barry Newton We are justified for exhibiting little more than a skeptical smile if a newspaper's headline proclaims, "Mother Gives Birth To Half Alien." Being skeptical of outrageous claims is healthy. Common experience exposes unrealistic claims. While skepticism counsels us to doubt the highly improbable, could there be a situation where the preponderance of evidence is so strong that skepticism would guide us in doubting unbelief? Consider the resurrection of Jesus. At first impression, a skeptical perspective would counsel that we reject such an incredible event. We have never seen the dead raised. However, if we accept this skeptical position that Jesus never rose from the dead, suddenly we are confronted with an avalanche of evidence that demands explanation. The open-minded skeptic now faces a dilemma. Which is *less likely to have happened*: That Jesus rose from the dead *or* that Jesus is still dead, even though the simplest explanation for an enormous amount of evidence asserts he returned to life? If Jesus is still dead, how do we explain the agreement among the Romans, Jews and Christians that the tomb was empty? Could it be because it was empty? If Jesus never rose from the dead, how do we explain the Jerusalem Christians never producing a body when severe persecution broke out against their loved ones? If anyone had taken his body it would have been Christians. A small group would have known where it was. Why did they not stop the persecution by producing his body? Could it be because they did not possess it? Since fables characteristically arise after the eye-witnesses are dead, if Jesus never arose from the dead why does even literary evidence begin emerging in little more than a mere twenty years and doubters are essentially invited to talk with the eyewitnesses? (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). If Jesus' body decayed, then why would first century disciples invent the story that women were the first to witness the risen Lord? After all, at that time women were not considered credible and could not even testify in court. Is the most simple explanation that they were merely recounting what happened? If Jesus never returned to life, how do we explain the apostles' sudden transformation from cowards to emboldened preachers willing to accuse thousands and stand against the authorities who killed Jesus? If Jesus is dead, Christianity should have never taken root in Judaism. After all, the Jews regularly picked up stones to kill Jesus because of his claims. What evidence short of Jesus' resurrection could be so powerful causing them to overcome their embedded resistance to his claims? If the apostles and early Christians knew Jesus' body remained lifeless, why did they willingly die for what they knew to be a lie? If Saul never saw the risen Lord on the road to Damascus, how do we explain him giving up his power, insider favor, privileged relationships, and educational advantages in order to become a social outsider and suffer persecution for what he would have known was a lie? In evaluating the two highly unlikely scenarios that either Jesus rose from the grave or that he is still dead in spite of all of the evidence to the contrary, it is more **unbelievable** Jesus remains dead. Skepticism, steering us toward the simplest explanation, would counsel us to believe Jesus lives rather than embracing the more unrealistic alternative.]]> tag:www.forthright.net,2010://1.18755 2010-08-31T16:18:10Z 2010-08-31T16:22:33Z

In First Corinthians 9 Paul argued that a church should pay their preacher wages.

Don Ruhl In First Corinthians 9 Paul argued that a church should pay their preacher wages. Knowing that someone might think he was coming up with this idea for himself, he appealed to the Law of Moses, "Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, 'You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.' Is it oxen God is concerned about?" (1 Corinthians 9:8-9). Paul answered his last question in verse 10, saying that the law of the ox and the muzzle was primarily written for our benefit, that we might see even as the ox should be fed from his labor, so man, in this case, a preacher, should benefit from his labors. tag:www.forthright.net,2010://1.18754 2010-08-31T16:09:56Z 2010-08-31T16:23:32Z

How many times and in what ways has the Lord show you His everlasting mercy?

Don Ruhl Psalm 136:10-22 shows that the Lord granted mercy to Israel every step of the way when He began to deliver Israel out of Egyptian slavery and until the time He brought them into their own land. The way the psalmist carefully recounted the things that happened, should remind us to do the same in our lives. How many times and in what ways has the Lord show you His everlasting mercy? Praise Him for it in a prayer! tag:www.forthright.net,2010://1.18740 2010-08-31T08:00:00Z 2010-08-31T11:41:48Z

There is a reason why this is the first beatitude. Jesus lays the foundation for the remainder of the list by establishing authority and purity.

