The
SUSQUEHANNA SENTINEL
May 23, 1999
Vol. II, No. 4

In This Issue

THE BOOK OF LIFE

The Bible says that the names of the saved “are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20; Heb. 12:23).  These names are in the Book of Life, Phil. 4:3.  The Book of Life, then is simply the sum of the names of those who are saved.

Some have supposed that the Book of Life is the personal history of everyone’s sins.  This cannot be, first of all, because when God forgives a sin, He “remembers it no more” (Heb. 8:12).  Second, if the Book of Life is the history of our sins, everyone would be in the book, for “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23).  However the Bible says that some are not in the Book of Life, so it cannot be a record of our sins.  Third, if the Book of Life were the history of our sins, we should desire to keep out of that book, but Jesus told His disciples to “rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).  Fourth, if it were a record of our sins, it would be a book of death instead of a Book of Life, because “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).  The Book of Life contains the names of the saved.  It is a register of those who are heirs of eternal life -- thus it is the Book of Life!

The Bible indicates that one can be blotted out of the Book of Life.  God told Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book” (Ex. 32:33).  Some people mistakenly think that no Christian can possibly apostatize and become lost, but the Bible indicates that there is a distinct possibility of some names being blotted out of the Book of Life, Rev. 3:5.  It is of utmost importance that we study and obey God’s word so that our names are recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life -- and that we serve God faithfully as Christians so that our names are never blotted out of that book.  Concerning hell, the Bible says, “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire,” (Rev. 20:15).  On the next page of the Bible, regarding heaven, the Bible says, “There shall by no means enter it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life,” (Rev. 21:27).

In Heb. 12:23, the inspired writer tells Christians that they have come “to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven.”  We learn in Acts chapter two what they did to get into that number.  Believing Peter’s sermon, they asked, “‘What shall we do?’  Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins’ ...And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:37-47).  Thus they came into the general assembly and church of the firstborn and had their names registered in heaven in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

--CRJ

PAUL’S “NATURAL MAN”
(1 CORINTHIANS 2:14)

The apostle Paul begins a contrast between man’s wisdom and God’s wisdom -- between man’s discoveries and God’s revelation in the gospel.  Worldly wisdom learns many things about the material universe, but it cannot find out God nor the things God prepared for those that love Him.  Natural science and philosophy are useful, but have limitations.

The gospel -- God’s wisdom -- is foolishness to the one who thinks nature reveals all that can be known.  He is the natural man -- the man of nature --to him revelation by inspiration is foolishness.  So long as he depends on nature as the only source of knowledge, he will not, he cannot, “receive the things of the Spirit, for they are foolishness to him.”  The ultra-modernist rejects all revelations as foolishness.  The natural man rejects revelation, because to him, it is foolishness.  Any man, therefore, that rejects revelation as foolishness is a natural man, for that is what the natural man does.

Can such a man be converted?  Not so long as he holds that attitude toward the gospel as a revelation from God.  He must realize his limitations, his poverty of spirit.  “If any man thinketh that he knoweth anything, he knoweth not yet as he ought to know” (1 Cor. 8:2).  “Let no man deceive himself.  If any man thinketh that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise” (1 Cor. 3:18).  The one who receives the gospel must realize that to seek God through any other way is to grope in darkness.  The world by its wisdom does not know God, and cannot know Him.  “For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1 Cor. 1:21).  We must quit scoffing at the idea of revelation, realize the uselessness of trying to find God by our own wisdom, and come to the study of the Bible in the true spirit of honest inquiry, or we can never know the things “that are freely given to us by God.”

