OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD 1517GladTidingsGladTidings

“The Old is Better” “The Old is Better” –– page 3page 3

God’s Plumbline God’s Plumbline –– page 5page 5

Three Different Men Three Different Men –– page 16page 16

Bible Talks, Study Classes, Sunday Schools and Youth Clubs areheld regularly by Christadelphians worldwide. The address ofyour nearest group can be obtained either from one of the Glad Tidings Distributors listed above, or from one of thecontact addresses listed on the back cover.

Bible VersionsThe version most used in this issue isthe New King James Version (NKJV)

but other versions are sometimesused.

D The New King James Version iscopyrighted by Thomas Nelson.

D The English Standard Version is published by Harper CollinsPublishers © 2001 by CrosswayBibles, a division of Good NewsPublishers. Used by permission.

D The New International Version is copyrighted 1978 by New York Bible Society

GladTidingsO F T H E K I N G D O M O F G O D

124th Year 1517A monthly magazine published by the Christadelphians (brothers and sisters in Christ)and available throughout the world.

AcknowledgementsPhotographs:

Cover Jerusalem Market

Ivan Carter

Illustrations:Clipart.com and iStockphotos

ContentsK10

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Editor: Owen Tecwyn Morgan, 26 The Crescent, Hampton-in-Arden, Solihull, England, B92 OBP glad.tidings@virgin.net

Publisher: The Glad Tidings Publishing Association A registered charity – Number 248352

Contents

“The Old is Better” .....3

God’s Plumbline ..........5

World Out of Control..9

A Christian Conscience..................................12

The Amazing Flagellum.................................14

Three Different Men.16

Paul Before Festus ....18

Its objectives are – to encourage the study of the Bible asGod's inspired message to mankind; to call attention to theDivine offer of forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ; andto warn men and women that soon Christ will return toEarth as judge and ruler of God’s world-wide Kingdom.

126th Year 3

will go on without us and new peoplewill occupy it and enjoy it in their par-ticular way. You might think that thereis nothing we can do about it. But youwould be wrong.

It doesn’t have to be like that, unlessyou want it to be. There is a way ofensuring that your existence is pro-longed and that you occupy the earthforever. That’s the offer God makes toeach of us, in the Bible. For the short-ness and frailty of human existence issomething that people have thoughtabout through the centuries and manyhave written about it. The Psalmist ofIsrael once summed up human exis-tence like this:

Wise men die; likewise the fool and thesenseless person perish, and leavetheir wealth to others. Their innerthought is that their houses will lastforever, their dwelling places to all gen-erations; they call their lands aftertheir own names. Nevertheless man,though in honour, does not remain; heis like the beasts that perish (Psalm49:10–12).

ChoicesJesus told a parable about people whowere averse to change because they

were comfortable withwhat they knew and wereuncomfortable with any-thing new. This is what hesaid:

No one puts a piece froma new garment on an oldone; otherwise the newmakes a tear, and also thepiece that was taken outof the new does not

Wherever you go in the world there arealways people trying to sell you sou-venirs – postcards, photographs,paintings, mugs, teaspoons – youknow the sort of thing. The items differfrom place to place but they areessentially the same: cheap objectswhich are not intended to last long, butwhich remind you and your friends ofwhere you have been.

The shops on this month’s frontcover are in Jerusalem and create aninstructive comparison. The objects forsale are typical products of the 21stcentury while the market place itself isan ancient structure the paving stonesof which have been worn down by thefeet of many people who have passedthat way throughout the centuries. Thesellers and their wares will die sooneror later but the buildings will stay tohouse the products of another genera-tion after them, and then another.

Short-LivedThis is an instructive comparisonbecause it reminds us of our own exis-tence on earth. The places where welive will have been occupied before bypeople or animals that are long gone.And unless something radical happensthe same land will be occupied again.Our houses might bedemolished or rebuilt; ourpossessions will wear outand be thrown away. Aftera while there may benothing left of us at all,except perhaps in thememory of some peoplesomewhere, and eventhat memory will eventu-ally expire. But the earth

“The Old is Better”“The Old is Better”

4 Glad Tidings

ready to be thrown out. He has broughta new way of covering human sinful-ness – one which did not patch the oldbut which replaces all that had gonebefore. Elsewhere in Scripture the cov-ering that Jesus makes available iscalled a ‘robe of righteousness’.

And he brought the taste of forgive-ness for all those who come to Godthrough him, expressed in the parableas a ‘new wine’. His teaching is notcompatible with a person’s old way ofliving and thinking. Drink this new wineand you need to become a newperson. Yet, sadly, many people arecontent with their way of doing thingsand they will not follow Jesus and beguided by his teaching. They say ‘theold is better’ and have forgotten thatas they become old they are one stepnearer the grave and eternal oblivion.

New PeopleJesus wants new people for his newworld; for he is returning from heavento rule on earth and will raise from thedead all those believing people whodied expecting his return. And he willcall to him all those faithful believerswho are still alive and will change themso they can spend eternity on earthwith him when the Kingdom of God isestablished here. That is the great invi-tation the Bible extends to us and wehave to make a fundamental choice.Do we think that our present way of lifeis good enough for us, even if it meansthat we will miss out on all the greatthings that are due to happen? Or dowe think that, all things considered,the new opportunity is better? If so,reading the Bible for yourself should bea top priority to find out what Godwants you to do and how He wants youto change.

