If we believe the biased agenda of the BBC (and all the other western news agencies), we would think that democracy is the answer to all our problems. And the West tries to export its form of government to other areas of the world which have never had such a thing before, and don’t know what to do with it when they get it. Look at Iraq. Whilst Saddam Hussein was in power, the Christians were safe and able to worship freely. Once he had been removed by the Americans in the name of “democracy,” they now have to flee for their lives away from their muslim neighbours, because the government protection has gone. And the same thing can be seen happening in other Arab countries such as Egypt. The BBC are thrilled by the so-called “Free Syrian Army” in Syria fighting for “democracy,” but they do not report the information that Barnabas Fund is telling us, namely that this “Free Syrian Army” were using Christians as human shields, their homes having been invaded and ransacked, an evangelical school and care home for the elderly having been occupied and shelled, and bombs having been deliberately placed in the Christian areas of Damascus and Aleppo. (see website www.barnabasfund.org). So much for “democracy,” which is nothing else but “mob rule” under another name.

Democracy sounds so good at first, but every democratic country will eventually destroy itself because the voters are all (as the Bible indeed tells us) slaves to sin, and will only ever vote for selfish ends. Of course, dictators are exactly the same by nature, but the problem with a democracy is that the people are duped into thinking they have got real power, so if things don’t go according to the way they would like, they can always riot in the streets and call it “freedom of speech.” We need to understand that democracy is no better than any other form of government. It is certainly not worth fighting for. We should not seek salvation in a form of government. As long as we are selfish creatures by nature, we all as individuals need a Saviour to save us from our sins, not a magic external solution to the problems of this world, because there are none.

When the Messiah came into the world, the Jews of the day did not recognise Him, because they were looking for a freedom fighter to free them from the yoke of the Roman occupation:

“He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”  John 1:11.

“When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.“  John 6:15.

Let us not make the same mistake in looking for an answer in this world. Let us look to the next world as our true home, repent of our sins and come to Him whom to know is life eternal.

“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.“  Colossians 3:2.

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.“  John 17:3.

Misconceptions

On the subject of becoming a Christian, there are many misconceptions. One of the most popular, and understandable, is that people are born a Christian. Everyone has a culture which they are born into, and this is usually based on some known religion, whether it be a Muslim, a Hindu, a Buddhist or any other religion. Most people believe that being a Christian is similar, and speak particularly about European and American countries being “Christian” countries, as though all those born in these places are automatically “born” Christian. But we only have to take a quick look at these countries to realise that this is not so. In these countries church attendance is very low, and the vast majority of their populations believe that we all evolved from monkeys, everything happens by chance and when you are dead that is the end. This is atheist philosophy, and not Christian at all. So we cannot say that anyone is born a Christian because of the culture they come from, the best we can say is that a few people may have had a Christian influence in their upbringing.

Some people think that becoming a Christian is like joining a club – you just become a member if you want to. Well, this is not so either, although a lot of people are in church because they think this is all it is. But if this was the case, what is the point? People only join clubs for the advantages they give. i.e. for selfish interest. Christianity teaches exactly the opposite of self-centredness, it teaches self-abasement. Who would voluntarily want to join a club like that? Anyone who did would soon get bored and drift away.

Other people think that they can give Christianity a try, as a sampler to see if it works, so they start going to church and joining in church activities. Invariably, of course, it doesn’t work for them, so they come away, give up church altogether, and become very bitter against Christianity, saying, “Well I gave it a try and it didn’t work.” But why should God bother with anyone who is not going to be genuine with Him? We cannot just “give Him a try” to see if it works, because He will make sure it doesn’t work for us!

Finally, so many people think they can strut into heaven based on their own good works. But this attitude does not take into account the sinful nature we all inherited by the fall of Adam. We cannot do good works because we cannot please God, our sinful nature drags us back all the time:

“So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:8).

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6).

Consequently, becoming a Christian is far more than any of these things.

The Problem

The sad fact is that we are all lost sinners, who not only cannot save ourselves, but by nature we do not even believe we need saving from our sins. Our hearts have been so dulled to the reality of things:

“The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.“  (Psalm 14:2,3).

We need to recognise this fact before we can begin to see the solution. Our sinful nature, of course, tries to conceal this from us, so most people in this world continue on totally oblivious to any problem. This is what Christ said would happen:

“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).

