Monthly Archives: February 2024

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ONE ARK, ONE CHURCH — BOB PRICHARD

God “spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly” (2 Peter 2:5).

THERE WAS ONLY ONE ARK.

Noah did not build arks. He built one ark. Jesus built one church. “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:4). God “hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23).

THERE WAS ONLY ONE PATTERN FOR THE ARK.

“Make thee an ark of gopher wood” (Genesis 6:14-16). “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he” (Genesis 6:22). We must do all God commands us to do concerning the pattern of the church, found in the New Testament (Romans 6:17).

THERE WAS ONLY ONE LIGHT SOURCE.

“A window shalt thou make to the ark” (Genesis 6:16). Our light today is the light of God’s word which reveals His Son, the light of the world. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). “In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).  

THERE WAS ONLY ONE FAMILY IN THE ARK.

“While the ark was a-preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water” (1 Peter 3:20). “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19).

THERE WAS ONLY ONE WAY INTO THE ARK.

“The door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it” (Genesis 6:16). “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture” (John 10:9). “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. … Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5).

THE ARK SHOWS GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES.

“And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth” (Genesis 9:12-13). 

“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:38-39).

THERE WAS ONLY ONE DANGER!

The danger was being outside! Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,  And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:37-39). We must be in the ark [the church], and remain there for safety!

(Adapted from Jack McNiel)

BIBLE QUESTIONS, CHRISTIAN LIVING

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT CREMATION? — BOB PRICHARD

Cremation refers to disposing of the body of the deceased by burning to ashes. In ancient times, it involved either burning the whole body, or the burning of all but the bones, which were then buried. Cremation was practiced by the Greeks and Romans, but rarely by the Hebrews and early Christians. Achan was burned because of his sin (Joshua 7:25). The bodies of King Saul and his sons were burned, apparently to prevent the Philistines from molesting the bodies. Their bones were then buried (1 Samuel 31:11-13). The Jews buried or placed the body in a sepulchre, believing in the resurrection of the body. From a practical standpoint, fuel for cremation was scarce, while caves for burial were plentiful. The worst of indignities was for the body to be exposed and not receive proper burial.

Man was formed of the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7), and as soon as he dies, his body begins to return to dust. The Egyptians embalmed the body (the Hebrews did not) in attempts to prevent the natural decay. Modern embalming, caskets, vaults, etc. also slow this decay, but do not prevent it. Cremation hastens that return to the elements which happens naturally upon burial. The human body is described as the “temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19), and must be treated with dignity in life and in death. Some feel that cremation is disrespectful, but it is not clear that cremation is any more disrespectful to the body than are embalming and burial. In either case, a memorial service may be held, and the remains my be interred respectfully. Cremation is frequently chosen today because of the lower expense, and the lack of burial places in some large urban areas.

Cremation raises questions relating to resurrection of the body. The “resurrection body” will be like our natural body in some ways, but in some ways different. “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:  It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). Since the natural body is a corruptible body, it really makes no difference (so far as the incorruptible resurrection body is concerned), whether the body is buried, cremated, or eaten by a wild animal. God will certainly give His children the new resurrection bodies they need.

Cremation may be used to escape the reality of death, or may be more traumatic to the family. Viewing the body and the traditional funeral service are often helpful to the family as they deal with grief. What the family believes is best should be chosen, maintaining respect for the body.

BIBLE, JESUS CHRIST

WHAT WAS THE ATTITUDE OF CHRIST TOWARD THE SCRIPTURES? — BOB PRICHARD

The attitude of Christ toward the scriptures was one of complete trust, knowing that He relied on His heavenly father completely. He said, “My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me” (John 7:16). He astonished the people because He spoke with authority, by appealing to the scriptures (Matthew 7:28-29). He warned that it was by his words that all will be judged:  “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).

Christ’s teaching was filled with quotations of and allusions to scripture. He spoke of the creation, the institution of marriage, Noah, Sodom, Abraham, Elijah, Zechariah, and a host of other Bible characters and events. He spoke of these people and events as being historical. Modern “scholars” frequently deny that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, but Jesus upholds Mosaic authorship (John 7:19).  When Satan came to test Him at the beginning of His ministry, He answered each challenge by quoting scripture: “It is written … it is written … it is said” (Luke 4:4, 8, 12). Even in death, He quoted scripture. When He cried out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46), He was quoting from Psalm 22:1, and thus calling attention to the fact that He was fulfilling many prophecies in that very psalm. Even as He made His way to the cross, He submitted to the scripture, knowing that all must be fulfilled. “For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end” (Luke 22:37).

The very basis of Christ’s teaching was the written word. “The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:3-6). Not only did Jesus appeal to the scriptures for authority, but He counted them as the final authority in debate. When the Pharisees sought to entrap Him concerning marriage, Jesus asked, “Have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:31-32). God spoke in words that could be read, and Jesus counted them as the final authority.

Jesus came to fulfill scripture, upholding its authority to the smallest detail. “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17-18). We can do no less than to uphold and defend the authority of the written Word.

BIBLE, BIBLE QUESTIONS, REVELATION

WHY IS THERE SO MUCH CONFUSION ABOUT THE BOOK OF REVELATION? — BOB PRICHARD

There is probably no book of the Bible that is more often misunderstood, misapplied, or abused than the book of Revelation. It has been the “jumping-off” point for cults and wild religious speculation for centuries. Simply understanding the purpose of the book and its nature would end confusion. It begins, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John” (Revelation 1:1). John received the message of the book through the angel of God, and that message was a “Revelation of Jesus Christ” which God gave to show his servants “things which must shortly come to pass.”

Abusers of the book of Revelation often claim that its message has been hidden until now, and that they are the only ones who can explain its message. But the very nature of the book of Revelation, is that it reveals, or makes known the hidden things. Many would try to lead us to believe that no one until the twentieth century could understand what the book meant, and yet God intended for His followers from the beginning to understand and benefit from it. God did not hide His message to believers in Revelation, He disclosed it! God wanted His servants to understand these “things which must shortly come to pass.” If God has waited until the present to let us understand what the book means, then the words “shortly come to pass” have little meaning. The book would have had no meaning to the first readers.

The first century readers of the book of Revelation were literally in a fight for their lives. The rise of emperor worship in the Roman empire was making it harder and harder for Christians to live and maintain their commitment to the understanding that there is one Lord and that Lord was not the Roman emperor. “To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” (1 Corinthians 8:6). History shows that Christians were thrown to the lions, burned at the stake, crucified, and martyred for their faith. It even reached the point that “no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:17). Only those who had worshipped “the beast,” the Roman emperor, could engage in commerce.

God planned the language of the book of Revelation, with its many symbols, to reveal the message to His people, but prevent the Roman authorities from understanding. The Christians who were working to maintain their faith in the midst of persecution could take strength from knowing that Satan and his followers must lose. Knowing that “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Revelation 11:15) comforted them. Revelation has comforted Christians down through the centuries with its message of hope in the darkest hour. The key is to see its over-all message, without demanding to explain every symbol.