Editor

match the old. And no one puts newwine into old wineskins; or else thenew wine will burst the wineskins andbe spilled, and the wineskins will beruined. But new wine must be put intonew wineskins, and both are pre-served. And no one, having drunk oldwine, immediately desires new; for hesays, ‘The old is better’ (Luke5:36–39).

Two ParablesThere are in fact two parables herewhich have been combined togetherand each one is worth examining care-fully, for they teach several differentlessons. First, Jesus explains that youcan’t patch an old garment with apiece of brand new cloth – one thathasn’t even been washed. The piece ofnew cloth will be too strong for theworn out garment and the whole willsoon tear. If you are going to patch youneed a piece of cloth of similar ageand wear. But do you really need topatch a frayed old garment? Wouldn’tit be better to have something new?

His second observation is about anold wineskin which, once again, is atthe end of its life. In its worn-out stateit is not capable of coping with the fer-mentation pressures that would beexerted by new wine. Subject to thatstress and strain it is likely to burst. Ifyou have some new wine to store,Jesus says, you need a new wineskinas that will match the age of the wineitself.

Yet, says Jesus, people are usuallyreluctant to try new wine as they areinclined to stick to what they know.Although he did not express regret assuch, it is clear that he was sad thathuman nature is like that. For considerthe two parables again. Jesus did notcome to mend a way of worshippingGod that was now threadbare and

126th Year 5

Some people have a good eyefor seeing if things are level.A few feel they have to makecorrections and true-up askewed picture on their wallor others’ walls!

Those who hang wallpaperor lay bricks need a reliablemeans to check their work.A plumbline has been usedfor thousands of years forbuilding straight and truewalls. This simple weightwith a pointed basehanging on a cord givesthe worker a fixed refer-ence point.

The complete reliabilityof the plumbline is basedon gravity, a precise andconstant force givingweight to objects and a repeatable rateof descent to the earth. God made theuniverse with all its laws enabling thesimple and accurate weighing ofthings. Scientists need intricate anddetailed calculations to send space-craft into orbit and return them safelyto earth. The thousands of daily pas-senger flights are all possible becauseaircraft instruments can be reliably cal-ibrated to the earth’s constantgravitational pull. We take all this forgranted!

God’s Laws for His PeopleThe infinite Creator prepared thesenatural laws so we can rely on them.He also established trustworthy lawsfor man’s healthy living; these are setout in His Word the Bible. The amazingregulations given to Moses enabled

the Jews to deal with issues contrary tohealthy living. Cross-infection was con-trolled and now our modern methodscan be traced back to God’s Word.Successful animal husbandry and sen-

sible foods are clearlydescribed. When God’speople followed these waysthey thrived and wereadmired by the surroundingnations.

God also set out his codefor healthy spiritual livingwithin this law. The TenCommandments involved aproper way to respect andworship God and live inharmony with each other.When the Jews followedthis way of life God trulyblessed them with good

health and abundant harvests. Listento these words about God’s law:

Keep them and do them, for that willbe your wisdom and your understand-ing in the sight of the peoples, who,when they hear all these statutes, willsay, ‘Surely this great nation is a wiseand understanding people.’ For whatgreat nation is there that has a god sonear to it as the Lord our God is to us,whenever we call upon him?(Deuteronomy 4:6-7).

Notice how the people were requiredto keep the commands, and then theywould be wise and understanding. Aspart of this way of life they regularlyprayed to God for His help in their per-sonal lives. The law God hadestablished was His plumbline bywhich He would judge His people.

The Authority of God in His Word

God’s PlumblineGod’s Plumbline

6 Glad Tidings

Coming JudgementAs the years slipped by the Jews won-dered if life would be more exciting ifthey mingled with the surroundingnations. God warned them that pun-ishment would come on them shouldthey follow the idolatrous practices ofthe heathen. About 760 BC despitemany warnings forover 600 years Godsent Amos to proph-esy about comingjudgement by theAssyrians on thesurrounding nationsand then on Israel ifthey didn’t mendtheir ways. God usedthe picture of aplumbline:

This is what heshowed me: behold,the Lord was stand-ing beside a wallbuilt with a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. Andthe Lord said to me, ‘Amos, what doyou see?’ And I said, ‘A plumb line.’Then the Lord said, ‘Behold, I amsetting a plumb line in the midst of mypeople Israel; I will never again pass bythem; the high places of Isaac shall bemade desolate, and the sanctuaries ofIsrael shall be laid waste, and I will riseagainst the house of Jeroboam withthe sword’ (Amos 7:7–9).

In the vision God was seen holdingHis plumbline by a stone wall; the cityseemed well protected by this sturdyand well-built wall. But God told themif they didn’t measure up to Hisstandard they were destined fordestruction. So it didn’t matter if theirman-made security was strong, Godwas foretelling them that they had

failed His moral code. They were ‘outof true’ when tested with the Divineplumb-line, and all their man-madeprotections were no match for theinvading armies bringing God’s judge-ments on their cities.

