Ask Mr Bible

Earthly Jurisprudence

As the book of Romans opens, the trial of the ages is taking place.  Here is the official court record:
• The charge—
High treason against the King of the universe (Rom. 1:18-19). 
• The defendants—
1. A heathen—the pagan (Rom. 1:18-32)
2. A hypocrite—the moral person (Rom. 2:1-16)
3. A Hebrew—the religious person (Rom. 2:17-3:8)
• The jury—consisting of four jurors
1. The conscience of a person
2. The deeds of a person
3. The works of God
4. The Law of God
• The defense—
1. The pagan’s defense
His plea:  “I should be acquitted on the grounds of ignorance.”
2. The moral person’s defense
His plea:  “I should be acquitted on the grounds of comparison—that is, I’m not as bad as the pagan.”
3. The religious person’s defense
His plea:  “I should be acquitted on the grounds that I know the law of God and teach courses in religion.”
• The verdict—
“. . . . both Jews and Gentiles . . . are under sin . . . there is none righteous, no, not one . . . all the world [is] guilty before God” (Rom. 3:9-19).
• The sentence—
“For the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23a).
• The miracle—
“But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23b).
Up to this point the case of God against the accused has pretty well followed the format of earthly jurisprudence.  But suddenly something totally different and unexpected takes place that would surely cause every earthly court reporter to gasp in utter amazement.  After the Judge has carefully heard all the evidence and patiently listened to all the pleas, he finds no other choice but to invoke the supreme penalty, lest true justice be denied.  But before the terrible sentence can be carried out, this same Judge quietly closes the case book, lays down the heavenly gavel, rises to his feet, takes off his judicial robes, and goes out to die for these three convicted defendants.  This and this alone is justification.  The corrupt, doomed, and naked sinner may now be cleansed, delivered, and clothed in the very righteousness of Christ Himself.

Special Delivery

While a student at the Moody Bible Institute my Christian service assignment one semester was to conduct a Bible class for a group of junior boys and girls in the south side of Chicago.  In those days I was totally inexperienced in teaching (especially children) and was somewhat nervous as I prepared (for the first time) to tell them the Christmas story.  How could I make them understand what really happened at Bethlehem?  What illustration could I use?  As it turned out I had little need to worry, for one of the little girls in that group offered one of the most precious and profound bottom line statements ever heard on planet earth regarding the incarnation.  With incredible simplicity she said: “At Bethlehem, Mary was God’s envelope, and Jesus was God’s letter!”

WHAT JEWS, CHRISTIANS, AND MUSLIMS HAVE IN COMMON

It has been estimated that some 40 billion individuals have lived upon this earth since Adam.  What a contrast can be seen in this vast multitude of humanity.  It includes black men, white men, brown men, and yellow men.  These men have explored and settled in every corner of this earth.  They speak dozens of languages, practice multitude of religions, and have formulated numerous cultures.

But every single human being in this 40 billion number shares one vital thing in common.  His purpose of life down here and his eternal destiny afterwards depend completely upon his personal relationship with the subject of this study—the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is therefore absolutely impossible to overemphasize the importance of his life.  The key question of the universe continues to be, “What think ye of Christ?”  (Matt. 22:42)

As the songwriter has observed:

Jesus is standing at Pilate’s gate,
Neutral you cannot be.
Some day your heart will be asking,
What will He do with me?

THE WAY TO PRAY—OR SO THEY SAY

Various prayer positions are described in the Bible:

• Standing (Mk. 11:25)
• Sitting (1 Chron. 17:16)
• Bowing (Ex. 34:8)
• Reclining (Psa. 6:6)
• With lifted hands (Psa. 28:2)
• On one’s face (Mt. 26:39)
• On one’s knees (1 Kings 8:54)
• With the face between the knees (1 Kings 18:42)

The following amusing poem aptly summarizes this subject the best:

“The proper way for a man to pray,”
Said Deacon Lemuel Keyes,
“And the only proper attitude
Is down upon his knees.”

“No, I should say the way to pray,”
Said Reverend Doctor Wise,
“Is standing straight with outstretched arms
And rapt and upturned eyes.”

“Oh, no, no, no,” said Elder Slow,
“Such posture is too proud.
A man should pray with eyes fast-closed
And head contritely bowed.”

