Friday Church News Notes
Volume 22, Issue 52 - December 24, 2021
The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, though this does not imply an endorsement.
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL STORY EVER TOLD IN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK EVER WRITTEN (Friday Church News Notes, December 24, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:1-10).
GOD LAUGHS AT MAN’S REBELLION (Friday Church News Notes, December 24, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Bible prophesies an unprecedented rebellion in the last days, and says God laughs at it. A 3,000-year-old prophecy describes exactly what is happening today. There is a global frenzy at the highest levels of society to reject God and His moral rule. The prophet described rulers taking counsel against the Lord and calling for the breaking of His “bands,” referring to His laws about marriage, the distinction of the sexes, etc. We can see this part of the prophecy fulfilled before our eyes on this earth, but the prophecy goes much farther and tells us what God does in response. God laughs at puny man’s ridiculous rebellion against his Almighty Creator, man who enters this world as a helpless infant, lives a few years, then tumbles out into eternity by means of a death that he cannot control. God loves man and has provided his salvation at great cost, but He laughs at man’s conspiracy against the Almighty. Christ will return to judge sin and to establish God’s kingdom on earth, and nothing can stop it. The prophecy ends with a call for men to put their trust in Christ before it is too late and gives the promise of salvation for those who trust Him. Here is the prophecy: “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him” (Psalm 2:1-12).
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS WALKING, NOT FLYING (Friday Church News Notes, December 24, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:15). The new life in Christ is often called a “walk” in Scripture (Ro. 6:4; 13:13; 1 Co. 7:17; 2 Co. 6:16; Ga. 5:18; Eph. 2:10; 4:1; 5:8; Php. 3:17; Col. 1:10; 2:6; 4:5; 1 Th. 2:12; 4:1, 12; 1 Jo. 1:7; 2:6; 2 Jo. 1:6). This is a powerful metaphor with manifold lessons. Walking speaks of action. For those redeemed by free grace, there is a life to live; there are holy works to be done; there is a perfect will of God to be proven; there are gifts to be exercised; there is a gospel to be preached; there are churches to be built. Let’s rise up and walk! Walking speaks of forward movement. We are to be moving forward in the will of God, not going backwards. We are to keep our faces turned toward Christ and His business, not toward the old life or toward this fallen world. Demas failed to keep walking in the right direction (2 Ti. 4:10). Walking speaks of gradual, incremental movement. The victorious Christian life is not leaping and bounding like a kangaroo. It is a step by step affair, living for Christ day by day, hour by hour, dealing with “the body of this death”; putting on the new man and putting off the old man, facing whatever trials God ordains for me by faith. We want to grow by leaps, but the reality is that we grow by steps, so we must be patient and persistent. Christian growth happens incrementally, by moving in the right direction, the ever stronger, ever more biblical, ever more obedient, ever more holy direction. Worldliness and backsliding also happen incrementally, step by step, by moving in the wrong direction. Worldliness happens so gradually that it is easy to deceive oneself that nothing substantial is happening. Just a little change in music “taste,” a little change in dress “style,” a little change in reading habits, a little change in internet viewing and social media use, a little change in associations, a little change in attitude toward biblical separation and a pilgrim lifestyle. What can be harmful about a few little steps? Walking speaks of having one’s feet on the ground. Walking is not flying. We would prefer to have some sort of “second blessing” experience and fly above the troubles of this present life, the struggles with the old man, the trials of our faith, the wrestlings with the powers of darkness. But that is not God’s will. It is His will that we walk through these things, and He has promised to walk with us.
FAITHFULNESS TO HEBREW AND GREEK IS WHY THE KJV IS AN EXCELLENT TRANSLATION (Friday Church News Notes, December 24, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following statement is from Adam Nicholson, God’s Secretaries, pages 210, 211. It refutes the goofy Ruckmanite position that the KJV is advanced revelation over the Hebrew and Greek and there is no longer a need to study the biblical languages, but it affirms the KJV as an excellent and unique translation that is faithful to the original languages. The chief reason the King James Version is such an excellent version is that it is based on the preserved Hebrew and Greek texts and an excellent team of translators aimed to create in English a version faithful to the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. They weren’t willing to bend the original to fit English according to the prominent “dynamic equivalency” doctrine of our day. Rather they bent English to fit the original. They “pushed English toward the condition of a foreign language.” Nicholson writes, “[The] English is there to serve the original not to replace it. It speaks in its master’s voice, and is not the English you would have heard on the street, then or ever. It took up its life in a new and distinct dimension of linguistic space, somewhere between English and Greek (or, for the Old Testament, between English and Hebrew). These scholars were not pulling the language of the scriptures into the English they knew and used at home. The words of the King James Bible are just as much English pushed towards the condition of a foreign language as a foreign language translated into English. It was, in other words, more important to make English godly than to make the words of God into the sort of prose that any Englishman would have written, and that secretarial relationship to the original languages of the scriptures shaped the translation.”
