Barnes church of Christ

The two words under which this is written, uses the definite article “the” and is followed with the word “Father.” It is to call attention to “God, the Father,” and he is one! It occurred to me that we may not have given enough attention to this subject of correctly using the pronoun 1) “My” or 2) “Our,” when addressing “God? Both are personal pronouns, but one is more “personal” than the other one. You see “Our” is you and me and “My” is only me. So, is it proper to say, “my God,” or “Our God?”
The first thing that comes to my mind is when Jesus was asked by the disciples to teach them how to pray. Please notice the words with which Jesus starts the prayer: “Our Father which art in heaven.” It is the pronoun “our” that attention is called, just here. When you pray, with which pronoun do you start to prayer: 1) “My Father” or 2) “Our Father?” It is understood that it was the disciples who asked Jesus; therefore, the plural pronoun is used. Nevertheless, the question is for Jesus to teach each one, as in the singular, how to pray. Each one would be praying to “the Father,” as they might pray as a group at times but individuals at other times. Therefore, the question, was Jesus teaching them to use the plural pronoun when addressing God, the Father, in prayer both individually and as a group?
Of course, when leading the congregation in prayer, it is only right to use the plural pronoun, “Our,” as in “Our Father,” and not the personal “My Father.” As a starter, it is only right to look at the times people are praying in the New Testament and see how they started their prayers, if such can be found.
Jesus expressed his personal relationship with “God the Father,” by using the personal “My Father” but he was showing his close relationship as “The Father and The Son,” which no one else has. Nevertheless, we do have a relationship with “God the Father” as “Father and son;” thus, it may be harder for us to understand, when we use the same personal pronoun when we are addressing “The Father” in prayer. It may be the case, that you have never even thought about the subject! Nevertheless, read Jesus’ words when he prayed: “O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done” (Matt. 26:42). The words, “O my Father,” can never be used as Jesus did, as his relationship to “the Father” come from the lips of one whose relationship “to the Father,” was like none other! To help with this, let us turn to these words of Jesus, as he answered a question from Philip: “Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us” (John 14:8). Jesus replied, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” (verse 9). Then, Jesus continued: “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (verse 10). These words are here given to help us understand that the relationship between Jesus and God the Father, was different from any other! Nevertheless, if we are saved by the blood of Jesus, we may address God in prayer, with the words, “my Father.” One more verse just here: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (Johm 14:6). No one else can in truth utter such words!
It was common for Paul to use several phrases when praying, such as:
1) “May God himself, the God of peace …” (1 Thess. 5:23);
2) “For what thanks can we render to God again for you …” (1Thess. 3:9);
3) “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, … “ (Phil. 1:3);
4) “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, …” (Eph. 1:17);
5) “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, …” (Eph. 1:3);
6) “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, …” (Rom. 1:8)
7) “Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, …” (2 Thess. 1:11);
8) “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father,…” (2 Thess. 2:16); and
9) “I always thank my” God as I remember you in my prayers,…” ( Philemon 1:4).
Truly it is a blessed privilege to use any of the phrases, that Paul used when praying! However, we must notice, that these are Paul’s personal and private prayers; private as in he was not leading others in prayer.
By way of concluding this article, even when Paul was not leading others in prayer, we are blessed in that we can use any of the phrases Paul used. It should be noted that to use the words, “my God,” while leading the congregation in prayer, is not a place to use such words, “my God,” as “my” is a personal pronoun and would not include others who are present!
If you have never thought about this subject, when is the proper place to use the personal pronoun “my,” and when to use a plural pronoun “our,” I trust that this article will be helpful.

