Lyon Gardiner Tyler

If I mention the name "John Tyler", could you tell me anything about him?
Though I'm sure many men have had the name, the most famous was the 10th
president of the United States.  He was born 221 years ago - so how could we be
expected to know anything about a man whose presidency was among the more
obscure in our history.  There are no ties to his past today, are there?

Amazingly, there are.  According to a story on Yahoo News today, two of this
president's grandsons are still living.  John Tyler, at the age of 63, became
the father of Lyon Gardiner Tyler in 1853.  Lyon Gardiner Tyler, at age 71,
fathered Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Jr. in 1924; four years later another grandson of
President Tyler was born, Harrison Ruffin Tyler.  Both grandsons are still
alive; three generations spread over more than 200 years.  I find that
remarkable.

Curiosity drove me to look at my own family's history.  I found a direct
ancestor who was born in the same year as John Tyler (1790), but he was not my
grandfather.  He was my great-great grandfather.

We all have ties to the past.  Few of us, however, have direct knowledge of
people who lived more than a hundred years ago.  Even the Tyler "boys" named
above never knew their famous grandfather.

So why should any of us have a realistic expectation of knowing God?  The Book
which tells of His characteristics and deeds was written more than 2,000 years
ago; some parts of it are much older than that.  Why should we believe that God
would still be to us what He was to people of the past?

J.I. Packer, in his classic book Knowing God, points to the answer: "The link is
God Himself.  For the God with whom they had to do is the same God with whom we
have to do" (Intervarsity Press, 1993, page 76).  Packer made that statement as
he discussed God's unchanging nature, a very important truth for us to know
about God.

When Moses asked the Lord at the burning bush what His name was, this curious
answer was given: "... Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I Am' has
sent me to you. ... This is my name forever" (Exodus 3:14,15).  "I Am"?  Is that
a name?  In fact it is the basis of the name we know as "Yahweh" or "Jehovah".
God is not limited to the past, nor does He dwell only in the future.  He is "I
Am".

The psalmist spoke of God's eternal existence in this way: "But You are the
same, and Your years will have no end" (Psalm 102:27).  Moses gave this
description of God's timelessness: "Before the mountains were brought forth, or
ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to
everlasting, You are God" (Psalm 90:2).

The connection of the Divine with people continues.  Before leaving the earth,
Jesus, God in the flesh, made this promise: "... and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).  It is a relationship based on
faith (trust) in Him, but it is a real relationship nonetheless.

I wish I could have known my great-great grandfather, but those ties from the
past are too distant.  But I am blessed to be able to know his God; that same
God is here today, always in the present.

Come to the light God offers!  Study His word, the Bible.  Worship Him in spirit
and truth (John 4:24).  Get in touch with us if you'd like to discuss these
ideas further.

Timothy D. Hall

 

www.abiblecommentary.com new profile

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Kidney failure

Clay Taber, a recent Auburn University graduate, fell sick one day after his
22nd birthday. Tests revealed that his kidneys were failing. His only hope
for survival was to receive a donor kidney.

Studies were completed to determine if a suitable donor could be found among
members of Clay's family. None of them qualified.

Then Allison Batson, who had only recently met Clay, offered to give him one
of her kidneys. Allison is a nurse on the transplant floor of Emory
University Hospital where Clay was being treated. Although she wasn't his
primary nurse, she felt an instant connection with Clay. "It really touched
my heart because I have children that are his age," said Allison. "We
really connected."

Clay and Allison are doing well after the transplant operation performed on
January 10th. After the procedure, Allison, a fan of the University of
Georgia Bulldogs, visited with Clay to see how he was doing. "We bumped
fists and he barked at me," said Allison. A unique bond of friendship has
been formed between the two, because one cared enough to help the other in a
time of need.

"For someone to do that after knowing me for all of six weeks is
incredible," said Clay. "It's a blessing from God." *

Due to our sin, WE are helpless and destined for death (Romans 6:23). But
God loves us so much that He gave His Son to die on the cross for our sins
so that we might have forgiveness of sins and eternal life (John 3:16).

Jesus WILL save those who will accept His offer on His terms. We accept His
offer of salvation and life when we place our faith and trust in Him (Acts
16:30-31), turn from our sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Him
before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the
forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38).

The plan for our redemption through the blood of Jesus was made before God
created the world (see 1 Peter 1:18-20). So Jesus died for US even before
we were born - before we even knew anything about Him! But He knew us, and
He loved us to the point that when we needed Him the most, He cared enough
to offer His life for us so that we could be saved.

For Someone to do that for us is incredible. It is indeed a blessing from
God!

Won't YOU accept His offer today?

-- Gary Davis and David A. Sargent

Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it

One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: "Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?" (v. 26) Jesus replied, "What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?" The man answered, "'You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' And, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" "Right!" Jesus told him. "Do this and you will live!" (v. 29)  The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:25-27)

Notice especially verse 26, in response to the question. Another translation of verse 26 reads this way: "He answered, "What's written in God's Law? How do you interpret it?" (MSG)

It appears that Jesus is trying very hard to get this fellow to think about it himself.  He wanted him to draw some conclusions, which he worked out by himself!

