All Things are Possible page 3All Things are Possible page 3Bible Reading Tables Bible Reading Tables –– pages 10 & 11pages 10 & 11

Why I Believe the Bible Why I Believe the Bible –– page 15page 15

OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD 1486

GladTidingsGladTidings

Bible Talks, Study Classes, Sunday Schools and Youth Clubsare held regularly by Christadelphians worldwide. The address

of your nearest group can be obtained from either the Distribution Secretaries or from the local agents or

information addresses given above.

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

but other versions are sometimesused.

D The New King James Version iscopyrighted by Thomas Nelson.

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

D 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

125th Year 1486A monthly magazine published by the

Christadelphians (brothers and sisters in Christ), availablethroughout the world. Its objectives are – to encourage

study of the Bible as God's inspired message; to call attention to the Divine offer of forgiveness of sins

through Jesus Christ; and to warn men and women that soon Christ will return to Earth as judge and

ruler of God’s world-wide Kingdom.

Acknowledgements

Photographs:

Cover and pages 10-11:Ty Mawr, Wybrnant, Gwynedd,North WalesJohn (and Jean) Morris

Illustrations:Clipart.com

ContentsA09

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Local information is also available from:

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Editor: Owen Tecwyn Morgan26 The Crescent, Hampton-in-Arden, Solihull, B92 OBP, England, UK glad.tidings@virgin.net

Publisher: The Glad Tidings Publishing Association (a registered charity) number 248352

Contents

“All Things arePossible”....................3

The Book of Life..........5

Can Christians Speakwith Tongues?...........8

Bible Reading Tables ........................10 & 11

A Trip to Hospital .....12

Why I Believe the Bible .................................15

Sight and Blindness..19

125th Year 3

they were less widely publicised. Thefarmhouse featured on this month’scover is located in a remote part ofNorth Wales – in the upland valley ofWybrnant, Gwynedd. It was here in1545 that William Morgan was born,the second of five children born to atenant farmer and his wife. When hewas twenty, William went to St John’sCollege, Cambridge, where heobtained several degrees and also

learned Hebrew and Greek.By 1578 William had become

Vicar of St Dogfan’s church inthe village of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant, in Mid-Wales. It washere that he translated the Bibleinto Welsh, from its original lan-guages, so that it could be readin his native tongue. Printed inLondon, it was first published inSeptember 1588 – the year ofthe Spanish Armada!

Before this translationbecame available, the only Biblesavailable to people were in Latin – thelanguage of the educated. Ordinarypeople could neither read nor under-stand Latin; no wonder that it wasreceived in Wales with “unalloyed joyand praise”.

Working Class HomeWe should never forget that whenAlmighty God sent His Son into theworld, He did not arrange for him to beborn and brought up by the rich andimportant. God chose a working classhome and an ordinary village girl, whowas clearly taken aback when she wastold that she was to be the mother ofthe long-awaited Messiah. The angelGabriel immediately reassured her byexplaining how it would be accom-

Crowds in Grant Park, Chicago duringNovember heard the US President-elect, Barack Obama, say those verywords. “If there is anyone out therewho still doubts that America is a placewhere all things are possible, whostill wonders if the dream of ourfounders is alive in our time, who stillquestions the power of our democracy– tonight is your answer”.

More than 120 million Americancitizens had voted to electhim as their President, andObama is the living proof thatanything can happen in acountry which gives everyonethe opportunity to betterthemselves. Born in Hawaii,his father was a Kenyan andhis mother an American ofEnglish and Irish descent. Hewent to Columbia Universityand Harvard Law Schoolbefore becoming an attorney,serving three terms in the IllinoisSenate and later being elected to theUS Senate.

He then announced his intention torun for US President and after a longand costly campaign ended up bywinning a landslide victory. The extentof the excitement caused by thisachievement is expressed in one of hiscampaign slogans, chanted by hun-dreds of thousands of his supporters:“Yes We Can!”

From Small BeginningsIt should encourage all of us to seethat life offers us all great possibilities,whatever our background and our cir-cumstances. Over the years manypeople have made similar achieve-ments to those of Mr Obama, even if

“All Things are Possible”“All Things are Possible”

Frontispiece to theWelsh Bible of 1588

4 Glad Tidings

plished, but you will notice one phrasein particular:

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,and the power of the Highest will over-shadow you; therefore, also, that HolyOne who is to be born will be calledthe Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabethyour relative has also conceived a sonin her old age; and this is now the sixthmonth for her who was called barren.For with God nothing will be impos-sible” (Luke 1:35-37).

It is much to Mary’s credit that sheresponded with amazing faith, con-sidering the circumstances, anddeclared herself readyto accept what Godasked of her. For thirtyyears she had the privi-lege of having Jesus livewith her and saw at firsthand how he grew ingrace and favour with Godand with his fellows. Forher the impossible becamepossible and, as sheherself once declared:

“He has scattered the proud in theimagination of their hearts. He has putdown the mighty from their thrones,and exalted the lowly. He has filled thehungry with good things, and the richHe has sent away empty” (Luke 1:51-53).

