Why Adhere? - (Part 3) Because the Bible tells us where to go from here

Because the Bible is the inspired word of God given to us by revelation and therefore it must be dependable, when it tells us to do something, we had better do just that with the knowledge that these words are from God.
Thankfully the Bible tells us how to act, and how to live and gain eternal life, how to talk and relate, and thankfully the Bible tells us how the world will end, and how it started. The fact is, the Bible tells us everything we will ever need to know in order to give praise to God. Luke 21:33 says that heaven and earth will pass away but His words will never go. Jesus also said in Matthew 4:5 that "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Now how often do humans eat? Usually two to three times a day. (at least the people who can afford that) So maybe the message here is that you should be reading the Bible longer than you spend eating. If that is the case I have fallen very short, but it would sure be worth it!
2 Tim. 3:16 says that scripture is where we are to go for education in doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. Since the human mind is far inadequate, the Bible determines our moral code of conduct along with our reaction to certain issues.
Most readers turn out to be leaders. So if you read the Bible longer and more often than you spend reading other books, when you turn out actually leading somebody, what book do you will be leading from, and what book do you think will be at the top of your head all the time?

Christians have the advantage of the Bible in that it tells them how to act and react. Such passages (like Matthew 19:19) are very helpful if you take the time to examine them thoroughly and apply them to your life. The Bible can be the greatest road map, if we open up our hearts to receive it like the Thessalonians did in 1 Thes. 2:13. But if we just “read” it without actually listening to it, it will appear as a dry, boring, stop sign on the side of the path of life.

Bible-readers also have the advantage in that they know how the world will end. But I wont talk about that because pre, post, and all-millennialism it is a very debatable topic. But one of the biggest advantages of having a Bible, and actually reading it and keeping it's commands, (John 14:21) is the knowledge it gives us of Jesus' death and resurrection. The whole Bible is centered around this very story and for a very good reason too. It is where we find our life, and our forgiveness. The death of Christ gives me life! And I know this because I have a Bible. So as we go about our daily lives we need to remember what the Bible says, and then act accordingly, because the Bible does have an antidote for whatever situation you are in. In short, the Bible tells us where to go from here.

NOTE: The picture above is a picture of my friend David, and no offense is meant. you can check out his blog here

Why Adhere? - (Part 2) Because the Bible is Dependable

There have been many debates on whether the Bible is dependable, historically or scientifically, but since our knowledge of science has been growing constantly over the last 2000+ years, you would think that what we as humans have learned in the past should be able to help us in our pursuit of proving the validity of the Bible, and decide whether the world evolved, or was created. Such is the case. As we have found that the universe does not revolve around the Earth, and we have gone deeper and deeper into space, we are able to make rational judgments off of that knowledge, such as, this great span of space is way too complex to have come out of nothing, and the Bible must be correct! That is what we should do as Christians, we should be out in the fields of science, advancing our knowledge of this fabulous world that we are stewards of for God.

When the Bible is shown to be in sync with science, people have two choices: receive the Bible for what it is, God's word, or discard that portion of science-that-fits-with-the-Bible as irreverent. Often when someone chooses the latter, they will go farther than ignoring evidence, or ignoring the person who discovered that evidence and try to find some scrap of evidence that shows just the opposite of what contradicts their presuppositions, and glorify it as solid proof (The Nebraska man, for example). When you come across someone like that, someone who will just not listen, there is not much that you can do to influence that person. They have a blind eye towards the Bible, and their problem is rooted in the heart. They should be loved and prayed for just as any non-believer. But sometimes people will look at all that the Bible teaches and their eyes will be opened, and they will be able to see how the Bible fits everything together so perfectly, and because of that, they will become Christians.

But sometimes it is appropriate to give some examples of how the Bible fits together so seamlessly, if it will be edifying to the person. Some examples might be the prophecy of Tyre, or the intricacy of the hummingbird, or the giraffe, seashells, the position of the sun in relation to the Earth, the position of the moon in relation to the Earth, the absurdity of evolution, or a religion that contradicts itself or allows it's people to lie to infidels.

Just remember that the goal is not to win the argument. The goal is to win souls for Christ, and to give Him all the recognition.

Why Adhere to the Bible? - (Part 1) Because it's God's Word

Because the Bible is the inspired word of God (2 Tim 3:16), it provides us with something that we can not get anywhere else, it gives us God's perspective on things.
This world contains a wealth of information, and our library's are stuffed full of books on science and theology and stuff, but only God can speak to us with absolute certainty about eternity and the future. Though much can be learned of God through nature, we need to go to the Bible daily, and study it long and hard in order to gain this knowledge, but we should never just skim it and kind of “read” it in our spare time. We need to devote the greater part of our memory and time to the studying and application of the the only divinely inspired word, and ask for God's direction in those pursuits.
The Bible also tells us about God, and of His characteristics, and His feelings toward a certain action. Without that knowledge that is stored in the Bible, we are blind to all He has said and done for us.

