With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, 70

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. In the previous posts, Murray discussed Mark 11:24 (Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them. World English Bible, public domain.) He continued:

‘Believe that ye have received.’ It is clear that what we are to believe is, that we receive the very things we ask. The Saviour does not hint that because the Father knows what is best He may give us something else. The very mountain faith bids depart is cast into the sea. There is a prayer in which, in everything, we make known our requests with prayer and supplication, and the reward is the sweet peace of God keeping heart and mind. This is the prayer of trust. It has reference to things of which we cannot find out if God is going to give them. As children we make known our desires in the countless things of daily life, and leave it to the Father to give or not as He thinks best. But the prayer of faith of which Jesus speaks is something different, something higher. When, whether in the greater interests of the Master’s work, or in the lesser concerns of our daily life, the soul is led to see how there is nothing that so honours the Father as the faith that is assured that He will do what He has said in giving us whatsoever we ask for, and takes its stand on the promise as brought home by the Spirit, it may know most certainly that it does receive exactly what it asks. Just see how clearly the Lord sets this before us in verse 23: ‘Whosoever shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass, he shall have it.’ This is the blessing of the prayer of faith of which Jesus speaks.

Sunspots 817

 Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: Speculative Faith has an article on Tolkien and fighting evil.

Christianity: (and politics) Christianity Today considers prophecies that Trump would win the 2020 election.

Computing: Gizmo's Freeware points us to a PDF reader that allows some editing, etc.

Environment: Gizmodo says that President Biden's environmental plans don't deal with the accumulation of plastic.

Gizmodo also reports that lots of gray whales are dying, perhaps from lack of food.

Politics: (and computing) Gizmodo has a piece, with sample posts, on how QAnon followers are taking the Biden inauguration.

Relevant reports that gun violence went up in 2020.

Science: Gizmodo reports that quieter Velcro has been produced.

Gizmodo also reports on the discovery of large holes made by prehistoric carnivorous worms.

Sports: FiveThirtyEight on how great recently deceased Henry Aaron was.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray, 69

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. In the previous posts, Murray discussed Mark 11:24 (Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them. World English Bible, public domain.)

‘All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for.’ It is in prayer that these ‘all things’ are to be brought to God, to be asked and received of Him. The faith that receives them is the fruit of the prayer. In one aspect there must be faith before there can be prayer; in another the faith is the outcome and the growth of prayer. It is in the personal presence of the Saviour, in intercourse with Him, that faith rises to grasp what at first appeared too high. It is in prayer that we hold up our desire to the light of God’s Holy Will, that our motives are tested, and proof given whether we ask indeed in the name of Jesus, and only for the glory of God. It is in prayer that we wait for the leading of the Spirit to show us whether we are asking the right thing and in the right spirit. It is in prayer that we become conscious of our want of faith, that we are led on to say to the Father that we do believe, and that we prove the reality of our faith by the confidence with which we persevere. It is in prayer that Jesus teaches and inspires faith. He that waits to pray, or loses heart in prayer, because he does not yet feel the faith needed to get the answer, will never learn to believe. He who begins to pray and ask will find the Spirit of faith is given nowhere so surely as at the foot of the Throne.

Sunspots 816

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Russell Moore, a Southern Baptist official, on the insurrection at the Capitol last week.

He Lives says that Uzzah, Ananias and Sapphira were not punished. An interesting idea.

Christianity Today on the bible used in incoming President Biden's inauguration.

Computing: (And politics) Gizmodo reports on "industrialized information," in other words, pumping out what's usually false or misleading stuff  as a business, or using such entities. It's growing. One of the worst offenders: Michael Bloomberg's unsuccessful run for President.

Environment: The Trump administration has enacted a rule that makes it easier for fossil fuel companies to pollute, according to Gizmodo.

And they have rolled back regulations that expected more efficiency in water heaters and gas furnaces.

And they have given a green light to a company that wants to mine on land considered sacred by the Apaches.

On the good news side, Gizmodo reports that a wolverine was photographed in Yellowstone National Park, and wolverines have also been seen at Mount Rainier National Park, for the first time in 100 years.

Ethics: Christianity Today considers three ethical questions related to COVID vaccines, and concludes that these should be taken.

Politics: Politico has a thorough article on 30 things that the Trump administration accomplished. My view is that some of them were for the good, some not. Yours probably would be the same, although perhaps we might differ on specifics.

Science: LiveScience on why it's so hard to swat a fly.

Gizmodo reports on the discovery of electric eels hunting in groups, something like wolves.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, 68

 

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color. In the previous post, Murray was discussing Mark 11:24 (Therefore I tell you, all things whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received them, and you shall have them. World English Bible, public domain.)