Frank R. Williams

Here I start this third article under the above title “Who is responsible,” for you knowing the word of God? Just here, I will quote the words of Dave Miller found in “Reason and Revelation,” (August, 2020 – Vol. 40 – No. 8); he wrote: “He (God, frw) has made available to mankind, and He expects every person to use mental faculties and cognitive powers to understand that truth, (The word of God, frw). It is clear, that God gave his words to mankind and he expects us to study, to learn, and to know it!
God has made both the Old Testament and the New Testament very clear, and that the responsibility for knowing his word rests upon us! In the Old Testament, Isaiah wrote: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isa. 1:18). The Hebrew word here for “let us reason together,” is most interesting. It is the Hebrew: “yakach” and means: “reciprocally to argue; causatively to decide” (Strong). The word “reciprocally” refers to God and man; as this is seen by Isaiah’s use of the pronoun “us,” as in God and man are to come together in the word of God. If it were the word of man, it would be no higher than man! However, Paul made it clear, that God reasons with man in the “scripture,” as Paul to Timothy: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). Here let us notice one word, the word “profitable,” which is the Greek, “ophelimos,” and means: “serviceable, that is, advantageous” (Strong). The word of God, the “scripture,” is to our “advantage,” to our being pleasing and acceptable; but only if we know it and do it! Paul followed with: “That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (verse 17). The word “that” is of interest here, but so often we just read over it. It is the Greek, “hina,” and has this meaning: “in order that (denoting the purpose or the result)” (Strong). So, what is the “purpose” that God gave to humankind, the “scripture? It was so that man, has the ability to be “perfect” which is the Greek, “artios” and means: “complete;” “complete” to the point, that man is “throughly furnished;” which means: “figuratively to equip fully” (the Greek, “exartizo”), (Strong). The word of God is the only, as in it stands alone among books, with the ability to make man “complete!” But,, it does not help us, any of us, or all of us together, if we do not search it; as Paul wrote; “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (Tim. 2:15). Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote what is required of man, all of us, “approved unto God” and “a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.” Do you desire to be such a person, as to be “approved unto God and a workman that has no reason to be “ashamed” while standing before God?
Here once more I quote the words of Dave Miller: “We must use our God-given rationality to think clearly, accurately, and logically in our treatment of Scripture, as well as in sorting out the daily affairs of life.” (Reason and Revelation). Are you still ready to put the responsibility on someone else? No, God will not allow such! Here you stand alone, it is your responsibility, and you are not allowed to shift it to anyone else! Even if everyone one else has failed you; in that they could not answer your questions! Do you remember the words of Moses: “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29)? As you try to reach an answer for “this and that,” you are not allowed to dwell in the “secret things” that “belong unto the LORD!” No, your responsibility belongs in “those things which are revealed, as they “belong unto us!”
Being lazy, until willing to search what God has revealed, will not stand on the day of judgment! No, we will not be able to plead that our parents did not teach us; neither will we be able to point the finger at our teachers and their failure to teach us how to logically reason; finally, God will not look at us through the failures of our professor and say, “Well, they could not answer my questions!” Why did you not study until you found for yourself, the answers to your own question?
Here I will conclude this three part series with the words of Dave Miller once more: “Sadly, many people dwell on matters that cannot be fully known, while they neglect those things for which they will be held responsible in eternity.”
My friends, it will be you, that stands before God; as Paul wrote: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10).

