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Foundation Truths of the Gospel

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"Take the Challenge"

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The Work of Christ

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Gais Goeff

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John Brokaw

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PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
Is it right to pray to the Holy Ghost?

Which Scriptures, if any, can be cited to justify this, either directly or by implication?

It is not according to God’s order as laid down in His Word. The glorious Three in One, though co-equal, co-eternal and co-substantial (that is each possessing the whole Divine substance), are not identical in function and relation, as any thoughtful reader of the Scripture will allow at once. The Father sends the Son, the Son by the Eternal Spirit offers Himself to God, the Spirit proceedeth from the Father, Who sends Him forth in the name of the Son. The Father desires worshippers. Such can only come through the Son, and in the power of the Spirit. All these purposes and functions are also the work of the Divine Being in the Unity of His essence.
It is therefore quite beside the mark to insist on predicating of each of the Blessed Divine Persons the same relations, lest we dishonour any One of Them. We pray to the Father and the Son (John 14:13, 14)," TARGET="_blank">John 14:13, 14), but never are we told to do this to the Holy Spirit; nor have we one instance SO far as I know, of any such exercise. Whatever pious ecclesiastics, often governed as much by their feelings as by the Word, may say, we cannot presume to be wiser than God, or to go beyond His Word, or honour Him by going outside what He has revealed. The ultimate divine order is given in Ephesians 2:18" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 2:18 “For through Him (the Son) we both (Jew and Gentile) have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”

W.H.

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Will there be more people in Heaven or in Hell?

Excellent question, and I will give you a hedged answer because the Bible doesn’t say for sure in so many words.  

What we do know is that of the people who live out their lives on earth a decidedly small number will “seek” and “find” God’s salvation.   Here is what Jesus said:  “Enter ye in at the strait[narrow] gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:   Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 7:13-14)   

The reality is that finding life and ending up in heaven takes focus, effort, and purpose.   By default people will end up in hell if they are never saved by God, for that is where the curse of sin inherited from Adam will take us once we are old enough to understand we are sinners and then refuse to repent.  The good news is that God has made a way for us to escape through the blood of Jesus.  Once we have found salvation, we are rescued forever from Hell.  This is actually much better than what Adam and Eve originally had, being created on their way to heaven but with the ability to fall off that way and die spiritually.  But it does take earnest effort in this life to make sure we find and enter the right Door, which is Christ (John 10:9)." TARGET="_blank">John 10:9).

So that would leave us with “more people in hell than heaven”.

But this does not consider the reality of the huge number of infants that die, before or after they are born.  Yes, a person is a person from the moment of conception.  These will come into heaven by virtue of not having had the chance to sin, nor need to repent, protected by Jesus’ blood.  This group would also include those who grow up but whose brains never developed enough for them to be able to distinguish between good and evil.  They will all be there.  

So, especially with the modern outrage of abortion, I would switch the answer to “more people in heaven than hell”.  Only God knows for sure, but this would be a blessed fulfillment of the reality that the Lord Jesus “in all things <will> have the preeminence.” (Colossians 1:18)" TARGET="_blank">Colossians 1:18)  In the end He wins by every measure.

Alfred Corduan

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What are the crowns that Christ will give to believers for their reward?  At the Judgment Seat of Christ, the Lord will reward believers for what they have done in their life (1 Corinthians 3:11-15)." TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 3:11-15).  From other Bible verses, we can see that the Lord will reward believers with several type of crowns...

1 Corinthians 9:25" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 9:25 - "And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible."

1 Thessalonians 2:19" TARGET="_blank">1 Thessalonians 2:19 - "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing"

1 Timothy 4:8" TARGET="_blank">1 Timothy 4:8 - "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

James 1:12" TARGET="_blank">James 1:12 - "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him."

1 Peter 5:4" TARGET="_blank">1 Peter 5:4 - "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away."

Revelation 2:10" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 2:10 - "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."