Upside-Down WorldThat declaration by Mary showedclearly that she understood the signifi-cance of what was happening to herand the implications for mankind. IfGod had chosen her – an ordinary girlwho lived in a poorly-regarded village inGalilee – He was showing that ordinarymen and women the world over canalso become part of His purpose.

When Jesus had left home and wasbusy fulfilling the great work he hadcome to accomplish, he too made thesame observation. One day a richyoung man came and asked what hecould do to gain eternal life and Jesustold him that he must sell all he hadand become one of his followers. Theyouth left sorrowfully, for he was veryrich and it was too great a price to pay.

Just imagine the concern that thiscaused the disciples, for he must haveseemed a very worthwhile addition totheir number, especially as he was very

rich! They came to ask Jesus about itand he explained that nobody can

buy their way into God’s favour,however big their bank

balance. And when theyasked who then could besaved, Jesus replied thatGod can make all things pos-sible if we put our trust andfaith in Him.

“With men this is impossible,but with God all things arepossible” (Matthew 19:26).

However difficult things mightbe and however hard life is for us, Godcan do what would otherwise beimpossible. He can save us from oursins and give us the hope of everlast-ing life in a perfect world.

This issue contains a Bible ReadingTable (on pages 10 and 11) that canhelp you read right through God’s Wordduring the year. It makes it possible toread all that God has revealed tomankind, so that we can live with Himand be ready for the final stage of Hisgracious purpose, which is about tobegin. Be sure to take full advantageof that opportunity while you can.

Editor

125th Year 5

There is one inescapable factfor all of us, no matter howour lives work out. Whoeverwe are and whatever we havemade of life’s myriad oppor-tunities – whether success orfailure – the one certainty isthat one day we will die.

Nobody can escape that but, notsurprisingly, few of us can face thatharsh fact. Death is rarely discussed orconsidered; instead we all put it to theback of our minds.

The End of EverythingWhen we are young we feelimmortal: “It can’t happen tome!” But as we get older, ourbodies begin to show evidenceof starting to wear out. Theeye muscles lose their abilityto focus from the extremes ofclose sight – for reading – andfor distance, so glasses areneeded to read, and thus webecome reliant on an artificialaid to continue our normaleveryday life. Our stamina and supple-ness very gradually decline. Ourhearing may not be at the samestandard as it was, although we maynot recognise the fact.

These changes are slow, almostimperceptible, but very real. We maybe able to slow down some of thephysical changes with exercise, a gooddiet and a healthy lifestyle, but that’sall we can do: slow some of the decaydown. We don’t like to face it, butthese changes are the result of ourbodies decaying or perishing; and theinevitable end of this decay – barring

illness or accident which might shortenthe process – is the point where thebody can no longer function. When it isno longer capable of supporting lifeand simply shuts down, we die.

Any Hope?That this is so difficult for men andwomen to accept is testified by theexistence of the world’s religionsthroughout the ages. All offer the hopethat death is not the end, but teachthat life continues, in some form orother, beyond the grave. But theycannot all be right, for they are self-

contradictory. Sadlymost of the world’s reli-gions are nothing morethan the product ofwhat people want tobelieve; they do notoffer any real hope orcertainty about thefuture. They only reflectthe universal refusal toaccept the inevitable.People will believe any-

thing other than the simple truth – thatour bodies are mortal and that theydecay and perish with age.

Of course, people without any reli-gious convictions are in a differentsituation. With the decline of religion inthe lives of the general population,most people now have to recognisethat death is the end of life. For them,the general acceptance of the theoryof evolution has totally discounted theexistence of a god, or of any creator.The scientific community accepts thetheory of evolution without question. Itis widely accepted as fact and istaught as such in our schools, even

The Book of LifeThe Book of Life

6 Glad Tidings

though it is nothing more than a theorywhich, incidentally, has huge contra-dictions and problems, that cannot besatisfactorily explained. But that’sanother subject.

Not ResponsibleThe belief that this present life is allthat we have has had important conse-quences in terms of human attitudeand behaviour. If life is our own, to dowith as we please, we are not morallyresponsible to any superior Creator. Sowe can “eat drink and be merry fortomorrow we die”. With this prevailingview, people have become self-indul-gent and self-centred, attitudes whichhave the disastrous results we can seein society all around us. Moralrestraints are disappearing and thistendency is increasing with each suc-ceeding generation. The trouble is thatwe can only view life as we experienceit around us, and view everything fromthat perspective unless there is someguidance from elsewhere. But wherecan we go to get a different point ofview which we can really believe?

