When the Ephesians believed on Christ, they examined the moral nature of each aspect of their lives. This led them to burn their curious arts books.
There are many things in this life that are not sinful in and of themselves, but when they are misused they can be deemed as sinful or harmful.
In spite of all that God has done for man, men still refuse to have respect for Him. The Lord never has nor ever will compete for respect from man.
The Bible offers two circumstances to truly define death: the departure of the soul (Genesis 35:18) and the departure of the spirit (Genesis 25:8).
Although one individual may possess both power and authority, the two are not identical. Authority is the right or responsibility to do something whereas power is the ability to do something. Unfortunately, the modern versions missed this truth when they translated Matthew 28:18. Instead of properly expressing that because of the resurrection the Lord Jesus had been given all power in heaven and earth, these so-called bibles suggest that He had been instead given authority. The authority already resided with Him, but the resurrection declared Him “to be the Son of God with power” (Romans 1:4). His resurrection from the dead gave Him the power over death by conquering the one who possessed the power of death (Hebrews 2:14).
When speaking of anger, the scripture uses descriptive terms that could equally be applied to the truths concerning fire. In doing so, the Bible makes a connection that can help believers gain a better understanding of the benefits or dangers of anger. According to scripture, anger can be kindled, a term used to describe the starting of a fire (Exodus 4:14; Numbers 11:1; Deuteronomy 32:22; Jeremiah 15:14), either a little (Psalm 2:12) or greatly (Numbers 11:10; 1 Samuel 11:6). The Bible also describes anger as waxing hot (Exodus 32:19), another connection to fire. These similarities are by divine design. As is true concerning fire, anger can be useful and productive, but it can also be destructive and harmful, especially when it gets out of control.
Man is made up of three parts: spirit, soul, and body. Death takes place when the soul (Genesis 35:18) and the spirit (Genesis 25:8) leave the body. This event happens to everyone regardless of the individual’s spiritual state at death. Saved or lost, a person’s spirit returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 3:21; Ecclesiastes 12:7). However, the soul’s destination is based upon whether or not a person has trusted Jesus Christ as Saviour during this life. There exists no midpoint between earth and heaven (or hell) to purge one’s sins, including places invented by religions to do so. For a saved person, the Bible declares that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). Unfortunately for the lost, this same outcome is not true. Following death, the Bible reveals that the lost man’s soul immediately goes to hell (Luke 16:23).
In Deuteronomy 7:7-8, the Lord expressed His great love for the nation of Israel. In the midst of this declaration, the Lord provided reasons why He placed His love upon this particular nation. In Deuteronomy 1:27, the people began to murmur and their murmurings bred lies. They stated that the Lord brought them out of Egypt to destroy them because of His great hatred for them. Their statements were completely false. This is true in most circumstances when people turn to murmuring. The problem gets exaggerated and the truth corrupted. Fabricating lies helps the one murmuring to feel better about voicing the complaint. Interestingly, the truth is usually not worth murmuring about.
As we have seen, courage comes from a strength of heart. On the contrary, the Bible likens discouragement (the opposite of courage) to a melted heart (Joshua 2:11). In other words, discouragement takes place when a man’s heart loses strength. The Bible reveals that discouragement comes through various avenues of life. Men become discouraged because of “the way” (i.e., the circumstances of life) (Numbers 21:4). Discouragement also results from fear and unbelief (Deuteronomy 1:28) and the magnitude of a task (1 Chronicles 28:20). Ultimately, discouragement rears its ugly head as a result of a lack of faith in God and His word. Since discouragement and a lack of faith go hand in hand, a discouraged man cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6).