Revelation 4:4" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 4:4 - "And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold."

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Will Science one day enable us to live forever in our physical bodies?  Will we unlock the secret of aging and death?

Today scientists are talking realistically about developing solutions to grow and replace aging organs artificially.  Some even talk about digitizing all aspects of the human brain and literally downloading a person’s personality, memories and creativity into a CD that can be stored and transferred to other beings.  They say that we'll be able to live forever if we want to (and have the money).  Are there are people alive today who will never have to contemplate dying or going to heaven or hell?  Will God allow this to happen?

Live Long Enough to Live Forever

We live in an exciting age when fiction becomes fact faster than we expect.  Some said that God would never allow man to walk on the moon, that flying faster than sound would be deadly on the human body, that the world would starve to death in the 1970’s due to the inability to produce enough food.  Now some scientists are saying we will eventually extend life indefinitely. 

Dr. Ray Kurzweil's is one author who is planning to live long enough to see the dream of eternal life on earth become a reality.  His book Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever. Dr. Kurtzweil says that we will soon discover secrets to aging and gain the capacity to repair and replace enough of our body to life indefinitely.  Artificial intelligence technology will advance to the point where human consciousness, memory and emotions will be able to be transferred to machines and to other beings making it possible to restart life even after one’s body has aged.  Although these concepts remain the subject of science fiction, he believes the future may be closer than we think. He estimates that 2045 is the approximate year in which sufficient advances will be made to achieve indefinite life.   The curve of scientific discovery follows an exponential growth rate, not a linear rate.  Scientific advancements are doubling every 10 years.  He observes:

The 20th century was not 100 years of progress at today’s rate but, rather, was equivalent to about 20 years, because we’ve been speeding up to current rates of change. And we’ll make another 20 years of progress at today’s rate, equivalent to that of the entire 20th century, in the next 14 years. And then we’ll do it again in just 7 years. Because of this exponential growth, the 21st century will equal 20,000 years of progress at today’s rate of progress—1,000 times greater than what we witnessed in the 20th century, which itself was no slouch for change.

Kurzweil is trying his hardest to be alive long enough to be here whenever these breakthrough technologies are developed.  By taking 180 to 210 pills each day – vitamin and mineral supplements – and receiving experimental treatments one day each week from Dr. Terry Grossman at the price of $6,000 per visit, he is buying time.  His book is essentially a life-extension strategy to remain alive until 2045.

Skeptics

There are plenty of skeptics in the scientific community who see problems ahead in the quest to achieve indefinite life. 
Technology may not ever solve the problem of artificial intelligence.  To date, the limitation in artificial intelligence has not been with processing power of computers, but with the software of human intelligence.  Our brains are very complex, but also very slow.  A neuron can fire about once every 5 milliseconds, or about 200 times a second.  A CPU cycle on a 1 Ghz clock speed is about 5 million times faster than any neuron.  The CPU speed will continue to double in the future, but there is no doubling of artificial intelligence because we haven’t figured out how to make computers think like us.
All AI systems we have developed are classified as “weak AI” – these systems are very good at doing specific tasks like OCR (Optical Character Recognition), playing chess, juggling complex schedules for airlines or recognizing trends and patterns in vast amounts of customer purchase data.  But “Strong AI” is the human elements of creativity, insight, self-awareness and wisdom.  Online video game players immediately recognize the difference between human opponents and computer players. An AI opponent can have lightning-fast reaction times, but can be easily fooled.  If all the information in our brain can be stored in a computer before we die and the computer can be programmed to imitate the actions and emotions of a real person, is that person really still alive or does it just a simulation?  We may replace body parts, but can we replace the brain?  There is no Moore’s law of Strong AI because Strong AI doesn't exist.

Evil humans may co-opt future inventions to destroy humanity in stead of preserve it. If a super-intelligent machine is ever invented, it could enslave or exterminate the human race.  While there is Moore’s Law, the exponential growth in speed of CPU power, there also is Murphy’s Law, “What can go wrong, will go wrong”.

