Part 2: Heaven and Hell -- IS REINCARNATION REAL?

Nowhere in the Bible is reincarnation taught. The Scripture declares that "it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment." (Heb. 9:27)

Reincarnation teaches that when a person dies, his soul goes to live in a new body that is being born, and that this process repeats itself oven and over again. This belief of Hinduism teaches that how we live our life determines the Karmic debt that we must pay off in the next life, death, and reincarnation until we improve our state through many thousands of lives.

The Bible does agree that men are not good, and that they live under a sin debt. It differs, however, in declaring that grace and forgiveness come through Jesus Christ who has made it possible to be freed from the debt. It also teaches that we only have one life in which to receive the forgiveness of our debt to sin.

Insight for Today: The Cry From a Cave

The Cry from a Cave
by Charles R. Swindoll

Psalm 18:30-36

The Cave of Adullam was no Holiday Inn.

It was a wicked refugee camp . . . a dark vault on the side of a cliff that reached deeply into a hill. Huddled in this clammy cavern were 400 losers---a mob of miserable humanity. They came from all over and wound up all together. Listen to the account:

Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered. . . . There were about four hundred men. (1 Samuel 22:2)

The original Mafia. They all had one thing in common---a bad record. The place smelled like the Rams' locker room and sounded like an Army barracks. You can bet not one of those guys ever heard Gothard's principles on handling irritations. They were so tough they'd make Al Capone sleep with a night-light. They were gross. Anybody who got near that gang stayed as quiet as a roomful of nuns. They had a quaint name for those who crossed their paths . . . victims.

Except for David. That's right. David. It became his responsibility to turn that mob into an organized, well-disciplined fighting force . . . mighty men of valor. Talk about a challenge! These weren't the filthy five, nor the nasty nine, nor the dirty dozen. Remember---there were 400 of these hard-luck hooligans. Shortly thereafter, their numbers swelled to 600. And David was the den mother for these desperados. He was general, master sergeant, and chaplain all rolled into one. David, "the sweet psalmist of Israel," became David the drill instructor. Needless to say, his battalion of 600 is not to be confused with the 600 who "rode into the valley of death" in Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade. The only place these guys had ridden was out of town, chased by their creditors . . . which turned David's men into predators.

Did he pull it off? Could a shepherd from Bethlehem assume command of such a nefarious band of ne'er-do-wells? Did he meet the challenge?

Indeed! In a brief period of time, he had the troops in shape---combat ready. Incredible as it seems, he was doing battle against the enemy forces using strategic maneuvers before the year was up. These were the very men who fought loyally by his side and gave him strong support when he became the king of Israel. They were called "the mighty men," and many of their names are listed in the Bible for heroism and dedication.

All of us face a challenge. For some of you, it's a business that has all the earmarks of disaster. For others, it's the challenge of schooling without adequate money, or a houseful of young lives to shape, or a wounded relationship, or a prolonged illness that lingers and hurts. Still others of you find yourself in leadership over a group of people who need constant direction and encouragement . . . and you're tired of the demands. Some of you endure employment in a company that lacks a lot.

Be encouraged! If David could handle that cave full of malcontents, you can tighten your belt and take on the challenge in your cave. Do you need strength? Peace? Wisdom? Direction? Discipline? Ask for it! God will hear you. He gives special attention to cries when they come out of caves.

The Unseen World: The Evil Defection

That the host of invisible, wicked beings arrayed against God and His people operate under the leadership of Satan, their director. Once a high angelic creature, he rebelled against God (before man was even created) and was cast down from heaven. The prophet Isaiah has this to say about the fall of Satan: "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:12-14).

Even though Isaiah was speaking of the king of Babylon in these verses (a type of Antichrist), it's quite obvious that the full import of his words is not limited to an earthly king. They do point to a real man, the king of Babylon. But they also refer to Satan, the power behind that wicked monarch. He is the invisible sovereign of the anti-God world-system. Called "son of the morning" in verse 12, Lucifer is the one who sought to encroach upon God's authority. Thwarted and dethroned, he became the devil, the adversary of God and the accuser of His followers. As a result of his rebellion, Lucifer was cast out of heaven. As Satan, he no longer serves with the holy angels who stand before the throne of God.