“It seems to me his hand should be
Austerely clasped in front
With both thumbs pointing toward the ground,”
Said Reverend Doctor Blunt.

“Well, I pray while resting every day,”
Said Mr. Henry Pack.
“So I should think you say your prayers
While lying on your back.”
“Last year I fell in Murphy’s well—
Headfirst,” said Cyrus Brown.
“With both my knees a’stickin’ up
And my head a’pointin’ down.”

“And I made a prayer right then and there,
The best prayer I ever said,
The prayingest prayer I ever prayed,
A’standing on my head.”

“So, if your prayers come
From mouth and not from soul;
God may just someday let you
Fall into a hole!”

Bottom line:  In matters of true prayer, it is not the position of the body but rather the condition of the hearts that counts!

Is the Virgin Birth Still Considered a Miracle?  In view of cloning?

The following response comes from Dr. Charles Detwiler, Biology Professor at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA.

“Human beings will soon be able to cause a human egg cell with a somatic cell nucleus taken from another person to develop to full adulthood.  This adult will be a “clone” of the original adult from whom the somatic cell nucleus was taken.  If this sort of process is experimentally feasible, must we still view the doctrine of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ as being dependent on a miracle?  Wouldn’t a slight alteration have occurred in the womb of Mary that would allow one of her ova to commence development and to produce the body of our Lord?”

Parthenogenesis, the development of unfertilized eggs to adulthood, is known to occur albeit rarely in the animal kingdom.  The main problem in viewing Christ’s birth in this way, is that the offspring of this process are invariably female in gender unless the maternal parent is able to store sperm within her body.  Scripture explicitly states (Luke 1:34) that Mary was a virgin—that she had not had a sexual relationship with any man.  It also states (Matt. 1:25) that she had no such union until after the birth of Christ.  If, therefore, it is not possible for a human sperm cell to have been within the virgin Mary’s body, and if Jesus was genetically and therefore biologically a male, clonal descent from his mother is simply not possible.  There is only one possibility left.

The maternal contribution of Mary must have received sufficient genetic information to have produced a normal male body for our Savior to inhabit.  This required the presence of biological information that simply could not have resided within Mary’s own genetic information.  Scripture clearly indicates that this information did not find its source in the body of Joseph or any other human male alive at the time.  The conception of Christ must have been, as always assumed in Christian teaching, a miracle.  Jesus Christ’s body could not have been a clone of anyone present on earth at the time.  Rather, in some miraculous way, the Holy Spirit of God, produced within the body of His precious “daughter” a deposit of information sufficient to generate, biologically, “the son of Abraham, and the son of David.”  And in a still higher miracle that same Holy Spirit infused that body with His own Being, such that our Savior was entirely, the son of Abraham, the son of David, and the son of God.

When we consider the soul of man, genetic cloning contains its own mysteries that biologists will not by their technical methods account for or explain.  But the conception of our Lord is a miracle of biological and theological proportions vastly beyond the scope and possibility both of cloning technology and normal conception of mortal human beings.  Could it have been the greatest miracle ever to have come from the hand of Almighty God?

Exactly what happened at the Incarnation of Jesus Christ?

The great evangelist, D. L. Moody, often related the story of a young biologist who came across an especially large and active ant hill during his walk in a forest.  Delighted with his find, the biologist sat down on a nearby rock, and taking out pen and notebook, began writing down what he saw.  Soon, however, the entire ant hill was in an upheaval as the tiny creatures became aware of his presence.  Frustrated, the biologist walked away wishing he could in some manner communicate with them, assuring the little creatures of his interest and that no harm would be forthcoming.

He concluded, however, the only way this could happen would be to take upon himself the body of an ant and thus become part of their existence sharing his story in a way they could comprehend.

This is exactly what occurred at the Incarnation.  The infinite, holy, eternal, and sinless Son of God agreed to take upon himself a finite and fleshly body that he, the lofty Creator, might personally communicate with us, his lowly creatures.

How many false philosophies does the first verse in the Bible refute?

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).

● It refutes atheism, for creation is the work of God’s hand.
● It refutes evolution, for the universe was created and did not evolve.
● It refutes materialism, for the universe did not always exist.
● It refutes polytheism, for there is only one God.
● It refutes pantheism, for God is apart from and independent of his creation.

