The Old and the New The Old and the New –– page 3page 3Who is Jesus Christ? Who is Jesus Christ? –– page 5page 5

Why the Old Testament is Essential Why the Old Testament is Essential –– page 14page 14

of the Kingdom of God 1570GladTidingsGladTidings

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 the contactaddresses listed on the back cover.

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

but other versions are sometimesused.

✤ The New King James Version iscopyrighted by Thomas Nelson.

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

✤ 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

130th Year 1570A monthly magazine published by the Christadelphians (brothers and sisters in Christ) andavailable throughout the world.

AcknowledgementsPhotographs:

Cover: Caves at Qumran Glad Tidings

Other Illustrations:

Pg 9: NASA; Pg 18: Wikipedia;All other illustrations:clipart.com

ContentsC15

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

ContentsThe Old and the New ......3

Who is Jesus Christ? ........5

Bible Teaching andChristian Life ................7

The Dangerous Majority... .....................................10

More about the PastoralLetters..........................12

Why the Old Testament isEssential ......................14

Democracy – To End Soon! .....................................16

King Asa .........................18

Its objectives are – to encourage the study of the Bible as God'sinspired message to men and women; to call attention to theDivine offer of forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ; and towarn men and women that soon Christ will return to Earth asjudge and ruler of God’s world-wide Kingdom.

131st Year 3

down the Messianic expectations thatwould otherwise have obscured hismessage. For Jesus had come topreach the gospel, or good news, ofthe kingdom of God (Mark 1:14) andhis particular emphasis was about thequalities that are needed if his follow-ers are to enter that kingdom when itis established.

By asking the disciples if they hadunderstood the seven parables that hehad taught – two of which he hadexplained to them – Jesus was seekingto know if they were going to be ableto decode his message and under-stand what was being asked of them,hence this final parable just to them.

The ScribeA scribe was someone who spent hislife studying and copying the Scrip-tures, but a scribe who was “instructedconcerning the kingdom of heaven”would be very special. Jesus was notreferring to those Jewish copyists, butto someone who had made a study ofthe Old Testament scriptures and hadcome to understand the purpose ofGod about the coming Kingdom and itsGod-appointed King – the Lord Jesushimself.

Everything about the teaching ofJesus was new. He declared that hehad come to fulfil the law that God hadgiven to Moses. He likened hismessage to new wine that requirednew wineskins and the words andworks of Jesus are fittingly included inthe New Testament, by contrast withthe Old.

For there are treasures to be drawnout of both Testaments and, as a laterarticle in this issue explains, you can’t

Jesus once told a parable about ahouseholder who had a mixture ofthings he treasured, some of themnew and some of them old.

You may be able to identify with thatstory, for I expect that many of us havethings we treasure that we have hadfor a long time. Perhaps it’s a pair ofshoes which are so comfortable thatwe don’t want to throw them out, eventhough they no longer look that good.Or it may be a favourite raincoat thathas kept us dry over the years, even ifit now looks tired and out of fashion.

But I expect that we also have somethings that are comparatively newwhich we also treasure. If forced toflee, perhaps because our house wasabout to burn down, we might wellgrab a selection of old and new items,regarding them all as things we didn’twant to lose.

The ParableIn fact Jesus wasn’t talking aboutthings at all, for he often cautioned hisdisciples about getting too fond of pos-sessions, and he had very few himself.He was talking about our understand-ing of the purpose of God. Here’s theparable:

Jesus said to them, “Have you under-stood all these things?” They said tohim, “Yes, Lord.” Then he said tothem, “Therefore every scribe instruc-ted concerning the kingdom of heavenis like a householder who brings out ofhis treasure things new and old”(Matthew 13:51–52).

The Lord had just taught a largecrowd and then his disciples by usingword pictures, or parables. It was adeliberate tactic, designed to dampen

The Old and the NewThe Old and the New

4 Glad Tidings

of its accuracy. For God, who inspiredthe writers, has clearly overseen theprocess of copying and preserving themessage, so that we can benefit byreading it. There are treasures from theOld and from the New just waiting forus to find them, read them, under-stand them and make them the basisof our lives.

Dead Sea ScribesIt seems likely that the Scrolls thathave been found, which were pre-served for nearly 2000 years, were theScriptures of a group of isolated wor-shippers who lived in a settlement atQumran near the Dead Sea. Some ofthe community were scribes, copyingscripture and writing their ownexplanatory material; others wouldhave been farmers, builders andpotters. But after the capture anddestruction of Jerusalem in AD70 theRoman army scoured the countrysideto round up any other Jews they couldfind and it seems they destroyed thesettlement.

Seeing what was about to happenthe community hid their most treas-ured possessions – their scriptures – innearby caves and fled, or were cap-tured, and were never to return toretrieve them. Their loss is our gain;but their treasure should be ours too.There is nothing more valuable thanthe message of the Bible which tells ushow to live to please God. We shouldhide this message in our hearts andlive accordingly, for a wise man oncesaid:

My son, keep my words, and treasuremy commands within you. Keep mycommands and live (Proverbs 7:1–2).

