April 10, 2015th Year of Our Lord

Dear family, brethren, & friends,

Greetings to one and all from Cebu City on Cebu Island where Lordy Salunga, Mark Mayberry, and I have been teaching classes for five days to preachers. What a great privilege! It is made possible by God working through His people who donate funds for our travel, for Bibles and teaching materials, and for venues. Thank you, brethren, for yielding yourselves to God and thus making this work possible. And we thank the members of the Cebu City church of Christ who donated their time to prepare food and perform many other tasks to make these classes possible.

We covered the four volumes of Robert Harkrider’s Basic Bible Doctrine workbooks. Twenty-six of the men received these workbooks along with a reference Bible, Strong’s Exhaustive Bible Concordance, and Zondervan’s Pictorial Bible Dictionary. Several denominational preachers have been converted on Masbate Island, but we have not found a suitable facility to have this kind of class, so this one was held in Cebu City partly for their sake.

Monday, April 6, was our first day. In my welcome remarks, I pointed out that brother and sister Ramon Carino were present sitting at the front ready to study with us. He is 91 years old and has been preaching for many years, but he never tires of learning and always attends these classes if they are within traveling distance for him. This should be an example and an inspiration to all of us to never stop studying, learning, and growing.

I then began with an overview lesson on “The Message of the Bible: Salvation in Jesus Christ.” Then Lordy, Mark, and I covered the three dispensations of Bible history showing how God’s grace was extended to fallen humanity in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We introduced the church of Christ as it is revealed in the New Testament. At the day’s end we distributed the concordances and Bible dictionaries, and had our first session learning how to properly use such study aids. Our attendance during the week ran from the 40’s to the 60’s because some people participated on a sit-in basis as time permitted.

On Tuesday additional preachers arrived from other islands. Our whole day focused on the dual themes of how to study the Bible and how Christ authorized us to worship God acceptably. I dealt with giving as we are prospered, the role of figurative language in Scripture, and on how to understand and apply Bible authority today. Each evening the final session was devoted to exercises in the use of the concordance and the Bible dictionary. It was evident that the men were catching on well as they gave brief reports and engaged in a couple of research exercises together from night to night.

When I was on Negros in February, two Baptist preachers who had been studying with our brethren attended our assemblies, and were baptized into Christ shortly after I left. Two more came to Cebu City to study with us and both of them approached us after dismissal to say they wanted to be baptized tonight without delay. Though these classes are held for our preachers, denominational preachers nearly always attend, and some are converted. Anticipating that possibility, Jonathan Carino had already purchased a plastic swimming pool which was filled with water on the roof of the old hotel where we were teaching in a rented room. Mark baptized these two men in the shallow swimming pool in the night air. They were so happy to know their sins were washed away and their names were recorded in heaven!

The Wednesday classes went quite well. Mark and I commended our audience for being so focused in spite of the long hours required for each day’s classes beginning at 8:00 AM and finishing about 7:30 PM. Today’s lessons concentrated on the Bible pattern for the work and organization of the church. I taught on the distinction between individual action and local church action, and on the spiritual mission of the church. At the day’s end we gave two lessons on the Holy Spirit, with more to come tomorrow.

All of the teachers received very perceptive questions, which is a good measure of the learning process. For instance, after my lesson on the church’s spiritual mission, someone asked about a church meeting in a home because there are meals and other family activities there. Yes, but those activities are not sponsored by the church. The home has simply donated space for a temporary meeting of the church, but the roles of the home and the church remain distinctive.

Then, tonight after my lesson on the Holy Spirit’s role of perfectly revealing and confirming the truth, someone asked if translations can be considered as the inspired word of God. First, I pointed out that Jesus approved the use of translations when he taught from the Septuagint or Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. Second, I pointed out the gift of interpretation conveyed the truth in different languages. Third, I pointed out God’s providence preserved several groups or families of manuscript copies, which can be used to double check the accuracy of our translations. Though individual translations per se are not inspired, they convey to us the inspired Word of God.

There were other questions about how the early saints separated the true New Testament books from such frauds as The Gospel of Thomas. I pointed out it involved the same process by which we separate the New Testament books from such frauds as The Book of Mormon. The questions threw our last session on the concordance and Bible dictionary late, but it was well worth the extra work to see our brethren so hungry to learn.

Thursday was another busy and challenging day for both the teachers and the students. Mark dealt with several denominational doctrines such as infant baptism and inherited sin. Lordy discussed speaking in tongues and the Bible pattern of baptism. My topics covered Holy Spirit baptism, the indwelling or fellowship of the Spirit, and the Bible doctrine of predestination versus Calvinism. God predestined to save the lost in Christ but did not predestine which specific individuals would choose to be saved.