Richard Mansel, managing editor "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3, NKJV). There is a reason why this is the first beatitude. Jesus lays the foundation for the remainder of the list by establishing authority and purity. The word "blessed" has a rich history. The original meaning "appears to be limited to outward prosperity."/1 As years passed, it moved into the Christian vocabulary. "Shaking itself loose from all thoughts of outward good, it becomes the express symbol of happiness identified with pure character."/2 It moved from physical to spiritual as the meaning changed. Yet, one aspect of it remains. We are rich spiritually if we do what the Sermon on the Mount dictates. The wealth contained in this sermon will create a lavish spiritual life, connected with God. The display of this wealth changed from the exterior to the inner person. "The vague outlines of an abstract good vanish from it, and give place to the pure heart's vision of God, and its personal communion with the Father in heaven."/3 We are rich in our communion with the Lord, if we are striving to employ the tenets of the Sermon on the Mount into our lives. We strive for a higher calling, embracing sanctification. This sermon clearly delineates the worldly and the spiritual. Therefore, it is fitting that the word "blessed" has this history, as well. It reflects the transformation necessary for the rebirth (Romans 12:1-2; John 3:3-5). "The Christian word blessed is full of the light of heaven."/4 The word "poor" refers to "utter spiritual destitution."/6 To be "poor in spirit" means that we have a "complete absence of pride, a complete absence of self-assurance and self-reliance."/7 In Psalm 23, we find the journey of the believer of God. He begins with humility and submission by calling us to recognize that "The Lord is my Shepherd" (Psalm 23:1). If we will not accept this beginning, we will never be a true disciple (Mark 8:34-38). We cannot be filled and flooded with God, unless we are emptied of our pride and stubbornness (Ephesians 3:19). We can insert "ego" in the place of "spirit" and get the idea behind this beatitude. We do not become pitiful by rejecting our ego, but empowered by God's glory. Job said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21). We place ourselves completely in the hands of our Lord, so we can be reborn as something new and wonderful (James 4:6,10; John 3:3-5). Only those who submit to God in all things will see a need for heaven. We will have realized that we cannot hope to attain salvation on our own merits. It is not within man to save himself. When we realize this fact, we will begin to see that we must cling to the Savior. The process of emptying ourselves will begin and our spirits will be fed by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Only those who see their true, sinful, helpless self will ever have the spiritual eyes to see the door to enter the kingdom of heaven (Romans 3:23; Isaiah 59:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 10:1-9). If we do not need a Savior, we can be certain we will not have one. ____________ 1/ Marvin Vincent, Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament (Peabody: Hendrickson, n.d.), 1:33. 2/ 1:35. 3/ 1:36 4/ Ibid. 5/ Ibid. 6/ Ibid. 7/ D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies on the Sermon on the Mount (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976), 50. ]]> tag:www.forthright.net,2010://1.18751 2010-08-30T16:19:50Z 2010-08-30T17:40:23Z

Before and after. Flesh and spirit. Heavenly and earthly. Scripture makes effective use of contrasts. In his letter to Titus, the apostle Paul draws a sharp contrast between godly men capable of serving as overseers and the rebellious who must be silenced.

J. Randal Matheny http://randalmatheny.com/blog/ by J. Randal Matheny, editor Before and after. Flesh and spirit. Heavenly and earthly. Scripture makes effective use of contrasts. In his letter to Titus, the apostle Paul draws a sharp contrast between godly men capable of serving as overseers and the rebellious who must be silenced. Let's note two areas of contrast in Titus 1. In the description of the elders whom Titus should seek out in every town, this characteristic stands out: "He must hold firmly to the faithful message as it has been taught" (Titus 1:9 NET). The last phrase is literally, "according to the teaching," a reference to the doctrine of Christ as received through the apostles. An elder is, in the best sense of the word, conservative. He is careful to stick to the doctrine of Christ received through the apostles. When the gospel is being taught, the overseer is preservational, concerned to maintain the truth in its original form. When the gospel is perverted, he is restorational, seeking to return to the truth as it was in the beginning. Only when he holds firm to that teaching can he exhort and correct (1:9), for the salvation of all. Such correction is necessary "[f]or there are many rebellious people" (1:10). These must be silenced. They "mislead whole families by teaching for dishonest gain what ought not to be taught" (1:11). Paul mentions the motives behind their bad teaching. The NLT translates, "they do it only for money." So much for the modern denouncement of judging motives! Paul knows that the love of money moves the world (1 Timothy 6:10). So the overseer must not be greedy for gain (1:7); rather, he must be "free from the love of money" (1 Timothy 3:3). Greed becomes evident when it causes people to change the teaching of Christ for self-advantage. Mixed, or impure, motives are the bane of the Christian. Modern thinkers deny that pure motives are possible, but Scripture asserts they are essential in order to please God. We should "please him in all respects" (Colossians 1:10). In both motives and teaching, not to mention behavior, Paul draws a stark contrast between the man who can strengthen Christ's church and the rebellious who are "unfit for any good deed" (Titus 1:16). We do well to seek purity of motives and faithful teaching, so that God may be pleased with us and that we may be found building up the church rather than destroy people for whom Christ died. tag:www.forthright.net,2010://1.18748 2010-08-30T03:44:15Z 2010-08-29T03:47:38Z

