Zechariah prophesied many details of the coming Messiah. In Zechariah 13:1, he spoke of the era when the Messiah would come, saying, “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” The Messiah quoted from Zechariah 13 when He approached the final, culminating hours of His earthly life. In Mark 14:27, Jesus quotes from Zechariah 13:7, in His last meeting with His disciples before the crucifixion, to indicate that very soon, in fulfillment of prophecy, the shepherd would be smitten, and sheep scattered. What to the disciples seemed as the most unimaginable, ungodly deed, utterly against the will of God, was in reality a divine appointment for the cleansing of mankind (Acts 2:23). Thus the Father speaks in personification to the sword, an instrument of death, to awake against His shepherd, “the man that is my fellow,” indicating the human and divine natures that Christ possessed while here on earth (Zechariah 13:7).

God became a man in order to die for us (Philippians 2:5-10). He was named “JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). His forerunner identified Him as “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He Himself declared that He came for those who were sin sick (Mark 2:17). When the murder of God’s innocent lamb was finished, the soldier took a spear and opened up the cleansing fountain of blood and water (John 19:34). From that time forgiveness of sins has been preached (Luke 24:47). Jesus loves us and washes us from our sins in His own blood (Revelation 1:5). Jesus commissioned water baptism as the means by which men can be washed in His blood and be saved (Mark 16:16). In baptism, sins are remitted (Acts 2:38), blotted out (Acts 3:19), and washed away (Acts 22:16). The marvelous characteristic of the new covenant is that Jesus’ blood has been shed so that sins can be remitted (Matthew 26:28) and remembered no more (Hebrews 8:12).

How could the murder of His only begotten Son be part of God’s plan? It is because He loves us and desires to show mercy to us through His Son (1 John 4:9). For this reason, “it pleased the Lord to bruise him” (Isaiah 53:10). With such a wonderful spiritual blessing before us, we can join in with Micah and say, “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:18-19).

All praise to God for opening up a cleansing fountain through His Son’s blood. Will you be washed in it?

There is a fountain filled with blood

drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;

and sinners plunged beneath that flood

lose all their guilty stains.

-Mark Day

Every year we see and hear them during the holiday season. You hear their bells ringing, you see them standing in front of stores with a collection pot hung from a tripod for people to drop in their money. They call themselves the Salvation Army.

As I was sitting in a Bible Study recently, reference was made to the Salvation Army. At which point I made the comment that they were, in fact a denomination. Many folks associate the Salvation Army with the charitable works they engage in yet just as many people do not realize that they are also a religious organization.

So, due to the time of year we are seeing the collection pots and hearing the ringing of the bells, consider a few points regarding the Salvation Army from their own website (http://www.salvationarmy.com) as we revisit this topic.

1. “The movement (The Salvation Army – JDS), founded in 1865 by William Booth, has spread from London, England, to many parts of the world.”

The Bible teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ built His church on Pentecost in 33 AD in Jerusalem. Jesus said “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18

On the day of Pentecost the Bible says in Acts 2:47, “…And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

2. “We believe that our first parents were created in a state of innocency, but by their disobedience they lost their purity and happiness, and that in consequence of their fall all men have become sinners, totally depraved, and as such are justly exposed to the wrath of God.”

This is from the Calvinistic doctrine of Total Hereditary Depravity. The Bible teaches that sin is something we do, not something we inherit. 1 Jn. 3:4, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” Man is responsible for his own sin, not the sin of others. Ezekiel 18:20, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”

3. “We believe that repentance toward God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and regeneration by the Holy Spirit are necessary to salvation.” “We maintain that no external observance can rightly be said to be essential to salvation or to the receiving of divine grace and that the biblical truth is that we can meet with God and receive his grace anywhere at any time through faith.”

The Bible teaches the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation. Mark. 16:16, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

1 Pet. 3:21, “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ”

Space prevents us from further examination; however it is clear that to support the Salvation Army is to support a denomination and the Biblical error they teach. “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” – Ephesians 5:11.

– Jerry Sturgill

We often wonder what the world is coming to; just how long will evil progress in our world? The Bible ought to be at the forefront of our focus when we have such questions. That God wrote the Bible is evident from many of its characteristics, one of which is its controlled way of describing evil in the world. There is no shocked helplessness at the evil acts of men, but rather a reminder that God is in control over the kingdom of men and works according to His own timetable (Daniel 4:25).

Just as farmers wait as long it takes for their crops to mature before they harvest them, God waits until the time is ripe to punish wicked nations. Often we can become anxious and impatient about evil, wondering when God will deal with it. Men in the Bible did this as well. Jeremiah questioned how long God would allow the wicked to prosper (Jeremiah 12:1-4). Habakkuk knew that God was of purer eyes than to behold evil (Hab. 1:13), but was troubled because to him it seemed that God was idly looking at wrongdoing (Hab. 1:2-4). John saw the souls of them who were slain under the altar crying out, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:10); an evident representation of God’s sense of justice being so sensitive that innocent blood screams out to Him (cf. Genesis 6:4).

God will punish when the time is ripe. In Genesis 15:16, God promised Abraham that his descendants (Israel) would inherit the land where Abraham was sojourning (Canaan), when the iniquity of the present inhabitants (the Amorites) was full. However, before that time Israel would be a servant in the land of Egypt until the time was right for God to judge them (Genesis 15:13-14). God had plans to bless Israel and to punish Egypt and the people of Canaan, but it was all according to His time. When will the iniquity of our nation be full? God alone knows. He sent His Son to save the world “when the fullness of time was come” (Galatians 4:4).