The devil was indirectly referred to by Ezekiel. Speaking to the prophet, the Lord said: "Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord God; You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering; the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you." (Ezekiel 28:12-15)

Here again, as with the Isaiah passage, the words recorded by the prophet were directed to an earthly king. Their significance, however, was not limited to the king of Tyre. The ultimate object of God's Word through the prophet was Satan himself, the invisible ruler of the wicked world-system. Before his fall, he was a mighty and exalted prince in a wonderful piece untouched and unmarred by the ravages of sin. But when he rebelled against God, he lost his high position and was cast down to the earth.

The devil was not alone in his defection. A number of other angels joined him in his rebellion against the Almighty. Peter spoke of "the angels who sinned" (2 Peter 2:4). The author of Jude referred to "the angels who did not keep their proper domain" (v. 6). And John envisioned a red dragon (which we believe refers to Satan) pulling down "a third of the stars of heaven" with his tail (Revelation 12:4). Those stars may well represent fallen angels who now hate God and serve the devil. On the basis of these passages, we believe that Satan has a large number of sinful, fallen angels who obey his commands. These are the "principalities," "powers," "rulers of the darkness of this age," and "spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places," with whom we wrestle (see Ephesians 6).

The question has been raised as to whether or not we should distinguish between fallen angels and demons. Some students of Scripture would say there is a distinct difference between the two.

First of all, some contend that demons are not fallen angels, but are the disembodied spirits of a race of people who lived on this earth and were destroyed before Adam came from the hand of God. They point to fossil remains that they believe are indicative of prehistoric life, including creatures whose anatomy was similar to that of modern man. They conclude that those remains are indications of an original human creation that existed before Adam's day but that was ruined because Satan's fall. They look demons, therefore, as distinct from fallen angels. They view them as the spirits of humanoids, an extinct, pre-Adamic race of people.

Second, other Bible scholars would tell us that demons, in contrast to fallen angels, are the spirits of giants produced by angelic "sons of God" who came down to this earth and married human "daughters of men." As a basis for their belief, they point to the first four verses of Genesis 6, which read as follows: "Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the Lord said, 'My Spirit shat not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.' There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown" (Genesis 6: 1-4).

The "sons of God" mentioned in that passage are thought to be fallen angels who took upon themselves human bodies and married "the daughters of men." It is also believed that the product of this unholy union was a mongrel race, neither angelic nor human. And these scholars conclude that demons are the disembodied spirits of those hapless and hopeless creatures, and that they have a strong desire to live again in human bodies.

I might add that the students of Scripture who identify demons in this manner believe that the book of Jude makes reference to the "sons of God" of Genesis 6. The passage reads: "And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own habitation, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; As Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire" (Jude 6,7).

Some Bible interpreters, claiming that the sin of the "sons of God" in Genesis 6 was similar to that of the people in Sodom and Gomorrah (sexual immorality and going after strange flesh), believe that those angels are now "reserved for judgment" (2 Peter 2:4). Others disagree. This is an area in which no one can speak with absolute certainty.

Of this we can be positive: Satan heads a great kingdom with a host of evil spirits. "We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the ruler of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:13).

Insights for Today: Fallibility, Part Two by: Charlse R. Swindoll

Fallibility, Part Two
by Charles R. Swindoll

1 Peter 1:24-25

God's Word is infallible; people are not. Yesterday, we noted that this point is particularly underscored in the realm of leadership. We naturally seek after ministers we can respect and follow. And then---glory!---we come across some whose lives are admirable, whose leadership seems to be blessed of God, and whose instruction is biblical, wise, and dynamic. Everything's great until one such individual teaches something that is different from another minister who is equally admired. That never fails to leave groupies in a confused tailspin.

This is a good time to consider the sage counsel of Bernard Ramm:

How do we settle the truth when two people of equal piety and devotion have different opinions? Does the Holy Spirit tell one person the Rapture is pre-tribulation, and another that it is post-tribulation? The very fact that spiritually minded interpreters come to different conclusions about these matters distresses many people's minds. They have presumed that if a man is yielded to the Holy Spirit, his interpretations must be correct.

But certain things must be kept in mind. First, the Holy Spirit gives nobody infallible interpretations. Second, piety is a help to interpretation, but it is not a substitute for knowledge or study or intelligence.

Third, all of us are still in the human body and subject to its limitations and frailties . . . we make mistakes of interpretation in Scripture as well as errors in judgment in the affairs of life.

It is the present temptation of at least American evangelicalism to substitute a class of devout Bible teachers for the Catholic Pope. To such people the meaning of Scripture is that which their favorite Bible teacher teaches. But the Protestant principle must always be this: The truest interpretations are those with the best justification.

