Christianity today...

It is a rule, Sir, which I inviolably observe, to refer myself to you in all my doubts; for who is more capable of guiding my uncertainty or informing my ignorance? Having never been present at any trials of the Christians, I am unacquainted with the method and limits to be observed either in examining or punishing them. Whether any difference is to be allowed between the youngest and the adult; whether repentance admits to a pardon, or if a man has been once a Christian it avails him nothing to recant; whether the mere profession of Christianity, albeit without crimes, or only the crimes associated therewith are punishable -- in all these points I am greatly doubtful.

In the meanwhile, the method I have observed towards those who have denounced to me as Christians is this: I interrogated them whether they were Christians; if they confessed it I repeated the question twice again, adding the threat of capital punishment; if they still persevered, I ordered them to be executed. For whatever the nature of their creed might be, I could at least feel not doubt that contumacy and inflexible obstinacy deserved chastisement. There were others also possessed with the same infatuation, but being citizens of Rome, I directed them to be carried thither.

These accusations spread (as is usually the case) from the mere fact of the matter being investigated and several forms of the mischief came to light. A placard was put up, without any signature, accusing a large number of persons by name. Those who denied they were, or had ever been, Christians, who repeated after me an invocation to the gods, and offered adoration, with wine and frankincense, to your image, which I had ordered to be brought for that purpose, together with those of the gods, and who finally cursed Christ -- none of which acts, it is into performing -- these I thought it proper to discharge. Others who were named by that informer at first confessed themselves Christians, and then denied it; true, they had been of that persuasion but they had quitted it, some three years, others many years, and a few as much as twenty-five years ago. They all worshipped your statue and the images of the gods, and cursed Christ.

They affirmed, however, the whole of their guilt, or their error, was, that they were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft, or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food -- but food of an ordinary and innocent kind. Even this practice, however, they had abandoned after the publication of my edict, by which, according to your orders, I had forbidden political associations. I judged it so much the more necessary to extract the real truth, with the assistance of torture, from two female slaves, who were styled deaconesses: but I could discover nothing more than depraved and excessive superstition.

I therefore adjourned the proceedings, and betook myself at once to your counsel. For the matter seemed to me well worth referring to you, especially considering the numbers endangered. Persons of all ranks and ages, and of both sexes are, and will be, involved in the prosecution. For this contagious superstition is not confined to the cities only, but has spread through the villages and rural districts; it seems possible, however, to check and cure it. ^{1 (Pliny the Younger to Caesar Trajan, 111-112 AD).}

This was what a Roman Governor wrote to the Caesar of Rome. It amazes me what is said in this letter. He says that because they're stubborn, they deserve punishment. He said that he did not really find any other issue with Christians-just they're inflexibility. He goes on to say that they met on a certain day to worship Christ and make a vow not to do wicked deeds. He even makes note that it is not a vow to evil but good. They would also meet later for a simple meal. Which Sunday, or the Lord's Day the Christians would take the Lord's Supper (according to Justin Martyr and Didache; also referenced in Acts 20:7). This appears to be the "certain day" that Pliny is referring to. It amazes me though that the government would persecute people who were devoted to not doing evil. They were just stubborn in the fact that they did not worship Caesar's image. They worshiped Christ. They were still hunted down and executed.

What is my point with this post? These Christians met even though they were going to be persecuted. They were faithful to God even though they were going to be executed for it. They lived in a government that they were taught to be obedient to (Romans 13, Matt 22:21). Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:1 to pray for the higher powers to allow us to live peaceful, quiet and Godly lives. Why are so many Christians today not willing to meet with brothers and sisters to worship God in a society where physical persecution is absent. Our 1st and 2nd century brethren met even though they knew they could be executed. Yet, we fail to get ourselves out of bed or away from the TV long enough to take advantage of this wonderful gift that they did not have. We are told in Hebrews 10:25 not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Hebrews 3:13 says, "Encourage one another daily, as long as it is still called today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." Acts 2 says that early Christians met daily. They did not seem to be burdened by meeting with brothers and sisters. Why are we? Generally, in most churches there seems to be 25-40% less on Sunday evening and Wednesdays (Generally). This can fluctuate. The typical response is, "Well, the Bible doesn't say that you don't have to meet on Sunday nights or Wednesdays." No, it doesn't. This isn't my point. My point is simply, Why are we burdened by doing something that the early Christians were killed for. We have the freedom to do this, and we take advantage of this opportunity. I know that sometimes we work on these days or have something come up that hinders us from meeting together. It happens. But to not assemble just because we don't want to. Read Matthew 26:36-46; Luke 22:39-46; Mark 14:32-42). Jesus didn't necessarily want to go to the cross either, but he did. Every time we make a lame excuse or just hang out instead of assembling, we spit in the face of our brethren who sacrificed their lives at the hands of the Roman Empire, and we disgrace our God who put himself on a cross to suffer and die so that our unrighteous souls might be saved. Christ bled and died for the church (Acts 20:28). What have we done for it lately?

--Written by: Wayne Scrimsher

Reverencing God

INTRODUCTION
Yahweh, Adonai, Jehovah, Elohim, I AM, God, Father…these are all names for the eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, all merciful, all gracious, longsuffering, loving, just creator of all the universe. It is because of Him and his perfect attributes that man and the beautiful universe he enjoys exist. From the beginning of time God has been the driving force behind all things. He is the mainspring of existence. He is the generator of life. He is the artist of that beautiful masterpiece called the universe. He is the sculptor of the green earth in which we live. God is not a created being; He is rather an eternal being, from everlasting to everlasting; The Alpha and the Omega. It is an understatement to say that God is the great provider, sustainer, and maker of all things. Man cannot possibly fathom the God of heaven. God has been good to man since the beginning of time, and it is man’s duty, privilege, and purpose to glorify, reverence, and worship Him (1 John 4:8; Eccl. 12:13). To gain an understanding of the importance of reverencing God, three things are needed: (1) An Introduction to God, (2) An Understanding of what God has done for man, (3) An Understanding of what man should do for God.