Lots of folks today really don't like to do that! They prefer to be told the meaning or interpretation, which avoids (1) the necessity of thinking for themselves or (2) that they might have to take an unpopular stand and received some criticism. It's always easier when someone else give us the answer, because it gives us somewhere to "point the finger of blame," rather than accept responsibility ourselves.

You may have heard this story before, but it makes a valuable illustration of the point. It seems that a minister decided that a visual demonstration would add emphasis to his Sunday sermon. Four worms were placed into four separate jars.

1. The first worm was put into a container of alcohol.

2. The second worm was put into a container of cigarette smoke.

3. The third worm was put into a container of chocolate syrup.
4. The fourth worm was put into a container of good clean soil.

At the conclusion of the sermon, the Minister noted the following results:

1. The first worm in alcohol...Dead.
2. The second worm in cigarette smoke...Dead.
3. Third worm in chocolate syrup...Dead.
4. Fourth worm in good clean soil...Alive . 

So the Minister asked the congregation, (Just like Jesus) … "What did you learn from this demonstration?" 

An Older church member was sitting in the back, quickly raised her hand and said; here is what I see:  "As long as you drink, smoke and eat chocolate, you won't have worms!"

I'm pretty sure that was not the lesson the minister had in mind when he made the demonstration. I believe he was trying to make the point that there are some things which are bad for the body. However the church member interpreted the lesson so that she wasn't inconvenienced by possibly having to give up something she liked. (Before you write me ladies, the issue of whether chocolate is really toxic or not, is not the point of the story either, but it does drown worms!)

Jesus answered the man's question and told him simply, "Do this and live". The passage in Luke 10:29 shows us the man's response. Jesus told him nothing complicated, nothing difficult, nothing hard to understand. He just told him to do what you already know you should do, but the man wanted to get in the last word.

We are told: "The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" I really like the modern translation of this particular verse that says, "Looking for a loophole, he asked, "And just how would you define 'neighbor'?" (MSG)

Far too often I've seen the exact same reasoning among folks I talk with. They understand the message of God's Word; they just don't want to do what he says. They are "looking for a loophole," looking for a way to get around doing what God says, or living the way he says they should live.

James deals with this problem in James 4:17 where he writes, "Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it." (NLT)

So where are you in your search for truth? I believe that it's not the things that we don't know or understand that really bother most of us. It is living up to what we already know we should be doing that gives us the most problems. Perhaps it's time to ask yourself how much you resemble the man in the story which Luke records. Maybe it's time to stop looking for loopholes and start doing what we already know we should. The challenge is to bring our daily living into line with what we say we believe!

Russ Lawson

 

esus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so

 

In 1962, Karl Barth (1886-1968), Swiss Reformed theologian, made his one and only visit to the United States.  During the course of his visit, some young American theologians asked him that of all the millions of words he had written and published how would he best summarize it all.  Reflecting for a moment, Barth replied simply: "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." Barth professed that he knew something, and that he knew it because the Bible said so!

 

Using Barth's basis for knowing that Jesus loved him ("because the Bible tells me so"), let me suggest that because the Bible tells me so, I know that . . .

 

* In the beginning there was God (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-3).

 

* God has spoken, giving further evidence to the fact of His existence, since a non-entity does not speak (Hebrews 1:1-2).

 

* Without faith that God is and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him I cannot please Him (Hebrews 11:6). 

 

* Jesus Christ is the Son of God (Matthew 3:17; 17:5).

 

* God, because of His great love for mankind, gave Christ to the world as the atoning sacrifice for my sins and the sins of the world (John 3:16; Romans 3:21-26; 5:8; I John 2:2).

 

* Christ is the only way to God and the sole source of salvation (John 14:6; Acts 4:11-12).

 

* Without faith in Christ I will die in my sins (John 8:24).

 

* Without repentance I will perish eternally in hell (Luke 13:3; Romans 2:5-10).

 

* Baptism is for (eis=unto) the remission of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16).

 

* Baptism is immersion in water (Acts 8:38-39; Romans 6:3-4).

 

* Christ established His church, purchasing it with His blood (Matthew 16:18; Acts 20:28).

 

* The church is singular and consists of every saved, blood-washed soul (Ephesians 4:4; 1:22-23; 2:14-22; Acts 2:47).

 

* I must possess the mind of Christ, have the Spirit of Christ, evince the fruit of the Spirit, and make my calling and election sure (Philippians 2:5; Romans 8:9; Galatians 5:22-26; II Peter 1:5-11).

 

* There is a final day of reckoning for all humanity (Acts 17:30-31; II Corinthians 5:10; Hebrews 9:27).

 

* Heaven is real and eternal and the final abode of all the redeemed (John 14:1-3; II Corinthians 5:1-8).

 

* Hell also is real and eternal and the ultimate destiny of all who know not God and obey not the gospel of Christ (II Thessalonians 1:6-10).