WHAT CAUSES DEATH? (Friday Church News Notes, December 24, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The popular media is continually publishing reports about the cause of death. We are told that one in 10 Americans dies from eating too much salt (ABC News, Mar. 21, 2013) and that 25,000 die each year from drinking “sugary drinks.” While there can be no doubt that diet does affect one’s health, the Bible tells us exactly why men die--not one out of 10, but 100%--and that reason is sin. No nutritionist is going to find a solution for that problem, but God has one. “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
ARCHER FISH (Friday Church News Notes, December 24, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, Oct. 27, 2021: “‘But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; and the fish of the sea will explain to you’ (Job 12:7-8). The yellow-and-black striped archer fish shops among the insects that land on branches overhanging his pond in the peaceful waters of the East Indies. Sometimes he will wait under a branch until something that would make a good lunch lands on it. When the archer fish finds a tasty-looking insect, he shoots an accurately aimed stream of water at his prey, knocking the insect into the water. Before the insect has a chance to recover, the archer fish has eaten him and is looking for dessert. The archer fish has a deep groove in his mouth. When he places his tongue against this groove, he ends up with a blow tube that is about 1/16-inch in diameter. Compressing his gills forces pressurized water through the blow pipe. The rounded tip of the archer fish’s tongue acts as a valve so the fish can shoot a few small bursts or one long stream of water at his prey. The archer fish seldom misses if his prey is within four feet. This simple but elegant arrangement is testimony to a wise and skillful Creator. Neither mindless chance evolution nor any fish could be smart enough to design this system. Nor could any fish redesign his normal mouth tissues into this unique tool. Here we see that our Creator even cares about providing the needs of a fish. We know that He cares even more about our lives! In fact, He has said so! Author: Paul A. Bartz. REF: Coleman, William L., 1979, Listen to the Animals, Minneapolis: Bethany House, pp. 36-37.”
CONCLUSION: The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:11-14).
GOD LAUGHS AT MAN’S REBELLION (Friday Church News Notes, December 24, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Bible prophesies an unprecedented rebellion in the last days, and says God laughs at it. A 3,000-year-old prophecy describes exactly what is happening today. There is a global frenzy at the highest levels of society to reject God and His moral rule. The prophet described rulers taking counsel against the Lord and calling for the breaking of His “bands,” referring to His laws about marriage, the distinction of the sexes, etc. We can see this part of the prophecy fulfilled before our eyes on this earth, but the prophecy goes much farther and tells us what God does in response. God laughs at puny man’s ridiculous rebellion against his Almighty Creator, man who enters this world as a helpless infant, lives a few years, then tumbles out into eternity by means of a death that he cannot control. God loves man and has provided his salvation at great cost, but He laughs at man’s conspiracy against the Almighty. Christ will return to judge sin and to establish God’s kingdom on earth, and nothing can stop it. The prophecy ends with a call for men to put their trust in Christ before it is too late and gives the promise of salvation for those who trust Him. Here is the prophecy: “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him” (Psalm 2:1-12).
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS WALKING, NOT FLYING (Friday Church News Notes, December 24, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:15). The new life in Christ is often called a “walk” in Scripture (Ro. 6:4; 13:13; 1 Co. 7:17; 2 Co. 6:16; Ga. 5:18; Eph. 2:10; 4:1; 5:8; Php. 3:17; Col. 1:10; 2:6; 4:5; 1 Th. 2:12; 4:1, 12; 1 Jo. 1:7; 2:6; 2 Jo. 1:6). This is a powerful metaphor with manifold lessons. Walking speaks of action. For those redeemed by free grace, there is a life to live; there are holy works to be done; there is a perfect will of God to be proven; there are gifts to be exercised; there is a gospel to be preached; there are churches to be built. Let’s rise up and walk! Walking speaks of forward movement. We are to be moving forward in the will of God, not going backwards. We are to keep our faces turned toward Christ and His business, not toward the old life or toward this fallen world. Demas failed to keep walking in the right direction (2 Ti. 4:10). Walking speaks of gradual, incremental movement. The victorious Christian life is not leaping and bounding like a kangaroo. It is a step by step affair, living for Christ day by day, hour by hour, dealing with “the body of this death”; putting on the new man and putting off the old man, facing whatever trials God ordains for me by faith. We want to grow by leaps, but the reality is that we grow by steps, so we must be patient and persistent. Christian growth happens incrementally, by moving in the right direction, the ever stronger, ever more biblical, ever more obedient, ever more holy direction. Worldliness and backsliding also happen incrementally, step by step, by moving in the wrong direction. Worldliness happens so gradually that it is easy to deceive oneself that nothing substantial is happening. Just a little change in music “taste,” a little change in dress “style,” a little change in reading habits, a little change in internet viewing and social media use, a little change in associations, a little change in attitude toward biblical separation and a pilgrim lifestyle. What can be harmful about a few little steps? Walking speaks of having one’s feet on the ground. Walking is not flying. We would prefer to have some sort of “second blessing” experience and fly above the troubles of this present life, the struggles with the old man, the trials of our faith, the wrestlings with the powers of darkness. But that is not God’s will. It is His will that we walk through these things, and He has promised to walk with us.