A ParableImagine a situation where people hadbeen working in a large steep-sidedvalley for generations until the landand its people were exhausted. Butthey carried on working, as the yieldsdropped and more and more effort wasrequired just to survive. Their lifeexpectancy fell sharply; infant mortal-ity was increasing; things lookeddesperate.

Then one enterprisingperson climbed up the steepsides of the valley and dis-covered that there were otherfertile valleys close at hand,which could give them new lifeand new hope.

It is just like that with many peopletoday. They look for guidance about lifefrom other people – whether scientists,pundits, politicians or religious leaders.But their opinions are really only theproduct of human minds; and humanthinking will never give us the answer.We need opinion and guidance that isoutside human thinking, if we are toget a proper perspective about thingsthat are outside our experience. Andthat guidance has existed and hasbeen among us for thousands of years.

God’s GuidanceThe Bible is unique. There has neverbeen, and there will never be, anythinglike it. It claims to be a message fromGod. It has been put to the testrepeatedly and has never been foundwanting. People have mocked it, chal-lenged it, quarrelled with it, neglectedit, and denied it. But they are longsince dead and the Bible is still aliveand well. For the Bible is the Word ofGod and there is nothing else to matchit. The prophets of God were likepeople who climbed up out of thevalley to get a higher and better per-spective; for they got close to God andbecame His spokespeople.

Here is the testimony of one inspiredapostle, whose life history is exposedin the gospel accounts. The apostlePeter often misunderstood Jesus, andsadly denied three times that he evenknew him. But when God empowered

him to see things clearly, this iswhat he wrote about God’srevelation to mankind. Inthese extracts from his twoletters to believers theapostle explains how impor-tant the Bible is. It is a Bookof Life, designed to give usa true and living hope.

125th Year 7

A Book Apart

We need to read and understandGod’s revelation, says the apostle,because the promises it contains canchange our lives. God has inspired itswriters – has moved or impelled themto reveal the truth. But we must notmisunderstand it, or twist its messageby importing our own beliefs or preju-dices. And the Bible has beenuniversally misunderstood, as men andwomen have tried to interpret itsteaching from their own viewpoint.

We have to make sure, when weread it, that it is not read with eyesthat are clouded by man’s thinking andaspirations. If we can remove theclouds of human confusion and teach-ing, and read it with an open mind, wewill find it to be an amazing book. It’snot a book man would or could havewritten because, quite simply, it’s amessage to us from God.

Just think about that claim! TheSupreme Creator of the earth, theMaster of the Universe has providedfor His special creation – mankind – aguide book, a one-and-only set ofwritten instructions for life. What anopportunity this gives us to see ourpuny existence from the perspective ofGod Himself; and what a marvellousthing it is to discover that He wants togive us everlasting life – He wants us tolive forever!

This remarkable book tells us all weneed to know about our origin and ournature and it comes from the universalall-powerful supreme intelligent poweror being that we can know as “God”.He has given mankind a Book of Life.

Read it if you want to live forever.

Barry Dray

“Since you have purified your souls inobeying the truth through the Spirit insincere love of the brethren, love oneanother fervently with a pure heart,having been born again, not of corrupt-ible seed but incorruptible, through theword of God which lives and abidesforever, because ‘All flesh is as grass, andall the glory of man as the flower of thegrass. The grass withers, and its flowerfalls away, but the word of the Lordendures forever.’ Now this is the wordwhich by the gospel was preached toyou” (1 Peter 1:22-25).

“His divine power has given to us allthings that pertain to life and godliness,through the knowledge of him who calledus by glory and virtue, by which havebeen given to us exceedingly great andprecious promises, that through theseyou may be partakers of the divinenature, having escaped the corruptionthat is in the world through lust” (2 Peter1:3,4).

“We also have the prophetic word mademore sure, which you do well to heed asa light that shines in a dark place, untilthe day dawns and the morning star risesin your hearts; knowing this first, that noprophecy of Scripture is of any privateinterpretation, for prophecy never cameby the will of man, but holy men of Godspoke as they were moved by the HolySpirit” (2 Peter 1:19-21).

“Account that the longsuffering of ourLord is salvation - as also our belovedbrother Paul, according to the wisdomgiven to him, has written to you, as alsoin all his epistles, speaking in them ofthese things, in which are some thingshard to understand, which those who areuntaught and unstable twist to their owndestruction, as they do also the rest ofthe Scriptures” (2 Peter 3:15,16).

8 Glad Tidings

PentecostIn Acts chapter 2, verses 1 to 21 theevents of the day of Pentecost arerecorded. We are told, in verse 1, that“they were all with one accord in oneplace”. If you ask yourself to whom theword ‘they’ refers, it is obviously thetwelve apostles, for the account readslike this:

“They cast their lots, and the lot fell onMatthias. And he was numbered withthe eleven apostles. Now when theDay of Pentecost had fully come, theywere all with one accord in oneplace…” (Acts 1:26-2:1).