Most people will say that because the Bible was put to paper by finite humans that it can not be excellent enough to be the word of God. Or because the Bible was written way back in the “Bible times” and they didn't know that much back then, it couldn't be applicable to us today. Some people will bring up the example of Luke 10:4: “Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.” Does this mean that missionary's are supposed to go barefoot? Is it still valid in a shoe-wearing world? How literally should we take this passage? Those are very good questions, and people run into questions like them all the time. Now you probably don't think that we should all go barefoot, but let's look at the following questions: Is this verse entirely custom, entirely principle, partly principle-partly custom, or partly principle? Whenever you are looking for the answer, it is important to always take an exegetical approach, and ask God for the wisdom to understand His scriptures.

There's a reason why the Bible is the worlds best seller. Adhere to that book and the Writer of that book!

The Prophecy concerning Tyre

I am thinking about giving this speech sometime, so tell me what you think.

In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: "Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, 'Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken; it has swung open to me. I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,' therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers, and I will scrape her soil from her and make her a bare rock. She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading of nets, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. And she shall become plunder for the nations, and her daughters on the mainland shall be killed by the sword. Then they will know that I am the Lord. They will plunder your riches and loot your merchandise. They will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses. Your stones and timber and soil they will cast into the midst of the waters. I will make you a bare rock. You shall be a place for the spreading of nets. You shall never be rebuilt, for I am the Lord; I have spoken, declares the Lord God. I will bring you to a dreadful end, and you shall be no more. Though you be sought for, you will never be found again, declares the Lord God."

We see here that there are seven prophecy's made against Tyre, one, that many nations would rise up against Tyre, two, the island would turn out flat like the top of a bare rock, three, fisherman would spread their nets over the island, which requires a very flat surface. Four, it would never be rebuilt, and five, never found again. Six, Concerning the mainland, it would be destroyed, and seven, the debris would be thrown in the water.

But why all this destruction? What did Tyre do to deserve this? Well as it says in the Bible, the city of Tyre was feeling pretty happy because of the of the downfall of Jerusalem. Tyre is rejoicing over over that fact, and feeling that they will be the greatest city in the world. Now that Jerusalem is out of the way, they will be the biggest, richest, most powerful trading city ever. Everybody's happy, especially the prince of Tyre.

(Read Ezekiel 28:2) Wow! The prince of Tyre has got a lot of pride!

And because of this excessive pride of both the people and the prince of Tyre, they will be destroyed. Remember, pride comes before a fall, and a lofty spirit before destruction.

The first of the “many nations” brought against Tyre was Nebuchadnezzar, who made a thirteen-year siege on the Tyrian city through the years 585 and 573 B.C. First destroying all the city's that provided Tyre with food, the daughter villages. When Nebuchadnezzar finally broke through the gates of the mainland city, he found that nearly all of the people had moved by boat to the island for safety. So Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the mainland citys, left it in a pile, and moved on, not bothering with the island. Leaving Tyre just as proud as ever. Then Tyre set about fortifying their island, they made walls one hundred and fifty feet high, extending to the very edge of the island, They made underwater obstacles that would pierce any unwary ships, and over the next two hundred years they built ships like crazy until they had a first class navy.

The next of the many nations was Alexander the Great. And he had an odd habit. Every time Alexander would destroy a city, he would throw the rubble of that city into the nearest body of water. He would do that with every city he conquered, as a testimony to his power. When he came upon Tyre in 333 B.C., he had no fleet of ships like Tyre's, so he took the rubble from the old Tyre, and cast it into the water, with the intention of making a mole, or a causeway, 200 feet wide, as a passageway to the island. During this process, he even scraped the dirt off of the island to use it in the construction! But about halfway there, both the depth of the sea, and the attacks from Tyre increased. The Tyrians were so greatly hindering the progress that eventually Alexander realized that to take the fortress, he would need ships. Since he had no navy with him, he told the nations he had conquered to build him some ships. Byblus gave about 80, a big one came from Macedon, 120 from Cyprus, and they came from many other places. With this now very large naval force at Alexander's command, the conquest of Tyre was now just a question of time. After a gruesome year of battles, Tyre fell. Alexander then scraped the rubble of the island into the sea and walked away victorious. Most of the site is now flat, and bare like the top of a rock, a place where fishermen still spread their nets to dry.

Eighteen years later, when Antigonus came, the city of Tyre had recovered significantly, but after fifteen months of battles, they were again destroyed.

About thirty years later, Ptolemy Philadelphus built the harbor of Berenice on the Red Sea and made a road to Coptos with rest stops and everything. He also reopened the canal that went from the Pelusiac branch of the Nile to the Gulf of Suez. Because the traffic of the Red Sea had originally passed by Tyre, but it now flowed to Alexandria instead, Tyre took a great hit.