Frank R. Williams

Let us say, that you are in one of “our” Christian schools, and you have a question, let us say about proving that God exists; so, you put it to your professor. After some thinking, and an effort or two, he simply says: “I cannot answer your question.”
First, no one has seen God, as John the apostle of Christ wrote: “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18). So, if no man has “seen God at any time,” and no man has, how is man to know God? Here is a good question, that will help us, just here, can you know someone you have never seen? This brings on a second question: Have you ever had someone describe another so well, that you know him/her before you see him/her? The answer is “yes!” Well, let us return to the words of John, he wrote: “he hath declared him.” It is true, that no person can describe another, as did Jesus when he “declared” God! Let us continue the thought, we will notice the Greek word used by John, it “exegeomai” means: “to consider out (aloud), that is, rehearse, unfold (Strong). Jesus literally “unfolded” God before the eyes of those who followed him. Then, when Philip said to Jesus, “shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.” What was Jesus’ answer? Here are his words to Philip: “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” (John 14:9). Was Jesus not saying to Philip, that you can know another without seeing him? Yes!
Now, here I quote Dave Miller in “Reason and Revelation,” he wrote: “Sadly, many people dwell on matters that cannot be fully known, while they neglect those things for which they will be held responsible in eternity. No wonder God frequently issued warnings against being ignorant, uninformed, or resistant to knowing.” It is here that he gave the following passages 1) Isaiah 1:3: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool;” 2) Isaiah 5:13: “Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.:” 3) Jeremiah 9:6: “Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD;” and 5) Hosea 4:6: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” While I was in the Northside Preaching School in Harrison, Arkansas, one of the students, would always say “Deuteronomy 29:29.” This was his answer to every difficult question. After a few times of this, I thought it only right that I look up this passage and see how it was the answer to every difficult question; it reads: “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” This student and I formed a lifetime bond! However, I did point out to him, that Moses wrote: “but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” It is up to us, to seek the revealed answers to our questions! It will never do, for us try and put the responsibility on others! Our ignorance of the word of God will not be acceptable on the day of Judgment!
Our plea, “I just cannot understand the word of God;” just will not do as we stand before the judgment seat of Christ: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor.5:10). Solomon wrote: “All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them” (Pro. 8:8); then he followed with these words: “They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge” (verse 9).
Let us conclude this second article on the subject: “Who is responsible?” with these words from the wiseman: “I love them that love me (God); and those that seek me early shall find me (God).” (Pro. 8:17). So, who is responsible for you knowing the word of God? Yes, your parents had the first responsibility; your school teachers hold some responsibility; and your college professors hold yet more responsibility; but when it is all said and done; the responsibility for you knowing the word of God, rests upon you!

Frank R. Williams

First, what is the question? Here is the full question: “Who is responsible for your knowing the truth?” But this brings forth another question: “What truth is the subject?” Well, let it be put forth in this manner: “Who is responsible for you knowing the truth as revealed in the Bible?” To be more exact, who is responsible for you knowing the truth as revealed in the New Testament?” Would it surprise you, if I were to say, you are responsible for you knowing the truth as revealed in the New Testament?
It appears more and more, that people are blaming others for their not knowing the truth! Just who does God hold accountable for you not knowing the truth. Starting with words of Solomon, wrote this: “Buy the truth, and sell it not; also, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding (Pro. 23:23). One point first, please notice that Solomon wrote: 1) “Buy … wisdom;’ 2) “Buy … instruction;” 3) “Buy … understanding.” This is pointed out, because, these words are never quoted or used in a sermon. Nevertheless, having called attention to three words, let us go back to the text, “Buy the truth and sell it not.” Who is to “buy the truth?” Surprise once more, you are to “buy the truth and sell it not!” You are responsible for your having the truth, then, for not selling the truth! Then, here are the words of Jesus on the subject: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). In this text, just to whom was Jesus speaking? Here is John’s answer as he quotes Jesus: “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed” (verse 31). This verse is seldom quoted or used when writing; nevertheless, this is the context wherein John put Jesus’ words: “to those Jews which believed on him.” Without getting too deeply into the text for this article, please note that Jesus was speaking to Jews, Jews who believed on him! Jesus does not say how they would “know the truth,’ just that they would “know the truth” and that “and the truth” would “make” them “free!” This is more about this text, than, you have heard preachers use in their sermons! The answer is, they would know the truth by means of the inspired apostles of Christ, as they preached it (Mark 16:15! However, as they, the believing Jews, heard the truth, as the apostles peached it, they themselves would be responsible for knowing it! This is true, for the apostles were commissioned to preach the gospel, which is “the truth” to every creature!
Now, let us return to the question, “Who is responsible for you knowing the truth?” First, we might say, your parents are responsible for you knowing the truth; second, we might charge your school teachers for you knowing the truth; third, we might say, your college professors are responsible for you knowing the truth; but finally, you are the responsible person for you not knowing the truth! It just will not do, for you to lay this responsibility on others! It is your personal responsibility for you to know the truth! Thus, the words of Solomon: “Buy the truth and sell it not!” The one person responsible for you knowing or not knowing the truth is you! It is just about as easy saying, who is responsible for you knowing, learning, that one plus one equals two. If I hand you one apple and a friend hands you another apple, how many apples do you have? Well, your parents failed to teach you this; your school teachers did not teach you this; and third, your college professor never pointed out this truth; so who is responsible for you not knowing this truth, that one apple plus another apple is two? You are the responsible person!
It is time that we stop blaming others for our not knowing the truth! Of course, this article is not about apples! It is about something far more important, as it is your soul, that is the real subject! And it is your responsibility to put every required effort within you to know the truth! It is your soul that stands in jeopardy! There is nothing within or without you, that is more important than your own soul/spirit! After all, do you really desire to put your soul into the hands of others and say, do as you please with my soul? No thinking person would ever do such a thing! Of course, I know, and you know, that people do just this every day; but I say unto you, they are not “thinking” people! Or else you do not value your own soul!
So, do you believe that God exists? Who is responsible for you knowing the correct answer to this question? Who is responsible for you searching until you know for sure; yes, God does exist; or no God does not exist? Do you have any idea what would be required of you, to prove that God does not exist? How do you prove a negative? Have you seen everything; have you been everywhere; have you made every test there is? The answer to each and everyone of these is no! So, how can you say that God does not exist?
There are no atheists, just agnostics! They are those who want to believe that others have proved that God does not exist! No one has yet to prove that God does not exist!