Chapter divisions can some-times make things appearmore complicated than theyreally are, so it pays to readacross them. But it is alsogood to ask questions as youread. So, where was the “oneplace”? It was probably theupper room referred to in 1:13– although we cannot be surewhether or not that was theUpper Room where Jesus cele-brated the Last Supper.Perhaps it was.

Were the twelve apostles alone orwere there other people with them?Again, we cannot dogmatise; it wascertainly the twelve who were present,but the group could have includedsome or even all of the 120 peoplereferred to in 1:15:

“In those days Peter stood up in themidst of the disciples (altogether thenumber of names was about ahundred and twenty)”.

Filled with the Holy SpiritIn Acts 2, verses 2-3, we read of asound like a “mighty rushing wind” andthe “cloven (or ‘divided’) tongues likeas of fire” and as verse 4 says, “theywere all filled with the Holy Spirit”.What effect did that have? Verse 4explains that they “began to speakwith other tongues, as the Spirit gavethem utterance”.

If we look back to Markchapter 16, we find a listof what the followers ofJesus would be able to dowhen they had the powerof the Spirit:

“These signs will followthose who believe: In myname they will cast outdemons; they will speakwith new tongues; theywill take up serpents; andif they drink anything

deadly, it will by no means hurt them;they will lay hands on the sick, andthey will recover” (Mark 16:17,18).

They could not have done thosethings in the Upper Room, for obviousreasons. Instead they: “began tospeak with other tongues, as the Spiritgave them utterance”.

Part Two

Can Christians Speak withCan Christians Speak withTongues?Tongues?

In this examination of Bible teaching David Willey explores the Biblical text to seewhat speaking in tongues really means, and whether it was merely a first century

phenomenon or something that was meant to endure for all believers.

125th Year 9

I don’t imagine that they would havespoken with tongues in the UpperRoom, although I suppose that theymight have had the opportunity topractise their new ability whilst theywere there. But, out in the city ofJerusalem, the whole city wascrammed with Jews from all over theRoman Empire, because it was the dayof Pentecost. So they were able to goout into the city immediately, andspeak in ‘new tongues’ as theyendeavoured to preach the good newsabout the risen Lord to the crowds thatwere thronging the streets. It was agolden opportunity to start preachingthe Word of God to the people.

Speaking with Tongues

If we read through Acts chapter 2 care-fully, especially verses 6 to 12, we willsee exactly what “speaking withtongues” entailed. The multitude wereamazed and said:

“Look, are not all these who speakGalileans? And how is it that we hear, eachin our own language in which we wereborn? Parthians and Medes and Elamites,those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea andCappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia andPamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libyaadjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, bothJews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs –we hear them speaking in our own tonguesthe wonderful works of God” (Acts 2:7-11).

These words are very clear. We learnfrom them that ‘speaking with tongues’enabled the apostles to speak inforeign languages. We cannot escapethis conclusion. When the apostles‘spoke with tongues’, those who heardthem were able to hear the gospelmessage in their own different lan-guages or dialects – and a list is givenof the different places from which thevisitors came to make it even clearer.

What was the purpose of this giftwhich enabled the apostles to speakwith tongues? It enabled the apostlesin the end to go to any place in theRoman Empire and to be sure thatevery person there would be able tounderstand what was said. The apos-tles had the facility to speak the localdialect, so the people there could hearthe gospel in their native language .

Huge Advantage

Think of the benefit that would accrueto us today if we could do that now. Wehave a Christadelphian Bible Missionthat seeks to preach the word of Godto all nations. It is relatively easy wherethe people understand English – butone of the greatest problems weencounter, for example in countries inEastern Europe, is the languagebarrier. Without a translator, we can doabsolutely nothing unless the recipi-ents can speak English, or unless ourmissionary visitors have had the timeand ability to learn the language.

The apostles had no such problem.Whatever country they went to,because they had the gift of the Spiritwhich enabled them to speak in newtongues, they could be understood inevery place they went. It was a marvel-lous help in spreading the gospelmessage – one that would be veryuseful today, if it were available.

So it is clear from Acts chapter 2that the Holy Spirit gift of ‘speakingwith tongues’ was the ability to speakin different languages and dialects –and I suggest that this is completelydifferent from the gift – of ecstaticutterance – that is claimed by manychurches today.

David Willey

Bible Reading

g Tables

By courtesy of The Christadelphian

12 Glad Tidings

Only the other day I madeanother frustrating visit tothe hospital. It was a totalwaste of time and quiteunnecessary, but one thingcame out of it at least. While Iwas there I determined toshare my experiences withothers and write this diary.

