OceanSide church of Christ

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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (49)

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.    When we go on a foreign mission trip, one of the ways that we begin a Bible study is by the use of questions.

1.      Have you ever heard of the church of Christ?

2.      Where do you attend worship services?

3.      Why are you what you are religiously?

4.      Why is there so much religious division?

5.      Do you have a question you would like to ask about the Bible?

 

B.      When we ask a question, we must be ready to receive the answer.  If we are not, we do not need to ask it.

 

C.     Tonight is our Q&A Night.  You as the questions.  Then, attempt to let the Bible answer the questions.

 

I.                   QUESTION #1:  Importance of Worship Avenues

 

A.    Stated:  Is one act of worship more important than another act of worship?

 

B.      Answer:

1.      There are some who believe that certain acts of worship are more important than others.

a.      The Lord’s Supper

b.      The Sermon (more sermons, less singing, praying, etc.)

c.       The song service (youth love to sing more and sing the newer songs)

2.      Jesus said that worship is about three things (John 4:24).

 

God is a Spirit:  and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

 

a.      The right object:  God (they that worship Him)

b.      The right attitude:  in spirit

c.       The right actions:  in truth

3.      There is not one passage in the Bible that exalts one avenue of worship over another.  (NOTE:  Some would use Acts 20:7 to object).

 

And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

 

a.      Their argument is that the disciples came together for the specific purpose of breaking bread.  Because they came together to break bread, this must be the most important aspect of worship.

b.      The verse really says that they came together to worship.

1)      The words “break bread” are a synecdoche, a figure of speech where a part, the Lord’s Supper, is put for the whole worship service.

2)      We know that in this assembly, there was also the preaching of the Word of God.  According to Acts 20:9, the preaching took up a lot of time because “Paul was long preaching.”  Does this fact make it more important than the other avenues of worship?

4.      What we need to learn is that all elements of the worship are vital.  Why?  Because every one of them is authorized by God.

5.      We also need to learn to appreciate every avenue of worship and see its importance and focus on it while it is transpiring.

a.      We do not always do this.

1)      When one is praying, we will silence the crowd and “Shhhh” anyone who is talking.  However, when the preaching is taking place, people talk and look at their cell phones, etc.

2)      Some will not sing, but they make certain they take detailed notes on every

sermon.

3)      Some would really create a stir if we did away with the Lord’s Supper, but they would be okay if we almost completely did away with singing.

4)      It is interesting that I have never heard any controversy over how giving is done.  Nobody wants to “spice up” that part of the worship service.

b.      Stay focused!  It is important.

a.      Prayer:  we are speaking to God

b.      Sermon:  God is speaking to us

c.       Lord’s Supper:  we are remembering the sacrifice of Jesus Christ

d.      Singing:  We are praising the high and Almighty God

e.       Giving:  we are returning to God what is rightfully His to further His work

 

II.                QUESTION #2:  Praying in Jesus’ Name

 

A.    Stated:  What does it mean to pray “in Jesus’ name”?

 

B.      Answer:

1.      We have all heard the phrase:  “Stop in the name of the law.”

a.      “In the name of” means “by the authority of.”

b.      Thus, “stop in the name of the law” means “stop by the authority of the law.”

2.      When we do something “in the name of Jesus Christ,” we are doing it by His authority.

a.      Paul tells us that “all” is to be done in Jesus’ name (Col. 3:17).

 

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

 

b.      Jesus taught that prayer is to be done in His name (John 14:13).

 

And whatsoever ye shall as in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

 

3.      POINT:  When Jesus said that we should pray in His name, He was not authorizing a formula to be used in every one of our prayers.

a.      The Pentecostals contend that every baptism must include the words “in Jesus’ name.” 

1)      If these words are not said, the baptism, they believe, is not valid.

2)      I debated a gentleman once and refuted this false view that he had.

b.      It is the doing of the act, not the saying of the words, that is important.  In other words, the words, “In Jesus name,” do not have to be said in every prayer for it to be acceptable to God.  As long as I pray by the authority of Jesus Christ, the prayer is acceptable.

c.       Question:  Do we have to say the words “in Jesus’ name” after everything we do? 

1)      Isn’t that what Paul said to do? (Col. 3:17).

2)      We are here tonight worshipping in Jesus’ name, but we have not said those words.