Living PlumblineThe Lord Jesus Christ isthe very core of God’spurpose with the naturalcreation and its finalredemption into God’sNew World. God’s Sonwas upright in everyrespect. His life andteaching are absolutelytrue. In John’s gospelJesus said:

I am the true vine, and myFather is the vinedresser.Every branch in me thatdoes not bear fruit hetakes away, and everybranch that does bearfruit he prunes, that itmay bear more fruit (John15:1–2).

We too can become true by Christ’sstandard, if we follow his ways andaccept the salvation in the gospel hetaught. By nature we are ‘out of true’with God because of our sin. If weremain this way we are lost. God sentHis son as the ‘Lamb of God to takeaway the sin of the world’. The secretto entering God’s coming kingdom onearth is to believe in the whole work ofthe Lord Jesus Christ and then accepthis victory over sin by repenting andbeing baptized.

Coming King When the king of righteousness comesagain to rule this world, we can befound standing upright clothed with the

126th Year 7

robes of righteousness thatChrist provides. By God’sgrace we will be judged true byhim. Here is a promise forevery one of us:

If you keep my command-ments, you will abide in mylove, just as I have kept myFather’s commandments andabide in his love (John15:10).

The Lord Jesus wasdescribed as the ‘Word madeflesh’. This means that he ful-filled the Old Testamentprophecies about his life andmessage. He is the living Sonof God and now acts as medi-ator and high priest for hisfollowers. He expects us to grasp holdof the gospel of the coming Kingdomof God on earth and to prepare ourhearts for his return. The Lord JesusChrist is God’s standard by whom hisservants will be measured. We need toalign our lives and faith to be preparedto meet him. As Jesus says:

This is eternal life, that they know youthe only true God, and Jesus Christwhom you have sent (John 17:3).

The regular intake of the Biblemessage will help to refine our heartsto welcome the coming King of theworld.

Measuring UpThe Bible is the only reliable source ofdiscovering God’s purpose with theworld. It is in harmony with history andarchaeology. Many predictions theBible makes have already been com-pleted with astounding accuracy.Some prophecies are still in process offulfilment.

Nebuchadnezzar the great king ofBabylon was given a stunning dream

by God. He saw a great metalimage of a man with feet ofiron and clay. A stone cameand toppled the image andground it to powder. The stonethen grew into a great moun-tain and filled the whole earth.The interpretation whichDaniel received from God hetold to the king. Nebuchad-nezzar was the head of goldand his empire was to be fol-lowed by a succession ofinferior human empires finallyto be replaced by God’sKingdom on earth:

… And in the days of thosekings the God of heaven willset up a kingdom that shall

never be destroyed, nor shall thekingdom be left to another people. Itshall break in pieces all these king-doms and bring them to an end, and itshall stand forever (Daniel 2:44).

This is the real solution to all ourworld’s terrible problems. God’skingdom on earth is the time when Hissaints will be given immortality andshare the blessings of eternity. We canhave total confidence that the LordJesus Christ’s rulership over this worldwill be absolutely just and enforceable.He has already demonstrated his com-plete trustworthiness and totalobedience to his Father’s will. Thegospel Jesus preached is clear,straightforward and true, and we canshare its delights. Just imagine life freefrom worry, sickness, violence, pain,immorality, wars and even death. Thecurse of all human suffering imposedon creation due to Adam and Eve’s sinwill be completely lifted. God’skingdom will be a wonderful new worldfull of lasting peace, harmony andfruitfulness. God imposed death as a

8 Glad Tidings

punishment for sin. But the Lord JesusChrist conquered the power of sin,pain and death through his own deathand resurrection.

Personal ChallengeWhen we understand the true gospeland want to be part of God’s comingKingdom we will express our personalfaith and commitment to the LordJesus Christ. When some questionedJesus’ authority he said this:

“Have you never read inthe Scriptures: ‘The stonethat the builders rejectedhas become the corner-stone; this was the Lord’sdoing, and it is marvellousin our eyes’? Therefore Itell you, the kingdom ofGod will be taken awayfrom you and given to apeople producing its fruits”(Matthew 21:42–43).

Our challenge is to readthe Scriptures, understandits message of hope andthen faithfully act upon it by being bap-tized into the saving name of Jesus.We must not be like the Jews in theLord’s time, many of whom lost theiropportunity of salvation. Most of thenation were scattered worldwide. Thisbrutal dispersion was Bible prophecybeing fulfilled. Clear Bible teachingabout the return of the Jews to Israelwith their national identity again estab-lished was fulfilled only 62 years ago(in 1948).

But their challenge is now the sameas ours: to be ready for the Lord Jesuswhen he returns. Jesus said this aboutthose people who persistently refuseto submit to his authority as describedin the Bible:

I tell you, many will come from east

and west and recline at table withAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob in thekingdom of heaven, while the sons ofthe kingdom will be thrown into theouter darkness. In that place there willbe weeping and gnashing of teeth(Matthew 8:11–12).

The standard has been set by theplumbline – God’s Truth in the LordJesus Christ. The final judgement willbe when the stone grinds to powder allthe wicked and unfaithful and leaves a

beautiful world filled withpeople blessed with immor-tality serving the Lord Godand His Son forever more.