I could just as easily have used an illustration regarding a physician's diagnosis or a therapist's counsel. The issue is identical, and it brings us back to where we started yesterday. If I could change a term and put it in the language of a famous historical document: all men are created fallible. Yes, all. If you remember that, you'll have fewer surprises and disappointments, greater wisdom, and a whole lot better perspective in life. Rather than slumping into cynicism because your hero showed feet of clay, you'll maintain a healthy and intelligent objectivity. You'll be able to show respect without worshiping him or her. And when you really need to know the truth, you'll turn to the Scriptures with firsthand confidence.

If you're looking for infallibility, look no further than God's Word.

Insights for Today: Fallibility, Part One by: Charlse R. Swindoll

Fallibility, Part One
by Charles R. Swindoll

Psalm 119:89-96

Ever since I was knee-high to a gnat, I have been taught about and have believed in the infallibility of Scripture. Among the upper echelons of doctrinal truths, this one ranks alongside the Godhead, the deity of Christ, and salvation by grace. We may fuss around with a few of the events in God's eschatological calendar or leave breathing room for differing opinions regarding angels and local church government. But when the subject turns to the infallibility and inerrancy of Holy Writ, I'm convinced there's no wobble room. Can't be. Take away that absolute and you've opened a hole in your theological dike that cannot be plugged. Given enough time and pressure, it wouldn't be long before everything around you would get soggy and slippery. Make no mistake about it; the infallibility of Scripture is a watershed issue.

But wait . . . let's stop right there when it comes to infallibility. Before I make my point, allow me to quote Webster's definition:

Incapable of error . . . not liable to mislead, deceive, or disappoint.

While that is certainly true of Scripture, it is not true of people. When it comes to humanity, fallibility is the order of the day. Meaning what? Just this: there is not one soul on this earth who is incapable of error, who is free from fault, who is unable to make mistakes, who is absolutely and equivocally reliable. Can't be. Depravity mixed with limited knowledge and tendencies to misunderstand, misread, misquote, and misjudge should keep all of us free from two very common mistakes: first, deification of certain individuals (including ourselves); and second, disillusionment when we discover fault and mistakes in others.

Just as biblical infallibility assures us that each page is incapable of error or deception, fallibility reminds us that each person is capable of both. The implications are equally clear. When it comes to the Bible, keep trusting. When it comes to people, be discerning.

This includes all people. I don't have space enough to complete a list, so I'll be painfully general and mention one group. I choose this group only because it's the one we tend not to question: those professionals whom we trust with our bodies, minds, and souls---namely, physicians, psychologists, and pastors. What influence these men and women possess! What good they do! How necessary they are! Most of us, if asked to name 10 people we admire and appreciate the most, would include two or three from this category. How gracious of God to give us such splendid individuals to help us through this vale of tears! Yet each one has something in common with everyone else---fallibility. Those whom we most admire remind us of that from time to time; nevertheless, everything in us cries out to resist such reminders. Of the three, I believe it is the minister whom people tend most to place on a pedestal.

It is certainly an unscriptural practice. The Berean believers are commended for listening to Paul then "examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). Apollos and Paul are referred to merely as "servants through whom you believed" (1 Corinthians 3:5) and later given a rather insignificant place:

So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. (1 Corinthians 3:7)

It's easy to forget all that, especially in a day when we hunger for spiritual leaders whom we can respect and follow. Put flawed human beings on a pedestal and they are bound to topple, fail, and disappoint, but God's Word is holy, inerrant, and totally reliable. To Him be the glory.

A Prayer for You ...

Prayer on Being Made Redundant

Redundant’ – the word says it all - ‘useless, unnecessary, without purpose, surplus to requirements.’

Thank you, Heavenly Father, that in the middle of the sadness, the anger, the uncertainty, the pain, I can talk to you. Hear me as I cry out in confusion, help me to think clearly, and calm my soul. As life carries on, may I know your presence with me each and every day. And as I look to the future, help me to look for fresh opportunities, for new directions. Guide me by your Spirit, and show me your path, through Jesus, the way, the truth and the life. Amen.

Today's Prayer

Open Our Minds and Hearts

I pray that we may at all times keep our minds open to new ideas and shun dogma; that we may grow in our understanding of the nature of all living beings and our connectedness with the natural world; that we may become ever more filled with generosity of spirit and true compassion and love for all life...

I pray that we may learn the peace that comes with forgiving and the strength we gain in loving; that we may learn to take nothing for granted in this life; that we may learn to see and understand with our hearts; that we may learn to join in our being.

In Jesus Name, Amen!