Ang Lakad ni Enoch

"Enoch walked with God, and then he disappeared because God took him away." (Genesis 5:24, NET Bible)

"By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God. Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." (Hebrews 11:5-6, NET Bible)

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"Huwag na huwag mong kakainin ang bungang iyon, sapagkat sa araw na kainin mo iyon ay MAMAMATAY KA" (Gen. 2:17), babala ng Diyos sa ating mga unang magulang sa hardin. Binale-wala nila ang babala at mas pinaniwalaan ang panlilinlang ng ahas. Kaya naman ipinataw sa tao ang parusang ito: "Dahil sa alabok, doon ka nanggaling, sa lupang alabok ay babalik ka rin." (Gen. 3:19). Pagdating sa ikalimang kabanata ng Genesis, naroon ang talaan ng mga pangalan nina Adan at ng mga inapong sumunod sa kanya:

• Sa gulang na 930, si Adan ay bumalik sa alabok.
• Sa gulang na 912, si Seth ay bumalik sa alabok.
• Sa gulang na 905, si Enosh ay bumalik sa alabok.
• Sa gulang na 910, si Cainan ay bumalik sa alabok.
• Sa edad na 895, si Mahalalel ay bumalik sa alabok.

Wala tayong oras at espasyo para isa-isahin ang mga pangalan. Sapat na ang sabihin na mula sa unang pangalang nabanggit hanggang sa huli, silang lahat ay bumalik sa alabok--- MALIBAN SA ISA!!! Si Enoch ay umabot sa gulang na 365 at ang pagkakasabi sa talata 25, sa gulang na iyon siya ay nawala (wala nang nakasulyap pa sa kanya) dahil kinuha siya ng Diyos. 

Sa pagbuklat natin sa Bagong Tipan, mas nabigyang linaw ang nangyari sa kanya: "... si Enoch ay hindi nakaranas ng kamatayan. Hindi na siya nakita sapagkat kinuha siya ng Diyos." (Heb. 11:5).

Ito ang unang pahiwatig ng Bibliya na ang parusang kamatayan na ipinataw sa sangkatauhan ay maaaring matakasan. Ang tao na bihag sa kuko ng kamatayan ay maaaring makaalpas. Ngayon at kumpleto na ang kapahayagan ng Diyos na nakasulat sa Bibliya, unawa natin na ang pagbabalik sa alabok ay hindi ang ating huling hantungan. Ang huling patutunguhan natin ay sa presensya ng Diyos upang makapiling siya araw at gabi at mamangha sa kanyang kadakilaan magpakailanman.

Kung paano nalampasan ni Enoch ang parusang kamatayan ay nandun rin sa Gen 5:24. Sa buong buhay niya, siya ay naglakad kasama ang Diyos o sa talasalitaan (vocabulary) ng sumulat ng aklat ng Hebreo, ang buhay niya ay kalugod-lugod sa Diyos (Heb. 11:5). Sa buong buhay niya, wala siyang ibang inisip kundi kung ano ang magbibigay-lugod sa Diyos. Naging maingat siya sa paglayo sa mga bagay at mga gawaing kinamumuhian ng Diyos. Ang lumakad sa tuwid na daan at mabuhay ng may takot sa Diyos ang nasa puso at isipan niya. Iyan ang ikinatuwa ng Diyos kaya't siya ay kinuha nang hindi dumadaan sa kamatayan.

Maaaring magtanong ang ilan, "Akala ko ba sa pananampalataya naliligtas ang tao at hindi sa gawa? Bakit tila ang kanyang matuwid na buhay ang siyang nagbigay-lugod sa Diyos at naging daan kung bakit siya nakalaya sa parusang kamatayan? Akala ko ba salvation by grace through faith alone?” 

Sinagot 'yan ng may akda ng aklat ng Hebreo. Aniya, ang dahilan kung bakit ganun na lamang kaganda ang lakad ni Enoch na siya namang ikinalugod ng Diyos ay dahil sa pananampalataya. Sa teolohiya ng sumulat, imposible para sa sinuman ang makapagbigay-lugod sa Diyos kung siya ay walang pananampalataya (Heb 11:6). Kaya naman sa konklusyon niya, ang ugat ng pagkalugod ng Diyos kay Enoch ay hindi dahil sa likas siyang matuwid, kundi dahil sa may pananampalataya siya-- pananampalatayang ang dulot ay matuwid na pamumuhay.

