Child in the Manger

His Way with Thee

Republicans, Beware!

 Dear Republican Politicians,

 

I am first and foremost a Bible-believing Christian and Pastor. My faith in the word of God yields some beliefs/practices that separate me from my countrymen and them from me. At the same time, the common sense and moral decency planted in the heart of man by the Bible is still prominent enough in this country that many Americans ultimately share foundational virtues and beliefs. Where these truths cease to be cherished and therefore vanish, countries and communities descend into chaos and anarchy. Before that happens, the common and decent man must lose hope in his leaders or at least in the system by which these leaders are chosen. As a Christian and an American, I warn that we are there. 

 

It is no secret that Bible-believing Christians are more strongly associated with the Republican party. For many Republican politicians, that has become an accepted norm and one that you use to your advantage anytime an election is held. It should, however, be understood that most Christians, me included, are not at all impressed with you either. In fact, we generally hold our noses when voting for you, understanding that we are choosing the lesser of two evils. After all, Republicans and Democrats are often only differentiated from each other by the letter after their names.

 

In my time as a politically aware American, the presidential candidates offered by the Republican party have been former President George W. Bush, the late Senator John McCain, Senator Mitt Romney, and President Donald J. Trump. Anyone possessing common sense realizes that three of these men are part of the old guard and are ultimately one and the same. This is the Republican party that many in power revere and it is becoming increasingly obvious that a return to that would be welcomed by you.

To the average American, the old Republican party is worth less than the Democratic party it pretends to oppose. In fact, your party lost twice to former President Barack Obama who did irreparable harm to our nation. Additionally, had one of your chosen pawns won the Republican primary in 2016, we would be looking at a potential second term for Hillary Clinton in 2020. In other words, a large number of people who identify with the Republican party do not identify with what you hold to be safe, happy, and normal. We rather identify with President Donald J. Trump.

The silence and cooperation many of you now show toward a POTENTIALLY rigged election is deafening! The fact that many of you are more comfortable with a Joe Biden presidency than you are to stick your necks on the line to stand with the president who has stood for the people who voted you into office tells us that you would like to return to the Republican party with the likes of Bush, McCain, and Romney. However, please be advised that while we held our nose to vote for these people in the past, we refuse to do so again.

A return to normal will be a return to losing. We are not coming with you! We have had a taste of liberty and expect nothing less going forward. We have enjoyed and benefitted from an America first approach and have no desire to return to a global system that empowers our enemies and cripples our countrymen. We have enjoyed the peace of having fewer of our young people shipped to fight wars in other lands protecting and building nations that hate us.

I may only be one voice, but I dare to say that I speak for others. Republican leaders either need to get in the fight for our president and for integrity in our elections or be prepared for us to stay home at election time from this point forward. IF this election WAS rigged, our votes no longer matter anyway. While this may suit you fine in the present, you need to understand that the people who might promise you continued power now, will cast you aside for their own benefit just as quickly as you have cast us aside. If you love America, stand for it! Otherwise, be prepared to kiss it goodbye.

What Will Happen When You Die?

 You Are Made Up of Three Parts

The Bible teaches us that every man, woman, boy, and girl is made up of three parts. Those three parts are known as spirit, soul, and body. This can be seen in 1Thessalonians 5:23, where the Bible says, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

The Body

The body is the part that can be seen by others. It is the shell in which you live. 

 

The Spirit

When we speak of your spirit, we are not speaking of the Holy Spirit also known as the Spirit of God. Your spirit is
the part of you that communicates with God. Prior to salvation, this spirit is dead and must be made alive.

 

The Soul

Your soul is the real you. It is the part of you that goes on to exist in eternity. It is your decision maker.

 

What Is Death?

Many have tried to define the events surrounding death, but the Bible gives us two circumstances that truly define death. First of all, the Bible tells us that death is connected to the departure of the soul.

“And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died)…” (Genesis 35:18).  

 

The second event that the Bible connects to death is the departure of the spirit.

 

“Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age” (Genesis 25:8).  

 

With this in mind, we can affirm that death occurs when your soul and spirit leave your body.

 

What Happens to the Saved?

Up to this point, we have merely laid the groundwork in order to explain what happens to a person when he or she dies.

 

The Body

The body of a saved man may be laid to rest in a number of ways, but eventually his body gives way to “corruption,” i.e., (it rots, or decomposes).

 

The Spirit 

According to Ecclesiastes 3:21, the spirit of man goes upward at the point of death. Ecclesiastes 12:7 further explains this by saying, “the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” With these Scriptures it is easy to see that the spirit of man leaves the body at the point of death and goes to God.