‘All things whatsoever.’ At this first word our human wisdom at once begins to doubt and ask: This surely cannot be literally true? But if it be not, why did the Master speak it, using the very strongest expression He could find: ‘All things whatsoever.’ And it is not as if this were the only time He spoke thus; is it not He who also said, ‘If thou canst believe, ALL THINGS are possible to him that believeth;’ ‘If ye have faith, NOTHING shall be impossible to you.’ Faith is so wholly the work of God’s Spirit through His word in the prepared heart of the believing disciple, that it is impossible that the fulfilment should not come; faith is the pledge and forerunner of the coming answer. Yes, ‘ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER ye shall ask in prayer believing, ye receive.’ The tendency of human reason is to interpose here, and with certain qualifying clauses, ‘if expedient,’ ‘if according to God’s will,’ to break the force of a statement which appears dangerous. O let us beware of dealing thus with the Master’s words. His promise is most literally true. He wants His oft repeated ‘ALL THINGS’ to enter into our hearts, and reveal to us how mighty the power of faith is, how truly the Head calls the members to share with Him in His power, how wholly our Father places His power at the disposal of the child that wholly trusts Him. In this ‘all things’ faith is to have its food and strength: as we weaken it we weaken faith. The WHATSOEVER is unconditional: the only condition is what is implied in the believing. Ere we can believe we must find out and know what God’s will is[. Believing] is the exercise of a soul surrendered and given up to the influence of the Word and the Spirit; but when once we do believe nothing shall be impossible. God forbid that we should try and bring down His ALL THINGS to the level of what we think possible. Let us now simply take Christ’s ‘WHATSOEVER’ as the measure and the hope of our faith: it is a seed-word which, if taken just as He gives it, and kept in the heart, will unfold itself and strike root, fill our life with its fulness, and bring forth fruit abundantly.  
 

Sunspots 815

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: (and Politics) Relevant reports that Russell Moore, an important Southern Baptist official, has called for President Trump to step down.

Christianity Today has published an article entitled "Humoring the President was not Harmless," and one entitled "We Worship with the Magi, not MAGA." Both articles lay some of the blame for the recent events at the Capitol being on white evangelical Christians.

Education: Grammarphobia discusses the expression  "getting your (her, his, their) ducks in a row."

Science: Listverse shows us ten beautiful spiders.

The Scientist reports on a study of how identical twins are not completely alike, DNA-wise, because of mutations.

Gizmodo reports on the discovery of two dwarf giraffes (in separate populations).

Gizmodo also reports that a previously unknown method of climbing smooth poles has been discovered in some snakes.

Sports: FiveThirtyEight analyzes NFL quarterback draftees. The high majority of these have not done well.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, 67

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color.

‘Believe that ye have received;’ Or, The Faith that Takes.

‘Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye have received them, and ye shall have them.’—Mark xi. 24

WHAT a promise! so large, so Divine, that our little hearts cannot take it in, and in every possible way seek to limit it to what we think safe or probable; instead of allowing it, in its quickening power and energy, just as He gave it, to enter in, and to enlarge our hearts to the measure of what His love and power are really ready to do for us. Faith is very far from being a mere conviction of the truth of God’s word, or a conclusion drawn from certain premises. It is the ear which has heard God say what He will do, the eye which has seen Him doing it, and, therefore, where there is true faith, it is impossible but the answer must come. If we only see to it that we do the one thing that He asks of us as we pray: BELIEVE that ye have received; He will see to it that He does the thing He has promised: ‘Ye shall have them.’ The key-note of Solomon’s prayer (2 Chron. vi. 4), ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who hath with His hands fulfilled that which He spake with His mouth to my father David,’ is the key-note of all true prayer: the joyful adoration of a God whose hand always secures the fulfilment of what His mouth hath spoken. Let us in this spirit listen to the promise Jesus gives; each part of it has its Divine message.

What does the New Testament say about creation?

The following was in a post, recently:

“The creation story is essential to the Christian faith and is as important as the death and resurrection of Christ, the entire being of the Triune GOD, and the inerrancy of the Bible.”

For what it’s worth, the author said that she believed in the Gap Theory of creation.

My response to this statement was to assert that the New Testament says a lot more about the death and resurrection of Christ than it does about the creation story. This implies that it’s not as important as Christ’s death and resurrection. I decided to see just what the New Testament does say about the creation story, using digital searches of the Bible for create, created, creation, and made.

