Halbrook Philippine Report Aug 13-16
Sunday, August 16, 2015th Year of Our Lord
Dear family, brethren, & friends,
God blessed us Wednesday, August 12, to permit us to continue our studies on things relating to the end of the world. Lordy Salunga completed Revelation 21-22, showing the reward of God’s faithful saints in eternal fellowship with Him in heaven. I began the series of lessons in Mike Willis’ workbook Then Comes the End by discussing physical death, the immoral soul, hades as the intermediate realm of souls, and the false doctrine of reincarnation.
After lunch Lordy’s topic of purgatory was very pertinent in this Catholic culture, and he also presented a study of the second coming of Christ. After covering the resurrection and the destruction of the universe, I opened the floor to questions. There were questions seeking to clarify several things about the soul and hades, but the most interesting exchange and discussion centered on a visitor’s question. He used Ecclesiastes 9:5 to deny the soul is conscious after death – he believes in annihilation followed by the resurrection. The passage says, “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.”
The main points answering his contention are (1) Solomon discussed the purpose of life “under the sun” or life on earth, and he says in Ecclesiastes 9:5 the dead have no participation in the events of earth life and they are soon forgotten on earth. This does not mean the soul or spirit is annihilated. (2) It is not possible to raise a person who is annihilated and no longer exists in any form – this would require re-creation not resurrection. (3) Jesus referred to God saying in Exodus 3:6 to Moses, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” to prove those men are still living – they live in the hades world awaiting the resurrection. Jesus said God is the God of the living, meaning that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are alive now awaiting the resurrection day (Matt. 22:32).
Our Thursday classes included the judgment day and hell by Lordy, followed by heaven and a refutation of the A.D. 70 heresy by me. In the afternoon Lordy explained Matthew 24-25 and dissected millennial theories, then I exposed errors of the rapture doctrine and the doctrine of the Battle of Armageddon as an earthly military battle to be won by Christ coming down to earth. The audience has really opened up so that there ware Q & A sessions between lectures. I allowed the rapture study to extend 30 minutes because many good follow-up questions arose about hades, the resurrection, and the proper application of the terms “soul” and “spirit.” After my lesson on Armageddon, we had another productive open forum.
Robert Agsao is a preacher converted from denominationalism to the pure and original gospel of Christ in 2010. His son-in-law is Norwegian but lives here in Davao City. He attended most of my lessons because he understands English. His religious journey started with being sprinkled in the Lutheran church as an infant, and then moved on to a Pentecostal group later in life, but he has been searching and learning. I invited him to join me for supper so that we could have time to let him air some questions.
Our study soon turned to the place of baptism in the conditions of pardon. At first he tried to find a way to reconcile infant baptism with Mark 16:16, but the more he thought about it, the more he began to see the distinctiveness of Jesus’ teaching. He took the notes I made home with him so he could review and meditate on the passages we studied. God opened this door by His good providence and we enjoyed our time studying together tonight. Let us pray God will extend patience to this man until He is convinced to submit to the original gospel of Christ.
Friday morning Lordy finished Then Comes the End with the lesson on the 1,000 year reign of Christ, showing it was the victory of Christ and his martyred saints over the Roman Empire. My final study focused on Ephesians 4:4-6 and was entitled “Premillennialism Undermines the One Hope.” It is not merely a harmless theory or misunderstanding of a certain verse but adds many things not taught in God’s Word such as “the signs of the end time,” the rapture, the so-called Tribulation Age, Christ on David’s literal throne on earth, a military Battle of Armageddon, and Christ setting up an earthly civil government for 1,000 years.
Our audience was attentive and engaged to the end. There were so many good questions in the open forum, we ran out of time. We all agreed we learned a lot together by sharing in this week of study. There was one assignment all week: Each man used his notebook to record at night what he learned in each chapter of Revelation as a result of the day’s studies. Today 15 men with the most complete notes were given Robert Harkrider’s Commentary on Revelation to encourage them to continue their studies.
When I returned to my hotel room, I envisioned some time to rest, exercise, and rejuvenate, but God had a different plan. Last night as every night I went to the small gym to exercise, finishing about 10:00 P.M. There I met a Filipino employee of the hotel who became interested when I explained the purpose of my visit was to teach the Bible. When he asked if there is a web site he could access, I gave him my email address and suggested he send me a message so I could provide articles for Bible study as well as the Hebron Lane church web site.
When I returned to my hotel room this afternoon, his email request had arrived and included a request for us to meet this evening to visit more. So, I prepared a copy of a five page outline I use to teach an introductory lesson for Bible study. We had a very pleasant visit and spent most of two hours discussing the Bible. As a Catholic, he has not been taught how to study the Bible, but he is interested and we had a very productive study. I encouraged him to visit the New Matina church of Christ here in Davao City so that Juanito Balbin and other brethren can help him continue to learn about God’s Word and plan of salvation.
This man’s case illustrates the truth revealed in Acts 17:27 – when men seek God, he opens doors for them to learn and to find Him! By God’s providence, I have a new friend in the Philippines. Let us pray for the time he will be convinced to submit to Christ and begin a new life as God’s child in Christ.
My flight on Saturday from Davao City back to Manila went well. At the hotel in Manila I rested, exercised, and prepared two lessons to preach at the national prison tomorrow. As it turned out, the persistence of Ely Ebuenga from the outside and of Sonny Ibanez inside the prison finally got our paperwork approved just in time today. In the past getting approved was not so difficult, but cases of corruption and scandal in the prison system have resulted in enforcement of more stringent rules. By God’s grace, we were finally approved!
Atoy Franco took me to the Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City for the Lord’s Day service where there are now many brethren thanks to the hard work done by Willie Pastor along with others in recent years. Mat Sibayan in Laoag City guided several converts transferred from the provincial jail there to meet with the saints here when they arrived at Bilibid. Today’s service began at 8:30 A.M. and I began preaching about 9:00, finishing at 10:30 because I spoke slowly and tried to explain each passage carefully. Normally, the men prefer the lessons to be translated which is very slow, but when they were asked today, they said they can understand my English and there was no need to translate. Therefore, I was able to cover more material.
My sermon was entitled “Ethiopian Official Submits to Christ” (Acts 8:26-39). We met in a borrowed Catholic chapel and the audience overflowed into the yard at the chapel entrance. The men were very attentive. I did not preach the second lesson I prepared because there were so many good questions.
One inmate asked if Revelation 7:4 means only 144,000 can enter heaven. Since most of these men have heard only the premillennial explanation of Revelation rampant in the denominations, I gave a 15-20 minute summary of the book to show it dealt with the suffering and death of saints at the hands of the Roman Empire and not with modern political and military events. Revelation 7:4 shows God knew the names of His faithful saints who refused to worship the Roman Caesars. I pointed out every time there is a war, premillennialists claim the book of Revelation is being fulfilled and Christ will return any moment to establish an earthly kingdom in Jerusalem. They are wrong every time because they do not understand the true message of the book.
Nine men came forward to confess Christ and requested to be baptized like the Ethiopian official.
I will now prepare for the long trip to Australia which begins a few hours later this evening. Thank you for your prayers for Keith Greer, Grayson Key, and myself as we labor for the Lord far from our homes and loved ones! All of you are in our hearts and prayers also.
In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook
P.S. Please read below the recent report of Rody Gumpad about his work with Keith Greer and Grayson Key. Grayson will return home tomorrow a new man after all these experiences. Please pray for his safety in travel.