This is not helped by the fact that in the church there are many false teachers who pander to this sinful nature and deny the seriousness of the situation, because immediately after the above quote, Christ warns His people to:

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” (Matthew 7:15).

Yes, even many church leaders will say that everything is all right, we should not be negative, sin is not a problem, God will save everybody, so just feel good about yourselves and be happy. But this philosophy is the way of this present evil world. It will not work in the end, as it is totally opposed to what the Bible actually teaches us about human nature.

The Solution

Firstly we need to recognise the problem. We must see our need of a Saviour before we can come to Him. Christ said:

“They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Mark 2:17).

Those who think they have no need of the doctor, will never go to him. Similarly, those who think they have no need of a Saviour, who think they are righteous in themselves, will never go to Christ. Only those who see their sins and therefore their need of Christ will have a heartfelt, sincere, genuine desire to seek help from God. This is what we need. Once we see our inability to save ourselves, we can cry to God for mercy. Then God can begin to work in our hearts, grant us faith and repentance (both of which are gifts of God, we cannot whip them up ourselves), and bring us to a true saving knowledge of Himself.

The prophet Ezekiel spoke about a new heart which the LORD can give us:

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.“  (Ezekiel 36:26).

Christ spoke about being “born again” (sadly, a much misunderstood phrase today):

“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.“  (John 3:3).

And if we truly come to Christ for salvation, we become a “new creature”:

“Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.“  (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This is what it is to become a Christian. Christians are all those who have truly been born again of the Spirit of God, had a new heart put within them, and have been saved from the consequence of their sins by the substitutionary blood atonement purchased by Christ on the cross.

“Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forebearance of God.” (Romans 3:24-25).

“In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace“  (Ephesians 1:7).

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14).

“So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.“  (Hebrews 9:28).

The Christian Life

Having been given a new heart, this does not mean that we become perfect straight away. We still have the old nature within us, of which Christians are all too aware that it drags them back into their old ways time and time again. But once the new heart has been put within us, we can at least begin to please God, and the Christian life from then on is one of nurturing the new heart and mortifying the old heart as we slowly grow in the Christian faith:

“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.“  (Romans 8:13).

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.“  (Romans 6:12-13).

“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory, both now and for ever. Amen.“  (2 Peter 3:18).

The Word of God

How do we do this? We must stick close to the Word of God. Only by becoming familiar with the Bible and its contents can we wean ourselves off the vain philosophies received by tradition from our fathers (1 Peter 1:18), and onto the truths of Christianity. We must be careful however. So many churches call themselves “Bible-believing,” yet they all teach different things! We should not follow men, or movements, but the Holy Spirit will teach us and lead us into all truth. Stick close to the Lord and He will not let us be led astray.

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (John 14:26).

“But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.“  (1 John 2:27).

I think the main reason for coming to this conclusion is that so many “ministries” ask for donations in this way, many people actually receiving enough to make a living out of it, some even becoming multi-millionaires as a result. I want none of this. I originally set up this website for one purpose only – to propagate what I consider to be the truth. If no-one listens, fine. I am not answerable to anyone else, I leave my judgment to God, as indeed we all must do.

But we see so many “ministries” in the name of Christ asking for money all the time. I heard recently of one unbeliever who, just as an experiment, wrote off to all the major so-called “Christian” tele-evangelists he could find to ask them all how he could become a Christian. 50% did not reply at all, and the other 50% just sent him some information about how he could send money to them – only one of these also enclosing a short tract containing the information that he asked for.

We may feel that the Bible condones asking for money when it says:

“Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.” (1 Corinthians 9:14)

and

“For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.” (1 Timothy 5:18)

But we also see that whereas we do have a Scriptural warrant for receiving money from the church if necessary, the apostle Paul voluntarily foregoes this privilege to make sure that he does not abuse his power in the gospel:

“But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void. For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me . What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.”  (1 Corinthians 9:15-18).

Even whilst he was on his missionary journeys, he also, for his own upkeep, still continued his trade of making tents:

“And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.“  (Acts 18:3).

I would suggest here therefore that anyone working on church business should by all means have his expenses paid for by the church, but not be given the fat salary that modern ministers get today. I know of a local minister of a church near me who gets £30,000 per year for his salary. The church wanted to give him more but he graciously (!) refused. If he preached two twenty minute sermons a month that is a generous estimate. The “ministry” today has become a gravy train [dictionary definition: "Slang a job requiring comparatively little work for good pay and benefits"].