Jesus sacrificed Himself for us that we might have all leaven removed from our midst.

Don Ruhl The Corinthian Church not only allowed a member of the church to live in adultery, but they boasted about it. First Corinthians 5 addresses the problem. In verse 7, Paul says, "Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7). The old leaven in this context is fornication in particular and sin in general. Having become Christians the Corinthians must not have realized that they could not keep the old leaven, the old way of living. When they allowed it in the church, Paul explained what actions they needed to take to remove the old leaven, which meant they had to disfellowship the fornicating member. The Holy Spirit wants us to take this action that the church might not have any leaven in it, because Jesus sacrificed Himself for us that we might have all leaven removed from our midst. tag:www.forthright.net,2010://1.18747 2010-08-30T03:41:50Z 2010-08-29T03:44:08Z

What can you offer freely from your mouth to the Lord? Have you done it yet?

Don Ruhl The Old Testament spoke of freewill offerings (Exo 35.29; 36.3; Lev 22.18; 22.21; 22.23; 23.38; Num 15.3; 29.39; Deu 12.6; 12.17; 16.10; 2Ch 31.14; Ezra 1.4; 3.5; 7.16; 8.28; Amos 4.5), but generally referred to an object one gave with the hand. Psalm 119 speaks of a freewill offering from the heart that we should all make, whether an Israelite during Old Testament times or a Christian during New Testament times, Accept, I pray, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, And teach me Your judgments. (Psalm 119:108) What can you offer freely from your mouth to the Lord? Have you done it yet? tag:www.forthright.net,2010://1.18742 2010-08-29T08:00:00Z 2010-08-29T00:32:31Z

"Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." These simple words in the beloved hymn for children, speak to the most profound truth in Scripture.

Jeff A. Jenkins http://blog.jeffajenkins.com/ Dear Father, help us never forget the most profound fact in all the world. May we never forget how much we are loved by our Savior. As we gather to feast on the Lord's Supper, help us to always be thankful for the amazing love that has been showered upon us. ]]> tag:www.forthright.net,2010://1.18746 2010-08-29T03:38:40Z 2010-08-29T03:41:43Z

Judging, hence, justification comes from the Lord.

Don Ruhl The Corinthians judged Paul, but listen to his response, "But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord" (1 Corinthians 4:3-4). What the Corinthians judged in Paul did not really matter. Paul could not be a good judge of himself either, because his self-bias found nothing against himself. However, that did not justify him. Judging, hence, justification comes from the Lord. tag:www.forthright.net,2010://1.18745 2010-08-29T03:35:55Z 2010-08-29T03:38:31Z

Set your mind on doing the Lord's commandments, but prepare yourself for attacks from Satan.

Don Ruhl People deride us for doing what the Bible says, but do not let that derision make you back off. Imitate the psalmist, The proud have me in great derision, Yet I do not turn aside from Your law. (Psalms 119:51) Set your mind on doing the Lord's commandments, but prepare yourself for attacks from Satan. He will use anyone he can to make you want to turn aside from doing what the Lord wants. Satan's temptations will be powerful, but make up your mind now to be like the psalmist.