Editor

really understand the New Testamentunless you first read and understandthe one that went before. But how canwe be sure that the Bible Jesus readwas the same as the Old Testament wenow possess? If there was a hugeinterval between the time of Jesus andthe earliest manuscript of the Old Tes-tament scriptures, couldn’t errors havecrept in that completely distort themessage?

Dead Sea ScrollsIn 1947 something happened thatlater enabled scholars to check thatmanuscript evidence, to see if signifi-cant changes had occurred over theyears. A shepherd boy with his flockdown near the Dead Sea in southernIsrael entered some of the cavesshown on this month’s front cover anddiscovered pottery jars which con-tained ancient scrolls.

It took a while before the signifi-cance of his discovery was appreciatedbut after extensive work finding, buyingand piecing together the various scrollsit was announced that numerous OldTestament manuscripts from andbefore the time of Jesus had beenfound.

Years of careful scholarship later, theBible texts were published, coveringalmost all the Old Testament books.Many were just fragments, but all ofIsaiah’s prophecy was found and thatis now a central feature in the Scroll ofthe Book at the Israel Museum inJerusalem.

So, were there huge differences andhad big errors crept in? No. It wasfound that the transmission of the textover the intervening years had beenremarkably accurate, under the handof God. We now know for certain thatwe can read the whole Bible assured

131st Year 5

What’s in a Name?The word ‘Christ’ (which means the

same as ‘Messiah’ in the Old Testa-ment) is more than a name, it is a titlewhich means ‘Anointed’. In Old Testa-ment times when a king was crowneda little oil was poured on his head toshow that God’s blessing was uponhim. It was a symbol. The new kingbecame ‘the Lord’s Anointed’; forinstance David thought of King Saul inthat way (1 Sam 26:11).

Jesus, however,was ‘anointed’ notwith mere oil but withthe Spirit of God. Ithappened at hisbaptism.

When he had beenbaptized, Jesus cameup immediately fromthe water; andbehold, the heavenswere opened to him,and he saw the Spiritof God descendinglike a dove and alight-ing upon him(Matthew 3:16).

Jesus is The ChristAfter Jesus’ death and resurrection,Peter said plainly “Let all the house ofIsrael know assuredly that God hasmade this Jesus, whom you crucified,both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36).

Again, a few days later: “Thosethings which God foretold by themouth of all His prophets, that theChrist would suffer, He has thus ful-filled” (Acts 3:18). And later still: “God

anointed Jesus of Nazareth with theHoly Spirit and with power, who wentabout doing good and healing all whowere oppressed by the devil, for Godwas with him” (Acts 10:38).

Jesus – God’s Christ or ‘AnointedOne’ – is the One through whom Godshows Himself to us most perfectly. Weremember that in Old Testament timesGod revealed Himself by means ofmessages sent to special men andwomen who were called prophets.Many of these messages were written

down and they are nowin our Bibles, thus theBible is the writtenrecord of ‘God’s Word’(see for instance Isaiah2:1; Jeremiah 1:4;Ezekiel 6:1 and Hosea1:1).

As these articles haveshown, until Jesuscame no-one had suc-ceeded in perfectlyobeying this written‘Word of God’. Hebrews1:1 sums that up –

God, who at varioustimes and in variousways spoke in time past

to the fathers by the prophets, has inthese last days spoken to us by HisSon, whom He has appointed heir ofall things… (Hebrews 1:1–2).

The Apostle John describes it in thisway :

“In the beginning was the Word … Andthe Word became flesh and dweltamong us, and we beheld his glory, theglory as of the only begotten of the

A Christadelphian’s Faith – 22

Who is Jesus Christ?Who is Jesus Christ?

6 Glad Tidings

Father, full of grace and truth” (John1:1,14).

God’s Provision – a SaviourThe Saviour was provided by God,because we men and women hadproved that we would never succeed inserving God perfectly, and would neverbe able to save ourselves. Humannature, from the first sin onwards, hasalways been too determined to have itsown way. Hundreds of years beforeJesus was born, the Psalmist faced theproblem, and declared his faith thatGod alone would solve it –

None of them can by any meansredeem his brother, nor give to God aransom for him – for the redemption oftheir souls is costly … man, though inhonour, does not remain; he is like thebeasts that perish … Like sheep theyare laid in the grave; death shall feedon them … But God will redeem mysoul from the power of the grave, forHe shall receive me (Psalm 49:7–15).

Many centuries later the ApostlePaul looked back on the life of Jesus,God’s Anointed One, and in Romans8:3 he wrote this –

For what the law could not do in that itwas weak through the flesh, God didby sending His own Son in the likenessof sinful flesh, on account of sin: Hecondemned sin in the flesh (Romans8:3).

Jesus, the Likeness of God No mortal man can see God in person:

“No one has seen God at any time.The only begotten Son, who is in thebosom of the Father, he has declaredHim” (John 1:18).

God asked Jesus to be a kind of livingtemple, someone in whom God would

show all His ways to ordinary men andwomen, and Jesus willingly acceptedthis challenge. Jesus often stressedthat his words were his Father’s words,and his works were his Father’s works.Here are two examples –

I have not spoken on my own authori-ty; but the Father who sent me gaveme a command, what I should say andwhat I should speak (John 12:49).