Ancient Patriarchs

At one time there was very long life on the earth.  Before the flood of Noah’s day, the age of the Patriarchs, there people living to 900 years and longer.  (Genesis 5:1-20)" TARGET="_blank">Genesis 5:1-20)  The conditions on earth must have been very conducive to prevent diseases or aging.  There are a number of speculations as to why this was so:
•    Perhaps there weren’t as many genetic disorders.  The DNA of people was purer then and not corrupted compared with today. Man has degenerated genetically with time, not improved.
•    Perhaps the atmosphere was different being more dense and moist. 
•    Perhaps there was not as much harmful radiation that today strikes the earth and of course, human beings as well.
•    Perhaps the level of Oxygen content in the atmosphere was higher giving longer life, faster healing and more energy.

Ages of the Patriarchs from Adam to Noah

Something happened after the flood that caused life spans to dramatically contract.  In the generations that followed Noah we see a rapid decline in life span approaching 100 years.  Scientists generally believe that the upper limit for maximum life for the human body is about 125 years.  The reasons mentioned above are mere speculation as to the cause for extended life.

What does the Bible say about sin and death?

God created Adam and Eve with the possibility of living forever.  In the Garden of Eden, in addition to all of the normal types of trees, there were two special trees: the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. (Genesis 2:16-17;" TARGET="_blank">Genesis 2:16-17; Genesis 3:22-23)." TARGET="_blank">Genesis 3:22-23).

The results of sin include death.

Genesis 2:16-17" TARGET="_blank">Genesis 2:16-17  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,  (17)  but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

Romans 5:12" TARGET="_blank">Romans 5:12  Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

Hebrews 9:27" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 9:27  And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

Genesis 3:22-24" TARGET="_blank">Genesis 3:22-24  Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever--"  (23)  therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.  (24)  He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Bad Fruit?

There was nothing physical about the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Eveil that would cause death. “The tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6)." TARGET="_blank">Genesis 3:6).   It is unlikely that the Tree of Life had any super-nutritional fruit that sustained life.  It was a real physical tree, but it stood for the relationship of eternal life that God gave to Adam as long as he remained obedient.  The source of life is God Himself. 

The eternal life that Adam enjoyed as an innocent man was taken away.  God drove the man from the garden and the Tree of Life as a physical reminder that Adam was no longer permitted to dwell in God’s presence.  He died spiritually by being separated from God.  He later died physically.  Our efforts to obtain eternal existence are frustrated by the fact that we seek them without seeking the Source of Life. 

By barring access to the tree of life, God prevented Adam from living eternally in his fallen state.  Because of the curse of sin, life is filled with sorrow and toil and pain.  An eternal existence in our sinful state would be a curse instead of a blessing.  God limits the number of years we live here physically.  By limiting our lifespan, God gives us enough time to come to know Him and His provision for eternal life through Christ, but spares us the misery of an endless existence in a sinful condition.

The End of the World

The Bible says clearly that we live on a condemned planet.  There is a limit to the patience of God in regards to our behavior.  Just as the judgment that fell on the earth in Noah’s day, God has reserved our world for judgment, not by water, but by fire.

2 Peter 3:10-13" TARGET="_blank">2 Peter 3:10-13  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.  (11)  Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,  (12)  waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!  (13)  But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

If science creates a pathway to indefinite life on earth, it will eventually be interrupted by the coming of Christ in glory.  Those who are alive at his coming will either be received by him into glory or rejected into eternal fire (Revelation 19:14-21;" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 19:14-21; Matthew 24:37-51)." TARGET="_blank">Matthew 24:37-51). 

Millennial Kingdom

Following the return of Christ to the earth, the world will once again experience life spans like those of the ancient Patriarchs.  Revelation 20:1-6" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 20:1-6 tells us about the reign of Christ that lasts 1000 years in a future day.  Isaiah 65" TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 65 tells us some details about the life spans of people and the reason for living so long.