Revelation 14:13-20 portrays an angel being sent forth with instructions to reap the earth with a sharp sickle gathering God’s people for deliverance and the wicked for punishment. The destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 came when the time was ripe. Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13:24-43 gives a glimpse of the harvest that will take place at the end of time. God harvests when the time is ripe for individuals and nations. He will issue His last and great harvest at the end of time. It is up to us to make sure we are prepared for the reaping when the time is ripe.

–Mark Day

An open letter to the congregation of Israel from your humble servants and priests, Nadab and Abihu.

Brethren:
It is with the utmost humility that we inform you of a change of worship practices. Be assured that we bring about this change only after much prayer and study. We have recently concluded an in-depth study of the Law, and have decided to bring about a change in the type of fire used in worship.
We are aware that there is a standing tradition of using only one source of fire, but we as priests, do not feel obligated to blindly follow tradition. Numerous polls indicate the overwhelming opinion that worshipers do not care where we get the fire. We are in agreement with the majority, as we cannot see how a change in fire will affect anything in the least about our sacrifices.

Besides all this, nowhere in the Law does the Lord forbid the use of what some detractors have referred to as “strange fire.” We feel that the lack of such a restriction was meant to give us freedom. Is there any place in the Law that tells us we cannot do something the Lord has not seen fit to condemn? Where are other fires explicitly condemned?

Also, Israel is the only religious group that limits itself to one kind of fire. We have become a laughingstock, and have been ridiculed openly by many groups. We are in great danger of appearing distinctive. This self-righteous, “only-one-fire” policy has alienated us from everyone else. We believe this change will open up many fellowship opportunities.

Now, to set the minds of some of you at ease, we will continue to offer a traditional service using the old-fashioned fire as well as a progressive service with the new fire. This approach will also make it possible to appeal to a younger audience as we discover more entertaining ways to “light the fire” of our assemblies.

For those who still oppose the use of new fire, we ask you not to be judgmental. We also hope you will not use this change as an excuse to divide our people or stir up trouble. We remind you that this has been well thought out and the majority of priests have signed on with us.
We are all very much looking forward to our first new fire service. God will be watching and we anticipate that His joy over seeing His people take a great step toward throwing off the burden of binding tradition will be an electrifying experience. Our new contemporary worship service will no doubt make it easier for us to really be on fire for the Lord!

See you there… we think this new practice is going to spread like wildfire. Please come and enjoy what we know will be an illuminating experience for all of us.

For freedom’s sake!
Your faithful priests,
Nadab & Abihu

(Please read Leviticus 10:1-3)

— submitted by Jerry Sturgill

How did our Lord view the written oracles of God? How did He use God’s word while He lived among men for a third of a century? Since Jesus is our example (1 Pet. 2:21), we should allow His approach to Scripture to influence our approach.

Jesus recognized the true Old Testament canon. The word canon refers to a measuring rod; those books that are considered canonical are those which “measure up” to the characteristics of inspired writing. Our English Old Testaments today are comprised of 39 books. While several other books were circulated among the Jews, most frequently referred to as today as “the Apocrypha,” Jesus only recognized the material that comprises our 39 books as part of the canon. In Matthew 23:35, He said, in essence, from the beginning to end of the Old Testament, all the blood of the righteous would be required of that generation; thus, he delineated the ends of the Old Testament referring to Abel, the first martyr recorded in Genesis, to Zechariah son of Barachias, the last martyr mentioned in 2 Chronicles (the last book in the Jewish order of the Old Testament).

Jesus viewed the Old Testament as inspired and historically accurate. Instead of considering the first eleven chapters of Genesis as a fable, or reinterpreting the creation account in order to fit billions of years between creation and the coming of man, Jesus spoke of Adam and Eve in Mark 10:6 saying, “from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.” He considered the devil to be real, referring to him as “murderer from the beginning” and a “liar” (Jn. 8:44). The account of the days of Noah in Genesis 6 was a reality that he likened to the time when He would come (Lk. 17:26-27). Abraham (Jn. 8:56), Isaac and Jacob (Mt. 8:11) were historical figures in His mind. The demise of Lot’s wife, while laughed at by some today, was considered a real story with a sobering lesson by our Lord (Luke 17:32); moreover, that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed was an historical fact that Jesus used to show the reality of God’s final judgment (Matthew 10:15). Jesus believed that God really spoke to Moses through a burning bush (Mk. 12:26), that Moses made the bronze serpent and lifted it up for Israel to be cured (Jn. 3:14), and that Moses received God’s commands and wrote the law (Mt. 8:4; Mk. 10:3;Lk. 24:44; Jn. 5:46; et. al.); should we not believe the same?

Christ not only believed in the inspiration of the law, but the other portions of the Old Testament as well. Jesus used David’s actions recorded in 1 Samuel 21 as inspired proof in His argument with the Pharisees over the Sabbath (Mt. 12:4). On another occasion, He quoted David’s words from Psalm 110, saying “David himself said by the Holy Ghost” (Mk. 12:36); thus, Jesus believed David was inspired. Jesus often referred to the prophets as part of God’s inspired word (Mt. 5:17; 7:12; 11:13; 22:40). He recognized God’s prophets of the Old Testament were persecuted because they spoke the truth (Mt. 5:12; 23:34) while the false prophets were lauded (Lk. 6:26). Jesus even considered the preaching of Jonah and his sojourn in the belly of a great fish to be just as historically accurate as His own death and resurrection; He even placed it aside the historical account of the Queen of Sheba visiting Solomon (Mt. 12:39-42). While legendary materials can be used as illustrations, it is hard to interpret Jesus’ use of Jonah as anything other than the use of historical material to make His point.
On and on we could go. Suffice it to say that those portions of the Old Testament that have been questioned or dismissed by some today as mythical or composed by uninspired men, Jesus considers historical and inspired. Jesus is the truth (Jn. 14:6), and we should side with Him.

–Mark Day