Do you not believe that I am in theFather, and the Father in me? Thewords that I speak to you I do notspeak on my own authority; but theFather who dwells in me does theworks (John 14:10).

In an earlier article we noticed thatPsalm 80:17 foretold two importantthings about the coming Saviour, hun-dreds of years before Jesus was born:

➊ He would be “son of man” (“son ofAdam” – truly human);

➋ God would make him “strong forHimself”.

The gospels show us how thesethings came true in Jesus: how all thatGod has said about His mind andpurpose and character is seen perfect-ly in the life of “the man, Christ Jesus”(1 Timothy 2:5). Truly in him God’s“Word was made flesh” (John 1:14);he was the very embodiment of all thatGod has revealed about Himself andHis gracious purpose for mankind.

John Woodall

If you want to access backnumbers of “Glad Tidings”, includingall the earlier articles in this series,you can find them on our website:

www.gladtidingsmagazine.org

131st Year 7

The Bible Doctrine of SinThe Bible says that Sin is lawlessness.It is a clear departing from the will ofGod. It is coming to the parting of theways and choosing the way which iswrong. When sin is defined as lawless-ness the Bible means that in all thislawful world only one thing is lawless –that is Man. Every other created thingis obedient to the law which has beenput upon it by God.

Upon every tulip there is the law ofthe tulip and when it blossoms forth inall its glory it is obedient to that law,and it does what God intended it to doand therefore gives him glory.

The same is true of every eagle –when it hovers in the sky upon its greatwings and hovers over its young, itdoes that which is true to the law ofthe eagle and it gives glory to God.

Upon Man there is the law ofManhood, once perfectly revealed by

There were some people living inCorinth in New Testament times whowere sceptics. They did not believe inany other world than this world, theysaw no evidence for any other life thanthis life, and out of this belief theyformed this proverb:

“Let us eat drink and be merry fortomorrow we die.”

They lived lives which were whollysensual and transient and that way oflife arose directly out of their philoso-phy.

By contrast, the Bible records thelives of many people who were trans-formed by the things they came tobelieve, people like the apostle Paul.He started out as someone who hatedthe very sound of the name of Jesus ofNazareth and was determined to per-secute his followers and have themexecuted, if need be.

He came to understand differently,however, and became an ardent fol-lower of the Lord Jesus, eventuallybeing executed himself because hewould not renounce his beliefs. Sowhat is it about the teachings of theBible that might change the way wethink and thus the way we feel andact? We will look at some of the keyteachings of the Bible to test this out.

Bible Teaching andBible Teaching andChristian LifeChristian Life

In the first article of this short series Dennis Gillett suggested that our behaviour is

conditioned by the things we believe and that character is not accidental but is the

outcome of principles learned and doctrine assimilated by the mind. Now he begins to

apply that suggestion by examining various Bible teachings and investigating whether

believing certain things will affect the way we behave and make us different people, with

changed characters.

8 Glad Tidings

the Man of Nazareth and now enjoinedupon those who are made in God’simage. When men turn from that highvision of Manhood and dishonour theirnature they do that which is againstthe law of Manhood – they commit sinand are degraded, for they give God noglory.

Sin is LawlessnessIn all this lawful universe, only man islawless. This is Sin. It is somethingwith which God cannot compromise.The awful purity of God does notpermit Him to regard sin as somethingwhich can be forgotten and over-looked. It is an obstinate and painfulinterloper in the world.

Now suppose a person does notbelieve or accept the Bible doctrine ofSin. Suppose he or she is ready toaccept the popular view – that it isafter all merely a maladjustment, afailure of education, a lapse, not anoffence against God but in some wayalmost a blessing in disguise. Surely, aperson believing this will have hisbehaviour affected when he is facedwith temptation. Under such circum-stances and mastered by such a belief– sin becomes easy.

When someone submits to the Bibledoctrine of sin, to that extent he or sheis fortified against it. He fears the sub-tlety of sin and avoids the occasions oftemptation. When he is tempted he isheld back by a realisation of what sinreally means.

Case Studies

❖ Joseph

A good example of this is the case ofJoseph being tempted in the house ofPotiphar by Potiphar’s wife. Shetempted him to commit adultery and Iwant to remind you of Joseph’s atti-

tude in the presence of the ruthlesstemptation of this frustrated woman.He said:

There is no one greater in this housethan I, nor has he (Potiphar) kept backanything from me but you, becauseyou are his wife. How then can I dothis great wickedness, and sin againstGod?” (Genesis 39:9).

Joseph knew that not only was it asin against his master Potiphar butmuch more it was a grievous sinagainst his God who had kept and nur-tured him all his life. So he fled andgot out. It is a splendid example of theright doctrine of sin producing inJoseph the proper and pure life in theface of evil. ❖ David

When King David committed adulteryand murder he came to repentance atlast by a realisation of what Sin reallywas, thus he said to his God:

Against You, You only, have I sinned,and done this evil in Your sight— thatYou may be found just when Youspeak, and blameless when You judge(Psalm 51:4).

The very same principle which forti-fied Joseph brought David to his kneesIn contrition. Thus we see the com-bined effect of Bible teaching andChristian life.