As I have regarded this whole expe-rience as one that was under God’scontrol, despite my personal frustra-tion, it may well help others if I sharesome thoughts and spiritual ideas thathave occurred along the way.

It all started…Where did it all begin? Thestory of my illness beginsabout five years ago whenhaving returned from Africafollowing a Bible Mission visitone or two parts of myanatomy didn’t seem to befunctioning properly. A visitto the doctor was called forand he sent me off to thehospital for some tests. Thattime the tests were clear andsince then I have been regu-larly monitored. But last yearit appeared that something more sinis-ter was happening.

Really though, I should start byputting my life itself into context. I ama Christadelphian who is trying to livelife by faith based upon the teaching ofthe Bible, the Word of God. For mypurpose this means acknowledgingthat God is sovereign as far as my lifeis concerned. His will should prevail inall things and so I seek to fulfil that

will, day by day. My life is in His hands,so it is His to give and His to take,should He so choose. I recognise thatlife is a gift to be used in ways whichwill give God pleasure: I should notsimply be trying to find self-fulfilment.

I came to this conviction years ago,as my parents were Christadelphians.So as a teenager I heard the call of thegospel and followed the Lord JesusChrist, by being baptized into him, as abelieving adult.

Over the years I have had manyminor illnesses, each one a reminderof human frailty, so I know only too well

that we are mortalcreatures. But to bediagnosed with a criti-cal illness now issomething else. Whenthat happens – andthat is what happenedto me – you wonder “Isit the end?” Then, withsecond thoughts, youwonder “Is it the begin-ning of the end atleast?” And the soulsearching doesn’t endthere, for you thenwonder if you havedone anything that

might have met with God’s disfavour. Acritical diagnosis brings all the issuesof life into sharp focus and at the sametime the small things of everyday lifehave still to be dealt with. All this ispart of the process of living by faith.

The Waiting RoomFive months into the year, I hadalready visited the hospital at least

Personal Diary

A Trip to HospitalA Trip to Hospital

125th Year 13

twice for the tests and nowwas the time for resultsand yet another examina-tion by the surgeon. As Iwaited in the receptionarea, not really wanting toread the typical tatty mag-azines or the book I hadbrought, I had a drink ofwater from the dispenserin the corner. The roomwas stuffy and oppressive;those who were sharingthe Waiting Room with meall looked uncomfortable and ill atease. The drink was ice cold andrefreshing.

It occurred to me that this was likethe “waiting room of life”. Every one ofus is waiting for something. Time isticking by and one day we will be toldthat our time has run out. For we areall getting older, one day at a time.

We all waited – some chatting, somesitting stoically, some reading. It wasas if time was standing still. Reliefwould come only with the summons toattend the doctor and he was runninglate. Apparently a patient had col-lapsed whilst with him and this haddelayed things whilst the “crash team”had helped the patient to recover. Anhour or so passed by. Then the steadystream of patients resumed their pro-gression into clinics and consultations.What would be the message for me;would it be one of hope?

“Yes, we can help you. It will take anoperation, but at the end of theprocess you will be a new man. Andthere should be no problem. You arefit, aren’t you?”

Or would the situation be hopeless?

“We are very sorry but there is nothingwe can do to help. We will of coursemake you as comfortable as possible,

and you should be all rightfor a few more months.”

Life or Death? I guess this marks the twoextremes – new life orcertain death. Isn’t thatwhere we all are? Life is likea waiting room, in which wetry to find useful things todo with our lives. Out of thatwaiting room there is onlyone door. It may look asthough it offers hope, but at

the end of the corridor there is thesurgery with a doctor who actuallyoffers only a postponement. Theinevitable will come one day: we will alldie and, without God’s help, we will diewithout hope. The apostle Paul oncesaid to believers in Ephesus thatbefore they had chosen to follow Jesusthey were in this condition:

“At that time you were without Christ,being aliens from the commonwealthof Israel and strangers from thecovenants of promise, having no hopeand without God in the world”(Ephesians 2:12).

Then he added these encouragingwords:

“But now in Christ Jesus you who oncewere far off have been made near bythe blood of Christ” (2:13).

How, then, can we share that hope –real, lasting hope, which is guaranteedto bring that ‘new life’ solution we allcrave? It can only come about whenwe bring God into the situation, andchoose the Lord Jesus as our MasterPhysician. He, and he alone, can cureour deepest sicknesses.

Health and PeaceThere are no instant cures on offer, but

God can give us bothhope and peace. Evenbelievers know that theywill die and that they willcome to judgement,which could mean theywill perish for ever.However, they haveplaced their lives inGod’s hands so thatwhatever happens tothem, He is in control, and everythingis subject to His will. Our confidence isin His character, knowing that God willalways act out of love. God always pro-vides what is best for us as a lovingFather (see Romans 8:28).

