In 1 Corinthians 14:24-25, Paul stressed the superiority of prophesying (as in the preaching of truth) over speaking in tongues, especially for the unbeliever. According to 1 Corinthians 14:3, prophesying is for edification, exhortation, and comfort. Therefore, Paul in this chapter is dealing with the aspects of prophesying that perfectly match Bible preaching today. When the unbeliever hears such preaching, "he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest" (v.24-25). This is the purpose of true preaching for the unbeliever. The word, convince, is related to the word convict. Jesus asked those opposing Him, "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" (John 8:46). The preaching of the word should convince the sinners, bring the sinners into judgment, and reveal the secrets of their hearts. Does your preaching do this? Does the preaching you listen to do this? When the unbeliever is so convinced, "falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth" (1 Corinthians 14:25). May we see once again the power of such preaching in our churches.
"Honor: A History," a new book written by James Bunting, deals with the importance of honor as a concept in the past and the loss of that sense of honor today. The Bible commonly uses honor (spelled "honour") in the sense of giving honor to someone else (as to God) or receiving honor from others (as in honoring our father and mother). The closest Bible word for what is meant by a sense of honor is the word honourable. To be honourable is to receive honor or to be worthy of receiving honor. Samuel was introduced to Saul as a man of God and "an honourable man" (1Samuel 9:6). Jabez, who prayed and received answer to his prayer, was "more honourable than his brethren" (1Chronicles 4:9). Joseph of Arimathaea was "an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God" (Mark 15:43). Honor is the opposite of shame in the Bible. Therefore, a sense of honor involves living in such a way as to avoid shameful acts and associations. The emphasis in the Bible on having a "good name" (Proverbs 22:1; Ecclesiastes 7:1) embodies the idea of that sense of honor; that determination to act in an honourable way. George Washington was famous for the importance he placed on his reputation and honor. We long to see such honor today.
On three different occasions the Apostle Paul admonishes believers to be followers of him (see 1Corinthians 4:6; 1Corinthians 11:1; and Philippians 3:17). With this in mind we ought to preach the gospel which Paul preached. We find this gospel defined in 1Corinthians 15:1-4, where it says the gospel includes the death, burial and resurrection according to the scriptures. Today we are taught by many of the necessity of baptism for salvation. Apparently Paul did not know this for he said, "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel" (1Corinthians 1:17). Notice that Paul contradicted the gospel and baptism as if they were not the same. If Paul believed that baptism was necessary for salvation, then he was one of the biggest hypocrites ever to walk the face of this earth. He should have been going all over the countryside dunking people in water instead of wasting his time in prison for preaching the gospel.
In Genesis 3:15, God refers to the seed of the serpent. Many Bible-believing students have seen this as a reference to the antichrist who, in imitation of the virgin birth, will have a miraculous birth. Modern movies have played on the theme of the devil's seed. But the real seed of the serpent will be accepted as the true "Christ" and his birth will be heralded as a wondrous proof of his divine heritage. This viewpoint is seen in ancient myths. According to "The Virgin Birth" by Robert Gromacki (p.212): "Alexander the Great made the priests say that he was a son of Zeus. He denied that he was the son of Philip and affirmed that he was begotten by a serpent cohabiting with his mother. Later, the Roman Caesar Augustus wanted the story spread that his mother, asleep in the temple of Apollo, was visited by the god in the form of a serpent. Conceived, he was later born in the tenth month." As the Bible tells us, "there is no new thing under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
"Rejuvenile" is the name of a new book by Christopher Noxon. It is also the name given to a commonly observed person today: one who is physically an adult but is often childlike in interests, habits, and sometimes in more serious ways. This person has also been variously named a kidult, a grup, a twixter, or an adultescent. This phenomenon comes in varying styles and degrees. On the mild side, it may be displayed in the man who wears a cartoon tie or the father who plays in the kiddie gym with his young children. More serious are the middle aged woman who wears skimpy outfits made for teens and the aging baby-boomer who sports a pony-tail and does Elvis impersonations while driving down the highway. Most serious are adults who never take to adult responsibilities: the 40-year-old man who still lives with mom and spends his money on juvenile pursuits; the 40-year-old woman who goes from job to job and from boyfriend to boyfriend.
Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, keeps pushing back the boundaries of its claimed evangelical stance. In an article in the July 1, 2006, edition of "World," Joel Belz reports that the seminary claims that homosexuality is a sin in one breath and bends over backward to accommodate it in the next. In a class on "Gender and Sexuality" taught by the husband-and-wife team of Jack and Judith Balswick, practicing sodomites are invited to lecture. One recent such lecturer "derided heterosexualism as a social contract rather than a historical or biblical norm." In the Balswicks' book, "Authentic Human Sexuality," they state: "We acknowledge that some gay Christians may choose to commit themselves to a lifelong, monogamous homosexual union, believing this is God's best for them." They seem to have forgotten that Paul wrote the Corinthians (1Corinthians 6:9-11) and said of those who had been "effeminate" or "abusers of themselves with mankind" (phrases referring to homosexuals), "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." Evidently, salvation puts such practices in the past tense. He does not say that they could never fall into the old sins, but he does say that salvation lifts them out of these categories. A sodomite who is comfortable in his or her sodomy is certainly not a Christian.
The Lord is clearly interested in beauty. Some form of the word is used 76 times in the Bible. We are told that God "hath made every thing beautiful in his time" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). He so highly exalts the proper concept of beauty that He often associates it with holiness (Psalm 29:2; 96:9; 110:3). Unfortunately, men tend to pervert beauty as they do all that they touch. God reminds us that outward "beauty is vain" (Proverbs 31:30) and human "beauty is a fading flower' (Isaiah 28:1). Men corrupt beauty and make the "beauty of a man" a focus for idolatry (Isaiah 44:13). Eventually, man's perverseness causes his "beauty to be abhorred" (Ezekiel 16:25). The very concept of what is beautiful is no longer recognizable.
The following is an excerpt from Soldiers in Training by Brother Daryl Coats.