Do take this opportunityto read God’s Word theBible, and test out your faithand beliefs using the truebench-mark, God’splumbline in the Lord JesusChrist. The blessings instore in God’s Kingdom onearth will be so marvellousthat our limited humanminds can only just glimpse

with wonder!

Andrew TennantAll quotations are from the English

Standard Version of the Bible

If you want to access backnumbers of “Glad Tidings” youcan find copies for the last few

years on our website:

www.gladtidingsmagazine.org

126th Year 9

Increase in ViolenceIn many parts of the world violence haserupted. Major wars are being foughtagainst an enemy that no longerstands and fights. For terrorists havediscovered that the ‘hit and run’ tech-nique is much moreeffective and far harderfor conventional forces tofight against.

It also means thatnowhere is safe from thepossibility of attack bypeople with idealisticintent to disrupt andreshape society in accor-dance with their view ofhow things should be.Many of these attacksare undertaken by reli-gious people, many ofwhom are willing to sacri-fice their own lives for thecause they believe in.But it is a strange religionindeed that believes in killing thou-sands of innocent people in order toestablish a new society.

But this disregard for the rule of lawruns even deeper than that. There is awidespread disregard for laws that aresupposed to protect society in general.The majority of parents are no longerable to control their offspring who haveno respect for parental authority and

this attitude can be seen in society ingeneral where young people get highon drugs or alcohol and become virtu-ally unmanageable.

Root CauseThat sort of behaviourbegs the question,why? The answer is rel-atively simple and weonly have to look at thewestern cultures overthe last 50 years. Afterthe Second World Warsociety changed rapidlywith deterrent lawsbeing liberalised anddiscipline relaxed.Children of the 60’s, asthey are often referredto, grew up in a societyrevolutionised by popculture, liberated bythe new age of ‘sex,drugs and rock ‘n’ roll’.

These children are now parents andgrandparents of a society that has wit-nessed a huge moral decline.

Marriage for life is no longer seen asthe serious commitment it once wasand adultery seems to have been thefavourite pastime in a lot of failed rela-tionships. Divorce rates in Britain arethe highest in the western world andso too are teenage pregnancies. Sexu-ally transmitted disease is almost at

The World in Crisis – Part 3

World Out of ControlWorld Out of ControlIn this review of world affairs from a Biblical viewpoint Andrew White is seeking

to show that things have now got to a stage when they are uncontrollable by anyhuman government of whatever political persuasion. Only one power can resolvethings and re-establish true morality and that huge change requires the Coming

of Jesus to re-establish God’s Kingdom on earth.

epidemic proportions and is affectingeven newborn babies.

Liberated?Such ‘liberated’ attitudes and free-doms from codes of conduct havereaped an evil tide of depravity whichcontinues to get worse year by year.These tragic conditions are nowspreading to other areas of the worldand most governments are powerlessto act. Long ago the Bible describedthe sort of society that would exist justbefore the return of the Lord Jesus toestablish God’s Kingdom on earth, forGod is going to take over world ruler-ship and put all these wrong thingsright. Notice how these words whichare nearly 2000 years old read asthough they were a commentary on21st century society.

Failing RemediesSome people think that the way to

improve things is to make punishmentmore severe and thus to deter peoplefrom committing atrocities. There doesseem to be a connection betweensofter punishment and greater crime.For when capital punishment wasremoved in the UK murders increased.Nowadays a life sentence is 25 yearsand with remission that means that amurderer will generally only serve 16years, and that for taking anotherperson’s life! Recently in northernEngland an enraged killer took the livesof 12 innocent people while a numberof seriously injured victims sufferedhorrific injuries. It is indeed a very sadworld. But the prisons of the world arefull and the economic problems beingfaced means that governments aretrying to release more people becauseit is too expensive to keep themimprisoned for a long time.

Other people think that more legisla-tion is the answer so more and moreprohibitive statutes are appearing to tryto establish right from wrong.Members of the European Union haveboth the laws of their own countries toprotect (or prohibit) them and Euro-pean legislation.

This has further confused and weak-ened the situation, for the EuropeanBill of Human Rights superseded manylaws that were based loosely uponGod’s Ten Commandments, laws thathad protected society from obsceneacts of sexual depravity that GodHimself totally forbids. Now attitudesand behaviour based on human prefer-ences take precedence over God’s Lawin our more affluent and liberal world.You can work out for yourself the resultof man’s stupidity in ignoring God.

Behaviour that God has declaredshameful and abominable is now morethan acceptable: they are also protect-ed by society. That Bill of Human

10 Glad Tidings

But know this, that in the last daysperilous times will come: For menwill be lovers of themselves, loversof money, boasters, proud, blasphe-mers, disobedient to parents,unthankful, unholy, unloving, unfor-giving, slanderers, withoutself-control, brutal, despisers ofgood, traitors, headstrong, haughty,lovers of pleasure rather than loversof God, having a form of godlinessbut denying its power. And fromsuch people turn away! For of thissort are those who creep intohouseholds and make captives ofgullible women loaded down withsins, led away by various lusts,always learning and never able tocome to the knowledge of the truth(2 Timothy 3:1–7).