Anyone in the “ministry” or “full time Christian work” is in a world of their own, and I really don’t want anything to do with it. There are web sites you can use to trawl through the “Christian” jobs that are available, as though Christians in a secular job are second rate. There should not be this dichotomy.

Hence my reasons for taking the donation button off the web site.

This is a huge topic, but I was spurred on to write about it after watching a television programme on UCBTV the other day. In it, a Christian couple were being interviewed. The lady had been miraculously healed of cancer and so they decided the Lord was leading them to set up a Christian organisation which exists “to proclaim the life-changing power of Jesus, to equip the body for healing ministry, and to bring hope and compassion to a needy world.”

There are indeed many similar organisations around. Plenty of “healing” ministries exist, it is not difficult to find them in the current church scene. They get their ideas mainly from personal experience, and they get what Biblical basis they have for their ministries from Isaiah 53:4,5, believing that this talks about physical healing rather than spiritual healing from our sins:

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

I have a problem with all this so-called “healing ministry” in the church.

Firstly, it is important to note that every time we are healed, it is a miracle. I had a cold last week, but it cleared up. That in itself is a miracle, and we should be thankful.

“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.“  Psalm 139:14.

However, when we talk about miracles in the context of a healing ministry, we are talking about extraordinary healing above and beyond the usual ways of nature. Of course, only God can do this:

“God in His ordinary providence maketh use of means, yet is free to work without, above, and against them at His pleasure.”  Westminster Confession of Faith 5:3.

Secondly, we must realise that no-one anywhere has any miraculous powers to heal in this way today, despite many churches thinking that people do, and that we can all have this power if we only have enough faith.

Upon Christ healing the man born blind, the man said:

“Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.“  John 9:32.

Men having the power to physically heal was unheard of up to that point, Christ coming along and really having these powers was such a wonder – in fact Christ calls these abilities of His, “signs and wonders” – which were only there for one purpose – to point to Him as being the Messiah:

“Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles [i.e. what the miracles were pointing to, i.e. that He was the Messiah], but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.”  John 6:26.

All most people who came to Christ wanted was the physical healing. They couldn’t care less about His teaching. Of ten lepers Christ cleansed, only one came back to give thanks:

“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.”  Luke 17:15-18.

In Matthew chapter 10, Christ delegates His miraculous powers to His disciples, but it was only for a short evangelistic campaign to the lost sheep of the house of Israel:

“And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease….These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.”  Matthew 10:1,5-8.

Note their main task was to preach “The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” and the miracles were a sign that this was the case. Very many Christians today think this power to miraculously heal is for us today, but this is nowhere spoken of in Scripture, it was just given to the disciples for this short campaign. In fact in a later campaign, when Christ sent out seventy into all the villages where He Himself would later come, the disciples were again given some miraculous powers, but Christ rebuked them afterwards for boasting of them:

“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”  Luke 10:19,20.

After Christ’s ascension, some of the Apostles and deacons also had power to heal, and we see examples of this in the Acts of the Apostles, but in the last letter that Paul ever wrote, to Timothy, we see that even the miraculous powers that he had, had disappeared by that time, because he says that:

“Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick“  2 Timothy 4:20.

After that, no more men performing miracles. Just enough around the time of Christ coming to this world to prove that He was the Messiah, and pointing to the fact that it was His teachings that we need to follow.

So, no-one has magic powers to heal today, in fact no-one has had magic powers to heal at all, apart from Christ and some of His disciples for a short period of time. So Benny Hinn, Peter Popoff, Morris Cerullo and the like, not to mention all these Nigerian and African so-called faith-healers conning vulnerable people out of lots of money, are all fake.

Having said all that, of course God can heal. So, if aunt Bessie is sick in bed, one thing we should not be doing is laying hands on her and saying “Be healed, in the name of Jesus.” Such action is wrong. However, we can sit beside her and pray. The Lord can heal. We are powerless to do anything, but the Lord can heal if He so wishes, and as Christians, we have access to His throne of grace:

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”  Hebrews 4:16.

But we must remember that we shouldn’t presume on the Lord to heal every time.

Many times, it is NOT God’s will for someone to be physically healed. This is a shocking thing to say in these healing ministry circles, but it is true. The man born blind was born blind…:

“…that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”  John 9:3.

