Articles from this month's issue of the Berean News

Viewpoint

The Accuser

C.S. Lewis, in his "Screwtape Letters," suggests that one of the most successful tactics that Satan and his demons use in trying to win Christians back to their side is to get them to dwell on their failures. Once they begin to feel guilty about their performance in their Christian life, they are as good as won.

Have you ever had the experience of feeling that you have hurt or offended someone and instead of asking for their forgiveness, you just try to avoid them? Every time you see the person you cringe and hope that they don't approach you. Your guilt feelings start to build up and before long you start to resent that person. You start to feel hostile and alienated toward them, when in fact you don't really know for sure if they are even angry with you.

This is exactly what happens when we feel guilty before God. Our guilt often turns to hostility and we feel alienated from Him. Satan knows this. He loves to get his hands on a "sensitive" Christians and tries to get him to feel unworthy before God. Satan gets him to focus on his sinful life rather than on the fact that he have been forgiven. "But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation" (Col. 1:22).

Did you know that the word "Satan" means literally, "the Accuser"? The first chapter of the Book of Job gives us a good idea of the kind of scenario that must take place constantly in heaven. I can imagine Satan standing before God's throne with a portfolio on each of God's children. He opens his records on (place your name here) and says, "Aha! Look at what (your name) did. He's one of your children?" And then Satan begins to accuse. But then Christ steps up and says,

"Father, (your name) believed in me in 19__. The forgiveness I paid for at the cross was then applied to him." And the Father says,

"Case dismissed!"

But Satan doesn't give up. After his accusations before God get nowhere, he begins to work on our conscience. He tries to place us on a hopeless treadmill of sinning, vowing we won't do it again, desperately struggling not to sin, and then sinning again. Until finally Satan has us exactly where he wants us. We become so discouraged that we feel God has given up on us. We begin to doubt whether we are really forgiven for our sins.

But wait a minute, don't we know that Satan is a liar and a deceiver? We don't have to accept the feelings of guilt that Satan dumps on us because Christ took that guilt along with our sins and nailed them all to the cross once and for all. Until we accept this fact, we will not be able to respond to God in faith. Ephesians 1:4-7 tells us that He has accepted us just as He has accepted Jesus. "That we should be holy and without blame before him in love..... wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;" When God looks at us, he doesn't see our sins - he sees Jesus!

This doesn't mean that we can go out and sin and have no conscience about it. But we also need to understand that once we have repented of our sins and have been washed in the blood of Christ that we no long need to ask for forgiveness again. It is already a settled fact with God and He just wants us to claim what is already true. I John 1:9 tell us "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The word "confess" means to acknowledge or to agree with someone about something. In this case it means to agree with God that we have sinned.

If we constantly plead with God for forgiveness for the same sins, we aren't confessing (agreeing about) our sins. We are showing a lack of faith in God's promises that we were forgiven at the cross of Christ. Listen to what He did for us at Calvary. "When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him." These rulers and authorities are Satan and his army. They no longer have any legal right to interfere with any child of God. We can allow Satan to come into our lives but we certainly don't need to. Praise God!

Have you been waiting for God to punish you for your sins? Has this guilt produced an estrangement from the one person you need to be closest to - our Heavenly Father? Please take comfort in the fact that no matter how much you have let Him down, if you have accepted His Son as your Savior, God does not condemn you. He only wants you to acknowledge your sins and to thank Him for His forgiveness, so He can put His arms around you and reassure you of His love.

--Dennis Thorfeldt

Perspective

The Christmas Answer

The book of Ecclesiastes is so unusual that it once was called the "Odd Book In" in an article in the magazine "Bible Review." The book is characterized by futility and cynicism. It can be a very discouraging book to read. It stands alone in the Old Testament. It raises many more questions than it answers. The following quotes are all from the book of Ecclesiastes. They typify the questions about life and its meaning that pervade this strange book.

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth forever. (1:2-4)

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been already of old time, which was before us. There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after. (1:9-11)

That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. (1:15)

For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. (1:18)

For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? As the fool. (2:16)

For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun? For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity. (2:22-23)

For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. (3:19-20)

And so it goes, on and on. You get the idea. The book of Ecclesiastes offers little in the way of encouragement, little in the way of hope . Only an occasional word of wisdom, an occasional profound thought about God. Generally the book exudes negativeness and depression.

How does one answer such statements and complaints about life? How does one deal with such pessimism and hopelessness? We can only answer with the Christmas answer:

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:14)

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. (Luke 2:14)

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:16-17)

And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light; and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22;3-5)

&emdash;Larry Urbaniak

A Daughter's Heart

Before You Call

"Before you call, I (Jehovah) will answer, While they are still speaking I will hear" (Isaiah 65:24). This promise was given to the children of Israel ages ago. The Heavenly Father and Jesus have demonstrated to me that those words are living and active today to those who are sons and daughters of the most High God.