Isaiah 65:20" TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 65:20  No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

Long life will flourish in the millennium. Death will occur, but not as we know it.  100 years of age will be considered youthful.  If someone does die at such a young age, it will be assumed that it is because of a direct judgment for some sin committed.  The curse will be throttled and sin contained in the Millennium.  Satan will be bound (Revelation 20:1)." TARGET="_blank">Revelation 20:1).

Following the age of the Millennium God will create an eternal state, much like the Millennium, but with the curse of sin completely eradicated. The bondage that creation is under will be removed. 

Revelation 22:3" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 22:3  No longer will there be anythi ng accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.

Romans 8:19-21" TARGET="_blank">Romans 8:19-21  For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.  (20)  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope  (21)  that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Eternal vs. Everlasting

Eternal life is not the same as eternal existence.  “Eternal life” is the quality life.  “Everlasting life” is the duration of life.  A popular image of heaven is a group of winged-like people floating on clouds for everlastingly boring years.  However the view the Bible gives of heaven is always “new” that is “eternal” rather than simply “everlasting”.

There are seven verses in Revelation that tell us about “new things” - a new song, a new name, a new Jerusalem, a new heaven, a new earth.  The difference between the “new songs” of popular music of today and the “new song” of heaven is that by tomorrow, the “new” music of today will be old music very soon.  Not so with the songs of heaven.  It is a song that never grows old.  The new earth, New Jerusalem will never loose its splendor.  The new name, representing our relationship as a child of God, will never loose its impact.  We will never grow bored of being in God’s family.  (Revelation 2:17;" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 2:17; Revelation 3:12;" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 3:12; Revelation 5:9;" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 5:9; Revelation 14:3;" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 14:3; Revelation 21:1-2)" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 21:1-2) .

The promises that God has in store for us are eternal.  God, being infinite, will never cease to amaze and impress.  This is seen in his promise to continually show us his riches in the ages to come.

Ephesians 2:7" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 2:7  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Conclusion

Science may be able to replace and repair body to live long beyond the 125 year threshold.  It may even be able to simulate human behavior with machines.  It might even give us the possibility of transferring thoughts and memories from one old brain to a younger one.  The words indefinite life (barring accidents or unforeseen plague) may be the reality of coming generations.  However, the prospect of an “eternal” life will be the stuff of knowing God and living with him and exploring the “riches of his grace” forever.

Shad Sluiter

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Is the discipline exercised on a brother in Matthew 18:17" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 18:17 equivalent to that exercised in 1 Corinthians 5:11-13" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 5:11-13?

Let us see what these passages say. In 1 Corinthians 5" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 5: 11-13 the sinning one is to be “put away from among yourselves,” and the saints are not to have fellowship with him in any respect whatsoever. In Matthew 18:17," TARGET="_blank">Matthew 18:17, when the offender has refused to “hear the church,” it is said, “Let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.” Our question therefore appears to mean, “Is this man also put away from the assembly as is the former?” and if so, the answer can only be that he is. For how could I be said to treat another “as an heathen man and a publican,” if he is still breaking bread with myself and others every Lord’s Day? And if the church has not put the man away at v. 17, why should it be said in the following verse, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven”?

But it may be asked, why is the expression, “Let him be unto THEE,” and not rather “unto YOU” or “unto THE CHURCH”? I suggest that it is because the passage in Matt. i8 is not dealing directly with church procedure at all, but with the attitude of an individual towards one who has sinned against him. The assembly is only introduced incidentally as having to take action in certain circumstances which are mentioned. All the way through from v. an individual is being addressed, and it is not to be wondered at that the same should be the case in v. 17. Yet at the same time, since the matter has now reached a stage where the offender has refused to hear the church, each member of it by that refusal has been practically put into the same position with regard to him as the one first of all concerned, and must act toward him in the same manner.

W.R.

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