Month March 2015

365 Daily Instructions for Life

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10 March 2015
(Numbers 16.1-3)
Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

God had appointed specific men from a specific family of a specific tribe to be priests.

Yet Korah (from the same tribe, but different family) along with Dathan and Abiram (from another tribe) reasoned that since God had made the nation holy, anyone could serve as His priests.
In fact, these self-appointed priests accused Moses and Aaron of self-serving bias, claiming they were guilty of transgression by exalting themselves above all Israel.

Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and those who followed them tried to set one part of God’s word above another, reasoning that since the whole nation was holy, then anyone could serve as priests without distinction. Yet, although God had sanctified the nation, He had also specified who would be priests: Aaron and his sons, of the tribe of Levi.

Many Christians reason accordingly today, claiming that all who have been sanctified in Christ are able to perform any function and fulfill any role of service for the Lord, in spite of clear passages to the contrary. We now have women speaking, teaching, and even preaching in the assemblies of the church, contrary to God’s word (1 Cor 14.35; 1 Tim 2.11-12). Some churches have ordained women elders, despite God-given qualifications (1 Tim 3.2; Titus 1.6).
Some churches have begun approving marriages which Jesus clearly rejected (Matthew 19.9), and even accept same-sex unions, though God clearly defined marriage as a commitment between a man and a woman, and condemned homosexual acts (Rom 1.26-27). We would do well to learn from the example of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (1 Cor 10.6,11), recognizing that God does not approve setting one Scripture above another to nullify one part of His covenant in favor of a misapplication of another. Those who went ahead and offered incense, though they were not called to be priests, were consumed with fire from God (Num 16.35). Their leaders, who promoted this disobedience were swallowed up by the ground (Num 16.31-33).

Clearly, God is not pleased when He specifies one thing and people veto His word by doing something else.

Stuart Tullis

What doth hinder you?

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In Acts 8, the Ethiopian Eunich asked, “….what doth hinder me to be baptized?” [Acts 8:36] This is the question that needs to be answered, what hinders you?

As I was reading Mark, this passage caused me to pause, ”That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.” [Mr 4:12] It caused me to think about people that are blinded to the truth….

  • No one is so blind….
    • As one who WILL NOT SEE.
  • No one is so Deaf….
    • As one who WILL NOT HEAR.
  • No one is so illiterate….
    • As one who WILL NOT READ. [Eph 3:4]
  • No one is so ignorant….
    • As one who WILL NOT STUDY. [2Ti 2:15]

I once met a man convinced that salvation was by faith only. He actually was passing out material declaring the same. I asked him questions, noting that his material lacked scriptural support for what he was teaching. He said, “That’s odd, there should be some scriptures for this.”

I told him that I agreed, and asked, after much discussion, if he’d like to see the only passage in the entirety of scripture that says, “By faith only” in that sequence. What he said next shocked me, “No, I’m ok.” He then took his Bible, which I had opened to the very passage, closed it and stuck it into his pocket.

It is a sad day when a person claiming to be a child of God closes the Bible on truth. So, what doth hinder you from being baptized?

  • Me? – No, I’ll not stand in your way.
  • The church? – No, your denomination may, but the church of the Bible will never.
  • Law? – No, there’s nothing in the Law of Christ, [Ro 8:2] that will hinder you, it teaches it.
  • God? – No, He’s not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. [2Pe 3:9]

So who is it? It’s YOU! Only you stand in the way of salvation. Oh yeah, do you want to know the only time “…by faith only” is used in Scripture?

Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. [Jas 2:24]