August 5-8 UK-France-Philippines #3
Dear family, brethren, and friends,
On Monday, August 5, Edwin Cortez guided me to the Paris airport and helped me check in with my suitcase and 2 large boxes of Bibles and books to distribute in the Philippines. A Qatar Airways flight flew about 7 hours to a luxurious airport in Doha, Qatar (oil money on display!), where I caught a 9-hour flight to Manila, arriving at 8:15 A.M. on Tuesday.
This has been a busy but good day after arriving here. Elias Cruz with several other brethren met me at the hotel to unpack the boxes and organize the packages according to their labels so they can be shipped ahead by plane and bus to the various venues where I will preach, God willing. After running typical first-day errands, reviewing the 4 sermons for tomorrow, and exercising, I got to bed by midnight – a little earlier than last week – hoping to boost my stamina.
God has given me the privilege to preach at the Kapitbahayan church of Christ in Navotas, Metro Manila many time since Jim McDonald first brought me to the Philippines in 1995. Ben Cruz was an evangelist with this church for many years, but he passed away and now his son Elias continues the work. It was my privilege to preach there again Wednesday to about 50 souls as we began a 2-day Bible lectureship on “God’s Truth Defeats Satan’s Lies.”
After driving for an hour, we arrived, set up, and began about 10:00 A.M. with 2 lessons on “God’s Truth VS Satan’s Lies” to introduce the war in which every person is involved, either on God’s side or Satan’s side. This is a war for our souls and we must know our enemy and his deceptive tactics. After lunch, another 2 sermons addressed “Overcoming Sin” to show practical ways God equips us to defeat Satan, sin, and temptation.
The open forum continued for another hour as a wide range of questions was discussed. Here are a few examples:
1. Why did Paul advise Timothy to use wine in 1 Timothy 5:23? It was to be used only sparingly as a drug, a medicine, not as a beverage, the same as in Proverbs 31:5-8.
2. Do people sin when they do and say wrong things as a result of conditions such as postpartum depression? They are not accountable for medical issues beyond their control, but we must seek to guide them to the right kind of help.
3. Is it wrong for a church to operate without elders and deacons? No, if no one is qualified, but it is wrong to choose to operate without this God-given form of organization if men are qualified to serve.
4. What actually joins 2 people in marriage: God, customs, government, or all of these? God joins us when we take the marriage vows before Him (Matt. 19:6; Mal. 2:14-16), but customs serve to notify society that a marriage is taking place and government records qualify us to access legal advantages.
The session ended shortly after 5:00 P.M. The drive back to the hotel took 2 hours because of heavy traffic, but I napped most of the trip after having been on my feet teaching for 5 hours. I went straight to supper, studied for tomorrow, exercised, and worked on reports and email until falling into bed at 1:30 A.M. with much thanksgiving to God for this wonderful day spent in service with His saints!
The second day of lectures on “God’s Truth Defeats Satan’s Lies” was very successful with about 40 attendance again. We studied “The Prison of Sin,” followed by another battleline in the war for souls: “True Worship VS False Worship.” After lunch we turned out attention to the subjects “Finish the Race” and “After Death, What Then?”
The open forum ran over an hour with many assorted questions. Here are a few:
1. What is the difference between an evangelist and a teacher? The evangelist gives his full time to preaching.
2. How and when should evangelists be supported? They should be supported according to the needs of each man and the ability of the church. Support can come from the local church where he labors, or several churches, or also individuals, and he may support himself with a secular job like Paul in Acts 18.
3. What are the limitations on a woman’s role in the church? Matthew 28:19-20 shows women as well as men may teach and even baptize, but 1 Timothy 2:11-12 shows she must not exercise authority over men – i.e., she can teach, baptize, and conduct a full service if no men are available.
4. Should the church tolerate members who refuse to repent of their sins? No, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. If we tolerate one sin, we can tolerate every sin. We must follow God’s plan of discipline.
5. Does the Judgment on the last day prove hades does not exist because it would be a “pre-judgment?” No, because the last Judgment Day refers to the time God will sentence or send us to our final destiny in heaven or hell, but hades is a temporary waiting place until that time when we are raised. Matthew 25:31-46 does not picture Christ trying to decide where to send people on the Last Day, but he is announcing their final destinies and the reasons for the judgment in each case. This is not the Judge hearing cases which must be decided but is the Judge announcing his decisions and the reasons for them in each case. Our destiny is sealed the moment we die and enter the hades world.
6. Is the account of hades in Luke 16 a parable and there is no actual hades? No, it is not a parable and there is an actual hades world. Parables do not give names to the people pictured acting in a certain situation, such as, “A sower went forth to sow.” No name is given, but it means this actually happens many times and, therefore, it can be used to teach a certain lesson. Even if Luke 16 were a parable, it would still mean hades is an actual realm because it would mean such cases have happened many times. Parables are not fables or myths which do not actually occur. Jesus speaks of an actual case that happened to warn us not to be guilty of the sins of the rich man.
The church at Kapitbahayan is always interested in more Bible study and they have been an inspiration to me and to many other Christians through the years.
I see a small sliver of the moon, which also inspires me to remember my dear family and brethren back home – I hope you can see it, too, because it represents my smile in remembering you!
In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook
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