This does not only refer to the moment Christ healed him, but to all of his life whilst he was blind.

Also, Paul prayed three times that his “thorn in the flesh” should be removed, but God did not remove it, but rather said:

“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.“  2 Corinthians 12:9.

Paul acquiesced to God’s will after the third time of praying, and did not bother the Lord about it any more after that.

The Psalmist too says that there was a very good reason for him to be afflicted:

“Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.”  Psalm 119:67.

Many times the Lord is gracious and will heal us when we ask, but even then, there is only one thing certain about life:

“it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment“  Hebrews 9:27.

In the Lord’s providence, we must always be aware that maybe it is aunt Bessie’s time to die. We all die. This is the only thing certain about life. Only Enoch, Elijah and all those who will be on the earth at Christ’s second coming will not die. That is not most of us. We should all ordinarily expect one day to die. We should prepare for it. We need to embrace Christ as our only Saviour from the consequences of our sins, and make sure we are His, before it is too late. In other words, we should not be obsessed with a “healing ministry”, thinking that if only we have enough faith we can be healed every time, and live for ever. This is stupidity at its greatest. Who wants to live in this vale of tears, this world of tribulation, for ever, anyway?

“In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33.

The Christian’s true home is in heaven. That is what we should be preparing for, not a long, comfortable life on this earth:

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”  Colossians 3:1,2.

This is why I have very little time for “healing ministries” in the church. If all such a ministry is, is offering prayer for the sick, of course that is good and useful and should be encouraged. But when people presume on God to heal every time, we have crossed the line. We should be thankful for anything the Lord brings upon us.

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”  1 Thessalonians 5:18.

I used to have lots of Christian books, but the older I get, the more time I now spend reading the Holy Scriptures alone, and I hardly touch my library at all these days. Now, I’m not saying it is wrong to go to others for advice or help (including going to the authors of Christian books), but we must realise eventually that men can only help us so far. Not only do they have limited knowledge, but they are also prone to errors and wrong thinking – as indeed are we ourselves! Only the Holy Scriptures are inerrant and completely trustworthy.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”  2 Timothy 3:16.

In the reading of my Bible, over the last few months I have been slowly working my way through Matthew’s gospel. Too many people these days rush through Scripture and miss so many things which can be found there. I read verse by verse and think through each verse slowly until I can to some degree grasp it (asking the Holy Spirit to help me understand it of course), before going on to the next verse. I commend this form of Bible reading to you all.

One major thing I have noticed in my reading is that, whereas Christ had compassion on the multitude, He had not one good word to say about the church leaders of His day. This culminates in chapter 23, where He pronounces eight “woes” on the leadership of the church, and concludes in verse 33:

“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?”

Strong stuff. But very true.

Yes, there were good men in the Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus to name but two, and it is not wrong to be in church leadership. If you are, then use your position for good; but most likely you will be sidelined by those unregenerate men (and women these days) who want status in the church on earth.

I have more detail on this subject in my article on the main web site “Leadership: A Lust not a Gift,” so I will not go into the reasons for all this here. Just to say that the Sanhedrin consisted of both Sadducees (liberals who deny the resurrection):

“The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection..” Matthew 22:23

and Pharisees (evangelicals, who interpreted the Scriptures too literally, and completely missed their Messiah when He came):

“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” John 5:39,40.

So we see that no church on earth is not affected by this phenomenon. We need to recognise it and avoid following men and movements. No church on earth can satisfy, only Christ.

There are very few places on this earth where the eternal world meets this one. Death is one of them, and in this I include near-death experiences, such as severe illnesses, earthquakes, famines, etc., all of which are ordained in the Lord’s providence to one end – to get men to repent:

“There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Luke 13:1-5.

If it seems a harsh thing to say that God ordains all these things, then we must always remember that Christ said:

“All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Matthew 24:8.

Compared to hell fire, these are nothing. We must never, ever ask God to give us what we justly deserve, because it would be much worse than anything we can experience on this earth. We should only ever cry for mercy.

This world is not under Satan’s control, as Jehovah’s Witnesses teach, nor does everything happen by random chance, as the humanists believe, but God is in control of all things, ordaining all things to His greatest glory in the end. This should be our comfort in this world.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28.