Frank R. Williams

Judgment is one of the most hated words in any language! It is one of the “reasons” that people reject the word of God. Look at it from the following. I was looking at “the catch,” if you are a baseball fan no other words need be said. You know that “the catch” refers to Willie Mays and “the catch” he made in 1954 world series in the old Polo Grounds, which was in New York.
Here is my point in bringing this to your mind. Is the Willie Mays catch truly “the catch?” I have heard that some believe that another “catch” was really the greatest catch ever made, thus, making it “the catch!” Oh, there is other true baseball fans who believed that another catch is “the catch” and on and on we go. Why is this? Simply because there is no standard by which a catch might be “the catch!” So, it is a matter of judgment or opinion! It is your judgment or opinion against my judgment or opinion! Through in one or ten more and it is still just a matter of judgment or opinion! Really one might say, it is your opinion against my opinion and the right conclusion, or shall we say, the right judgment, will never be known? Why is this true? Simply because there is no standard, there is no law, by which a “catch” can be measured
What does this all have to do with the subject of Judgment? It means, if there is a God and there is the God, the God revealed to us in the Bible; there is also eternity, an everlasting, for this is necessary because there is the God! Let us take one more step; there being the God, there being eternity, then, there must be a standard by which we humans can be measured; thus, fit for heaven by God’s grace through the faith, and we will be welcomed into the everlasting!
It is this judgment that may be the greatest “reason” that people reject the word of God. Have you ever heard; “don’t judge me,” or, “you are too judgmental”? Each of these is a rejection of a standard by which mankind will face the final judgment! If I had to say what the one “reason” is that people reject the word of God, it is because of the judgment that all humanity will face. Here the apostle Paul: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). Then, if this is not enough, how about the words of Jesus, the Son of God? He said: “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). Then, there are the words that Paul spoke in Athens: “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). Without doubt, desiring to live a life here on this earth as you please, forces you to reject the word of God which repeatedly says there is a final judgment, wherein all humans (Who have the ability to understand right and wrong, are not in this number.) will face the judgment wherein the life lived here on this earth, will be measured! In simplicity the measuring rod will be the word of God. Hold up any yardstick, is the board in your hand one foot and ten inches long? We do not have to guess! We know just how long the board in your hand is, and we can all agree! Why is this true? Because we all have the same yardstick-three foot long!
Now, if we all had a different “yardstick” just what kind of house would you and I build? On the side you built, using a yardstick of your choice, you build a wall for the right side of the house; while I am using a “yardstick” of my choice, and I build the wall for the left side. Now, what kind of house are you and I building. All who pass by will know, just by looking, that something is radically wrong! Just for the fun of it, this is the kind of world people would have us live in! Otherwise, we would hear, “Don’t judge me!” Or, “You are too judgmental.” No, not one person would ever say anything like this when their house is about to be built, all who are helping build the house, are free to us the “yardstick” of your/their choice, for we do not have a standard measurement! Look a little more. All those who are working on your house, would never receive with joy: “You are too judgmental” or “Don’t judge me!”
Surely all honest people can understand, trying to live their life without a standard which all others accept; would be impossible! So, why do these same people reject the one standard for every life lived? That one standard being the word of God!
The word of God is not “the catch” but it is the one standard by which all will be judged in the one final judgment with heaven or hell being the final result! The question: “What will your answer be?”