FAITHFULNESS TO HEBREW AND GREEK IS WHY THE KJV IS AN EXCELLENT TRANSLATION (Friday Church News Notes, December 24, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following statement is from Adam Nicholson, God’s Secretaries, pages 210, 211. It refutes the goofy Ruckmanite position that the KJV is advanced revelation over the Hebrew and Greek and there is no longer a need to study the biblical languages, but it affirms the KJV as an excellent and unique translation that is faithful to the original languages. The chief reason the King James Version is such an excellent version is that it is based on the preserved Hebrew and Greek texts and an excellent team of translators aimed to create in English a version faithful to the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. They weren’t willing to bend the original to fit English according to the prominent “dynamic equivalency” doctrine of our day. Rather they bent English to fit the original. They “pushed English toward the condition of a foreign language.” Nicholson writes, “[The] English is there to serve the original not to replace it. It speaks in its master’s voice, and is not the English you would have heard on the street, then or ever. It took up its life in a new and distinct dimension of linguistic space, somewhere between English and Greek (or, for the Old Testament, between English and Hebrew). These scholars were not pulling the language of the scriptures into the English they knew and used at home. The words of the King James Bible are just as much English pushed towards the condition of a foreign language as a foreign language translated into English. It was, in other words, more important to make English godly than to make the words of God into the sort of prose that any Englishman would have written, and that secretarial relationship to the original languages of the scriptures shaped the translation.”
WHAT CAUSES DEATH? (Friday Church News Notes, December 24, 2021, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The popular media is continually publishing reports about the cause of death. We are told that one in 10 Americans dies from eating too much salt (ABC News, Mar. 21, 2013) and that 25,000 die each year from drinking “sugary drinks.” While there can be no doubt that diet does affect one’s health, the Bible tells us exactly why men die--not one out of 10, but 100%--and that reason is sin. No nutritionist is going to find a solution for that problem, but God has one. “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
ARCHER FISH (Friday Church News Notes, December 24, 2021, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is from CreationMoments.com, Oct. 27, 2021: “‘But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; and the fish of the sea will explain to you’ (Job 12:7-8). The yellow-and-black striped archer fish shops among the insects that land on branches overhanging his pond in the peaceful waters of the East Indies. Sometimes he will wait under a branch until something that would make a good lunch lands on it. When the archer fish finds a tasty-looking insect, he shoots an accurately aimed stream of water at his prey, knocking the insect into the water. Before the insect has a chance to recover, the archer fish has eaten him and is looking for dessert. The archer fish has a deep groove in his mouth. When he places his tongue against this groove, he ends up with a blow tube that is about 1/16-inch in diameter. Compressing his gills forces pressurized water through the blow pipe. The rounded tip of the archer fish’s tongue acts as a valve so the fish can shoot a few small bursts or one long stream of water at his prey. The archer fish seldom misses if his prey is within four feet. This simple but elegant arrangement is testimony to a wise and skillful Creator. Neither mindless chance evolution nor any fish could be smart enough to design this system. Nor could any fish redesign his normal mouth tissues into this unique tool. Here we see that our Creator even cares about providing the needs of a fish. We know that He cares even more about our lives! In fact, He has said so! Author: Paul A. Bartz. REF: Coleman, William L., 1979, Listen to the Animals, Minneapolis: Bethany House, pp. 36-37.”
CONCLUSION: The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:11-14).
_____
Distributed by Way of Life Literature., publisher of Bible Study Materials and reports for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Established in 1974, Way of Life Literature is a fundamental Baptist preaching and publishing ministry based in Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. Brother Cloud lives in South Asia where he has been a church planting missionary since 1979. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY (REPORTS AND FRIDAY NEWS) IS NOT DEVOTIONAL. IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR.
David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org
The Way of Life Literature preaching and publishing ministry is based at Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. A mail stop is maintained in Port Huron, Michigan.
Way of Life Literature - www.wayoflife.org
copyright 2018 - Way of Life Literature