The New Testament emphasizes the Who of creation. The how and when aren’t mentioned. The why is alluded to in Revelation 4:11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created!” (Unless noted, all scripture is from the World English Bible, public domain.) Apparently the why is because God wanted to. We aren’t told why God wanted this, and probably wouldn’t understand it if we were told. For more on the Who of creation, in the New Testament, see this post.

There is evidence, in the creation story, and elsewhere, that God the Father and God the Holy Spirit were also involved in creation, but there’s little or no evidence for that in the New Testament.

The New Testament indicates that we can understand creation through faith: Hebrews 11:3 By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.

There are uses of the phrase “from the beginning of creation,” but they aren’t really about the events of creation:

Mark 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. [Referring to Genesis 1:27] Matthew 19:4 is similar.

Mark 13:19 For in those days there will be oppression, such as there has not been the like from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will be.

Romans 1:20: For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity, that they may be without excuse.

2 Peter 3:4 … and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”

The “whole creation” is mentioned, as is “all creation”:

Mark 16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation.

Romans 8:19-22 For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.

Colossians 1:23 … if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, was made a servant.

So is “new creation”:

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

Galatians 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

Revelation 3:14 “To the angel of the assembly in Laodicea write: “The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning* of God’s creation, says these things:

*There is a text note in the World English Bible, indicating that “Beginning” may also be taken as Source, or Head. Some other versions have similar text notes. The same passage in Revelation, from the NIV, reads: 3:14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. . .”

The Revelation 3:14 scripture may be about the events of creation. But it may also be about the renewal of the creation in the Final Kingdom, or mainly or entirely about that.

There are references to God’s creation which do not mention the Son:

Acts 4:24 When they heard it, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, “O Lord, you are God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them;

One aspect of creation is that humans are, somehow, in the image of God:

James 3:8 but nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men who are made in the image of God.

There are some references to the creation of Adam, and of Adam and Eve, in the New Testament.

There are no direct references to the days of creation in the New Testament. There is a discussion of a “rest” for believers, in Hebrews. Hebrews 4:4: For he has said this somewhere about the seventh day, “God rested on the seventh day from all his works;” and mentions of not working on the Sabbath, such as Matthew 12, in which the Pharisees criticized Jesus, for healing on the Sabbath, and his followers for picking heads of grain on the Sabbath.

Ken Ham, of Answers in Genesis, claims that the New Testament does teach that there were six days of creation. Maybe, but I don’t think so. Ham’s analysis of what the New Testament says on the subject is a real stretch.

For more analysis of Mr. Ham’s view of the Bible, and its weakness, see this post, by Joel Edmund Anderson.

Where creation is not mentioned

Creation is not mentioned in Christ’s most significant teaching. It’s not in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), three discourses in Matthew (10, 13, and 18), or the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25, also in Mark 13, Luke 21). None of the parables mention creation.

The creation story is seldom mentioned in the New Testament. If there’s anything about the origin of the stars and the solar system, or of animals and plants, I can’t find it. The role of Christ in creation, and in sustaining the creation now, is an important part of the New Testament, but not as important as His death and resurrection.

In summary, although what the Bible says about creation, including in the New Testament, is important, it isn’t as important as the death and resurrection of Christ. The events of Genesis 1 and 2 are not explicitly taught in the New Testament, by Christ or the other authors.

Thank you for reading!

Music in the Bible

 

(Image from the Wikipedia.)

There are many mentions of singing, music, or specific musical instruments in the Bible. Here are a few of them:

In 1 Samuel 16, David came to King Saul’s attention as someone who was skilled at playing the harp.  There are 150 Psalms in the Bible. David is credited as the author in about half of these. In some cases, such as Psalms 4, 5 and 6, specific instruments were to be played, accompanying the singing of the Psalm. Psalm 9, and others, indicate that a Psalm was to be sung to a specific tune.

In 1 Chronicles 15, David had the Ark brought into Jerusalem. The procession was accompanied by music.

In 2 Chronicles 5, the dedication of Solomon’s temple is described. The Bible says that “...when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised Yahweh, saying,
“For he is good;
    for his loving kindness endures forever!”
then the house was filled with a cloud, even Yahweh’s house ...”

In 2 Chronicles 20, the Israelites, under Jehoshaphat, went to war with a choir of priests going in front of the armed men. God gave a miraculous victory.

In Daniel 3, King Nebuchadnezzar expected everyone to bow down and worship an image of himself, when “all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. ...” Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did not do this, but God rescued them from the interior of a hot furnace.

Here and here are two references on musical instruments in Bible times. 

Thank you for reading!