Classes Continue

Last night was a short one for me. I got to bed early, but having not yet adjusted my body clock, I was fully awake again by about 4am. The time turned out to be very helpful to change a few things in the material for both 1^st Peter and Premillennialism.

My driver for the week, Raqiem, picked me up on time and we made it to the building in time to get started at 7:30am. We began the morning study with 1 Peter 2:1 and ended by finishing chapter 3. The bulk of that section deals with how we are to live as Christians in the various relationships of life. We concluded with the study of 1 Peter 3:18-22 which some in denominations have used to build a whole theory of Jesus going to Hades at His death and continuing to preach there to lost souls until He was raised the third day. We showed that Jesus preaching in Hades is nowhere found in the text. The passage shows that Jesus inspired the message given, and thus preached to lost souls in the in the time of Noah. A separation took place at that time between the obedient and disobedient based of their reaction to the message of inspiration. The separation was made apparent by the water separating the eight saved and the rest who were lost. Having lived without sin and having offered the perfect sacrifice, Christ teaches us through His message of the gospel. Water also makes clear the distinction between those who are saved and those who are lost, namely through water baptism into Christ whereby we are saved in appealing to God for a clean conscience and being raised through the power of His resurrection.

 

The afternoon session on Premillennialism dealt with the fulfillment of the land promised to Abraham’s descendants. We showed that God completely fulfilled the promise to give the full amount of land promised during the time of Joshua. It is verified that they again had possession of it in the time of David and Solomon. God also fulfilled the promise to bring them back in to the land as the book of Ezra and Nehemiah demonstrate. However, Israel to not continue to possess the land because that was conditioned on their obedience and they repeatedly disobeyed God.

The discussion periods in the morning and afternoon continued to bear fruit. The students were more comfortable in seeking point to be clarified by the panel of Jonathan, Rody and Lordy. All of them helped and added points to clarify concepts and answer question in their dialects so that the students could more easily understand the lessons. I am thankful for their help and glad we added this part.

Classes Begin in Cebu City

Our classes got started just a few minutes before 9am as all had arrived by then. We started by introducing the book of 1^st Peter with regards to the writer, recipients, time and place of writing, theme and other factors. We spent some extra time talking about the difference between Peter, as he is seen in the Gospels, and the growth that had taken place with him by the time he writes the two epistles he authored by inspiration. We got through the first chapter, noting both the teaching and application contained therein. We discussed at length how our faith and hope should help us to endure the trials of life as our focus is fixed on our eternal hope in heaven and our trust that the Lord will bring us to that eternal home.

Jonathan Carino, Rody Gumpad and Lordy Salunga took the last 30 minutes before the lunch break to clarify in their dialects any question the students had to make sure the points got across. Though all of the men attending the classes can understand English, it is still their second language and they may not understand some of the points made because of the difficulty of dealing in a second language. That is why I wanted these men to have some time at the end to help clarify.

The afternoon session introduced our study of the errors of Premillennialism. I introduced the study by pointing out how dangerous this error is as it leads to so many false concepts, false practices and take away the faith necessary for the salvation of our soul. We discussed the fact that a false teacher by the name of Cyrus Gusela had made some think he had renounced the error of Premillennialism when in actuality he was merely trying to seek a unity-in-diversity accommodation wherein his error as well as others (institutionalism, use of instrumental music in worship, etc.) would be tolerated in a union with faithful brethren. His errors continue to present a danger to faithful brethren, so there is a need for them to be ready with a answer to the concepts of this error.

The need for the study is also seen in the fact that all of the preachers in these classes came out of denominations and the vast majority had been taught Premillennialism in those denominations. I addressed the false concept that the Bible gives time clues which should lead us to conclude that Christ’s coming at the end of time is near. The fact is that the Bible teaches it will occur like a thief in the night – at a time we cannot know. I also used a PowerPoint presentation with pictures to give a visual picture of the story of the book of Revelation so all could see the main point – that Christ will be victorious over the power of evil that opposed His will and His people, so we should remain faithful that we may have victory with Him. Lastly, we introduced ten basic errors of Premillennialism that we will be examining in detail over the next few days.

During the afternoon discussion period led by Jonathan, Lord and Rody, it was obvious that several of our class participants had some concepts that needed clarification as a result of their backgrounds. It was good that they could discuss the finer points in their dialects so that these things could be addressed clearly. I gave some extra time to the discussion period today for that reason.

Lord's Day in Cebu City

As I have frequently for a number of years, I met with the congregation meeting in the central, business district part of Cebu City. This is the church with which Jonathan Carino and his family labor. His son, Kristofer, led the singing this morning. I spoke in the first hour on “Today, If You Hear His Voice” from the text in Hebrews 3:7-15. It was a lesson to encourage the brethren to continue to grow in the work of the Lord as they are directed by God’s word and encourage one another to do so. Lordy Salunga spoke in the last hour on “The Nature of Man” showing the distinction given in Scripture between the outward, physical, temporal man and the inward, spiritual, eternal man. He showed how the Scripture distinguishes between “body,” “soul” and “spirit” as well as how “soul” and “spirit” are sometimes used in different way, thus, the need to observe the context in which the words appear. It was an excellent study. I told Lordy that I intend to steal it and preach it back home!