Frank R. Williams

In our effort to shed a little “light” on the subject before us, we have taken a round about route. It is hoped that these articles will do just that; but it was realized from the outset that the subject was too big for our efforts. However, any effort that is made in honesty, will put some “light” on the subject. With these thoughts in our minds, we shall continue!
Today, unlike “yesterday” when most people believed in God, the God revealed upon the pages of the Bible. Therefore, when starting a Bible study, no effort would be required to prove the existence of God! This was and is with a person who does believe in God, the existence of God. It is like having a book in hand and you are ready to study with another; you can bypass, let us say, the first forty pages of the book, as the person already is well versed in those pages. Therefore, starting on page forty-one, which is written under the heading, “Faith/Belief.”
One of the major reasons that a person does not believe in God is that no one has taken the time to prove that God does exist to him! Nevertheless, in this writing, we are addressing a person who does believe in the existence of God; therefore, we are moving to the next twenty pages where the subject is “Faith/Belief,” which in the New Testament is required to please and be accessible to God. Let me add the word “Father,” just here, to the word God as this is the Being I am referring to in this context. In places in the Old Testament the inspired writers used a plural word, in fact, many times the word is a plural (Over a 1,000 times) while referring to God the Father, God, the second member of the Godhead, (This phrase is used because he was not yet the Son of God.) and God the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the use of the word God, is the inspired writer referring to God the Father, God the second member of the Godhead, or God the Holy Spirit? That is unless, it is clear in the context, which word God is referring to! Therefore, let it be understood that the word God in this writing is referring to God the Father!
Now, why do an ever-increasing number of people today, express a belief in God, but who do not believe the Bible is the word of God? Why is this true, taking it as being true? In this final article on this subject, one answer will be given. Let me point out one of two things here. First, the Bible teaches that eternity is real. If there is eternity, and there is, the New Testament has two such places. Here are the words of Jesus: “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matt. 25:46). Jesus is speaking of two different kinds of people: 1) the wicked, and 2) the righteous. He uses one word when pointing out the end place; this Greek word is “aionios” but the translator used two English words: 1) “everlasting” and puts with it the word “punishment” but the second word is “eternal” and puts with it, “life.” If we use but one Greek word to refer to two different places, does this not mean that each place is “everlasting,” “eternal?” Yes, it does! We might say, there is “eternal” life and there is “eternal” death; or there is “everlasting” life and there is “everlasting” death! Death is best understood in the word “separation,” as in “everlasting” separation from God. This is almost unthinkable! The person who believes that God exists, is confronted with an Everlasting hereafter! There is an Everlasting, Eternal life, and we have hit upon the major reason that people who confess a belief in God existing but who do not believe the Bible?
Second, the New Testament addresses the subject of “judgment! Have you ever noticed that, so many people say: “Don’t judge me!” “You are judgmental.” The very idea that there is a law, as in the law of God, means that a person must give account to God for the manner, the way, he lives! This is just more than some people can handle! Thus, they decide not to believe that the Bible is the word of God! Then, when they come to the reality of what they have concluded that they have just reached, it just naturally falls that God does not exist!
Yes, it is true, that some people really believe, that if they deny, that God does not exist, then, God does not exist; and the same thing is true with the word of God, if they say it is not the word of God, then, it is not the word of God! Do their words nullify the words of Jesus: “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24) and how about these words: “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).
How much faith do you have? No, I mean in the word of God!

