Friday, February 25, 2011

Welcome!

The Bath Seventh-day Adventist Church is thankful for all the ways the Lord has made available for us to preach the Gospel to the whole world!  Only 30 years ago, the Great Commission that Jesus gave His disciples in Matthew 28:19 "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" seemed tremendously difficult.  But today, with the internet and social media, we truly can reach around the globe with the message of God's love.

Men, women, and children are coming to Christ in record numbers.  The Gospel is going to all the world and we are so happy to be part of it!  Your earnest prayers are what we most desire, so please cover our ministry in your prayers.  There's a lot of work to do, but God is sending laborers into His harvest.  Praise be to God!

We hope you will join us on Facebook and Twitter, and that you will check out our website.  Refer your friends and family.  Check out our links to learn even more Bible truth and subscribe to our blog - we hope to have many more to come about many different subjects you will want to know about!

May God bless you as you learn more about God's great love for you!

4 comments:

  1. I'm an Elder at the Bath Church, and I'll be posting occasionally here. Questions are encouraged, in a Godly spirit, but I'll not engage in argument for argument's sake ;). May God bless us all as we mine for gems in His Word.

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  2. In Isaiah chapter 46:1-7, The Lord calls His people to what we today might call 'a reality check':

    1 ¶ Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast.

    2 They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.

    > In this first portion, the Lord calls the hearer to see that the idols of the gods of the nations, so far from having any power of their own, must themselves be carried, loaded upon carriages, and borne by beasts of burden.

    The word, 'captivity' such as it is used in this passage, is from the Hebrew lexicon Strong's number 07628 שׁבי sheb-ee’ which is translated variously, "exiled; captured; as noun, exile (abstractly or concretely and collectively); by extension, booty: —  captive(-ity), prisoners, X take away, that was taken."

    The essential sense of all these translations of the Hebrew word is that the person or object spoken of is powerless, or unable to act according to volition.

    The purpose of the Lord in emphasizing the dependence of the idols of Bel and Nebo becaomes apparent when considering the next two verses:

    3 Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb:
    4 And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.

    > Let's note the imagery as it is presented: The Lord declares that not only does He not need to be carried by His people, in fact, it is He that does the carrying! Further, He does so, by His declaration, from the very womb, even "to hoar [white] hairs".
    "I have made [in contrast to the idols that men make], and I will bear; even I will carry [in contrast to the idols that must themselves be carried], and will deliver you [something no idol or false god can do].

    More in the next post

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  3. Continuing now Isaiah chapter 46:5-7:

    5 ¶ To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?
    6 They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.
    7 They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.

    > What more futile thing can be done, than to fashion a god according to one's own work, and then to fall down before it to pray for deliverance? Beside the material idols of the nations, can this not be said of any religious contrivance wherein human tradition supplants the Word of God? In other words, are ALL false gods or idols made of wood or clay, silver or gold? Can they not also be fashioned from the vanity of human traditions, innovations or embellishments? May we not call that an idol that is placed before the plain testimony of 'Thus saith the Lord', and prefer our innovations, embellishments or traditions in place of that which God hath plainly said?

    What can we say of those to whom Jesus came and ministered? Can we say anything other than what He Himself said, "He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." Mark 7:6-9

    Let all who would call upon God remember the words of Jesus, "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4

    God bless you,

    Ed.

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  4. We must be very aware, lest we fall into the trap of putting ANYTHING above God - even our own beliefs! Only that which comes out of the Word of God can be trusted!

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