Larry Perkins

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Karen Hoy

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Heidi McCandless - Procrastination.  Every one of us deals with this to some degree.  In some situations it doesn’t make much difference, in others, it can change the course of your life!  I almost missed the most important thing ever because I was too slow to realize how important it was.  I’m speaking of course of my own life – eternal life that is.

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Sarah Stickfort

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Albert Hull

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The subject of knowing if one is saved or not is probably the most important issue in the Christian life.

The assurance of salvation only comes from the Word of God.  Your feelings will change.  Your pastor can lie.  Your life will not always be an example of perfect Christian living.  The scripture, however, cannot be broken and will never pass away.

A common feature of many stories of salvation is that a person has a moment in life, when a particular verse or truth based on the teaching of a verse is the only ground on which that person stands.  If you know that Christ died for your sins on the cross, what is it that tells you that truth? It's the scripture - the Word of God.

The God who cannot lie is the God who wrote the Bible.  Through his word, you can be assured that if God says something, you can trust it.

Some assurances from the scripture include:

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. - John 5:24" TARGET="_blank">John 5:24

Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. - 1 John 5:11" TARGET="_blank">1 John 5:11

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,  - John 1:11-12" TARGET="_blank">John 1:11-12

There is a book online called "Here is the difference " by William McDonald that may help answer some of your doubts.  There are other doctrines such as forgiveness for the believer and salvation from the habits of sin that are relevant to your question.

Also, read the book Safety Certainty and Enjoyment to answer similar questions.

Shad Sluiter
Postville, IA

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WEAKNESS IN TESTIMONY

Is “The Church of God” in ruins, as held and taught by many?

If by the “Church of God” is meant “the Church which is His Body,” the statement is quite erroneous, for that is preserved for ever. But “Church of God” is used by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:9;" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians 1:13," TARGET="_blank">Galatians 1:13, in an extended sense of all Christians he could get at, though the term generally refers to the local expression of the Church. Thus, in 1 Corinthians 10:32," TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 10:32, the inhabitants of the city are divided into “Jews,” “Greeks,” and “the Church of God” (see Acts 20:28;" TARGET="_blank">Acts 20:28; 1 Corinthians 1: 2; 11:22)." TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 1: 2; 11:22).

We have, too, the expression the “Churches of God” (see `1 Corinthians 11:16;" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 11:16; 1 Thessalonians 2:14)." TARGET="_blank">1 Thessalonians 2:14). The expression, “IN RUINS,” would apply rather to some WORLDWIDE ORGANISATION. When that breaks down, they say the Church is in ruins, but it is THEIR ORGANISATION. None of God’s assemblies, low as their state was, was ever said to be in ruins, though Ephesus was warned lest her lampstand be removed. The testimony, too, is of a remnant character, and in weakness; but such as it is, it is not “IN RUINS,” nor ever need be. Such an expression is not applied in the Scriptures to a Church of God.

W.H.

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RESURRECTION AND RAPTURE
THE “AT ANY MOMENT” VIEW

Will Christ come secretly (as a surprise) for his church or will he come in shining glory and "every eye shall see Him"?

What about verses that indicate that he will come FOR His saints “immediately after the tribulation of those days”? Matthew 24;" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 24;  Mark 13" TARGET="_blank">Mark 13:, or Luke 21" TARGET="_blank">Luke 21: don't appear to have any verse where Christ said He would come SECRETLY or “at any moment.” Please throw light upon this subject.

The Lord's coming in glory is quite distinct from the descent of the Lord from heaven to take away His sleeping and living saints from the earth, to be for ever with the Lord, as is revealed in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18." TARGET="_blank">1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

Many verses take into account the differences between these two comings (e.g., John 14:1-6;" TARGET="_blank">John 14:1-6; Philippians 3:20-21;" TARGET="_blank">Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 1:10)." TARGET="_blank">1 Thessalonians 1:10). 1 Corinthians 15: 51-54," TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 15: 51-54, where the “mystery” of this first stage of the Lord’s return is revealed: “Behold, I shew you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” This is not referred to in Matthew 24," TARGET="_blank">Matthew 24, etc., for the good reason, that the time had not come to reveal it.