131st Year 9

God’s KingdomThe Bible doctrine of the Kingdom ofGod means the absolute transcen-dence of God over all the world: thefact of His government over all thingsand its eventual establishment onearth in place of the government ofmen, with Jesus Christ as its undoubt-ed King. This is a vital doctrine forJesus once said:

Seek first the kingdom of God and Hisrighteousness, and all these thingsshall be added to you (Matthew 6:33).

The first step in seeking thatkingdom is to submit to its king,believe in its laws, and obey its govern-ment – and where these things exist ina person’s life, the master principle ofthe Kingdom of God is established.Now therefore those who believe in thecoming Kingdom of God upon theearth, at the second advent of JesusChrist, constitute a people whose realvocation and real destiny begins in theage to come. Therefore their attitudeto the present life will be regulated bythat fact.

First of all, they will, or ought to be,people in whom, even now to someextent, the principles of the Kingdomof God are being realised – that is love,joy and peace. Through them thekingdom values are being manifestedto those around them and by whomGod’s literal kingdom and its coming isbeing preached among men.

They also will be people who knowthemselves to be pilgrims in this world,passing through it to another and abetter society – the world to come onearth. Their master passion, therefore,will not be the acquisition of know-ledge, the pursuit of pleasure or theaccumulation of wealth. They will belooking through these external thingsto the spiritual. They will hold with light

hands the things of this world becausethey are citizens of another. They willbe ready to render to Caesar the thingswhich are Caesar’s, but will be carefulto render to God the things which areGod’s (Mark 12:17).

Their allegiance to earthly govern-ments has to be qualified by the factthat they have sworn allegiance totheir King – ‘the King of Kings’. Butthey will be ready always to succourthe needs and seek to alleviate thepain of their neighbours, because ofthe doctrine of gentleness and servicewhich they have received by word andexample from their Lord.

Now let me emphasise that this wayof life arises distinctly and conspicu-ously out of the doctrine of theKingdom of God, properly understood.People do not behave in this waywithout some compelling reason andthe reason is that the King has metthem and taught them and calledthem to his Kingdom.

Dennis GillettTo be concluded

It was a lovely clear, sunny day andSusan was doing a walk which wasnew to her. She had no map orcompass but brief instructions on asheet of paper. At the top of a high hillshe followed the descent of a largegroup of ramblers, gathering speedbecause she wanted to get downbefore it went dark.

After about half an hour she realisedto her consternation that she must begoing in the wrong direction. The pathwas getting wider and wider, butaccording to her instructions it shouldhave been a very narrow path. Theramblers were doing a different walk!Her mistake would have been avoidedif, instead of following them, she hadused a map and compass. Susanneeded to change direction.

The Majority are oftenWrong!Susan’s mistake was easy to make:she had followed the majority. Manypeople have commented that themajority can be wrong. For exampleMark Twain said: “Whenever you findyourself on the side of the majority, itis time to pause and reflect”. Scien-tists and philosophers have voicedsimilar sentiments.

More importantly, Jesus himselfwarned that in moral issues followingthe majority is potentially disastrous.This is because the majority areheading to destruction:

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide isthe gate and broad is the way thatleads to destruction, and there aremany who go in by it. Because narrowis the gate and difficult is the way

which leads to life, and there are fewwho find it (Matthew 7:13–14).

Although not all minorities can beright, time after time the majority hasbeen found to be wrong. ❖ Noah

In the days of Noah, people were notinterested in God and did not believeNoah’s preaching, so when the floodcame they were not in the ark when:“a few, that is, eight souls, were savedthrough water” (I Peter 3:20). Justeight people listened and were savedfrom utter destruction!❖ Lot

Later, in the time of Abraham, thetowns of Sodom and Gomorrah weredestroyed by God, and only Lot and hisdaughters were saved. Even Lot’s wifedid not escape (Genesis chapter 19). ❖ Joseph

Two generations later ten of Jacob’ssons ganged up on their brotherJoseph and sold him into slavery(Genesis 37).

No wonder the Law of Moses specif-ically warned against the danger ofgoing with a crowd:

10 Glad Tidings

The Dangerous MajorityThe Dangerous Majority

You shall not follow a crowd to do evil;nor shall you testify in a dispute so asto turn aside after many to pervertjustice (Exodus 23:2).

Despite those warnings, for most ofthe history of the kingdom of Israel themajority were disobedient and refusedto believe the prophets sent by God.The ultimate mistake made by a major-ity was when the Jewish people criedout for the crucifixion of Jesus. Theapostle Stephen describes this sadhistory in a speech just prior to hismartyrdom:

You stiff-necked and uncircumcised inheart and ears! You always resist theHoly Spirit; as your fathers did, so doyou. Which of the prophets did yourfathers not persecute? And they killedthose who foretold the coming of theJust One, of whom you now havebecome the betrayers and murderers(Acts 7:51–52).

Don’t Blindly Follow!If we imagine that in the Christian erain which we live things are different,then we are wrong. Near the end of hislife the apostle Paul warned Timothythat the Christian church wouldbecome corrupted (I Timothy 1:19).He had already warned about this:

I know this, that after my departuresavage wolves will come in among you,not sparing the flock. Also from amongyourselves men will rise up, speakingperverse things, to draw away the dis-ciples after themselves (Acts20:29–30).