INTRODUCING GOD
Many people misunderstand God because they have never been properly introduced to him. Moses was first introduced to God on Mt. Sinai. The account of this is recorded in Exodus 34:6: “And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.” The average man when thinking about God probably does not think about Him the way in which this verse describes Him. The majority of so-called “Christendom” doesn’t see God as merciful and gracious. They see God as the proverbial “boy on an ant hill with a magnifying glass.” This view of God is erroneous and downright blasphemous. God does not want any man to go to hell (2 Peter 3:9). God sent His son to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). In order for man to understand why God calls for obedience from every man, he must understand God’s character! Let’s notice how this description of God is found in examples of His interaction with man throughout the Bible.
Since the beginning of time God has extended His sweet hand of mercy toward man. One might recall God’s dealings with Adam and Eve in the garden in Genesis 1-3. God created the universe and all the things in the universe, including man. God created the land, sea, and animals for man’s enjoyment. God created Adam, and created him a help meet and allowed them to have free roam of the garden in which they lived. God gave them the ability to choose which fruit they ate of. They could eat of any tree in the garden, except of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The fruit of this tree was forbidden to them. To eat from it would be a transgression of God’s law; a sin (1 John 3:4). When Eve was tempted to eat of the fruit of that forbidden tree, she went through the same kind of temptations that man goes through today. Lust of the eyes (the fruit looked good), lust of the flesh (the fruit would taste good), and the pride of life (the fruit would “make her like God”)(1 John 2:15-17). Adam and Eve gave into that temptation, and ate of the forbidden fruit. They transgressed God’s law. They sinned against God. According to “Christendom’s” view of God, Adam and Eve should have been struck down with lightning and never given a chance to repent. That is not what happened. God simply asked them a question, “Where art thou?” What!?! That’s what God said to the two who sinned against him!? Yes. God did not strike Adam and Eve down. God simply asked them a question. He went on to ask another question, “Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” God knew that they had eaten of the tree, he just wanted them to admit. Do you see a hateful and angry God in this passage? No, I see a God that hates sin and wants his creation to be obedient to him.
Notice also the man they called Saul of Tarsus. The man who while Steven was being stoned for preaching the Gospel allowed the coats of those who were stoning Steven to be laid at his feet. The man who persecuted Christians because he thought that’s what God wanted him to do. In Acts 9:4 Christ asks him a question on the road to Damascus, “Saul, Saul, why persecutes thou me?” God could have struck Saul down for killing His people, but he merely asks him a question. Is that a harsh God? Later Saul becomes Paul and becomes the greatest soldier of the cross that ever lived. He was a sinner, but our merciful and gracious God forgave him of those sins and called him to preach the good and perfect gospel of Christ! God is on our side. God is rooting for us. God is a merciful God, and He wants all men to be saved. God, through his mercy and grace, has given man everything he needs to get to heaven. That is the God we serve.

WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR MAN
When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, a blood atonement had to be made. Over the ages redemption has been based upon the cleansing power of blood. Leviticus 17:11: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” When the first sin was committed God had to shed an animal’s innocent blood to make atonement for their sins. He killed those animals to make them clothes, and at the killing of those animals, a scheme of redemption needed to take place. The blood of animals could not take away sins. A perfect sacrifice was needed, and God planned to allow Christ to be that sacrifice. In the time before the cross, sins were only forgiven in prospect. God told man it would happen in Genesis 3:15: “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.” From that point on man had a problem. This problem is a serious problem that still affects the eternal destiny of man. Man had a sin problem, and had no way of truly defeating it. The book of Hebrews explains that the sacrifices made in the Old Testament could not forgive sins. The sins were remembered year after year:
“For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Heb. 10:1-14)”
When Christ, that perfect and everlasting sacrifice, died on the cross for the sins of mankind, his cleansing blood, that perfect blood atonement, did not just go forward from the cross into the Christian age. His blood covered the sins of those before the cross all the way back to the Garden. At the cross, the sins of those in the past were remembered no more. Christ’s perfect and precious blood (1 Peter 1:19) had cleansed them from their iniquities. What has God done for man? He has taken care of the sin problem by allowing his Son to die for us (Romans 5:8).
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have ever lasting life (John 3:16).”

WHAT MAN SHOULD DO FOR GOD
God loved the world and he gave his son. What should man do? How should man react to this great and wonderful act of grace and mercy? If God loved us enough to let his Son die on our behalf, what should we do for him in return!? Shall we blow Him off and worship Him in vain? Shall we forget about what He did for us and live a life full of what the Christ came to get rid of? Shall we spit in the face of Christ and show him that we don’t care about the sacrifice he made for us by disobeying him? God forbid! Man must make it his life’s duty to reverence God; to fear God; to obey God; to love God. Solomon put it this way, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13).” The word “fear” in this passage means to have a deep respect and reverence for God. It means to know that he has been good to you and will always be good to you, but it is your privilege and duty to show Him respect at all times as if He were in your presence. The Psalmist said it this way, “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. (Psalm 89:7)” The Hebrews writer said that reverencing God is required to serve Him acceptably, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. (Hebrews 12:28)” God has done so many things for man…shouldn’t man do what God expects of him? Let us always revere God and remember Him as He who purged our sins; He who saved us; He who set us free. Let us love Him. Let us obey Him. Let us reverence Him. King David knew what it meant to reverence the God of heaven when he wrote the twenty-third Psalm:
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. (Psalm 23)”

----Written by: Evan Kirby (Student at MSOP)