The Scriptures say, speaking of John’s baptism, “The Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him” (Luke 7:30). If to fail to be baptized by John, as these people did, was to reject the counsel of God against themselves, what do you suppose it will be to reject the baptism of Jesus? The one was a servant, the other the Son. “If the word spoken by angels (messengers like John) was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by them that heard him?” (Heb. 2:3) In the estimation of the apostle it was a much more terrible thing to reject the teaching of Jesus than of the messengers that came before him.
– by J.A. Harding
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Kicking the Tires
Can you imagine buying a used car ‘sight unseen’? No way! Before you invest your hard earned money you want to check it out. You’ll want to take a test drive, look under the hood, scrutinize the maintenance record, and talk to the former owner. No one is going trick you. No sir!! You simply wouldn’t buy a used car without ‘kicking the tires’ first.
Now, let us ask you about something much more important than cars. Let us inquire about your religion. How did you reach the decision about where you worship? What standard did you use to decide which religious organization you would be a part of? If we could get everyone to be honest about it, we’d find that many have made this important choice without nearly as much investigation as they would put into buying a used car. And that’s really a shame.
With your eternal soul at stake, you desperately need to make sure that the religious group you are part of is faithfully and accurately following God’s word. Do they use the Bible as their sole authority? Will all of their practices stand up to a thorough investigation? Does everything still look good, even after you’ve ‘kicked the tires’?
– by Greg Gwin
