For anyone wishing to experience winter in August or summer in January, the possibility may be realized by simply traveling to a different hemisphere. Let me illustrate with a personal story.
Many years ago, Laura and I made a trip to Australia to encourage the missionary from our church, and to assist in selecting and arranging financing for land on which to build a church house. It would be the first missionary effort of the churches of the American Baptist Association to that country.
The near three-week trip also featured preaching, scouting out parcels of land, meeting with bankers, and squeezing in a small amount of sightseeing.
In a short time, the longing for American food surfaced. Once on the road a truck stop was sighted. Surely, they would have some good food. Upon ordering what was thought to be a hamburger, it was found to be a mutton sandwich enhanced with a spread of vegemite and beetroot slices. Simply horrible!
A trip to Canberra, the capital city, yielded more palatable cuisine. A pizza shop made fairly good pizza, but the Aussies ate it with a fork and knife! I suppose we appeared to be barbarians but we just had to use our hands.
Later something new to that country was found—a Kentucky Fried Chicken store. We loaded up and headed up scenic Mt. Kosciusko where we would presumably enjoy the sights over a picnic lunch. By reaching the Ranger Station, more than half way up, there was no more lovely weather. Four to six inches of snow lay on the ground and roads leading further up the mountain were closed due to several feet of fresh snow. So, we enjoyed the snow laden picnic tables, and marveled that hemispheric placement allowed us to throw snowballs in August. It was a realistic reminder that what a lot of folks need is a spiritual hemispheric change, not so much here on the planet, but in their own personal world.
Ancient Isaiah cried out in the presence of God, “Woe is me, . . . for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” Isaiah 6:5. Such is the environment of our Christ-rejecting world, but there is another place. Call it hemispheric, dimensional, or whatever. It is the eternal, spiritual state afforded men in Christ Jesus. There the opposite of this world is the norm. Instead of sin, hurting, death, and decay, there is righteousness, joy, life, and eternal prime.
Now that is the change I elect to have through repentance from sin, and placing faith in Christ Jesus as my personal Savior. Tired of sin? There is an eternal opposite! His arms reach out for you!
FOR THOUGHT: Do you long for a spiritual change? You cannot effect such, but God can, and will when properly approached. Have you invited Him into your life? Did you know that will not work either, that is unless you come to him with a contrite heart in repentance from sin? Did you know change is His specialty?
HOLY STUFF OR HOLEY STUFF, WHOLLY?
“Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” Matthew 22:29
Words with the same or very similar phonetic sounds are called homophones. Since they are often indistinguishable in sound, understanding them depends on proper context in spoken language, and proper spelling in written form.
“Holy” means sacred, worthy of reverence, etc. “Holey” means full of holes. “Wholly”
means all, or complete. The homophonic quality of these words with meanings so different lends them to a lesson application.
In an acute, spiritually anemic world of religion, many variant voices are heard purporting to be the will of the Lord. Such voices may have a well chosen “springboard” verse of scripture twisted out of biblical context to support the peculiar nuance of the speaker. Pity the poor listener who believes whatever may be set before him simply because a pet scripture has been used as a prop. A sane and sensible question one should ask is, “Is this message holy stuff or simply holey stuff, whol y?”
Once a scripture has been twisted out of context, it no longer conveys the holy truth it is meant to convey within its context. It is full of holes, and will not hold spiritual water. The practice creates a common commentary of the last days.
Let it be underscored that the Bible is not a disjointed collage of opposing ideas, neither is it a code known only to a select few. It is not the gift of the church to the world, rather it is God’s gift to the church to share with the world that they may be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. The honest Bible student will not read into the scriptures pre-supposed ideas, but will read out of the scriptures the contextual ideas that are harmoniously conveyed.
Since the Bible is the plenary word of God, one may be sure that harmony, symmetry, and unity prevail in its presentation to the exclusion of any contradiction whatsoever. The depth of the inspired instructions is such that the serious Bible student will continue to learn from it as long as he lives, but such learning will always harmonize with the elementary, indisputable lessons first learned.
Conversely, the charlatan purveyors of that which is holey continue in increasing numbers as biblically predicted for the last days. By these things the necessity of a life anchor in the Holy Word is underscored. Al who are blessed to live in these last days do well to “try the spirits” to determine from which source they come. This may take the initial form of simply questioning with a determination to know the answer: “Is this holy stuff, or is it simply holey stuff, whol y?” Every message must stand or fall by the unerring measure of Heaven’s unified Word!
FOR THOUGHT: Did you know that cults and other heretical religious movements will use terms with which you are familiar, but they will have different definitions attached to those terms? Name some of the stuff you have been presented that is not holy, but holey wholly. If someone is trying to present something “holy” to you, demand the address of a verse of scripture where it is found, then study the verse in its context.
HOLY: A BIBLE “BE”
“Holiness!” What a grossly misunderstood term due to the propensity of men to identify it in the flesh rather than in the spirit. Clear your mind, and think with me for a moment!
Dozens of times the command and appeal is made to the people of God to be holy for the Lord their God is holy. When the Hebrews were being delivered from Egyptian bondage and beginning their journey to the Promised Land, God said: “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. . . “ Exodus 19:6. The apostle Peter restated this application to the New Testament churches when he wrote, “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” I Peter 1:16 Then in I Peter 2:9 he wrote, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” One such reference is enough, but the abundance of New Testament references that call God’s people to holiness is more than sufficient to underscore the need of it in modern day application.
The question remains: what is this holiness to which God’s people of covenant are called? The Old Testament term is the Hebrew “Qadash” which means “to set apart, be separated unto” This same term is also translated “Sanctify.” The New Testament Greek term denoting holiness is “Hagios,” which carries the same idea as “Qadash” and is also translated
“saints.” Now, we are hot on the trail of understanding this oft repeated Bible injunction.
The next question to be answered is: what is the means by which one becomes holy or set apart? To many Christian religionists, it is a fleshly goal. The reasoning is that if one can through much difficulty conquer most of the evil deeds of the flesh, he will achieve holiness, and become more spiritual. That is reverse action and consistently fails. The Bible plan is to submit to God and to His pure Word in unreserved faith. That will automatically conquer the flesh to the degree that separation to Him will be evident. Paul chided the churches of Galatia about this very thing, saying: “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Gal. 3:3.
To be separate, holy, unto God then is to achieve knowledge and understanding of the teaching of the Holy Word, and to receive it, keep it, and propagate it through the medium of faith, even the faith once delivered to the saints. How are you doing with this important Bible
“Be?”
FOR THOUGHT: Did you get the idea that to be holy is to be sanctified? The synonymous terms mean “Set apart” in obedience to the teachings of the Bible. So, how may you be holy? It is a process of salvation, baptism, church fellowship, study, prayer, witnessing, etc. Get it? What have you done to set yourself apart for God?