The reading of Scripture is therefore a very precious thing. It brings us to the point where the eternal world meets this one before death can come anywhere near us, so we can prepare for the inevitable whilst we still have breath, reason and life. Sadly, when we are well, eternity seems so far away, and we often don’t have the inclination to bother about it. Let us prepare ourselves properly for eternity, read our Scriptures, not follow men and their whims, but follow Christ alone, who will lead us to glory.

“These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.” 1 John 2:26,27.

Firstly, having worked in a hospital toxicology laboratory for fifteen years investigating potential suicides, I know that at the end of December my workload would always increase fivefold. There are so many people out there who absolutely hate Christmas. The pressure gets to them so much that they decide to at least attempt to end their lives. The church needs to wake up and do something about this. It is no good just asking people along to the meetings, neither is it much better when the church arranges free meals for lonely people, just for a day or two over the festive period. Far more needs to be done.

I did know someone who was actually thrown out of his lodgings over Christmas, because the supposedly “Christian” family he was lodging with needed his room to put up visiting family members. He ended up sitting on a bench in the local bus station reading his Bible. Of course God will not forsake us like this.

“When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.” Psalm 27:10.

Secondly, it never ceases to amaze me that on the Sunday in Christmas week, the vast majority of churches, at least in the UK, shorten their usual services, many severely curtailing the sermon or dispensing with it altogether, and they cancel all their other midweek meetings.

Surely, Satan is so very happy with all this. The preaching of the gospel, sermons and the usual church activity are all stopped for a week so that the regular church-goers can go and worship their cosy little families instead. No wonder the suicide rate soars. There are so many people in this world who don’t have a family. I remember hearing the actress Thora Hird on the radio programme Desert Island Discs (many years ago now) saying that she was saddened that she got so many letters from people who didn’t even have, as she said, a “second cousin three times removed.” Hers was the only friendly face they ever saw (on their television sets), so they wrote to her.

We are living in a sad world. Far sadder than we want to admit. And what is the church doing about it all? Perpetuating the whole thing by believing that Christmas is a Christian festival, an opportunity for evangelism, a great festival to be enjoyed.

But this is not true. The church needs desperately to blow its own cobwebs away. We need to realise that Christmas is not a Christian festival at all, but a later imposition which the church invented to counteract the pagan winter solstice. It is not in the Bible at all. Oh yes, the Incarnation is there, and a good sermon on the incarnation is a wonderful topic to preach on, but we are never in the Bible told to remember the Lord’s birth in a festival of any kind. We are told to remember his death in the Communion or Lord’s Supper, but nowhere in the Bible is there a specific call to remember His birth in any way (other than that we should remember all of His life as we can do so from Scripture). Certainly there is no specific date mentioned.

So rather than the church perpetuating the misery of Christmas, it should be proclaiming the truth that you don’t have to celebrate it, the pressure’s off, you can live with a clear conscience by not joining in with everyone else. The burden is removed. Of course we can then go on to tell these poor people that the far larger burden of our sins can also be removed in Christ. That is the true message we should be proclaiming, not trying to force people to celebrate a worldly festival in the name of Christ, but telling people about the freedom from our sins that can be found in Him. This is true joy.

In Charles Dicken’s novel “A Christmas Carol,” the character Ebenezer Scrooge was a miserable, stingy old man who supposedly realised the errors of his ways and became so generous. But if you actually read the novel, Scrooge had Bible texts all over his house. He was a caricature of a Bible-believing Christian. The character Tiny Tim was the universalist Dickens wants us all to be: “God bless us, everyone!” Dickens was extremely anti-Christian. This is of course the message of the world as well, hence the popularity of the novel. But we should not be taken in by such worldly nonsense. We should stick close to our Bibles. Trust in Christ. Not be taken in with worldly ideas, worldly festivals which have no warrant in Scripture. This is the way we should walk in, despite the world.

“Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.”  Jeremiah 10:1-5.

Anyway, they are having a debate between someone who holds the view of the TV station and someone who believes that the Church has now replaced Israel as the inheritor of God’s promises. Those who hold the view of the TV station call this alternative view “Replacement Theology,” a term that I had never heard of before outside of these circles. When I first came across the term, I thought that this was what I believed, but thinking further, I really don’t think it is.

Both Israel in the Old Testament and the church in our day are mostly apostate. All the promises in the Bible pertain to all those who have been truly born again of the Spirit of God and who have had a new heart put within them – both Jew and Gentile, from Adam onwards. Neither the Jews nor the Church are, or ever were, the people of God. Only those born again of the Spirit of God are.