About fifteen hundred years later the Muslims easily took Tyre, and held it until the crusaders came, and then the crusaders destroyed it. Now the only remnants of the city are some broken down pillars and walls that remain from the crusaders time period. All that remains is the standard rubble.

The Bible also says that the island would not be built upon any more. Now, if you visit the modern day island of Tyre, you will not be able to tell where the old city was! Even though it covered the whole island. You can't see any remains there. There are freshwater springs supplying the island with thousands of gallons of water per day, but they are just running into the sea. The island would be a great place to build a city, but this prophecy has stood true, and no one is there today, Except for the occasional fisherman, because if you are going to spread your nets on an island, you are not going to live ten miles up the coast are you?

The Bible also says that the city would never be found again, as in, the riches that the city knew before will never be found again.

If Ezekiel had looked at Tyre in his day, he would have seen that there was only one chance in every 75,000,000 that all seven of these prophecy's would come true. But they all came true to the smallest detail.

So we see that because of the pride and gloating of Tyre, they were brought low, and humiliated through the men and nations that God said He would send against them. We also see that God will bring everything to pass that He says will come to pass. So when He says that some rich city is going to turn out flat, and scraped clean into the sea, it will happen!

Encouragement

There is a point where the strongest man can be brought low by discouragement. When people are brought to this point, for whatever reason, they can either accept the fact that they need God, or they can continue in their self-pity, or cover it up with worldly pursuits. Encouragement comes from the Hand of God working in our lives, but often God works through you and I, ministering in the person's life. So we need to remember that there are certain people in this world that need our support.
To list a few, there are...

1.Fellow Christians and missionary's around the world.

Hebrews 13:3: “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.” The Christian missionary's all over the world have to deal with local governments restricting Christianity and the importation of Bibles, but still they keep reaching out towards the non-believer. Many times they will be cut off from their family communicationally, and have will have very little contact with friends, or even Christians. A good organization to look into that supports missionary's over the world is Voice of the Martyrs.

2.Your nation's soldiers.

America has soldiers all over the world, and some soldiers have no family connections. Others will be away from home maybe for several years. They will endure both physical and spiritual attacks from their enemy. Some, when they come home, will have post-traumatic stress syndrome, or they might be frightened with firecrackers, or just have lots of bad dreams. I don't know of that many soldier friendly organizations, but it would be a good thing to check out

3.Your neighbor.

Romans 15:2: “Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.”
But you might be wondering “encourage in what? What are we encouraging these people in? Just to be happy people?” My answer is no. We are to encourage our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord in their walk with the Lord, and to show the non-believers, in love, that they need the Lord.

Eccles. 4:9-10: "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!"

I'll tell a story about a man with Operation Mobilization named Don Nichols. He went to India in 1967, and contracted TB just after arriving, and he decided to go to the local, government-run sanitarium. He wasn't able to speak their language yet, and had tried to give out tracts and literature in their language to the patients, doctors, and nurses. But everyone refused.
The first few nights I woke up around 2 a.m., coughing. One morning during my coughing spell, I noticed one of the older and sicker patients across the aisle trying to get out of bed. He would sit up on the edge of the bed and try to stand, but in weakness would gall back into bed. I didn't understand what he was trying to do. He finally fell back into bed exhausted. I heard him crying softly.
The next morning I realized that he had been trying to get up and walk to the bathroom! The stench in our ward was awful. Other patients yelled insults at the man. Angry nurses moved him roughly from side to side as they cleaned up the mess. One nurse even slapped him. The old man curled into a ball and wept.
The next night I again woke up coughing. I noticed the man across the aisle again trying to stand. Like the night before, he fell back whimpering. I don't like bad smells, and I didn't want to become involved, but I got out of bed and went over to him. When I touched his shoulder, his eyes opened wide with fear. I smiled, put my arms under him, and picked him up.
He was very light due to old age and advanced TB. I carried him to the washroom, which was just a filthy, small room with a hole in the floor. After he finished, I picked him up, and carried him back to his bed. As I laid him down, he kissed me on the cheek, smiled, and said something that I could not understand.
The next morning another patient woke me and handed me a steaming cup of tea. He motioned with his hands that he wanted a tract.
As the sun rose, other patients approached me and indicated that they also wanted the booklets I had tried to distribute before. Throughout the day nurses, interns, and doctors asked for literature.
Weeks later an evangelist who spoke the language visited me and discovered that several had put their trust in Christ as a Savior as a result of reading the literature.
What did it take to reach these people with the gospel? It wasn't health, the ability to speak the language, or a persuasive talk. I simply took a trip to the bathroom.

Encouragement comes in many different forms. Let your life be one that incites others closer to God.