Whilst we are waiting for God’s com-prehensive cure for all human ills, wecan wait in confidence and try to useour time usefully serving Him. Thatway, life becomes much more than amatter of ‘marking time’, for we haveto take the opportunities of life asopportunities for service. Jesus taughtthat it matters as much how you dothings as what you do and that motiveand intention are every bit as impor-tant. Thus even the little things of lifeand service come to have meaning aswe live by faith.

It makes a huge difference to knowthat our lives are in God’s hands andthat he cares for us. No matter howskilful the surgeon is, or how manymistakes his team might make, or howmany hospital infections might bearound, nothing can or will happenunintentionally. There may be difficul-ties to overcome; things from which wecan learn; results we did not expect;and things we find hard to accept. Butwe can always be confident that whathappens is what is right for each of us.The comforting assurance is that Godknows best and always does what isbest.

Safe HandsOnce we place ourlives in God’shands, everythingbelongs to anotherdimension. ForGod does not justwant us to live hereand now: He wantsus to have eternal

life. This life, however good it feels tous, is limited in time – 70 years andthen what?

Beyond the grave, God has promisedbelievers the hope of life everlasting,eternal good health in His kingdom onearth, when Jesus comes. Jesus hasalready proved that he is a MasterPhysician. When he lived on earth hecould heal the sick, forgive them theirsins and even bring the dead back tolife. So if he is interested in us we arein safe hands indeed.

All of this brings me to one simpleconclusion when we are faced with aserious challenge, to our health or ourwell being. If we put our confidence inGod and entrust our lives to His care,there is nothing to be afraid of!

David NightingaleTo be continued

14 Glad Tidings

If you want to access backnumbers of “Glad Tidings” youcan find copies for the last few

years on our website:

www.gladtidingsmagazine.org

125th Year 15

First of all I think I’d better explain whatI mean when I say “believe”. à Do I mean that every word in the

Bible is literal truth and is to betaken precisely as it stands,without interpretation or questionas to its meaning within itscontext?

I’m not sure that Bible believers ofthat persuasion actually exist. Moreprobably they’re an invention of thosewho want to ridicule the whole idea ofbelieving in such an old book.à Am I saying that I believe the Bible

only to the extent that when Icome across anything in it that’sdifficult to understand or appearsto cut across conventional think-ing, then I’m prepared to water itdown or re-interpret it to make itmore palatable?

No, I’m not pushing either of thosepoints of view. I’m saying that I believewhat the Bible says about itself - thatit is the inspired Word of God; that it is,as the Apostle Paul puts it, “able tomake you wise for salvation” (2Timothy 3:15). I trust its statements. Iapproach it, not from the point of viewof asking it to justify itself, but ratherseeking what it has to teach - notsimply because it’s true, but becauseit tells me how to order my life and itgives me hope for the future.

Properly InterpretedIn the main, the Bible means what itsays. I say, “in the main” becausethere is Bible language which is literaland must be interpreted literally andthere is figurative language which hasto be interpreted figuratively. Remem-

ber that a simile or metaphor does notdetract from the underlying literalmeaning. And there is symboliclanguage which must be interpretedsymbolically. This symbolic language isnormally clearly recognisable as such,but can be hard to understand withoutfirst obtaining knowledge of the under-lying literal fundamentals. The Book ofRevelation is the most obvious casewhere this applies.

Here are a few simple illustrationsthat might help. Ü The New Testament tells us

that Jesus Christ literally rosefrom the dead. It tells us so inliteral language, and there arestrong reasons (which we’ll comeback to later) for believing thismiraculous event to be literallytrue.

Ü When the Bible describes, as amatter of history, the Babyloni-ans taking Judah into captivity, itis a true historical record - withimportant moral lessons attached.

Ü The Lord Jesus Christ told astory about a man going into afar country. This wasn’t literallytrue, but was a parable with animportant truth and a lessonwhich the story conveyed.

Ü In the book of Daniel we readabout a conflict between a ramand a goat. These animals aresymbols, and we’re actually toldwhat they represent – twonations.

Ü In the Book of Revelation weread about a woman seated uponseven hills. That’s a literal impos-

Why I Believe the BibleWhy I Believe the Bible

16 Glad Tidings

sibility, but the description is asymbol which was designed tomake the reader think of the cityof Rome, which is situated onseven hills.

Inspired CompositionI mentioned earlier the claims theBible makes for itself. Some famouspoets and composers are sometimessaid to have been “inspired”, by whichit is meant that they tapped into astream of consciousness that wasbeyond their normal capability. TheBible’s claim to be inspired isexplained in that it also claims tobe the Word of God. Ofcourse, anybody canclaim anything, so theclaim itself isn’t conclu-sive.

Bear in mind, however,that if this claim is fraudulentthen the Bible’s teaching is mostseriously devalued. If, however,the Bible’s claim is valid, then itsteaching is of the utmost importance,surpassing that from any other source.It would be deserving of our veryclosest attention.