 

The Soul

The soul of man is the part of man that will dwell in one of two places at death. It is the part of man that makes a decision either to trust Christ as Saviour or to reject Him. As such, it should not surprise us that the apostle Paul said of his soul, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2Corinthians 5:8). The Bible also declares that it is the soul of man that is saved (1Peter 1:9).

 

With these truths in mind, perhaps the chart below will help you better understand the events surrounding death.

What Happens to the Lost?

Now that we have seen what happens to a saved person at death, we will turn our attention to what happens to the lost at death. By lost, we mean any person who has not placed his faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus and called upon Him as his Saviour.

 

The Body

Like the saved, the body of a lost person may be laid to rest in a variety of ways, but the body will yield itself to corruption.

 

The Spirit

It may surprise you, but the Bible actually teaches that the spirit of a lost person also returns to God who gave it. The Bible tells us that the Lord is “The God of the spirits of all flesh” (Numbers 16:22; Numbers 27:16). Now do not let this ease your fears. The spirit of man is his communicator with God. The fact that the spirit of man will not go to hell with his soul means that man will have absolutely no way to communicate with God from hell. What a horrible thought that you could be in hell and have no way to communicate with the Lord!

 

The Soul

As we alluded to above, the soul of a lost person will spend an eternity in hell and the lake of fire. This truth can be plainly seen in the story of the rich man and Lazarus. The Bible tells us that the rich man died, and was buried, and “in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments” (Luke 16:23). Hell is a place of unquenchable fire. It is a place where your soul will spend eternity in great torment and with no hope of calling upon God for deliverance.

 

Perhaps the following chart will help to clarify these points.  

A Plea to the Lost

If you have not trusted Christ as your Saviour, your soul could be in hell before you finish this tract. The good news is that you do not have to go to hell. The Lord Jesus Christ came to this world with an offer of salvation to all who would trust in His death, burial, and resurrection as the payment for their sins. He said, “I am come that they might have life” (John 10:10). He came to give you life, but He will not force that on you. The choice is yours. 

 

Will you repent, and call upon the Lord Jesus Christ to save you? Do it now! This could be your last breath.

We Gather Together

The Greatest Problem Plaguing Our Planet

Everyone recognizes that the earth has changed considerably over the ages. The paradise inhabited by our earliest ancestors is worlds apart from the planet we inhabit today. Man’s influence has certainly taken its toll. Who or what bears responsibility for this travesty? Our quest for discovery must begin by considering the character of the original paradise.

The Original Paradise

Overpopulation, pollution, and water and soil contamination were nonexistent when our earliest ancestors called the earth their home. A mist went up from the earth’s surface to water the whole face of the ground making rain unnecessary.1 Beautiful trees in abundance offered mankind a bountiful food supply.2 The land possessed bountiful resources undisturbed by man,3 and the animal kingdom flourished without concern for survival of the fittest.4 Vegetation grew unhampered by thorns and thistles. This was truly a wonderful paradise in which to live!

Paradise Lost

How did such a beautiful place devolve into what we see and know today? Is it merely the result of gradual change, or was there a major upheaval that sent the earth into its downward spiral? How did the earth and its inhabitants shift from perfect harmony to the pain it presently experiences?5 Is it, as claimed by some, the result of climate change, deforestation, ozone layer depletion, and overpopulation; or will our search for truth discover a much simpler answer?

Before discovering any problem’s solution, we must first discover the root cause. We cannot blame the animal kingdom since they are the unwilling subjects of the circumstances at hand.6 Additionally, we cannot justify placing blame on industrialization, since apart from man’s actions there would be no industrialization. In fact, apart from man, overpopulation, pollution, and ozone layer depletion would never be discussed as potential grounds. Man’s existence on earth serves as the only clear culprit, but perhaps there exists a deeper problem. 

None of the problems commonly pointed out today were present until mankind (specifically the first man and woman) directly and consciously rebelled against the Creator of the universe. Their sin caused the earth to inherit an enduring curse7 and death passed upon all men.8 This act of rebellion against the Creator propelled the creation onto a collision course with its Maker. 

The earth now waxes old like a garment in need of changing.9 This change could be identified as a “Big-Bang.” However, this “Big-Bang” is not a historical event, but a future one yet on the horizon. Nor will this cataclysmic event produce structure, but only destruction. The real “Big-Bang” will take place when God destroys this earth with fire.10 Man’s future is even more precarious than the world’s future unless each person consciously and individually puts his faith in the payment for sins provided through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. In fact, those who refuse to trust Christ as Saviour will dwell eternally in a lake of fire.11 Sin pitted man against God and God against man. Fortunately, God the Son gave Himself as the perfect, sinless sacrifice to reconcile this severed relationship.12 Although man’s willful disobedience caused the present conditions and will ultimately bring about the future judgment, God never intended for man to inhabit a cursed earth. Instead, God intends to one day restore the paradise lost through sin.