3)      We give out clothes to the needy of our community “in Jesus’ name,” but we do not say the words as we hand them a bag.

4)      I am preaching “in Jesus’ name” tonight, but I do not mouth the words.  It simply means that I am preaching by the authority of Jesus Christ. 

d.      However, when we pray and when we baptize someone, we will continue to say the words because someone will tell us that the words must be said if we don’t. 

 

III.             QUESTION #3:  The Age of the Earth

 

A.    Stated:  How old is the earth?

 

B.      Answer:

1.      Science tells us that the earth is 4.54 billion years old. 

 

“Planet Earth doesn't have a birth certificate to record its formation, which means scientists spent hundreds of years struggling to determine the age of the planet. So, just how old is Earth?

 

“By dating the rocks in Earth's ever-changing crust, as well as the rocks in Earth's neighbors, such as the moon and visiting meteorites, scientists have calculated that Earth is 4.54 billion years old, with an error range of 50 million years” (www.space.com, “How Old is Earth?”, Nola Taylor Redd).

 

4,540,000,000 years old

 

2.      Christians, however, who trust the Bible teach that the earth is about 6,000 years old.

3.      Evidences for a young earth:

a.      The genealogy of Luke 3.

1.      Jesus lived on the earth 2,000 years ago.

2.      Luke’s genealogy traces Jesus’ genealogy back to Adam (Luke 3:38).

 

Which was the son of Enos, which as the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the Son of God.

 

a)      Luke lists 75 names in his genealogy, including the names of Jesus and Adam.

b)      Three alternatives:

1)      If each generation is 1,000 years, then the earth is only 77,000 years old (75 x 1,000 + 2,000 = 76,000). 

a)      We choose 1,000 years because when man was first created, he lived for many more years.

b)      Note:  This age is greatly inflated because each generation did not live 1,000 years.  The oldest man was Methuselah who lived to be 969 years of age.

2)      If each generation is 100 years, then the earth is only 9,500 years old.  (75 x 100 + 2,000 = 9,500).

3)      If each generation is 80 years, then the earth is only 8,000 years old.  (75 x 80 + 2,000 = 8,000).

4)      NOTE:  If there are some skips in the genealogy, we still have an earth that is between 10,000 to 80,000 years old.

b.      Human population statistics

1)      If man has been on the earth for just a million years (the evolutionists teach man has been here 2-3 million years), then there should be 102,000 people on earth today. 

2)      There are not even 1010 people on earth.

3)      The entire universe could only hold 1082 people.  These people could only be 3 feet tall and would have to be squeezed together like sardines.

c.       Dinosaurs and man co-existed

1)      Evolution teaches that the dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million year ago.  Man did not “evolve” until 2 to 3 million years ago.   Therefore, the two did not exist together.

2)      There have been many pictographs, petroglyphs, and carvings of dinosaurs found around the world.

a)      Stone masonry temple in Angkor, Cambodia:  a carving of a stegosaurus.

 

http://apologeticspress.org/user_images/image/rr/2008/0803-3steg3.jpg

 

b)      At the natural bridge known as Kachina Bridge in Utah, there is a pictograph of a Brontosaurus.  (NOTE: Brontosaurus fossils have been found just 50 miles from where the drawings were made.

 

http://apologeticspress.org/user_images/image/rr/2008/0803-9.jpg

 

c)      In the Havasupai Canyon in the Grand Canyon region, a carved picture of an ibex has been found.

 

 

 

3)      Question:  How could such accurate pictures and carvings of dinosaurs have been made unless those who drew the pictures saw the animals?

d.      Rapid decay rate of the magnetic field

1)      The earth’s magnetic field is decaying.  Every 1,100 years there is a 50% drop in the magnetic field.

2)      If we double the magnetic field every 1,100 years and go back 30,000 years, the field would have been comparable to that of a neutron star. 

a)      There would have been so much heat that life could not have existed.

b)      Too the magnetic field would have compromised the internal structure of the earth.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.    We have seen that our planet is very young instead of being very old. 

 

B.      We have seen that when we offer up prayer to God, we must offer those prayers by the authority of Jesus Christ.

 

C.     We have seen that every act of worship is very important. 

 

D.    Tonight, we want you to be baptized by the authority of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit if you have not done so (Matt. 28:18-20).

 

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.  God ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:  and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.  Amen.