This defection was to happen onlyone generation after the death ofJesus. Given this pathetic record ofhuman rebellion it is inconceivablethat nowadays the majority is right inspiritual matters. It follows that we

cannot just go along with the crowd oreven believe what religious leaders tellus. Today most of us have access to aBible and we need to read what Godhas said, not what people report Himas having said. Following to the letterthe instructions in the Bible (like usinga map and compass) we cannot gowrong. If we are heading the wrongway we need to repent NOW – changedirection and walk in the way of life.That means acting differently from themajority, just as the Bible counsels:

Do not be conformed to this world, butbe transformed by the renewing ofyour mind, that you may prove what isthat good and acceptable and perfectwill of God (Romans 12:2).

We must not leave it too late, forJesus is coming soon to judge theworld, for God

“…has appointed a day on which Hewill judge the world in righteousness bythe Man whom He has ordained. Hehas given assurance of this to all byraising him from the dead” (Acts17:31).

We need to be found on the righttrack, walking in the right direction,when that happens.

Anna Hart

131st Year 11

12 Glad Tidings

Perilous TimesPaul warns that in “the last days”society would break down, andimposters would appear in the church.This infiltration of wrong ideas beganearly on, as Paul had earlier warnedthe Ephesian elders (see Acts 20:29-31). Twenty centuries later we can seethe full effects of that process, as Paulexplains:

But know this, that in the last daysperilous times will come: for men willbe lovers of themselves, lovers ofmoney, boasters, proud, blasphemers,disobedient to parents, unthankful,unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slander-ers, without self-control, brutal,despisers of good, traitors, head-strong, haughty, lovers of pleasurerather than lovers of God, having aform of godliness but denying itspower. And from such people turnaway! For of this sort are those whocreep into households and make cap-tives of gullible women loaded downwith sins, led away by various lusts,always learning and never able tocome to the knowledge of the truth (2Timothy 3:1–7).

It follows that the moral and socialbreakdown that has now occurred wasclearly predicted. We should not bealarmed at what is now happening insociety. It comes as a clear indicationthat the end of human governmentand the coming of God’s Kingdom onearth is near.

What to DoPaul instructs Timothy, as one of thenew generation of leaders, to hold onto what he has been taught, and totake the scriptures as his guide, for hesays:

All Scripture is given by inspiration ofGod, and is profitable for doctrine, forreproof, for correction, for instructionin righteousness, that the man of Godmay be complete, thoroughly equippedfor every good work (2 Timothy 3:16–17).

In what are the last recorded wordsof Paul, he again exhorts Timothy tofulfil his role as a leader, preaching andteaching firmly and with patience. Theapostle himself was about to bow outand his concluding words bring tears tothe eyes –

I have fought the good fight, I have fin-

Books of the Bible – 40

More about the PastoralMore about the PastoralLettersLetters

The apostle Paul wrote three letters which are described as “pastoral” rather than “doc-

trinal”. They were written to young men – Timothy and Titus – who had been asked to

take charge of new congregations in Ephesus and Crete respectively. Paul’s second letter

to Timothy was the last letter we have of his as it was written at a time when he was

expecting to be executed by the Romans, because of what he believed. These pastoral

letters contain a lot of helpful advice and counsel about how best to arrange collective

worship, but they also contain warnings and explanations that are really valuable to us, as

David Pearce now explains.

131st Year 13

ished the race, I have kept the faith.Finally, there is laid up for me thecrown of righteousness, which theLord, the righteous Judge, will give to

me on that Day, and not to me only

but also to all who have loved hisappearing (2 Timothy 4:7–8).

If only we can speak like that whenwe come to the end of our days! Buttime was running out. “Do your best tocome to me soon”, he urges. WhetherTimothy did, we cannot know. Traditiontells that at his second hearing Paulwas condemned to die, and on theappointed day led out outside the cityboundary to the place of execution. Asa Roman citizen he was entitled to aquick and relatively painless death.Now he sleeps in the dust, awaiting“that Day” when he will receive thecrown of life from the Master he servedso well.

TitusLike 1 Timothy, the letter to Titusbelongs to the period after Paul’srelease from prison. He had recentlyvisited the Mediterranean island ofCrete with Titus, and left him behindwhile he went back to the mainland.Paul had not preached in this islandduring his three missionary journeys,yet he writes here of congregations inevery town (see Titus 1:5). Someonehad been busy making disciples in the

three decades since the Day of Pente-cost. However, it seems Paul wasdisappointed with the standardsobserved by these rather isolatedChristians, and gave Titus the chal-lenging task of making improvements.

First, he was to choose suitablebrothers in each church to act aselders (see chapter 1:5-8). The neces-sary qualities Paul listed for this roleare a repeat of those we met in 1Timothy. It was all about how theylived. Notice that there were to be anumber of elders in each congrega-tion. This was the rule in the FirstCentury church. Leadership was neverleft in the hands of an individual. Oneman for one church did not come untillong after the time of the apostles, andgradually evolved over the centuriesinto a full-blown hierarchy (pyramid ofcontrol). The simplicity of the New Tes-tament structure, where all wereequals, is the ideal we should follow.

