User:Expo77
Hear the GOOD NEWS!
"...and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News." -Mark 1:15
"The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent, because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead." -Acts 17:30-31
We are going to study about the Bible. But, why do we need to study it? Should we use the Bible as a basis in everything that we do? Whenever we are to do something, must we always have a basis? A mother, for instance, cooks for the family because she has the obligation and the right to do so. What do I mean to say? In our house, not just anybody has the right to cook the rice. The one who should cook the rice must have the authority to do so. And who has the right to cook for the family? It could be the mother, the father, the housemaid, or any legitimate member of the family. But you just can′t allow anybody to cook for you. Who knows if that person wants to poison you all?
If you are going to sweep the streets, you should also have a basis. Try to sweep the streets without being appointed by the rightful person, and you′ll not get any compensation. You cannot compel the government to pay you for your labor because you had never been deputized to be a street sweeper. A man who just wears the uniform of a policeman is not a real policeman even if he has the badge, the patches, and all the other paraphernalia that a real policeman wears. And because that man does not have a basis, not only in wearing the policeman′s uniform, but also in performing the duties of a real policeman, he is just considered as a mere impostor.
In other words, we need to have a basis in everything we do. It follows that even in serving God and in invoking God, we should have a basis why we should do it. In the first place, there are people who do not invoke God at all. And if we are going to invoke God, how should we do it? Where should we base our faith in God?
Wasn′ t it that when we were just beginning to learn how to read, we started with ABC? And if we are going to study music, don′t we normally begin with do-re-mi? In our service to God, we also have to know the ABC of salvation. Will it be fine with you if we begin our studies from the lowest level, or the basics? Do you know of any lawyer who studied Law right away without going through the elementary, secondary, and tertiary level? It is only after an aspiring lawyer completes those levels that he could pursue Law. The same process applies in studying salvation. You do not instantly become a Christian, and become saved by just raising your hand! That is not so. Please, do not be misled. It will be fatal if you do not know the basics. Why? This is what Ecclesiastes 10:1 says, Ecclesiastes 10:1 says, ″ Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in the reputation for wisdom and honour.”
Try to kill flies and place them in a bottle of ointment, or perfume. Let them stay there for a week. After a week, open the bottle, savor it scent, and you will realize how a bottle of perfume could be spoiled by just a few flies. What was the Bible trying to tell us? A little folly spoils wisdom and honor.
There is an English adage which says, ″Little knowledge is dangerous″. That is true. A little folly could cause danger to a person. For example, no matter how good a surgeon is, the life of his patient could be endangered if the nurse assisting him is a simpleton. A sensible nurse makes an inventory of the number of cotton balls they used during the operation. So that before the wound is closed, she sees to it that the number of cotton balls she prepared reconciles with the number of cotton balls they used. But if the attending nurse is somebody who does not know the sensitiveness of her work, she would not really bother to check the cotton balls. Only to find out later that three pieces of cotton balls were left inside the patient′s body. There are cases like that. There had been an incident when, what was left inside was not an ordinary cotton ball, but a surgical scissors. Such serious damage happened because of the negligence of both the surgeon and the nurse.
That is why it is very true that a little folly can be very damaging. That is, insofar as material things are concerned. But greater is the harm that a little folly can do in terms of godliness. When it comes to faith, there shouldn′t be any shade of folly. When it comes to faith you have to be very sure because what is at stake is either eternal bliss, or eternal damnation. Remember that we are heading for eternity, and eternity has two sides. One side is the eternal lake of fire, and the other side is life everlasting.
Others, who do not want to listen to me, reason out that they do not want to confuse their minds anymore. Many say that they would rather stick to the faith that they grew up with, although they are not sure if their religion will lead them to salvation, or not. But the fact that you are uncertain of your salvation is a proof that your present religion did not even bother to teach you the ABC of salvation. Apparently, you are heading for something eternal without you having any direction. You do not even know the right thing to do. In religion, we should have the full knowledge of what we are doing. We should be certain of our actions. These are some of the things that we shall unravel in our discussion.
First, let us find out, what should we use as a basis in serving God? How shall we serve Him? Why do we have to serve Him? Does God have any name? Is His name Jehovah, or Yahweh El Shaddai? Where is God? What are His physical attributes? Is He black or white? What is the color of His eyes? How does He smell? Some gods do not smell the same. Sometimes, their odor depends on the scent of the perfume, or cologne, sprayed on them. But what does the Bible say on this? Does His smell vary? James 1:17 says, ″Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
The Father in heaven does not have variableness. Whatever His odor 5,000 years ago is still His odor today. We can be very sure of that. Perhaps, you would ask, do we have to know God′s odor? Of course, so that if the god who is before you smells differently, that would mean that he is just a false god. Isn′t it that husbands and wives are familiar of each other′s scent? The husband knows if his wife is newly bathed, or if she has not taken a bath for three days. He can never be wrong because he has grown very familiar with her smell. Could a wife tell me that when she was raped, she thought that it was her husband who did it? That would be very stupid of her, because by the mere odor alone, she could already identify if it was her husband, or not. God gave us a sense of smell for us to identify who′s who, and which is which. Look at the blind, they have a very keen sense of smell. They can identify people thru their odors.
There are people whose gods smell differently. Sometimes they smell of sampaguita, sometimes, of rosal. Whatever you put around them becomes their scent. This is the reason why we have to know Him. But, from what standpoint are we going to start in knowing Him? Or, shall we say, from what point of principle? What basis are we going to use in serving Him? What are we going to use in knowing the word of God?
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