Time and again in the Old Testamentyou find sections prefaced with thewords, “Thus says the Lord” or, “Hearthe word of the Lord” or, “The word ofthe Lord came to me”.

These claims are very, very numer-ous, and they’re not limited to whatwriters say about themselves. Thebooks of the Old Testament supportand add authority to each other.What’s more, the books of the NewTestament make constant referenceback to those of the Old Testament.These are not just in isolatedinstances, but rather the Old Testa-ment is woven right through the fabricof the New in such a way as to clearly

indicate that the Old Testament quota-tions and allusions are addingindispensable authority to what weread in the New Testament.

Given by InspirationHere are two passages in the New Tes-tament which testify to the inspiredtruth of the Old Testament:

“From childhood you have known theHoly Scriptures, which are able tomake you wise for salvation throughfaith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scrip-

ture is given by inspirationof God, and is profitable for

doctrine, for reproof, for cor-rection, for instruction inrighteousness, that the man

of God may be complete, thor-oughly equipped for every

good work” (2Timothy 3:15-17).

“We also have theprophetic word made

more sure, which you do well to heedas a light that shines in a dark place,until the day dawns and the morningstar rises in your hearts; knowing thisfirst, that no prophecy of Scripture is ofany private interpretation, for prophecynever came by the will of man, but holymen of God spoke as they were movedby the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:19-21).

This approach to the Old TestamentScriptures was very much a character-istic of the teaching of Christ himself.Just consider what he is recorded assaying to his disciples after his resur-rection from the dead:

“He said to them, ‘These are the wordswhich I spoke to you while I was stillwith you, that all things must be ful-filled which were written in the Law ofMoses and the Prophets and thePsalms concerning me.’ And he

before being executed; Ü the precise details of his death

including the mode of execution(vivid descriptions that werewritten centuries before crucifixionwas known as a method of execu-tion);

Ü his resurrection from the deadand his ascension to heaven.

In fact, a whole library of informationwas written down about Jesus Christhundreds of years before the event. Allthose details can be found in the OldTestament. Of course, we read aboutthem plainly in the New Testament, butthis is what we can read about him inthe Old Testament. It means that, hun-dreds of years beforehand, prophecieswere written which were to be fulfilledto the letter by Christ. One writer aptlyexpressed this inter-dependence:

The New is in the Old containedThe Old is in the New explainedThe New is in the Old concealed The Old is in the New revealedThe New is in the Old enfoldedThe Old is in the New unfolded.

Human or Divine?So, is the Bible a book of merelyhuman origin? True, the writers, thepenmen, were human; but what aboutthe mind behind them? Only a Divinemind could have made such accuratepredictions. Bible prophecy is thereforeone indication that the Bible isinspired. We have already noted howthe life story of the Lord Jesus wasforetold in very great detail, and Jesusis right at the centre of the revealedpurpose of God. Here is another, albeitless important, example of how Godcan both foretell and control thefuture.

The people of the nation of Israel arestyled in the Old Testament, “God’s

125th Year 17

opened their understanding, that theymight comprehend the Scriptures.Then he said to them, ‘Thus it iswritten, and thus it was necessary forthe Christ to suffer and to rise from thedead the third day…’” (Luke 24:44-46).

As discussed earlier, none of thisproves the Bible to be inspired. Never-theless, the unity, harmony andcoherence of both Old and New Test-aments are phenomena you wouldexpect to find in inspired writings. Theyare so well matched and dependentupon one another that they wouldhave been extremely hard to producewithout inspiration, particularly inworks that were written over a periodof 1500 years.

Endorsed by JesusFrom those verses in Luke chapter 24we can see just what the attitude ofJesus Christ was towards the Old Tes-tament. In particular he understoodthat it had foretold the nature of hismission and what would happen tohim. If you read through the Old Testa-ment this is demonstrably true. In ityou find many, many predictions abouthim: Ü the circumstances and the place

of his birth; Ü the purpose of his work and

mission; Ü descriptions of his demeanour

and character; Ü the attitude of people towards

him; Ü his final entry into Jerusalem; Ü his betrayal; Ü the way he was forsaken by his

disciples; Ü the harsh treatment he received

18 Glad Tidings

him, and keep him as a shepherd doeshis flock” (Jeremiah 31:10).

“...I will take you from among thenations, gather you out of all coun-tries, and bring you into your ownland” (Ezekiel 36:24).

The USA is the only single nation stillhaving more Jews living in it than thereare in Israel. Clearly though, there’smore revival and regathering tohappen. Nevertheless, the regatheringof Jews to Palestine and the establish-ment of the State of Israel in the 20thcentury has been a most remarkablefulfilment of Bible prophecy. It hasshown dramatically that such prophe-cy, far from being the forecasting oftrivia or purposeless crystal-gazing,testifies to the existence of a purposeand plan with the earth that God isworking out and will bring to fruition.