These newly appointed elders wouldbe able to teach good doctrine, andrebuke evil men who were pretendingto be important and making moneyfrom the believers. Old men were to besober, old women ready to teach theyounger ones to be good wives andmothers, and young men to be self-controlled. As Paul’s representative,Titus had the authority to put thechurches on a sound footing, but likeTimothy, he was himself to set anexample.

Paul had a busy schedule, catchingup after those years in jail, and heends by asking Titus to come across tohelp him in Nicopolis (on the westcoast of Greece) as soon as he wasrelieved by Artemis or Tychicus, whowere on their way to Crete (Titus3:12).

David M Pearce

meant by the Old Testament prophetHosea who said: “I desire mercy andnot sacrifice” (Hosea 6:6).

On a later occasion (Matthew 12:1-8), Jesus and his disciples werewalking through a cornfield on thesabbath. The disciples were pluckingand eating the ears of corn. On seeingwhat the disciples were doing thePharisees said that they were breakingthe Law of Moses which forbadworking on the sabbath day (Leviticus23:3).

Jesus’ response was that the Phari-sees’ attitude was a consequence oftheir lack of understanding of the OldTestament prophet Hosea. Jesusreferred again to Hosea 6:6 and said acorrect understanding of what theprophet said would have prevented thePharisees from speaking as they didabout the disciples. So Jesus, twice,taught the Pharisees that a correctunderstanding of part of the Old Testa-ment was important. If theirunderstanding had been correct itwould have affected the way theybehaved.

First Century Preaching

❖ To Jews

Acts chapter 2 records the firstpublic preaching of Jesus’ apostlesafter his resurrection. What they saidshould help us to see what was impor-tant to them. They were speaking toJews and their key message was thatGod had raised Jesus from the deadbecause he had not sinned and thathe was the One through whom forgive-ness of sins was available.

14 Glad Tidings

When Jesus started his ministry, aged30, what religious books did he use?One of the first things he said was“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven isat hand” (Matthew 4:17). What wasthe kingdom he was speaking aboutand how did he know about it?

Overcoming Temptation The first indication of which religiousbooks Jesus used is seen during histemptation in the wilderness. Threetimes he rebutted the temptationsaying “It is written” (Matthew4:4,7,10). On each occasion Jesuswas quoting from the Hebrew Scrip-tures – the Christian Old Testament.

Teaching Correct BehaviourThe Old Testament was not just valu-able to Jesus to help him to overcometemptation. He saw a correct under-standing of the Old Testament asessential. Jesus showed that correctbehaviour was a consequence ofcorrect understanding of the Old Testa-ment.

When Jesus called Matthew to beone of his disciples (Matthew 9:9-11),Matthew made a feast to which heinvited many, the widespread invitationprompting the Pharisees to questionwhy Jesus ate with “tax collectors andsinners” (9:11). Jesus’ response wasthat they should go and learn what was

Why the Old TestamentWhy the Old Testamentis Essentialis Essential

Jesus & the Old Testament

Matthew 4:4 Deuteronomy 8:3

Matthew 4:7 Deuteronomy 6:16

Matthew 4:10 Deuteronomy 6:13

131st Year 15

To support their claims they maderepeated reference to what the OldTestament said. The point that theywere making was that the Old Testa-ment prophesied these things. Thistable shows the passages from the OldTestament they made reference to.

From this we understand that thedeath and resurrection of Jesus wasplanned by God and spoken of before-hand in the Old Testament. Withoutthe Old Testament it would not be pos-sible to understand the significance ofJesus’ death and resurrection. ❖ To Non-Jews

It might be thought that the Old Tes-tament would have been used onlywhen speaking with Jews for, after all,that was their “Bible”. However, whenspeaking to non-Jews the apostlesappealed to the Old Testament inexactly the same way.

Acts 17:22-31 records an occasionwhen Paul was speaking in Athens topeople who did not see the JewishScriptures as the Word of God, but justas religious literature. However, as canbe seen from the next table, Paulmade extensive reference to thoseJewish Scriptures to preach Jesus.

Paul’s audience may or may nothave been familiar with the Jewishwritings he referred to. That did notmatter, for what Paul was saying tothem was based on those Jewish writ-ings – our Old Testament.

So, even if many people see novalue in the Old Testament we have to

conclude that the Old Testament isessential reading for Christians. TheOld Testament teaches us how toresist temptation. It also teaches theChristian gospel about the death andresurrection of Jesus.

What Was WrittenOn being asked by a “lawyer” what wasnecessary to inherit eternal life, Jesuschallenged the lawyer with the ques-tion “What is written in the law? Whatis your reading of it?” (Luke 10:26).On another occasion Jesus told thereligious leaders of his day: “Yousearch the Scriptures, for in them youthink you have eternal life; and theseare they which testify of me” (John5:39). So we see that just reading theOld Testament is not sufficient. Wemust also understand it.

ConclusionThe Old Testament can:✓ Help individuals resist temptation✓ Correct wrong teaching✓ Teach the Christian gospel to both

Jew and non-Jew

The Old Testament is the source ofNew Testament teaching. Christianityhas its roots in the Old Testament. Sowithout the Old Testament, Christianityis meaningless.