 

There is much about God that I do not know (Romans 11:33), and there is much about His revelation to mankind in scripture that I continue to grapple with, study, and grow in my understanding, appreciation, and practice of.  But the above are some things that I do know and know that I know because the Bible tells me so!

 

Hugh Fulford

 

The hymn Teach Me Lord to Wait

 

          That is one of the favorite songs of an elder, James Arnold Deckard, under whom I worked before we moved to Romania. The song was written and set to music in 1953 by Stuart Hamblen. It is based on the words of Isaiah 40.

 

          Isaiah lived and preached during the time Israel was invaded by the Assyrian nation. It was a hard, trying time. It would have been humiliating and depressing to have your leaders - religious leaders and civil leaders - hauled off in chains to a foreign country. The Assyrian captivity was to punish Israel for her sins, notably idolatry. Those who had remained faithful, however, were not spared the humiliation and depression.

 

          In that atmosphere, God led Isaiah to write the words of Isaiah 40. In verse 12, the prophet asks the question: "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?" Whom are you going to trust?

 

          Isaiah gives one possible answer: idols? "An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains. He who is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move" (19-20). Clearly an idol won't save us.

 

          The real answer? "It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness" (22-23). That's the God of Heaven. He is the One in whom we trust. Even when life seems out of balance.

 

          Especially for the Israelites, forgiveness for their sins would happen one day in the future. "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God" (verses 1-3). Verse three, we recognize, is a prophecy of the coming of John the baptizer who was the herald of Jesus Christ.

 

          That promise was as sure and stable as anything with which the Israelites were familiar. Indeed, the promises of God are more firm than the rock of Gibraltar. "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever" (verse 8).

You can trust God. He rules over the affairs of men. Comfort and healing come from God. You should build your life on God's Word. 

 

          "They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint" (40:31).

 

--Paul Holland

English poet, Geoffrey Chaucer

English poet, Geoffrey Chaucer who lived in the late 1300's once wrote, "Time and Tide wait for no man." His meaning of course was that you can't stop time any more than you can stop the tide going out, mankind just doesn't have that power within them. It says that there are some areas of our lives over which we just have no control.

For some people that would be a very fatalistic view of life. They would throw up there hands and say, "what's the use in trying, you just cannot control things which happen to you."

It's true that we often have little control over parts of our lives. No we cannot stop change, we cannot stop aging, we cannot stop death; we just do not have that power. How do we who are Christians deal with these things, how do we look with hope to the future?

I love the story shared years ago by Norman Vincent Peale. He said, when he was a boy there was a picture hanging in his school classroom. The picture showed a lonely beach with the tide out and a boat lying tilted over on the sand far from the waters edge.

That is a sad picture, what use is a boat far removed from the water? Boats are made for the water; they serve no purpose without it. To some people that speaks of their lives, it seems that their lives have no purpose, they can't seem to find their way, they can't find that which makes them feel happy or fulfilled. They view themselves as that beached boat. To put it clearly, they have lost hope.

Now here is "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey used to say. It seems that on the bottom of the picture was a small inscription which said, "Remember, the tide always comes back." 

The point: Remember when everything seems against you, when you are finding it difficult to hold on in life, NEVER give up because the tide will turn eventually. The writer of Hebrews says this about life: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne." (Hebrews 12:1-2, NLT)

"Lets us run with endurance the race…" The word "endurance" is defined in this way: "in the New Testament, it is the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings. It is to live our lives patiently and steadfastly," (Strong's Dictionary of NT words). The apostle Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6:11 that we are to pursue (run after trying to catch) endurance.

My prayer is that each of us can be like the church in Thessalonica to which Paul writes these words, "We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." (NIV) Their endurance was inspired by hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. In what do you hope if not him? Time and tide may wait for no man, but our Savior waits for us always.

 

Romans 8:28

We visited with my family during Christmas. My nieces (ages 7 & 5)
were in school so I volunteered to drive them. One morning, on the way, the
youngest was commenting that she was bigger than her oldest. That was a sore
spot between them. The oldest said, "Do you remember that Daddy said if you
talked about that, you would get a spanking?" There was a quiet pause from
behind my seat and then a soft voice said, "I forgot about that."

How often do we forget the important things in life? It's not that
we forget; it's that we're so busy we don't stop to remember. We do show,
however, through our actions that we have forgotten. For example, when you
(and I) worry and fret, have we not forgotten that God loves us? Have we not
forgotten that God promises "all things work together for good to those who
love God" (Romans 8:28)?

When you snap at your wife or husband, have you not forgotten that
he/she loves you? When we get irritated at one another, have we not
forgotten that we are on the same side? When you get aggravated at your
children, have you not forgotten that they are children? And they love you?
I suspect the times when children willingly do something to irritate or
annoy their parents are few and far between. Generally, they have forgotten
their manners and do things unintentional. They forget too.

My 72-year-old dad likes to say that he has a good "forgetter". Like my
niece, I think we all have good "forgetters". But we ought to work harder at
remembering. We should remind ourselves daily of God's promises in Christ
and our love for one another - as family, friends, and fellow-Christians.
The "I love yous" do mean something. Don't forget it.

Paul Holland