Rights can allow the perpetrator of evilacts to be treated as a victim and onmany occasions the victim appears tosuffer more than the offender, who canliterally get away with murder. God is aGod of justice and true judgement andwhilst He has allowed the world to ‘goits own way’ and ‘do its own thing’ fortwo millennia, that situation is about tocome to an end.

Divine RemedyThis is what the apostle Paul explainedwould happen when the time is right.First he explained that God was giving

mankind the time to sort itself out, forthree times he says that “God gavethem up” (Romans 1:24,26,28):

Then he explains that there will comea day of reckoning, adding that we nowhave the opportunity to take notice ofGod’s laws and His gracious offer ofsalvation:

Do you think this, O man, you whojudge those practising such things,and doing the same, that you willescape the judgment of God? Or doyou despise the riches of His good-ness, forbearance, and longsuffering,not knowing that the goodness of Godleads you to repentance? But in accor-dance with your hardness and yourimpenitent heart you are treasuring upfor yourself wrath in the day of wrathand revelation of the righteous judg-ment of God, who “will render to eachone according to his deeds” (Romans2:3–6).

Follow God’s LawHaving described with absolute accu-racy the way that human society woulddeteriorate in these last days, theapostle Paul went on to urge hisreaders to choose God’s way byreading and obeying His law. There canbe no better recommendation, then ornow:

Andrew White

126th Year 11

Even as they did not like to retainGod in their knowledge, God gavethem over to a debased mind, to dothose things which are not fitting;being filled with all unrighteousness,sexual immorality, wickedness,covetousness, maliciousness; full ofenvy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,backbiters, haters of God, violent,proud, boasters, inventors of evilthings, disobedient to parents,undiscerning, untrustworthy, unlov-ing, unforgiving, unmerciful; who,knowing the righteous judgment ofGod, that those who practise suchthings are deserving of death, notonly do the same but also approveof those who practise them(Romans 1:28-32).

But evil men and impostors will growworse and worse, deceiving andbeing deceived. But you must con-tinue in the things which you havelearned and been assured of,knowing from whom you havelearned them, and that from child-hood you have known the HolyScriptures, which are able to makeyou wise for salvation through faithwhich is in Christ Jesus. All Scriptureis given by inspiration of God, and isprofitable for doctrine, for reproof,for correction, for instruction inrighteousness, that the man of Godmay be complete, thoroughlyequipped for every good work. (2Timothy 3:13–17).

12 Glad Tidings

Conscience can be affected by allkinds of forces. Let me remind you ofsome of the ways in which the con-science is generally referred to. It issometimes said that conscience can“bear a witness” or “give testimony”.

Different SortsThings are said to be done “for con-science sake”. The Bible reflects someof those ideas for in the New Testa-ment conscience is described as“good”, as “void of offence”, or as“pure as toward God”. But it is alsodescribed as “weak”, as “seared”, as“defiled” and as “evil”. Finally, andmost hopefully, we read there thatconscience can be cleansed.

We have seen that conscience is amechanism which can be attuned to aset of moral standards, or which canbe neglected and overrid-den at an individual’schoice. Ignore it for longenough and it will ceaseto work as its Makerintended, just as anymechanism will failthrough neglect or per-sistent misuse. So what isa “Christian conscience”and how would it differfrom one which has beenprogrammed by someother set of moral values?

Christian ConscienceA Christian conscience, quite evidently,must be one which has been instruct-ed by the teaching of Christ; by thepure doctrine of the Word of God andby the faithful testimony of the truth.So for the disciple it is essential thatthe conscience is constantly correctedand readjusted by these forces. Wehave seen al ready that otherwise itmay become weak, seared, defiled,desensitised. Evidently a consciencewhich is not working properly can leada disciple astray.

Weak consciences are not clear inthe apprehension of what God regardsas good and evil. They are not quick indiscerning the fear of the Lord.Remember that if any disciple is tomake a stand on the ground of con-

science, he or she shouldhave the ability to give areason for the faith whichdrives his conscience tomake that stand. It is no partof the properly instructedconscience to declare some-thing “wrong” when it is quiteevidently “right”, nor toapprove as “good” thatwhich is unmistakably “bad”– according to God’s Word.

Although the Apostle Paulwas ready and willing torespect the conscience of

Part Two

A Christian ConscienceA Christian ConscienceIn the first part of this series Dennis Gillett explained what conscience is,

describing it as a God-given mechanism which enables us to determine what isright and what is wrong. It is not an inbuilt arbiter of right and wrong but a facilitythat enables us to apply right judgement once we have the proper information.An ill-informed conscience can take us in the wrong direction. Now he explains

what constitutes a Christian conscience.

126th Year 13

some first century believers who haddifficulties about eating and drinking orthose who wished to give special placeto a particular day, he was never willingfor the individual conscience to violatea divinely true principle: somethingwhich he regarded as essential to theTruth of God. He could be very tolerantabout certain non-essential issues, butvery insistent about things that heregarded as essential.