Ito ay isang nakakagalak na katotohanan: tayo na may pananampalataya sa Diyos ay kinalulugdan niya. Hindi na bale kung hindi man malugod ang mga tao sa atin sa tuwing naninindigan tayo sa katotohan. Ang tanging may halaga, nalulugod sa atin ang Diyos.

Huling punto: ang Diyos ay nagbibigay gantimpala sa mga masigasig humahanap sa kanya (Heb. 11:6). Kung wala tayong mapapala sa paglilingkod sa Diyos, kung wala tayong mapapala sa pamumuhay nang matuwid, kung wala tayong pakinabang sa pagsunod sa Diyos--- kawawa naman tayo. Mauuwi lang pala sa wala ang lahat. Ganito rin ang saloobin ni Apostol Pablo (1 Corinto 15:19). Mabuti na lang may pakinabang tayo sa pananampalataya ayon sa Heb.11:6. Ang Diyos ay nagbibigay gantimpala sa mga humahanap sa kanya.

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Like Enoch, walk with God, and you cannot mistake your road. You have infallible wisdom to direct you, immutable love to comfort you, and eternal power to defend you."
Charles H. Spurgeon
Morning and Evening

What Would Charles Spurgeon Think of Rob Bell?

This is from Dennis Swanson's The Down Grade Controversy and Evangelical Boundaries, originally read as a paper at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (November, 2001)

During the years of the Down Grade Controversy Spurgeon repeatedly warned of six areas of “down grade” in evangelical doctrine.

• The denial of the verbal inspiration (that is, inerrancy) of Scripture.
• The denial of ETERNAL PUNISHMENT and the affirmation of UNIVERSALISM.
• The denial of the Trinity, mainly in terms of the rejection of the personality of the Holy Spirit.
• The movement towards Socinianism or the denial of the deity of Christ and original sin
• The denial of the creation account in Genesis in favor of evolution.
• The unhealthy influence of Higher Criticism on Biblical scholarship, particularly as it related to the Old Testament.

"How much farther could they go?

What doctrine remains to be abandoned?

What other truth to be the object of contempt?

A new religion has been initiated,

which is no more Christianity than chalk is cheese"

- C.H. Spurgeon

--------------------

You might also like the book

The Forgotten Spurgeon

by Iain Murray

click HERE

4th Halo-halo Huwebes

MidTrib Out; PreWrath In

Zondervan has released a new edition of Three Views on the Rapture. The big surprise is that the MidTribulation Rapture position has been dropped in favor of the PreWrath view. Actually, it came not as a surprise to me anymore because I learned about the plan several months ago through a blog post by Alan Kurschner. I was then expecting Charles Cooper or Marvin Rosenthal to present and defend the position in this volume for they have been the primary advocates of the PreWrath view for nearly two decades now. What really came to me as a surprise is that the one chosen for the task is Alan Hultberg , a name I have not heard before. His profile at Talbot is found here. I am looking forward to Kurschner and Cooper's evaluation of Hultberg's presentation.

Douglas Moo who was also a contributor to the first edition returns to present and defend the PostTribulationism once again. Craig Blaising will stand for PreTribulationism. He is not new to the Counterpoints series since he stood for the PreMillenial position in the book Three Views on the Millenium and Beyond.

Watch Tower Vs. Watch Tower 

Because of this Christmas shopping advertisement in an old issue of Iglesia ni Cristo's (INC) Pasugo, I was reminded of two similar cases involving The Jehovah's Witnesses.

Case #1
The JW's believe and teach that Jesus was nailed on a stake, not a cross. They further believe that the cross is a pagan symbol and its use as a form of idolatry. Yet from January of 1891 to October of 1931, their publication Watch Tower displayed the cross symbol on the front covers.

case #2
The JW's believe and teach that saluting the flag is equal "to salute the Devil as the invisible god of the nation." Yet the May 15, 1917 issue of the Watch Tower contains this paragrah:

"Suppose the city or state officials should issue an order requiring, or even requesting that all persons display the American flag, what should we do? We answer, we think it would be right to display the flag in obedience to such an order or request. Everyone in America should take pleasure in displaying the American flag-- especially when requested so to do."
 

Sola Fide Safeguards Sola Gratia 

"The doctrine of free justification by faith only, which became the storm-centre of so much controversy during the Reformation Period, is often regarded as the heart of the Reformers' theology, but this is hardly accurate. The truth is that their thinking was really centered upon the contention of Paul, echoed with varying degrees of adequacy by Augustine, and Gottschalk, and Bradwardine, and Wycliffe, that the sinner's entire salvation is by free and sovereign grace only. The doctrine of justification by faith was important to them because it safeguarded the principle of sovereign grace."