So the debate is, sadly, pretty much a waste of time. Neither view on offer is correct. Yet those who believe that the Jews are the people of God cannot see the truth, and believe that the only alternative to their view is the equally erroneous one of “replacement theology.”

I suppose we should take heed of this, and be wary of thinking that we know exactly what the alternative to our view is. We are just like the disciples and so slow to understand.

“O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken…” (Luke 24:25).

P.S. I have just discovered the following site, which explains what I am saying with regards “replacement theology” in a lot more detail: http://replacementtheology.org/

John 20:19: “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.”

Christ visited them on the first two “Sundays” after his resurrection (Thomas was not there the first week, so Christ waited until eight days later before revealing himself to him v.26).

Acts 20:7: “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.”

The word “when” here implies that it was a regular custom to come together to break bread on the first day of the week.

1 Cor. 16:2: “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.”

Again, it seems that they regularly met on the first day of the week.

Rev. 1:10: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet…”

By John’s old age, the first day of the week had become colloquially known as the “Lord’s day.”

The Fourth Commandment states:

Exod. 20:8-11: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

The original instruction in the Ten Commandments was not to “remember the seventh day,” but to “remember the Sabbath day,” i.e. the rest day (‘Sabbath’ = ‘rest’). Then immediately after this instruction, the concept of resting one day in seven was established. There is nothing magic about the seventh day (Saturday), but there is the concept established here of the Lord wanting us to rest one day in seven. The sabbath rest day was thus left open for a change to the first day of the week after Christ’s resurrection.

Note the parallel passage in Deuteronomy does not mention what God did at Creation at all:

Deut. 5:12-15: “Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.”

I agree that Constantine and the Roman church (especially) did a lot of damage. There is certainly no Biblical warrant for the celebration of Christmas or Easter (or any of the other dates in the church calendar for that matter), but I don’t have a problem at all with the idea that the sabbath rest day changed from the seventh day to the first day of the week.

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.”

I have always had a problem with the above passage. It seems to imply that believers have a different kind of logic to unbelievers, and this is the reason that unbelievers cannot understand them. But this is not what it is saying at all. We understand the meaning of this text by realising that we are here talking about wisdom, as opposed to knowledge. It is therefore very important to make sure we can distinguish between the two.

Put simply, wisdom is the application of knowledge. Worldly-wisdom is the wisdom of the unbeliever, which is totally opposite to the wisdom that the Holy Ghost puts in the believer’s heart upon regeneration. Yet both unbeliever and believer alike have the same source of knowledge, i.e. the Bible.

The Bible says that “knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.” (1 Corinthians 8:1). A lot of churches today take this verse to mean that it is wrong to study doctrine. But the verse really means that knowledge can puff up if used wrongly, i.e. using the worldly-wisdom of the unregenerate heart. If used rightly, i.e. in the right application of knowledge, i.e. charity (Greek agape), it edifies. Only the true believer can love (Greek agape), as it is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). The unbeliever cannot do this. This shows the difference in the application of knowledge (i.e. wisdom) between the believer and the unbeliever. Both have the same knowledge, but the application is totally different.

Let us take another example. Take the doctrine of election. This doctrine is clearly taught in the Bible. Most unbelievers do not want to believe this doctrine, because their carnal nature rails against it, but nevertheless, through logical deduction from the propositions of the Bible, it is possible for the unbeliever, by unaided reason alone, to come to a knowledge of the truth of this doctrine. Yes, it is possible to be a five-point Calvinist and still go to hell.

The true believer now has the Holy Spirit within him to guide him into all truth (John 16:13), so his natural bias against the truth has been taken away, and he can learn the truth far more easily than the unbeliever. But it is the same truth, it is not another truth because there is only one truth after all. The truth hasn’t changed, the logical deductions haven’t changed, both believer and unbeliever alike can come into a knowledge of the one truth that exists. But their application of the truth is totally different. An unbeliever who comes to the truth about the doctrine of election will end up being very proud of himself, just like the orthodox Jew, who despises Gentiles and thinks of himself as so superior. But the true believer who comes to a knowledge of the very same truth, will be humbled to the dust by it. “Why me, and not my neighbour?”It is a source of humility to the believer, not pride. It is this application of the truth, i.e. this wisdom, that the unbeliever cannot understand, because “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14).