Frank R. Williams

“For God so loved the world;” therefore, the world must love God. The love of God is seen in the blood of Jesus! As Peter wrote: “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers” (1 Pet. 1:18). “Silver and gold” may redeem a person who has been kidnapped, and a “ransom” is paid with “silver and gold,” but such can never redeem the soul of man! More the reason man should and must love God!
Can you see a person who has no love for God worshipping him? Can you see a person who does not know that God loves him, worshipping God? So often we get the “cart before the horse,” as we try to teach another. We jump right into what a person must do to be saved before we have taught them that God loves them. We have heard so many times, “For God so loved the world,” that we have forgotten that we must love God. So, you ask, “Why do people reject the word of God?” There are any number of reasons, that people may give why they reject the word of God?
Second, (The first was addressed in the first article under the above heading.) of course, there is no reason that a person should/must love God, if they do not believe that God exists! It is totally without reason, that one should love God, if they believe that God does not exist. Therefore, more and more it is necessary to prove the existance of God, today. Christians must work at and study how to prove that God exists! There are people who will study with you but will not study with anyone else! Study the subject of proving that God exists and gives at least three proofs; no, three is not a magic number; there are many who will require more proofs. In such cases, you may have to provide another who can carry on the study. Keep in mind the words of the letter to the Hebrews: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Heb. 11:6). Did you get it; “must believe that he is?” The younger in the body of Christ, must prepare for this reality! That many today do not believe that God exists!
Once you have shown the lost, that God loves them, it becomes easier to develop in them a love for God. Here we recall the words of the apostle John: “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). Keep in mind these words: ‘for the sins of the whole world!” If you have a “right” to the “propitiation,” so does everyone else! Oh, the blessed love of God toward us all. Then, we have the words of Peter: “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet. 1:18-19). While so called “gods” are anchored in material matter, it is “the precious blood of Christ” that God redeemed us with! Oh, the love of God toward humanity! If we can show the lost, this love that God had/has toward us, it will be easier for them to love God!
In our teaching of the lost, the love that God had/has toward all of humanity, must be shown! Where is man without the “precious blood of Christ,” but eternally lost! We may rightfully say, the most two things, that are greatly forgotten in teaching the lost, is that of the love of God toward man and the necessity of humanity’s love for God. If one does not love God, then never will man be saved! Often one side of this is shown: “for God so loved;” but the other, that the lost must love God, is ignored! It is not one without the other, but it is both!
John wrote: “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). Remember, to “know him” is to love him and “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him” (verse 5). Did you get it? How is the love of verified, “perfected?” It is in our “love of God!” Our love for God is seen in our obeying him! So many fail right here! They shout, “from the house top,” that God loves them but fail to show that they love God!
Friends, do you love God? Do you obey God? There is no such thing, one without the other!