Two Examples

î Non-EssentialsIn the ancient world

many eating places wereassociated with places ofpagan worship as muchbusiness was done intemple dining rooms.Some believers thought itwas best to have nothingto do with such places asthe food would ceremoni-ally have been offered toidols. Others took theview that as idols do notexist, any such ceremonywas meaningless and itwas all right to eat the food and to goto such places. Here is the advicegiven by the apostle:

Eat whatever is sold in the meatmarket, asking no questions for con-science’ sake; for ‘the earth is theLord’s, and all its fullness’. If any ofthose who do not believe invites you todinner, and you desire to go, eat what-ever is set before you, asking noquestion for conscience’ sake. But ifanyone says to you, ‘This was offeredto idols,’ do not eat it for the sake ofthe one who told you, and for con-science’ sake; for ‘the earth is theLord’s, and all its fullness’ (1 Corinthians 10:25–28).

Here Paul takes the view that thereis really nothing wrong about eatingsuch meat, for idols do not exist, so itmeans nothing if the meat has beenoffered to them (1 Corinthians 8:4),but if that offends other believers hisadvice is that it is best to avoid suchpractices in case it damages the faithof others. He goes on to say that if theeating of meat causes offence toothers, he will become a vegetarian(8:13).î Essentials

But here’s a quite differentexample where, for con-science’s sake, the apostlesays that he will allow nocompromise with his convic-tions. Some peoplerequired, as a matter thatthey said was vital for salva-tion, that Gentile convertsmust be circumcised, follow-ing a Jewish precedent. Paulhad consistently beenarguing that a believer issaved by faith, not by works,and that circumcision wasthus no longer necessary.

See how he dealt with this issue:

Yet not even Titus who was with me,being a Greek, was compelled to becircumcised. And this occurredbecause of false brethren secretlybrought in (who came in by stealth tospy out our liberty which we have inChrist Jesus, that they might bring usinto bondage), to whom we did notyield submission even for an hour, thatthe truth of the gospel might continuewith you (Galatians 2:3–5).

Quite likely those who want ed toimpose circumcision were acting con-scientiously – their conscience toldthem it was necessary. But Paul wouldnot give way to the niceties of some-

body’s conscience on this occasionbecause it was denying a fundamentalteaching of the gospel. A principle wasbeing violated and no man’s con-science may do that without beingresisted.

Right from WrongSo there it is. A Christian conscience,primed and instructed by the teachingof Christ, will tell us when we do rightand will warn us when we do wrongand will urge us always to do right, aswe rightly understand it. Such a con-science is an individual force in humannature. It will protest when we actimpurely; when we lie; when we aredishonest and when we are unjust. Itwill give us no rest when we departfrom the solemn will of God. In caseswhere human judgement has to be

exercised it may lead us to disagreewith our fellows. It is some times amysterious thing, but in the end wehave to obey it if we seek to be trueand desire to find peace.

The one thing is to keep it pure,strong and void of offence. Keep it wellprimed by the Truth; let it be masteredby love. A conscience which is directedby love is the best driving force for therace that is set before us. In the nextarticle in this series we will examinehow to apply such a conscience to asituation where the law of Christ runscontrary to the law of the land andthus explain why Christadelphians con-sistently claim exemption from militaryservice.

Dennis Gillett

14 Glad Tidings

The Amazing FlagellumThe Amazing FlagellumThe reason why our hired motor-boathad stopped moving was that the pro-peller was completely clogged withseaweed. The reliable single cylinderput-put engine was still running but wewere stationary. The only remedy wasto hang over the stern and clear thepropeller of the blockage.

With these common type of smallmotor-boats, the water-cooled engineis situated somewhere in the middle,and is coupled to a rotating shaft, sup-ported by 2 bearings. It pokes outthrough the stern via a waterproofgland, and has the propeller fixed onthe end.

126th Year 15

It is a neat arrangement, buteach component must be inplace for the boat to proceed.Although clearing the propeller is acommon problem, an enginefailure, a broken shaft or cou-pling, a smashed bearing or alost propeller, makes progressimpossible. These can berepaired, but one could not evenbegin a voyage if any one of thoseparts was to be missing; whichbrings us to the bacterial flagellum.

It is only with the advent of very highpowered microscopes that scientistshave come to know that some speciesof flagella can propel themselvesalong, inside the body of living organ-isms, by a mechanism not dissimilar tothat of the boat propeller-drive. Itsounds incredible, but it is absolutelytrue. The bacterial flagellum swimsalong by means of a propeller in theform of a single rotating whip-like tail,on the end of a shaft, which is support-ed by two bearings, in the cell walls. Itis driven by an acid motor within thecell, which can rotate at speeds up to17000 rpm. Like the boat mechanism,the cell could not be propelled if anyone of those parts was missing.

The theory of evolution teaches thatlife began with a very primitive cell thatappeared on earth by some freakchance, and slowly, over millions ofyears, developed into more complexforms of life, to the many highly-complex forms of life that we seearound us today.

But consider the following. For this tohappen, the very first new life-formhad to survive on a totally barrenplanet, and also have the built-inability to divide into two and reproduceitself. At some early stage, it alsoneeded to acquire information, inorder for the DNA molecule to work;

which is the mechanism ofbiological inheritance innearly all living creatures.

So it is hardly scientific topropose that all this com-plexity happened by someincredible accident.

The flagellum mechanism,alone, shows that the tiniestof cells are by no means

simple. Nor can it be explainedhow it could have slowly evolved,

to permit it to swim, as it does. Justlike the boat mechanism, unless allthe components of the flagellum hap-pened at the same time, it just couldnot possibly work. It is what is termedirreducibly complex. There is absolute-ly no allowance for evolutionarydevelopment.