While reflecting on health concerns that ultimately included surgery, I heard several things on the radio that were especially helpful. First, there was the sermon discussing God's grace exhibited in the lives of Abraham and Sarah regarding the birth of their son Isaac. Paraphrasing the pastor's comments: " Abraham did not say to Sarah, "This fruit and vegetable diet is wonderful! We are going to have this baby!" The couple was well advanced in years and Abraham was as good as dead (Hebrews 11: 11 & 12). It was the grace of God that enabled them to have that child. As I listened, I knew that it was providential that I heard that message since at that moment I was thinking about my health condition. I affirmed that God's grace would also get me through the experience at hand.

A day or so later, I listened to another radio program. The topic related to grace as discussed in the book of Romans. Part of the program included testimonials from the church congregation. A sister in Christ stated that for several months she was told by a physician not to be concerned about a health matter. Well, she DID need to be concerned! Surgery was required. Fervent, sincere prayer for healing and nutritional approaches did not eliminate the necessity of surgery. She had the operation and experienced God's healing and grace. Once again the Father's providential care was manifested since the prospect of surgery for me loomed large in my mind. I said aloud: " Lord, I trust you that this will be my experience too. I believe that I will be healed by this operation AND experience grace in ways that have been previously unknown to me." Since then I have had joyful anticipation, expectation, and ongoing fulfillment of God's pure unbounded goodness!!

Two days before my surgery, God's answer (before I called) came via a third radio program. A true story was told of a woman who was hospitalized for abdominal surgery. Whenever she coughed, she had excruciating pain. Meanwhile the woman's youngest son diligently searched for a gift for her. All he could find were 3 old cough drops, which he carefully gift-wrapped and had delivered to his Mom. When the woman felt the onslaught of another cough, she remembered to use her son's gift and thus averted additional discomfort. After hearing that, I exclaimed, " THANK YOU JESUS! This is information I need to know." The day of surgery, I asked for cough drops. They were in the hospital room when I returned from surgery and put to use!

During my convalescence, I received prayer support, cards, meals, encouraging phone calls - whatever has been needed. As the Apostle Paul stated in Phillipians 4:19: "God will supply ALL your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus"-to which we who are children of God can say, (with expression of course) "AMEN!"

--Helayne C. Crawford

Other Items
Sunday School Report

Our young ones have been studying "The Miracles and Teachings of Jesus" this year. Last year, we had gone through the Old Testament to find all the promises that were given to all the faithful men and women of ancient Bible times. We also learned how the promises pointed to the life of Jesus, and how those promises would come true through his life and death for us. This year we have looked at how in all of Jesus' miracles, he was giving us a picture of what life here on earth will be like in his coming kingdom; and in his teachings, of how we have an opportunity to be a part of the Body of Christ.
The Kindergarten class is going through the Old Testament again this year. We feel, since last year in the Nursery, it was a little more play than study, and everyone has grown up so much since then, that it would be good to review. It has been real exciting to see how much they really do remember, and how much more they are retaining. We also spent some time this year learning about the Ten Camels that went on the journey to find Isaac's bride, and how each one carried his own "doctrine."
During our May Convention, we studied the "Armor of God," and Brother Mike Knapp, and Joe Funari brought us all of their armor, shields, and swords, and Ray Spano dressed in the equipment, which gave us all a chance to visualize what it's like. We also were shown Sam Knapp's very own "Coat of Arms" which was presented to him on his 7th Birthday, when he became a "page." We spent some time this summer learning about "The Beatitudes." It was really neat to hear Seth Mathewson comment in one of our following lessons "how what Jesus was telling the disciples was really what the beatitudes had taught him" (Seth). A few weeks later we were talking about how what some of the things Jesus was doing were prophesied as showing who "The Messiah" would be, and I asked if anyone had any idea where in the Old Testament those prophecies would be found. Immediately, Anthony Fiorello said, " In Isaiah, he was the prophet of the Messiah!" (Sure makes your heart feel warm to see how they learn.)
As we come to the end of this year, we are very busy learning to play "Bringing in the Sheaves" on the harmonica, which our Sister Lois Spano has been very gracious to teach to the children. We will be performing during the praise service near the end of November. We are also learning a praise song with "sign language," for the same service. We also have begun practice for our Christmas program with the very welcome help of Brother Steve Teunis, and Sister Mandy Blake. (It's really great to have someone who can actually sing, since I can't carry a tune in a covered basket!) We will be doing basically a musical program, and several of the children have offered to do solos, or duets, which is really exciting to see them getting into the program! (It's also great, because they actually can sing too!). Several of our classmates have graduated to the "Youth for Truth" group. We miss them, but they are enjoying being part of the Teen group, and in the next 3 months or soon, we will have two more graduates. We wish them God's blessings, and pray they will have much spiritual growth.
We wish all a very blessed New Year, and we give praise to our Heavenly Father that we can meet and learn together. Much Christian love to everyone!
The Berean Bible Students Church Bible Classes
--Pat Knapp