Frank R. Williams

How would you answer the title of this article: “Why people reject the word of God?” Your writer does not claim to have more knowledge than others in trying to give answers, maybe not but a few efforts will be made to answer but one or two will bring a little insight! To claim to know all the answers would mean to the readers that I have totally nullified any of the answers I might give.
Let us start off by asking the readers to stop and see how “you” would answer the question. Your answers might be better than that of this writer. So, really stop and think about how “you” would answer!
First, some would answer, “I don’t believe that God exists!” Therefore, the Bible is nothing more than a man-written book. This reveals a lot in common sense with our question, as it relates to with the subject. If one does not believe that God exists; therefore, the Bible cannot be the word of God, as “I” do not believe that God exists! To this person one must back up and prove that God does exist! Only then would such a person give anytime to the question: “Why do people reject the word of God?” Of course, honesty is required in handling our subject. If the person that we are talking with is dishonest, this person would have to be shown their dishonesty! Many people do not like to come “face-to-face” with their own weakness of character. On the other hand, if we are talking with an honest person, there are many proofs that reveal that God does exist! No effort will be given here, as that is not our subject.
Second, if the person we are talking with, does believe that God exists, then, your efforts would be to show such a person what God requires of the person who does believe that God exists. How about this, start with the fact that God loves him/her? There are few people who have not heard these words: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). It is hard to reject someone who loves them but some people do. It is hard to reject someone who really loves, as does God the Father! In God’s plan, he had the “Word” -God- becoming flesh and blood. John also reveals this great truth to us: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). God in his perfection, laid out his plan in “time,” that is “time” is something we humans need, so God waited as the years passed; nevertheless, as Paul wrote: “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law” (Gal. 4:4). “The fulness of the time” is time as it relates to man, not God, as God is eternal, as in “present,” having no behind time nor future time, as he is! This is a most interesting subject, but it is not for now. So, “when the fulness of the time was come,” in the years of humanity; from the garden of Eden when man first sinned, God announced: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). Therefore, man waited as “time” passed year by year and finally, “the fulness of the time” came and God sent forth his “only begotten Son,” to redeem man, as John wrote: “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” Allow me to digress just here; the pronoun “us” in John’s statement is not us today but “us” as in the time of John! It refers to the time of John, and his fellows, when Jesus walked upon the earth. Thus, “when the fulness of the time was come” refers to the time when “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,” and the “us” were those who were living at that time! It is my opinion, that a person who is lost, first must start his/her “love” of God before starting his obedience! Little good would come from teaching a person that he is lost and that he must believe that God is, if he first does not love God! Therefore, first teach the lost that God loves him/her! Then, when he/she loves God, for God loves them, then, teach them what is required.
We have not gotten far in addressing our subject, but we have covered an area of study that is so often over-looked. Why should I believe in “God” who does not love me and who I do not love?
Therefore, we must teach the lost that God does love them! Teach the lost, that he/she must love God! Then, the words of Hebrews will mean something: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Heb. 11:6). Do you see why people reject the word of God? First, show them that God loves them!

Frank R. Williams

Covid-19, “the China virus,” has been the disease that has moved the world in directions no one desired to go; it is to the point that we hear the daily count of those who have this disease and the number who have died each day from it; thus, we have no desire to leave our houses and get out in the public. This is true “world” wide and individually at the same time.
It has “hit” our own lives. It used to be those who wore mask robbed banks, the ‘bad guys were behind the mask, but this is not true now! We all have masks on when going out! The mask has us questioning ourselves, are we going to “catch” the “deadly” virus and there is “fear” in our eyes, all of us? We older folks have a greater “fear” simply because we are older; then, we older people may have body elements which put us at higher risk yet; thus, we have a greater reason for staying home. With this staying home, we are forced to stay away for our fellows. This has its own social “illnesses!” that hits many of us!
We must not over-look our children! Our child needs the “social” activities that can only come with others their own age. As a “personal” opinion, children need other children, children need to interact with those their own age; they need to play games with those their own age; and they need to talk with those their own age; thus, children need children as they grow up and “tackle” problems that come from being with others their own age. This is another reason for the family! Paul wrote: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:1- 4). God did not forget the family and the responsibilities of “children” nor “fathers!” While writing on this subject, allow me to put in a few words about the family! There is a “war” going on against the family as designed by God: father, mother, and offspring! Please note this: the number of live births to unmarried women hit 1,503,361.” And let us go on; “Fewer than half (46%) of America’s. kids younger than 18 years of age are living in a home with two married heterosexual parents in their first marriage. “This is a marked change from 1960s, when 73% of children fit this description, …”
Yes, we may have gone in “circles” but the “Covid-19” has truly hit us hard! Nationally, there has been 3,106,932 cases. Then, there has been 132,855 deaths. These numbers are too great for “me” to get my mind around! Nevertheless, let us get closer home; in the state of Oklahoma, there have been 19,092 confirmed cases and 416 deaths. These are not just numbers but grandfathers and grandmothers, and fathers and mothers. Sometimes it is hard to look at the world we live in! Yes, we are all wearing our mask and we are not bank robbers, but many are denied their lives!
Yet, Christians have much to count when looking at our blessings! Look around you, you can see blessings! Just this morning (July 10th) the sun came “up” and not much later we got a rain that will nourish the earth, cause things to grow, this also means that we will have to continue to mow our yards but we like the green grass and the flowers that are blooming “Count your blessings!” The sun and the rain tells us that we will have more food growing in the sunshine and with the rain.
Of course, our “spiritual blessings” mean more to us, who are Christians! By “spiritual blessings” I refer to these things that are “spiritual.” There is our salvation at the top of the list; this is followed by the fact that God is our father and at his righthand is our high-priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, and here I love to recall the words of the apostle Paul: “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Just knowing this allows us to smile when others have no just such reasons!” (Heb. 4:15).
Covid-19 or not, our God does not change, our Lord does not change, our salvation need not change, this depending on our faithfulness, our high priest does not change, but we should be changing daily as we grow “nearer to the heart of God!”