We cannot deny that the propellerdrive on the boat shows an obviousdesigner. But, just take, for example,the miniscule rotating acid-motor ofthe flagellum. For it to rotate at 17000rpm, depends entirely on its tiny, butaccurately, assembled components, allneatly in the right place. Is it notimpossible to believe that such adevice could be built by chanceforces? And all this, before we eventhink about adding the shaft; the bear-ings, and the propeller.

For it to function so efficiently, as itobviously does, all the parts of thebacterial flagellum would have to becreated together. This surely points toan intelligent designer, and such adesigner can only be God. ThePsalmist in the Bible says:

I will praise You, for I am fearfully andwonderfully made; marvellous are Yourworks, and that my soul knows verywell (Psalm 139:14).

Malcolm Edwards

16 Glad Tidings

Government MinisterHe was a man in a position ofconsiderable authority. Todaywe would say that he was ‘TheChancellor of the Exchequer’in a royal court – in fact, in thecourt of Candace Queen of theEthiopians. Yet it is very clearfrom “The Acts of the Apos-tles” in the New Testamentthat he was a very religiousman.

He had been on a pilgrim-age to Jerusalem and wasreturning home. It was a longand difficult journey which hemade in what was probablysome sort of canopied four wheeledconveyance. When we meet him, hehad stopped for refreshment and wasreading from the Old Testament. Wesaid he was a religious man and hewas especially interested in the faith ofthe Jews.

The evangelist Philip came to him onGod’s instruction and asked this gov-ernment minister if he understoodwhat he was reading. The humility ofthe man is astound-ing: He said,

“How can I, unlesssomeone guidesme?” And he askedPhilip to come upand sit with him (Acts8:31).

Philip began at thevery passage fromwhich the Ethiopianwas reading from theOld Testament andtold him about the

good news of thegreat self-sacrificeand wonderful res-urrection of JesusChrist from thedead. The Ethiopi-an was so movedthat he immediate-ly confessed hisfaith and asked forbaptism. So hereis a religious manof considerableimportance in hiscountry’s affairshaving the humilityto realize that his

secular importance was as nothingcompared with his need for salvationfrom sin and death and for baptisminto Christ, You can read the full storyof this man in Acts chapter 8.

Religious FanaticThe next man at whom we shall brieflylook was a member of an elite sect ofthe Jews. He was a scholarly Pharisee,a learned man who became a religious

fanatic determined tostamp out once and for allwhat he saw as the heresyof Christianity. He had thepower and authority to dojust as he thought right. Yethe had to learn, muchagainst his will at first, thatsincerity was not enoughand can even be misdirec-ted! Only a highly dramaticexperience would turn thisman round.

We can read about thisexperience in chapter 9 of

Three Different MenThree Different Men

126th Year 17

the Acts of the Apostles. We can alsogo on to read in that same book howhe became the apostle to the Gentilesand of the work which he did overmany years to bring the gospel to somany in different parts of the Romanworld. Yes, he too, religious man thathe was, came to realize that heneeded to be baptized into the SavingName of Jesus. And it all happenedbecause he encountered the risen andglorious Lord Jesus as he travelled toDamascus. His was the first DamascusRoad conversion!

Roman CenturionThe last of ourthree different menwas a Roman cen-turion. We can readabout him in thatvery same book ofthe New Testamentat chapter 10. Tosay he was a “goodman” is a bit of anunderstatement.He was devout,generous to a faultand a man ofprayer. Surely hewould be acceptedby God because ofthe man that hewas. His name was Cornelius, a centu-rion of the Italian Regiment, so he wasa Gentile.

The apostle Peter – the apostle tothe Jews – was sent to him by God withthis message ringing in his ears: WhatGod has cleansed you must not callcommon (Acts 10:15).

As a result of that visit and hismeeting with Cornelius the apostlePeter came to learn that God wasopening the door of faith to theGentiles, as well as to the Jews. So

Peter spoke to Cornelius about salva-tion in Christ and he too was baptized.

Lessons for UsWe can learn from the examples ofthese three men. None of them was “anobody” by man’s estimation for theyall held positions of authority in theirdiffering capacities. Yet however pow-erful a person might be, howeverfeared or well thought of, however reli-gious, however kind and thoughtful forothers, however generous or self-effac-ing, all of these things are as nothing.

All of us, without distinction, need tocome face to face with the Lord Jesus

Christ and, like thesemen of old, confessour own unworthi-ness and our sins,and be baptized intohis Saving Name.

Baptism meansbeing buried in wateras a symbolic way ofexpressing death toour old nature –related to sin,disease and death –and by rising fromthat water we sym-bolize the start of anew life in Christrelated to righteous-

ness by faith, spiritual health and anewness of life. When that takes placewe will, through our own experience,understand these life-giving words ofthe apostle Paul:

For as many of you as were baptizedinto Christ have put on Christ. There isneither Jew nor Greek, there is neitherslave nor free, there is neither malenor female; for you are all one in ChristJesus (Galatians 3:27–28).