In the session using the concordance and Bible dictionary, we explored in detail the Bible word “impute” which refers to God taking account of our sins and of the forgiveness of our sins. Calvinism adds the idea of “transfer” to this word so that the sin of Adam is transferred to all men, the sins of all men are transferred to Christ, and the perfect righteousness of Christ is transferred to believers (which is why they cannot fall from grace). The Bible nowhere teaches this system of “transferring” sin and righteousness. We studied Romans 4:3-8 to see how “counted” or “imputed” is used.

Again today we had excellent questions which reflect how well the students understand the main points and how intent they are on applying them properly. For instance, someone asked about the expression “filled with the Holy Spirit:” Does it always refer to Holy Spirit baptism? No, it is applied to the Apostles receiving the Spirit’s miraculous power in Holy Spirit baptism, but it is also applied to individuals who received the power and influence of the Spirit in other ways whether miraculous or non-miraculous. Such miracles as Holy Spirit baptism were given by the Lord’s promises not by command, i.e., no one was ever commanded to be baptized in the Spirit. But Ephesians 5:18 commands Christians to be filled with the Spirit rather than with intoxicants, which is parallel to Colossians 3:16 where we are commanded to be filled with the Word of Christ. The Spirit’s power and influence are exerted in our lives when we fill our hearts with the teaching he gave.

Friday the 10th was our last day, which came all too quickly! Mark examined some of the doctrines of Catholicism and Sabbatarianism while Lordy dissected Mormonism. I presented four lessons exposing the errors of premillennialism and another one on the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ denial of the deity of Christ.

I presented a short survey of the book of Revelation to show its historical background was the persecution of the early Christians by the Roman Empire, not so-called “end time” events leading to a political kingdom of God on earth for 1,000 years. One of the men asked, “Do you believe in the second coming of Christ?” Yes, he will come again to deliver his kingdom to heaven. Then the follow-up question, “When is he coming?” They have been taught to look for modern signs of the Lord’s return in these theories. I pointed out Christ said there will be no more signs and this is why he commanded us to be ready at all times! The brother looked shocked, but he got the point!

As such topics are clarified, we hear repeated expressions of gratitude as these men are learning the truth for the first time which frees them from the bondage of false doctrine and false religions.

At the day’s end, we had a Q & A session to let the men ask about any topics which may need more clarification. Here are a few of the questions:

1. Clarify the reference to Satan as Lucifer in Isaiah 14:12. This verse has long been rumored to be a reference to Satan, but Lucifer means a bright light or morning star and refers to the arrogant self-assessment of the king of Babylon as verse 4 makes crystal clear. The passage is not referring to Satan.

2. Is there a sin which can never be forgiven? Matthew 12:31 gives rise to this question when it speaks of those who will not be forgiven for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The context includes verses 22-37 where Jesus cast out a demon and the Pharisees said he did it by Satan’s power. Since Jesus was working in perfect harmony with the Holy Spirit, the charge amounted to blaspheming the Holy Spirit as Satan. Men who first rejected Jesus would have an opportunity to see their mistake when the Holy Spirit revealed all truth, but men who rejected both Jesus and the Spirt would be left hopeless because there is no additional future age of revelation following the Spirit’s complete revelation. The sin which cannot be forgiven is the sin of hardening one’s heart beyond all hope of repentance. So long as a person will repent and yield to God, any and all sins can be forgiven.

3. Is it true Jesus turned water to wine? Yes, in John 2:1-11 he changed 120 gallons (240 liters) of water into wine. The Bible speaks of wine or grape juice which is intoxicating and which is non-intoxicating. The people at the wedding feast had already consumed all the wine on hand, and Jesus made much more wine which was very delicious. If this was intoxicating wine, Jesus facilitated revelry and drunkenness. It is evident form this alone that he made fresh refreshing grape juice or wine which was non-intoxicating. He did not facilitate more intoxication for people already intoxicated. They were not drinking intoxicants and he was not making intoxicants.

Each person who completed the five days of study was given a simple certificate of recognition for their diligent study. We also distributed additional study materials for them to take home. They asked us to please relay their appreciation for everyone who sacrificed funds to make all of this possible.

I have not been able to see the moon this week, but I know it is there. I continue to pray for all of you and to appreciate your prayers. “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now” (Phil. 1:3-5).

In Christian love, Ron Halbrook

To see good Bible study material, go to:
http://www.HebronChurchOfChrist.com
http://www.biblework.com
http://www.truthmagazine.com
http://www.CEIbooks.com