When did the Holy Spirit first appear on earth? Many erroneously believe he originally came at Pentecost in Acts 2, but here he is seen at the very beginning of creation.

“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2).

However, a comparison may be seen between Gen. 1 and Acts 2: In Gen. 1 the Holy Spirit is seen hovering over the waters, infusing it with life and energy. In Acts 2 He did the same with the 120 believers assembled in Jerusalem.

Who created the universe?

● According to David, the Father created all things.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psa. 19:1).

● However, John declared the Son did it.

“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:3-4).

● Finally, in other passages, the Holy Spirit is said to have performed the initial act of creation. What are we to believe? The answer is, of course, that all three persons in the Trinity had a part. As an illustration let us consider an important executive who determines to build a spacious and expensive home. He, thus, employs an architect to design the necessary plans for this home. The architect then secures a competent contractor to follow his blueprints. In this illustration the executive is the Father, the architect is the Son, and the contractor is the Holy Spirit. The following verses, then, refer to the work of this Divine Contractor.

“Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth” (Psa. 104:30).

“The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life” (Job 33:4).

How many heavens are there? The word heaven in Gen. 1:1 is plural in the Hebrew. Actually there are three heavens mentioned in the Bible and in the beginning God created all three.

● First heaven: home of the birds and clouds—“The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it” (Dan. 4:12).

“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” (Matt. 6:26).

● Second heaven: home of the sun, moon, and stars—“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psa. 19:1).

● Third heaven: home of the angels and departed saints—“I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven” (2 Cor. 12:2).

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The Famous Bible Teacher and Pastor of Moody Memorial Church

Dr. Harry Ironside, famed Bible teacher and pastor of Moody Memorial Church in former years was once handed a gospel tract by a Moody Bible Institute student as he was walking in the Loop. The following conversation is reported to have taken place:

Student: (not at first recognizing Dr. Ironside)—“Sir, here is a gospel tract. Are you saved?”

Pastor: (always the theologian)—“Am I saved? Well, son, let me answer by saying I have been, I am being, and I will be saved.”

Student: (who suddenly recognized the famed Bible teacher)—“Sir, please forgive me. I didn’t know it was you.”

Pastor (placing his arm around the embarrassed student): “Son, never apologize for giving witness to Jesus! It is I perhaps who needs to apologize. However, I simply answered the question by the way it was asked. Yes, I’m saved! I have been (justification), I am being (sanctification), and some glorious day I will be (glorification).

Communication–a two way street

There was a member in one of the churches I pastored who regularly called my wife for some Christian ‘fellowship’ each Monday morning. Following this she often would phone my office, expressing just how much she enjoyed conversing with Sue. But this was really not the case. In realitythe only word poor Sue could contribute was the word ‘hello’ as she answered the phone. Then, for the next ten or fifteen minutes the caller would go non-stop and abruptly conclude, saying how great it was to talk with her again. But sadly the ‘visit’ was over 99% monologue and less than 1% dialogue!

Prayer–talking with God

So it is, all too often regarding our prayer life. Effective prayer may be best defined as ‘having fellowship with God.’ It is more than simply talking to God, but rather talking with God. It implies a two-way give-and-take.

All too often this simple, basic, bottom-line definition is either misunderstood or simply ignored.

Simply stated:
• I talk to Him through my words.
• He talks to me through His Word.

The Enemy of my enemy is my friend

There is an old Arab proverb that says: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Simply stated, this refers to and occurs when two previous enemies team up against a common and more hated enemy.

Interestingly there is an occasion in the Bible where this actually happened. It involved two bitter political rivals, Pontius Pilate, Governor of Judea, and Herod Antipas, Governor of Galilee.

However, during the trial of Jesus, Pilate at first refused to condemn the Savior but instead recognized the authority of Herod to do so. The Gospel of Luke gives us the results:

“And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves” (Luke 23:12).

All this of course happened 2000 years ago. Is there however, a modern Middle East parallel illustrating this parable? Consider: it has been estimated that over 50,000 Iraqi citizens have been killed since the U. S. invaded their country, and that some 90% of this frightful number met their deaths NOT by American soldiers, but rather at the hands of their own countrymen! Murderous mobs of Shiite Arabs and Sunni Arabs seek out and destroy each other daily! Continue Reading »