--R.L. Whiteside

YES, I BELIEVE IN GOD

“Cassie Bernall walked into Columbine High School last Tuesday morning a promising student. She was carried out more than 24 hours later a Christian martyr. “Do you believe in God?” one of the heavily armed gunmen asked the shy blond girl, reading her Bible in the library while her school was under siege. Hesitating a moment, she replied in a voice strong enough to be heard by classmates cowering under nearby tables and desks, “Yes, I believe in God.” The gunman in the long black trench coat laughed. “Why?” he asked mockingly. Then he raised his gun and shot and killed Cassie.” [Author Unknown]

When I read the above excerpt, my first reaction was as a parent. I thought, what if it had been my child? As parents, we send our children off to their various lives never thinking that we will never see them again, at least not alive. I am told that the pain of loosing a child is beyond words. I thought of my own two sons and my heart broke for Cassie’s parents.

Then something else caught my attention. The account says that when Cassie was asked if she believed in God, there was a moment of hesitation. I believe this says that she gave an answer that was a reasoned response. Did she contemplate that to answer as she did would mean her life? I don’t know. What was her spiritual status with God? I don’t know. What I do know is that this young lady acted in a way that exemplified courage and conviction beyond her years. I fear that her example puts many older Christians to shame.

Dear Christian, what would you have done in a similar situation? Hear the words of Jesus, “Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 10:32-33. Again, Jesus warns, “For whosoever would save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” Luke 9:24.

If someone put a gun in your face and asked, “Are you a Christian?” What would you do? You say, “This is America. It can’t happen here!” Try convincing Cassie’s parents it can’t happen in America. Would you give a thoughtful, reasoned response and affirm your believe in Jesus as the Christ of God?

As Christian parents, we labor to raise our children in the nurture and admonish of the Lord. Should Cassie’s fate be that of a child of yours, would you become bitter and hate the one who did the crime? Or, would you rejoice in the faith of your child?

We sing “Oh, how I love Jesus,” but murmur, gossip and backbite. We profess our undying loyalty to the Lord, yet we cringe at the thought of controversy for truth’s sake. We want our children to be faithful to God, but lead them by example to love the world. I fear our words and our example belie our professed Christianity. We seek after many things. It’s just that martyrdom isn’t one of them.

--Glen Young The Road Creek church of Christ Bulletin, 5/9/99.

THE HUMAN SPIRIT SURVIVES DEATH

In Matt. 10:28, Jesus said, "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."  Luke's account, Luke 12:4-5 reads: "And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  I will show you whom you should fear.  Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him."

These passages clearly indicate that there is a part of man that survives death.  Solomon, in Eccl. 12:7, described what takes place at death:  "Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it."  The material part of man, the part that is made of dust will return to dust.  But the spirit is not made of dust.  It is not inherited from human parents, but is implanted into each individual by God Himself, Zech. 12:1-2.  Each of us has a human father who is the father of our flesh, and each of us has a Divine Father who is the Father of our spirit, Heb. 12:9.  When we die, our spirit returns to God for its proper disposition.

Perhaps the one passage that gives us the most insight into what transpires after death, is Luke 16:19-31.  Here Jesus relates the experiences of two men.  One of them had possessed great wealth.  The other, in the earth-life, had experienced little comfort.  Both of these men died.  The man who had once been rich was now in torment in hades.  Lazarus, the man who had once been a poor beggar, was now comforted in Abraham's bosom.  Both of their souls had returned to God for proper disposition at death, and God had dealt with them according to their priorities in the earth-life.  Though we recognize that this passage may contain some figures of speech, we must recognize that Jesus wants us to clearly understand that there is a part of man that survives death.  He wants us to understand that there is a part of man that survives death.  He wants us to understand that the righteous will be comforted and the wicked will be tormented in a realm beyond this physical earth.  Jesus was too wise to be mistaken and too honest to mislead us.

In fact, Jesus, in His infinite love and misery, probably gave more warnings about hell than any other first century preacher.  And by His sacrificial death, He did more to keep us from going there than any other person ever could or would do.  He insisted that no matter what we may need to give up in order to have a right relationship with God, it is well worth the cost.  No matter what we may need to do to maintain that relationship, our faithfulness will be rewarded.  In Mark 9:43-48, He goes so far as to indicate that if your hand or foot or eye makes you sin, cut it off or pluck it out, because it is better to embrace the promise of everlasting life, no matter what it costs than "to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched."

--CRJ