Frank R. Williams

Our nation is and has been the greatest that has ever been! The “founding fathers” were unequaled in the world. The “Declaration of Independence” is unlike any other document in all of history; that is other than the inspired book, the Bible, which was written by men who were guided by the Holy Spirit!
The statement within this document is as follows: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This statement acknowledges the “Creator” this is the God of the Bible. It reaches back to the opening statement of the Bible: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1), coupled with this verse, also in the first chapter of the Bible: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: ..” (verse 26). The “Declaration of Independence” acknowledged the opening words of the Bible! No “document” that does not acknowledge God, is a most inferior “document!” Thus, the greatnesss of the “Declaration of Independence!”
The “unalienable Rights” of this great document were attributed to “their Creator” – the God of the Bible! Any document that does not acknowledge the God of the Bible is less, it is inferior, and does not come close to reaching the greatness of the “Declaration of Independence!” I believe that it stands first under the inspirited Bible of all other writings of man! It was followed with the “U.S. Constitution.” The Preamble reads as follows: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and the secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Has there ever been such a document that has words in it? No! Notice the words, “to form a more perfect Union.” The Constitution was not about the writers, it was about the people of this United States of America!
Why would people desire to establish another document, as any other document would be less, in behalf of the people who live under it? Second, notice these words which are found in the greatest document ever written by men: “promote the general welfare of the people.” What other document written by men, is there that calls for promoting the general welfare of people? Oh, have we failed, have we “the people” fallen short of these words, Yes, we have! However, the only way for man to improve themselves, is to turn to the New Testament, “the teaching of Christ!” The verse that expresses the heart of “the teaching of Christ is: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: …” (Matt. 7:12). As it relates to people, as with one another, there is no greater statement than these words of Jesus! So, if “we the people” are ever to be a great nation, greater than we have been, we must follow the words of Jesus! Friends; there is just no other way! However, do not hold your breath!
As one citizen of “These United States of America,” I wish nothing better, than, to have America, not as a law, but from the heart of “We the people” turn to the New Testament as our guide to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness! Back in “the day,” before World War II, more Americans believed the Bible, through most never truly followed it; nevertheless, living closer to the principles of the Bible made us a better people! It is my personal opinion, that following World War II, that our nation has more and more moved away from “the teaching of Christ!” As you read this, give some thought to this idea.
Therefore, as one lonely man, who has seen seventy-nine years of the America, following the “Second great War,” the role of men and women have changed; thus, the family has changed and not for the better. Here are two verses that have long ago been discarded from America: “Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for her” (Eph. 5:24-25).

Frank R. Williams