Peter Forbes

Acts 2:22-36 Old Testament Ref.

v 25 Psalm 16:8

v 30 Psalm 132:11

v 31 Psalm 16:10

v 33 Psalm 110:1

v 34-35 Psalm 110:1

Acts 17:22-31 Old Testament Ref.

v 24 Isaiah 42:5, 66:1

v 25 Isaiah 42:5

v 26 Deuteronomy 32:8

v 27 Deuteronomy 30:11

v 29 Isaiah 40:18-19

v 31 Psalm 9:8

16 Glad Tidings

Democracy has been defined as gov-ernment by the people for the people.In practice, of course, it can only workthrough elected representatives. But itis not considered to be the solution forall nations. Look around the world andyou find many democratically electedgovernments but there are also auto-cratic monarchies, dictatorships, and anumber of other ways of ruling andcontrolling a nation’s affairs. So it isnot only democracies that are about toend.

World GovernmentAll these man-made forms of govern-ment are destined to disappear and tobe replaced by a better way of rulingthe world: a God-given solution toremedy all our problems. The Bibleexplains why this is destined tohappen, how it will be accomplished,and when it is going to take place.

The last book of the Bible is “TheRevelation of Jesus Christ”, a book ofsign and symbol that needs carefulconsideration. It comprises the lastmessage the risen Lord Jesus Christconveyed to mankind, from his exaltedposition at the right hand of God. Hereveals how the great purpose of Godwill come to its grand climax – theestablishment of God’s kingdom (orrulership) on earth – and just look howit begins!

Grace to you and peace from Him whois and who was and who is to come,and from the seven Spirits who arebefore His throne, and from JesusChrist, the faithful witness, the first-born from the dead, and the ruler over

the kings of the earth ... Behold, he iscoming with clouds, and every eye willsee him, even they who pierced him.And all the tribes of the earth willmourn because of him. Even so, Amen(Revelation 1:4–7).

The Second ComingWhen the whole world lies in wicked-ness the final act of the human dramabegins. When Jesus ascended toheaven from the Mount of Olives, thedisciples were told by angels thatJesus was going to return to earth andthe promise could not have beenclearer:

Men of Galilee, why do you standgazing up into heaven? This sameJesus, who was taken up from you intoheaven, will so come in like manner asyou saw him go into heaven (Acts1:11).

Notice, it is the same Jesus who iscoming again – the One they saw goinginto heaven – and he is going to comein the same way they had seen him go.So he will come visibly, powerfully andpersonally. When Jesus returns it willbe a fantastic sight. As the Lord saidhimself:

Then all the tribes of the earth willmourn, and they will see the Son ofMan coming on the clouds of heavenwith power and great glory. And he willsend his angels with a great sound ofa trumpet, and they will gather togeth-er his elect from the four winds, fromone end of heaven to the other(Matthew 24:30–31).

Democracy – To EndDemocracy – To EndSoon!Soon!

justice…the work of righteousness willbe peace, and the effect of righteous-ness, quietness and assurance forever(Isaiah 32:1,17).

In the days of these kings the God ofheaven will set up a kingdom whichshall never be destroyed; and thekingdom shall not be left to otherpeople; it shall break in pieces andconsume all these kingdoms, and itshall stand forever (Daniel 2:44).

But when will this happen and whatare the signs we should be looking for?Both the Lord and the prophets tell usthat it will be a time when there isterror in so many places around theworld, with statesmen not knowinghow to bring it all to a quiet end. Weare told there will be turmoil in theMiddle East, with Israel at the centre ofall that trouble:

There will be signs in the sun, in themoon, and in the stars; and on theearth distress of nations, with perplex-ity, the sea and the waves roaring;men’s hearts failing them from fearand the expectation of those thingswhich are coming on the earth, for thepowers of the heavens will be shaken.Then they will see the Son of Mancoming in a cloud with power andgreat glory. Now when these thingsbegin to happen, look up and lift upyour heads, because your redemptiondraws near (Luke 21:25–28).

If you can identify with this state ofaffairs, the way the world is now, thenyou need to be prepared for the greatchanges that are about to come whenJesus returns. There is nothing moreimportant and nothing more worth-while than to accept the Lord Jesus asboth your Saviour and your King.

Ken Clark

131st Year 17

Rescue MissionThe One who is called the King ofKings is to return to banish greed,oppression, lust and crime and toestablish a worldwide state wheremankind can live in peaceful content-ment. What a task that will be, givenall the problems that we now seearound the world. Jesus is coming torescue the world from destruction, asthe Book of Revelation explains:

The seventh angel sounded: and therewere loud voices in heaven, saying,“The kingdoms of this world havebecome the kingdoms of our Lord andof His Christ, and he shall reign foreverand ever!” ... The nations were angry,and Your wrath has come, and thetime of the dead, that they should bejudged, and that You should rewardYour servants the prophets and thesaints, and those who fear Your name,small and great, and should destroythose who destroy the earth” (Reve-lation 11:15–18).

How is that takeover going to beachieved? A worldwide kingdom will beset up supervised by tens of thousandsof angels and immortals. All nationswill be given the opportunity to acceptthe rulership of Christ, or be rejected.