The coming there described is that of the “Son of Man” to the earth, to deliver Israel, which was not a mystery at all, but had been plainly revealed in the Old Testament, e.g., Zechariah 14:4-5." TARGET="_blank">Zechariah 14:4-5. where we read that “His feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, and that “all His saints will be with Him,” that is clearly all the saints already caught up to be with Him.

It is true that the words “secret rapture” do not occur in scripture, but if, as is stated, the whole event will be over in “the twinkling of an eye,” clearly only those taken away will know of it at the time, though their absence will doubtless be noticed later. They will be delivered thus from the Great Tribulation.

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“BROKEN” OR “GIVEN”?

Is it right or wrong to say, as we find in some hymns, “Thy body broken”?

With us, some substitute the word “given,” on the ground that “broken” contravenes the prohibition, “A bone of Him shall not be broken.”

The expression in the said hymns is based on the A.V. of 1 Corinthians 11:24" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 11:24: “This is My body, which is broken for you.” Whether or not this is correct, it is difficult dogmatically to decide, but I think we are safe in refusing “given” as a substitute for “broken” in the Corinthian passage, for there is no serious manuscript authority for it, and it is only supported by three versions—the Latin Vulgate, the Egyptian and the Ethiopic, and the editor of the 4th or 5th century—_Euthalius. This reading, however, has the bulk of authority in Luke 22:19." TARGET="_blank">Luke 22:19. The choice then lies between “broken” and simply, “This is My body for you” (lit, the one on behalf of you), though one cannot help feeling that this sentence seems to need completing with some verb.

However, although some good authorities like Drs. Tregelles and Christopher Wordsworth, refuse to give up “broken,” which has a considerable body of weighty authority behind it, there seems still more authority for omitting. Then again there is the prohibition: “A bone of Him shall not be broken.” which some quote as conclusive against our reading, “broken,” as the verb in 1 Corinthians  11:24. It is perfectly true that the bread is broken, but surely this is not as a symbol of anything that occurred at the cross, but simply for purposes of distribution. It is the breaking of bread which stands for the communion or sharing of it by those participating. Whether again the breaking of the body, i.e. of the skin and flesh, as was undoubtedly the case at Calvary, might take place, without the unity of the body being compromised, is a question. It is the bones which matter, for they are the foundation of the bodily frame, and alone preserve its unity. I have sometimes wondered whether the prohibition as to breaking a bone of the Paschal lamb (Exododus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12)" TARGET="_blank">Numbers 9:12) did not mean that the carcase should preserve its entirety, the bones being not only unbroken, but unsevered. The flesh would be carved off, the bony frame remain intact. It seems as though nothing short of this would represent the unity of the Body of Christ symbolised by the Lamb. Our Lord’s prophetic words in Psalm 22:17," TARGET="_blank">Psalm 22:17, “I may tell all my bones,” no doubt refer primarily to His physical bones, but they go further to those whom He in His omniscience even then knew as His members, and as being crucified with Him. In Psalm 34:20," TARGET="_blank">Psalm 34:20, we have the assurance, “He keepeth all His bones, not one of them is broken”— where “broken” might well bear the sense of “severed.” In the next Psalm we have the testimony of each and all of these “bones”—”All My bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto Thee, which deliverest the poor from Him that is too strong for him” (v. 10).

Our conclusion must be on the whole that while “given” is doctrinally correct (Luke 22. 19)," TARGET="_blank">Luke 22. 19), it cannot be upheld by the textual authorities of the Corinthian passage as what Paul wrote by the Spirit. As for “broken,” though well supported, it certainly has the general understanding of the prohibition of John 19:36" TARGET="_blank">John 19:36 against it, as well as the larger bulk of manuscript authority. I think we are safer then in accepting with the R.V. the version of the words in question as, “This is My body, which is for you,” though we may not be able to do so with absolute conviction.

W.H.

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