Golf Retreat, Wausau

The first of many Golf Retreats at Camp Blessing, organized by Steve and Ann Teunis, was a big driving success. Twenty people from Cicero attended, they were Steve, Ann, Andrew, Alex Teunis; Kent, Alanea, Bethany Urbaniak; Jon, Lynnette Larson, Joe Horak, and Marv and Cynthia Bogda.
Twelve golfers set out on Saturday, September 18 to play 18 holes of golf to find the little white, yellow, or any other color ball you may have. Some went down the middle, to the left, to the right, in the water, and in the sand. With good luck some into the little hole. However, we had a great time.
Steve gave the sermon on Sunday and all the golfers were included in the worship service. The Wausau Church had a great potluck lunch and all who attended returned home safely. We are all looking forward to the second golf retreat. Thanks Steve and Ann for all your labor of love.
--Marvin Bogda

Christmas Reminders

May the Christmas presents remind you of God's greatest gift - His only begotten Son.
May the Christmas candles remind you of Him who is the light of the world.
May the Christmas tree remind you of another tree on which He died for you.
May the Christmas cheer remind you of Him who said, "Be of good cheer."
May the Christmas feast remind you of Him who is the bread of life.
May the Christmas snow remind you of the cleansing power of Christ.
May the Christmas bells remind you of the glorious proclamation of His birth.
May the Christmas season remind you in every way of Jesus Christ your King.

Roy's Reflections

The Roman IRS

"In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her first born, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." (Luke 2:1-7)

Luke's Gospel is historical and written especially for the Greek and the thinking man. Luke's primary purpose was to present the coming of the Son of God. History has proven that it took the contributions of three great nations, each in its own peculiar way, to prepare the soil for the planting of Christianity.

The Jews brought a religious element while the Greeks contributed science and art. The Romans, as masters of the world, produced the political element. Matthew was written to the Jew, Mark was written to the Roman, and Luke was written to the Greek.

The Greeks were the representatives of reason and humanity in the ancient world. They saw themselves as undertaking the mission of perfecting men. They made their gods in the likeness of men, as well as in their own likeness. In this way, they joined human culture with utter worldliness and godlessness.

Later, Paul journeyed to Athens to enlighten the Greeks about their altar to the "UNKNOWN GOD." Luke, a Gentile, went with Paul. The mission of the Greeks was evidently a part of the preparation for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into the world.

The inability of the Greeks to accomplish their mission, forced the thinking men of that age to feel and confess the insufficiency of human reason for the deliverance and perfection of mankind. It left them waiting and longing for one who could accomplish this work. The Greek language became a vehicle for getting the Word of God out. The Gospel was communicated to the world in the Greek language. God used Alexander the Great and his conquest of the then-known world to make it possible.

We sometimes think that we invented taxes in the last 200 years. Not a chance! Taxes have existed for a very long time. Certainly, they were a major part of the scene around the time of the birth of Jesus. In fact, perhaps the most dishonest people in the world at that time were tax collectors!

Caesar Augustus was the adopted son of Julius Caesar. Actually his name was Octavianus and he took the name Caesar. The name "Augustus" was not a name at all, but a title. He chose the title Augustus. It had a religious significance, and it was an attempt to deify himself This man signed a tax bill that the whole world be taxed. He needed money to raise an army to control his vast empire, and to live in luxury himself.

Joseph and Mary came out of Nazareth in Galilee and went into Judea to Bethlehem, the city of David. Joseph did this because he was of the house and lineage of David. Why did Mary have to go to Bethlehem? She also was of the lineage of David.

This simple, historically accurate passage has a tremendous spiritual truth behind it. Caesar Augustus attempted to make himself a god. He wanted to be worshipped. He signed a tax bill that caused a woman and man, peasants, living in Nazareth, to journey to Bethlehem to sign the census book.

That woman was carrying in her womb the Son of God! Today, Caesar Augustus, who tried to make himself God, has no one to reverence him. But that little baby in Mary's womb - most of mankind today, worship Him and call Him Saviour. Caesar Augustus was merely the tool in God's hand to bring to pass the prophecy, "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." (Micah 5 -.2)

Everything that happened was arranged by God. If anyone had said to Caesar, "Hold on a minute; women about to give birth are going to have to be terribly inconvenienced and jeopardized in order for you to get your taxes." His reply might have been, "I do not care about babies or their mothers; I am only interested in taxes, armies, money and luxury. " Well, Caesar is long gone, but Jesus, the Son of God remains.

I love the way Luke gets right down to the little human details in this passage. He is saying that Mary put swaddling clothes on this little child - baby clothes and diapers on the Son of God! How perfectly human He was &emdash;Yet He was to become our Saviour, our Redeemer, and our King of Kings!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

--Roy R. Boswell
 

return to Berean News