I am always impressed with the Central Cebu City congregation. Their worship is always reverent and edifying. They have an evident love for the Lord, His truth and one another. I have known them since our first time together in 2002 and have seen them grow stronger through the years. Almost all of them have worked very hard over the last two months to remodel and make ready the place where we met today. (They have also agreed to let us use the space for the classes this week.) They had to leave their old meeting place because the landlord rented it to someone else at a higher rate. However, they have made the new place more functional and attractive than the previous one. Many hours of hard labor and personal sacrifices were necessary to do it, but they have done so because they love the work of the Lord. May God bless them for their great efforts!

Two of my very dearest friends here in the Philippines are Jonathan Carino and Lordy Salunga. It was such a pleasure to work with both of them today! Jonathan exhibited one of the things I like best about him when he thanks all of the members and acknowledged their hard work in getting the building ready as well as volunteering to do tasks needed in preparations for the classes. Yet, John never took credit for the intensely hard work he has done to make this effort possible as well as his tireless work in helping churches that are beginning or struggling throughout the Visayas and Mindanao. He and his father, Ramon, are two of the most humble men that I know.

As for Lordy Salunga, as he spoke on a subject with much depth, he did so in a way to make the difficult things more easily understood, not the other way around. He is a true scholar in academic achievements and as a former professor in a top university here. But he does not use his great intellect to show-off or overwhelm, but to make the Scriptures clear and more easily applied. I look forward to working with both of them as well as Rody Gumpad when he comes later today to join them in helping me teach these classes.    

Thanks again to all of you who have helped make this effort possible and who prayer for the success of the Lord’s work here. God bless!

Lectures in Central Cebu City

The lectures today were at a rented venue on the main traffic circle at the center of the downtown area. It was a nice Philippine hotel and our function room was on the third floor. One of the owners was attending the lectures and has shown great interest in the gospel. Her and her husband agreed to rent it at a very good rate and then gave us a room twice as large as the one agreed and much nicer. It was a great deal for the price! It was well air-conditioned, so I was very comfortable through the day until about the last hour, and then only slightly warm. As is normal, we got started almost an hour after the starting time I had been announced.

The first lesson preached was on “Salvation and the Seed, the Word of God” from 1 Peter 1:22-25. We noted that the power is in the seed to produce according to its kind. So, if we want the salvation given by God, we must go to the right seed – the gospel of Christ. The thoughts and feelings of man are not the standard, but that which God directs of us in His word.

The second lesson dealt with “God’s Use of the Prophets” from 2 Peter 1:12-21 and 1 Peter 1:10-12. The lesson focused on the meaning of “inspiration” and how God inspired His word. The point being that God caused the speakers and writers to say exactly what He wanted them to say because He controlled their words. We also noted that those words can be understood and cannot be changed.

In the Question / Answer session just before lunch, the question of instrumental music in worship to God was raised by a woman who was a principal at a denomination school in Bogo, at the north end of Cebu Island. She was converted when I was preaching up there several years ago. She asked on behalf of another lady, a so-called “pastora” or denominational preacher, that she brought. We dealt with the fact that singing can be shown as authorized in the NT because it was commanded and practiced in the NT. We asked if anyone had a NT verse showing it was authorized in NT times. All admitted that no such verse exists in the NT. I then made the comparison with the practice of circumcision taken out of the OT and commanded in NT times. Galatians 5:4 says the result of such was that they were severed from Christ. We made the comparison with animal sacrifice and David’s polygamy to show other cases where those in denominations would not reach back to the OT for a practice approved then and try to say it can also be practiced today.

After lunch, I started with the lesson on “Salvation and Saul,” examining the denominational claims of when we are saved and trying to claim Saul as their example. We noted that Saul (later called Paul) was not saved at the point of faith only, at the point of repentance and prayer, at the point of a personal appearance of Jesus or at the point of a miracle being received. Paul was saved at the point of being baptized into Christ, there cleansed by Christ’s blood (Acts 22:16; Rom. 6:3-11). We then studied the NT teaching about baptism as a whole to reach the inescapable conclusion that being baptized into Christ is essential for salvation.

The last lesson dealt with “The Blood of Jesus and Salvation from Sin.” We started with the book of Hebrews, especially chapters 9 and 10, to note that the blood of animals could not cleanse man from sin, but only the blood of Jesus. We went back to the OT to show that the blood always represented the life. Man has never been permitted to eat the blood because it belonged to God since the “life” belonged to God. When the Israelites offered animal sacrifices, they were always instructed to give that blood at the altar as representing the life being given. We then noted that that blood of an animal (or life of the animal) was not of sufficient value to save a human who offered it. But the value of Jesus’ blood, as the perfect sacrifice, is sufficient in value to save all of mankind. The question then comes of when we meet that blood and the gospel clearly shows that it as the point of baptism.

In the Question / Answer period several questions were asked and answered. One was from a man who is a college professor in Bogo as well as a denominational preacher who was trained in a Baptist seminary. He is very close to accepting the truth on the necessity of water baptism for the remission of sins, but is still “kicking against the goads” of long-standing belief to the contrary. He was asking about Jesus’ baptism by John and noting it was not for remission of sins and trying to escape its essentiality from that route. As we answered and discussed more, you could almost see the change in his face to recognize that was not working. After the lectures, we talked for some time and I sense that he is very close to the kingdom. Please pray for him!