Trevor A. Pritchard

18 Glad Tidings

visit to Jerusalem was to provide finan-cial support for the poor. He musthave reasoned that Paul would haveaccess to other wealth: perhaps hiscompanions would contribute to a‘ransom’?

Felix ReplacedThis situation continued for two furtheryears. Then Felix was replaced. He hadquelled riots between Greeks and Jewsand confiscated valuable Jewish prop-erty. The Jews complained to Nero andFelix was recalled to stand trial. Inorder to try to placate the Jews some-what, Felix left Paul in prison. Felix wasreplaced by Porcius Festus.

Just three days after his arrival in theProvince, Festus went up from hisheadquarters in Caesarea toJerusalem. No doubt this was intendedas a goodwill gesture in order to avoidthe sort of problems which had ulti-mately led to the downfall of Felix.Even after two years, the chief priestsand other members of the Sanhedrinwere just as keenly concerned to havePaul punished and, preferably, toensure his execution. This indicateshow intensely they hated him.

So they made their request to Festusto have Paul transferred back toJerusalem for trial, intending to renewtheir attempt to assassinate him (seeActs 23:15). If, as seems likely, havingnewly arrived, Festus would notsuspect their intentions and, therefore,

Felix AgainA few days after histrial Felix and his wifeDrusilla sent for Paul.Perhaps she wascurious to see Paulhaving, no doubt,heard about him. Paulspoke to them about hisfaith in the Lord Jesus. Afterhe had demonstrated that Jesus ofNazareth was the Messiah, Paulexplained the consequences of such abelief in terms of personal behaviour.

In particular, he spoke about theneed for righteousness, self-controland the coming judgement. Thesematters would cause some concern onthe part of Felix; he and his wife wouldfind themselves condemned by whatPaul said. So Paul was dismissed:

Now as he reasoned about righteous-ness, self-control, and the judgment tocome, Felix was afraid and answered,‘Go away for now; when I have a con-venient time I will call for you’ (Acts24:25).

How often since then have thosesentiments been repeated by peoplewho said that they would think about itlater! Felix may have been fearful ofwhat Paul had been saying but he wasalso hopeful that Paul would offer hima bribe to be released! So he sent forhim frequently, but no bribe was forth-coming. Felix had noted that Paul’s

Growth of the Gospel – 44

Paul before FestusNow a prisoner in Caesarea, the apostle Paul had to explain the circum-

stances that had led to his arrest and answer Jewish accusations that he wasthe ringleader of an insurrection. He made an initial defence of his positionbefore the Roman Governor Felix but, as John Hellawell now explains, that

did not resolve the situation and he remained a prisoner.

126th Year 19

would not provide a guard of the sizewhich the experienced Claudius Lysiashad indicated would be necessary tocombat Jewish fanaticism. Thesefactors would assist their assassinationattempts.

Festus was not to be persuaded. Nodoubt he had been informed (by hisown staff) that Paul was a Romancitizen. Accordingly he insisted that,since Paul was already in custody athis headquarters and he was about toreturn there soon, the trial would beconducted there. It is also probablethat Festus wished toassert his authority andinsist that Romanpractice be followed,especially since theearlier trial had beenheld in Caesarea. It is alsopossible that Festus had been briefedby his own staff that an attempt hadbeen made on Paul’s life already: theletter from Claudius Lysias may wellhave been ‘on file’.

RetrialFestus did, however, indicate his will-ingness to arrange a re-trial if some ofthe Jewish hierarchy were prepared topresent their case. His final comment,“if he has done anything wrong” sug-gests that Festus was suspicious oftheir motives and certainly was notwilling to accept their accusationswithout evidence. This suspicion isconfirmed by his later disclosure toHerod Agrippa:

… about whom the chief priests andthe elders of the Jews informed me,when I was in Jerusalem, asking for ajudgment against him. To them Ianswered, ‘It is not the custom of theRomans to deliver any man to destruc-tion before the accused meets the

accusers face to face, and has oppor-tunity to answer for himself concerningthe charge against him’ (Acts25:15–16).

Trial before Festus After spending eight or ten days inJerusalem, Festus returned to Cae-sarea and, without delay, he convenedthe court to try Paul on the followingday. This suggests that the High Priestand other members of the Sanhedrintravelled back to Caesarea with Festus.The ‘serious complaints’ (25:7), which

are not specified by Luke, maybe inferred from Paul’sdefence as relating to theLaw, the Temple and againstCaesar. Once more, his

accusers were unable to sub-stantiate them. Paul’s defence was

to refute the unsupported charges.This should have been sufficient tolead to a dismissal of the case andPaul’s acquittal.

However, Festus seems to havedecided that he would use the oppor-tunity to get his term as Procurator offto a good start by acquiescing to theearlier suggestion of the Jewish hierar-chy that a trial in Jerusalem wasappropriate. This change of mind wasundoubtedly a political tactic. Fromwhat Festus had heard before the trialit was possible that Paul was a seriousthreat to Rome and social stability.Having listened to the accusations hewas now assured that Paul constitutedno such threat to Rome, or to law andorder. The issues were purely religiousand, therefore, of no consequence.

By making this gesture perhaps hethought that he could ingratiatehimself with the Jews and put them inhis debt.

John Hellawell

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