 - J.I. Packer & O.R. Johnston

Historical and Theological Introduction

in Martin Luther's The Bondage of the Will

(Fleming H. Revell, 1957) p.58

Upon Hearing About a Friend's Death

"O, how I repent of our vain controversies when we last met, and we spoke so little of Jesus. O, that we had spoken more one to another! Lord, teach me to be always speaking as dying to dying."

-  Robert Murray McCheyne

Ecumenism in Heaven??? 

"Will there be in heaven saints saved according to a score sorts of gospel? Will these agree together to sing the same song? And what will the song be? Saved on different footings, and believing different doctrines, will they enjoy eternal concord, or will heaven itself be only a new arena for disputation between the varieties of faith."

            - Charles Spurgeon

Progressive Theology

Sword & Trowel (April, 1888)

3rd Halo-halo Huwebes

Trigonometry and Honesty

"Today I am giving two examinations- one in trigonometry and the other in honesty. I hope you will pass them both. If you must fail one, fail trigonometry. There are many good people in the world who cannot pass trig, but there are no good people in the world who cannot pass the examination of honesty"

- Madison Sarratt of Vandervilt University
  Our Daily Bread, Vol. 31/ July 10, 1986

If they hated Spurgeon, keep in mind that they hated Christ first

(John 15:18) 

Observe that the enemies of Charles Spurgeon in the "Downgrade Controversy" denied some of the essentials of the evangelical faith:

1. the imputation of Adam's sin
2. the imputation of Christ's righteousness
3. the doctrine of everlasting conscious punishment
4. the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures
5. the Trinity

"We are now at the parting of ways, and the younger ministers especially must decide whether or not, they will embrace and undisguisedly proclaim that the 'modern thought' which in Mr. Spurgeon's eyes is a 'deadly cobra' while in ours it is the glory of the century. It discards many of the doctrines dear to Mr. Spurgeon and his school, not only as untrue and unscriptural, but as in the strictest sense immoral; for it cannot recognise the moral possibility of imputing either guilt or goodness, or the justice of inflicting everlasting punishment for temporary sin. It is not so irrational as to pin its faith to verbal inspiration or so idolatrous as to make its acceptance of a true Trinity of divine manifestation cover polytheism."

-Christian World

cited in R.J. Sheehan's C.H. Spurgeon and the Modern Church

Ano nga ba ang aking istilo sa pagsusulat?

In this site, you can submit a few paragraphs of your work for "statistical analysis". Based on your word choice and writing style, the site will tell  "which famous writer you write like".

I submitted "God's Sovereignty Over the Wills and Desires of People Around Us", and the result was I write like William Shakespeare.

 I submitted "We Have Seen His Glory", the result was I write like Edgar Allan Poe.

 I submitted "Beautiful Extravagance", and the result was a name I never heard before-- I write like H.P. Lovecraft, "American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction" !!! (Wikipedia)

Since it was a three-way tie, I submitted another post to break it. After analyzing "How to love your son without walking in the path of Marlene Aguilar -Pollard", the final result is William Shakespeare.

The Influence of Books and Teachers

"If I had even the faintest clue when I was younger as to how profound an impact books and professors would have upon my life, I would have kept a better record of my thoughts and emotions. Why? Because some books and teachers leave indelible fingerprints on our souls. And when those fingerprints are left, it's as if your DNA has changed. Our physical body takes on characteristics because of our chemical DNA. Likewise, those whom we've read and those whose feet we have studied will transform our passions, power and purpose."

-Ravi Zacharias

Just Thinking (Winter 2003), p.1

also appeared in the book Indellible Ink:

22 Prominent Leaders Discuss the Books That Shaped Their Faith (Ed. Scott Larsen)

Spurgeon and Evangelical Boundaries

Nine years ago, the appendix Spurgeon and the Downgrade Controversy in John Macarthur's Ashamed of the Gospel took me by storm. It was also the book that "first sparked" Phil Johnson's interest in Charles Spurgeon. Perhaps he would not have built Spurgeon Archive if he has not read that book.

That appendix lead me to pick-up R.J. Sheehan's C.H. Spurgeon and the Modern Church and Iain Murray's The Forgotten Spurgeon.

Just last week, I was blessed to discover a paper written by Master Seminary's Dennis Swanson. He read this paper at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in 2001 when the society's theme was Defining Evangelicalism’s Boundaries.

The paper is available in PDF format here.