Results 1 - 3 of 3
|
|
|||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | And the winner is ___ ? | Is 42:4 | Aixen7z4 | 107052 | ||
You have made some good points there. Striking among them is the fact we need to decide what constitutes victory. The seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 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“. It is true that wrong is often the aggressor, and it appears to win. We struggle to fit in the word “appears” when the righteous brother dies. But that is what we see, and hence the question and the challenge. My question asks, “Why was not Abel the aggressor?” Why was he not approaching his brother with the light and the right and the truth? Why was he not urging upon him the right way? It is clear that we can use our imagination to say that perhaps he did, etc. But the facts revealed indicate that Cain was the aggressor, with all of his evil skills and tools. We do not know that he sneaked up on him and such. We can imagine that. Can we not imagine Abel being smart enough to see what was coming and to protect himself? Beyond that, I say again, Abel could have decided to be the aggressor, to be proactive, to bring right and life to his brother. We are told to be on guard so that the enemy does not sneak up on us. “Be sober, be vigilant” (1 Peter 5:8). It does not seem to help the situation for us to say, while in the supine position, that he sneaked up on us. We are encouraged to be wise as serpents, and with that wisdom we go, with armor on from head to foot and a sword in our hands. We are to be proactive. We are to win. And he that winneth souls is wise. But of course, we also have to look out for each other. I wish that was saying that we look our for each other‘s welfare. But we have to look out for attacks from each other, because we do attack each other, rather than the foe. If you asked me, that is one of the main reasons we so often do not win. We spend so much of our effort attacking and opposing each other, it is a wonder we have any strength left to fight the foe. A kingdom divided against itself will suffer defeats. We also waste our time on nonsense. While the world is going to hell we sit and argue about where Cain’s wife came from. Mention it, and someone is sure to ask, “Who are you to judge?” We need some sure way, it seems, to provoke one another to love and to good works. Odium is swift and hate is strong. Love is slow to rouse itself. Truth is forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne. Once again I’ll say that Joshua won, and Jesus won because they were proactive. Since we have the weapons of warfare, mighty as they are for the pulling down of strongholds, we should be notching up more victories. By victory I mean turning aside a temptation, winning a soul, doing a deed of kindness, encouraging a brother, earning a good reputation, getting up after you have fallen, restoring a brother who has fallen, suffering patiently for the gospel, getting to the meeting. Satan tries to stop these things. But in the strength of the Lord, with encouragement from a brother or sister, we can do them. We can win. |
||||||
2 | And the winner is ___ ? | Is 42:4 | EdB | 107077 | ||
Aixen7z4 First let’s visit the issue of Cain and Abel and you suggest that Abel possibly wasn’t active enough. However we see God Himself actually confronted Cain and Cain rejected Him. Do you really think There was anything Abel could say or do that would cause Cain to reason out his actions when God’s direct warnings failed? Now moving on to everyday Christians much of what you said is correct in fact I think in much of it you were preaching to the choir as many of us have expressed similar concerns at numerous times. You ask why don’t Christians do thus …? I think the answer is we have become complacent and apathetic lulled into it by our good life style. I know Christians that are so satisfied with life they pray against Christ’s return so they can enjoy this life a little longer. Truly Satan is the deceiver and has them convinced that this is “heaven on earth”. The problem has also been generated by the what is taught in from the pulpit. In an effort to build congregations the focus has been changed from going to sitting tight. In others words to build the congregations many times the pastor skirts saying get off you seats and get into the fray, go tell the world that Jesus is the way. Instead they say if a loved one needs saved bring here and I will do my best. Lastly I believe the greatest testimony a Christian can have is to live a Christian life, one without compromise or hypocrisy. It is hard to convince the world Jesus is the answer when we are living the same defeated life they are. When we come to work Monday grumbling about the same things they are. To worry about the same things they do. To do the same things they do. We love the phrase do as I say not as I do. Unfortunately that is not how it works. People do as they see others do. EdB |
||||||
3 | And the winner is ___ ? | Is 42:4 | Aixen7z4 | 107154 | ||
The points are well taken. Cain did not listen to God. He would not have listened to Abel. It reminds me of Abraham’s statement in Luke 16. Abraham saith unto him, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” And he said,” Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent“. And he said unto him, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” I agree also as to the reasons you gave, why the church is asleep. On the one hand, prosperity. On the other hand, problems same as the world. Whatever the reasons we are asleep, God says we must awake. Wherefore he saith, “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light”. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Old Testament saints who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Yes, I know I left out the suffering ones and their suffering. But they were all winners. They all obtained a good report through faith. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. It is true, too, that we must lead exemplary lives. But we are also called to go, to run, to fight. If there are preachers who ask them to sit tight, there must be some who also say, “Come on!” That would be a call to action. Satan is busy, and we've got work to do as well. |
||||||