What Sort of Kingdom?The earth will be transformed and allnations will learn the way of righteous-ness. People will not be asked whatthey think, or be asked to vote: theLord Jesus will reign supreme. The trueChristian already has Christ as King,and looks forward to that splendid daywhen he will rule the world in right-eousness, just as the prophets havepromised:

Behold, a king will reign in righteous-ness, and princes will rule with

18 Glad Tidings

and the deciding factor was undoubt-edly the prayer Asa offered before thebattle:

Lord, it is nothing for You to help,whether with many or with those whohave no power; help us, O Lord ourGod, for we rest on You, and in Yourname we go against this multitude. OLord, You are our God; do not let manprevail against You! (2 Chronicles14:11).

Asa recognised that in human terms,the odds were stacked against him,but that the Lord God would fight hisbattles. So Asa had a peaceful first tenyears, and after the Ethiopian attackfailed the people of Judah becamericher through plunder.

Good ResponseAs they returned to Jerusalem from thebattle, Asa was met by the prophetAzariah, the son of Oded. He had aforthright message for the king. “Hear

After King Solomon’s death the nationof Israel split in two: ten tribes occu-pied the north which they still called“Israel” and two tribes formed thesouthern kingdom named “Judah”. Asawas the third king of Judah and fol-lowed his father Abijah, whose shortreign of only three years was abruptlyterminated because of his wickedness.King Asa lived for much longer, dying inthe forty-first year of his reign, makinghim one of the longest serving kings:only Manasseh and Uzziah reignedlonger.

Reign of Two HalvesAsa’s reign can be divided into twoparts: the first 35 years when he fol-lowed the commands of the Lord Godand prospered; and the last five yearswhen he seemed to forget that he wasa servant of God, and suffered for it.The real problem when reviewing Asa’slife is to try and work out why hechanged so drastically.

He began really well, removing allthe altars to foreign idols from his land,and the Asherim – the wooden poleswhich stood at Canaanite places ofworship. He directed the people ofJudah to worship the Lord God. Thisbrief comment says it all: “the kingdomwas quiet under him” (2 Chronicles14:5).

This may in part have been due tothe strength of his army, which wasover half a million men who were evi-dently well trained and capable. Thatwas clearly demonstrated when a rivalking Zerah attacked with an Ethiopianarmy of about twice the size ofJudah’s. They were roundly defeated

Living like a King

King AsaKing Asa

131st Year 19

me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin.The Lord is with you while you are withHim. He will be found by you; but if youforsake Him, He will forsake you” (2Chronicles 15:2). Asa had alreadyfound that to be true experimentally;now it was confirmed by the prophet. Itis a theme that runs right through theBible that:

“You will find Him if you seek Him withall your heart and with all your soul”(Deuteronomy 4:29).

Now the prophet urged:

“Be strong and do not let your hand beweak, for your work shall be rewarded”(2 Chronicles 15:7).

Asa responded enthusiastically andremoved the “abominable idols” fromthe land, and restored the altar of theLord God. They held a great feast andsacrifice for the Lord God in the fif-teenth year of Asa, clearly not aPassover celebration, because thiswas in the third month. He alsoremoved some members of his ownfamily from positions of influence,including Maacah his mother, frombeing Queen Mother.

There are many indications that thekings of Israel and Judah were greatlyinfluenced by their mothers, often forgood. Asa clearly felt his own motherwas a bad influence and sought toprevent her doing any further damage.This action was sufficient to ensureanother twenty years of peace.

The Second HalfYou have to wonder whether all thislulled him into a false sense of secu-rity. The twenty years of peace wererudely interrupted when Baasha, kingof the northern kingdom of Israel,came against Judah, building the cityof Ramah, just north of Jerusalem, in

an attempt to control entry and exit tothe nation of Judah. Instead of react-ing as he had done when Zerah ofEthiopia invaded, and seeking aid fromthe Lord God, Asa attempted to makea treaty with Ben-Hadad king of Syria.To a point this strategy was successfulfor Ben-Hadad’s intervention wasenough to stop work on Ramah. ButAsa had to pay a large sum in gold andsilver to achieve this intervention andanother prophet came, this time torebuke the king for what he had done:

Because you have relied on the king ofSyria, and have not relied on the Lordyour God, therefore the army of theking of Syria has escaped from yourhand … In this you have done foolish-ly; therefore from now on you shallhave wars (2 Chronicles 16:7–9).

It would have been possible for Asaand the people to retrieve the situa-tion, but Asa reacted angrily, puttingthe prophet Hanani in prison. Fromthis point on things began to go down-hill.

In his thirty-ninth year Asa becamediseased in his feet, obviously veryseverely, but even this did not bringhim back to God for he thought thathis doctors would be able to heal him.They did not, for he died in the forty-first year of his reign, and was buried inan ornately furnished tomb he hadhimself prepared, in Jerusalem. It wasa tragedy.

Asa had started so well, and as longas he demonstrated his faith in theLord God he had prospered in all hehad done. But at the end of his longkingship he forgot all that God haddone for him, and suffered along withthe whole nation. That’s a life historythat is full of lessons for all of us.

Mark Sheppard

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