Paradise Regained

Just as paradise was lost in a garden, the restored paradise was secured in another garden.13 That which our earliest ancestors lost, Christ restored through the offering of Himself. He was not the problem, but He is the only solution.

Do not be misled, Christ did not die on the cross to preserve the earth. He died because we each needed a means of reconciliation with our Creator. Nonetheless, an added benefit of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection is the privilege for men, women, boys, and girls to live forever in an incorruptible paradise.14 Much like man’s first dwelling place, this paradise will be a place of indescribable beauty. In fact, this paradise will have no need of the harmful rays of sunlight, for Christ gives it light.15 The waters cannot be contaminated,16 the fruit of the trees never experience any type of disease,17 and the curse plaguing the earth will be forever eliminated.18 In addition, the destroyer of the first paradise (sin) will be banished from this future paradise.19

Although this paradise remains free to all, its availability came at a great cost. The innocent Son of God died to pay for your wrongdoings. Though the initial sin occurred with our earliest ancestors, we too have personally rebelled against the Creator.20 The penalty for our rebellion is death, but Jesus Christ died to offer us life.21 If you want to live in that future paradise void of sin and all the resulting troubles, you must trust Jesus Christ and His payment for your sins. Won’t you bow your head right now and confess your personal guilt and responsibility for sin? Won’t you call upon the name of the Lord and ask Him to save you?22

I, who ere while the happy garden sung,

By one man’s disobedience lost, now sing

Recovered Paradise to all mankind,

By one man’s firm obedience fully tried

Through all temptation, and the tempter foiled

In all his wiles, defeated and repulsed,

And Eden raised in the waste wilderness.

Taken from Milton’s Paradise Regained

 

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1 Genesis 2:6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

2 Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

3 Genesis 2:11-12 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.

4 Genesis 1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

5 Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

6 Romans 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

7 Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

8 Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 

9 Hebrews 1:10-12 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

10 2 Peter 3:10-12 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

11 Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

12 Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 

13 John 19:41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. 

14 Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

15 Revelation 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 

16 Revelation 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 

17 Revelation 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 

18 Revelation 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 

19 Revelation 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. 

20 Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 

21 Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

22 Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 

A Tale of Two Sauls

The name Saul was likely a prominent name among the Israelites and one that was given in honour. After all, the first king the nation knew was named Saul. Upon consideration of these truths, I have often wondered if Saul of Tarsus (later the apostle Paul), whose family obviously elevated their Jewish heritage (Acts 22:3), was named after the first king. With that in mind, consider the similarities between the two men.

Both were Benjamites.

• King Saul was a Benjamite (1 Samuel 9:21).
• Saul of Tarsus was of the tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3:5).

Both were transitional men.

• King Saul was the transitional man from the leadership of judges to that of kings.
• Saul of Tarsus was a transitional man in turning the focus from the Jews to the Gentiles.

Both deemed themselves to be the least.

• King Saul said his family was the least and that he did not feel worthy to be king (1 Samuel 9:21).
• Saul of Tarsus, at the time Paul, said he was the least of the apostles and not meet to be called an apostle (1 Corinthians 15:9).

Both excelled their peers.

• King Saul excelled his peers (1 Samuel 9:2).
• Saul of Tarsus, again as Paul, excelled many of his equals (Galatians 1:14).

Both fell upon their faces before a prophet supposed to be dead.

• King Saul fell on his face before Samuel (1 Samuel 28:14).
• Saul of Tarsus fell on his face before the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 9:4-5).

Both asked of the prophet what he should do.

• King Saul asked Samuel what he should do (1 Samuel 28:15).
• Saul of Tarsus asked Jesus what He would have Saul to do (Acts 9:6).

Both sought to kill a man because of his love for another man.

• King Saul attempted to kill Jonathan because Jonathan loved David (1 Samuel 20:33).
• Saul of Tarsus consented to kill Stephen because Stephen loved the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 7:58; Acts 8:1).

Both persecuted God’s anointed.

• King Saul persecuted David (1 Samuel 18:11).
• Saul of Tarsus persecuted the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 9:4).

Both presented/present a daughter to the anointed king.

• King Saul gave his daughter to David to wife (1 Samuel 18:27).
• Saul, now Paul, will, in a sense, present a daughter to the Lord Jesus Christ to wife (2 Corinthians 11:2; Galatians 4:19).