ConclusionThere are many other ways of checkingon the authenticity of the Bible whichwill be considered in a follow-uparticle. In this one we have looked atthe internal consistency of the record(Old and New Testaments) and theremarkable way in which God has fore-told the future. Bible prophecies aboutthe Lord Jesus Christ have comeabsolutely true as have those madeabout the nation of Israel and thereturn of the Jewish people to theirancient homeland.

This is the sort of evidence thatmakes me believe in the inspirationand accuracy of God’s Word. These arereasons why I believe the Bible. Icommend it to you as the Word of Godand urge you to read it systematicallyand prayerfully, and to take itsmessage to heart.

Mark Sawyer

witnesses”. God, we are told, choseIsrael not because of their importancebut because He loved them. The Oldand New Testaments contain an amaz-ingly candid record of their history, withtheir flaws and failings plainly revealed.Theirs was a consistent record offailure that no nation on earth wouldbe willing to compile for themselves.The question is: Why did Israel pre-serve records that expose theirfaithlessness and corruption in suchforthright terms? Other nations wouldhave got rid of such unflattering mate-rial long ago. Why has Israel not daredto do so? The answer must bebecause they acknowledge that thesewritings emanated from God.

Scattered and RegatheredWe read in the Old Testament of inter-ventions by God in Israel’s history,scatterings and regatherings, declinesand revivals. The Jewish people havesurvived persecutions, expulsions,massacres - indeed all attempts eitherto assimilate or exterminate them. Justponder the astonishing growth of thenumber of Jewish people living inPalestine. In 1882 there were only24,000; in 1917, the year of theBalfour Declaration, 55,000; by 1948,when the modern State of Israel wasfounded, 657,000; and today thereare about 5 million Jews living in Israel.This regathering was foretold by OldTestament prophets. Here is themessage God gave them:

“...I am with you, says the Lord, tosave you; though I make a full end ofall nations where I have scattered you,yet I will not make a complete end ofyou. But I will correct you in justice,and will not let you go altogetherunpunished” (Jeremiah 30:11).

“He who scattered Israel will gather

125th Year 19

Bible truths are often expressed instark contrasts. One recurring theme isthat of sight and blindness, and it is apowerful one because we can allappreciate the huge deprivation suf-fered by those who cannot see and theblessing of being able to see well.

Seeing and PerceivingThe way the Bible uses this contrast isto focus upon blindness of the mind.We often say, “Oh I see”, when weunderstand what someone has said.Conversely, when we don’t follow theargument we say, “I don’t see that”.In the same way, God is more con-cerned about our perception orspiritual understanding than about ourvisual ability.

The Bible speaks of those whorefuse to acknowledge the power andlove of God as being blind. Referringparticularly to the Jews who refused toacknowledge Jesus Christ as theirMessiah, Paul writes:

“Their minds were blinded: for untilthis day remaineth the same veiluntaken away in the reading of the OldTestament; which veil is done away inChrist” (2 Corinthians 3:14.).

Jesus condemned the Scribes andPharisees using the same idea for hesaid they were:

“…blind leaders of the blind. And if theblind lead the blind, both shall fall intothe ditch” (Matthew 15:14).

It was not that they could not seethe things that God had revealed, butthat they didn’t want to see them, or toacknowledge Jesus as the Messiah.(See Matthew 13:14,15.)

“Eyes to See”Those who perceive and accept thesaving grace of God through his Sonare, however, described as “seeing”(Matthew 13:16). The disciples under-stood the spiritual meaning of Jesus’parables, whereas the Scribes andPharisees “hardened their hearts.”Consequently they could not perceivethe deeper meaning. If they hadacknowledged it they would have hadto change their lives and they did notwant to do that.

We choose to be blind or seeing, bydeciding whether to open our eyes ornot. If we choose to be blind, God willnot force us to see His light. Thechoice is ours. Wel can be blind tospiritual things or we can open ourminds to the glorious light of thegospel message which we can see ifwe read the Bible.

Marion BucklerQuotations from the KJV

Bible Opposites

Sight and BlindnessSight and Blindness

Bible Reading TablesIf you would like a permanent

version of the Bible ReadingTables on pages 10 and 11, inthe form of three bookmarks

with the daily readings printedon them, write to the relevant

address on the back cover.The Tables will guide you

through the Old Testament onceand the New Testament twice

each year.

Local Information

The Bible is TrueThe Bible is utterly different fromevery other object ofantiquity. It claims to bethe book of God, givingHis point of view onhuman affairs. It declaresman’s origin; it outlinesGod’s plan for the worldand it describes how men andwomen can escape for ever thetreadmill of time and find eternalhappiness. It is a Book that needs tobe read!

David M Pearce

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