GOOD MORNING!

Bill and Susan Morehouse

Men’s Bible Study – October 13, 2022

Our Faith: Purposes, Foundation, Future

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Our�Faith

Amazing Grace!

• Amazing grace how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now I'm found

Was blind but now I see.

2. Through many dangers, toils, and snares

I have already come.

‘Tis grace that brought me safe thus far

And grace will lead me home.

• Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind but now I see.

1. 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear

And grace my fears relieved.

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed.

3. When we've been there ten thousand years

Bright, shining as the sun,

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Than when we first begun.

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Our Faith� 1. Issues/Resources� 2. Background� 3. Purposes� 4. Foundation� 5. Future

1.�ISSUES and�RESOURCES

What is Truth?

Issues

Religion

Civil and/or Christian

Duration

Here and/or Hereafter

Salvation

Now and/or Eternity

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False/Counterfeit Gospels

I am astonished that you are so quickly turning to a different gospel – not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.

Galatians 1:6-8

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α Ω

ESV published 2008, many translations worldwide

Resources

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, John 1:14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

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1750 1850

Published by University Press of Kansas in 2014

Oliver Wiswell by Kenneth Roberts, 1940

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“Jefferson Bible”

1800 1820

“The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth”

“The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth”

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1780 1840

Published in 1862, translation by Lee Fahnestock 1987

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2.�BACKGROUND

How did we get here?

• Bible Authors�Old and New Testaments, Gen-Rev

Selected list of contributors:

• Moses
• David
• Isaiah
• Ezekiel
• Jesus
• John
• Peter
• Paul

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PURITAN

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SEPARATISTS, BAPTISTS

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CONGREGATIONAL

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Quaker, Catholic, Lutheran

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LUTHERAN

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ROMAN CATHOLIC

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CHURCH OF ENGLAND

SEPARATISTS

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DUTCH REFORMED

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QUAKER

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CHURCH

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OF

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ENGLAND

• Religious Influences�Preachers/Teachers, 1750~1850

List of some Frazer noted:

• Charles Chauncey
• Samuel Clarke
• Jonathan Edwards
• Jonathan Mahew
• Conyers Middleton
• Joseph Priestley
• George Whitefield
• John Witherspoon

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• Founding Fathers�Declaration 1776, Constitution 1787

Those Frazer studied: _Age*

• John Adams 40
• Benjamin Franklin 70M
• Alexander Hamilton 21
• Thomas Jefferson 33
• James Madison 25
• Gouverneur Morris 24
• James Wilson 27
• George Washington 44M

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*in 1776, most in their 20s, 30s, and 40s as listed

Age of Enlightenment 1715 ~ 1804 +

• Background: An intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated Western culture in the 17^th and 18^th centuries with global influences and effects. It included a range of ideas centered on the values of human happiness, the pursuit of knowledge obtained by means of reason and the evidence of the senses, and ideals such as liberty, progress, toleration, fraternity, and constitutional government apart from church authority.
• Politics: Deeply influential in the political realm, especially in Europe and Revolutionary America where many of the major political and intellectual figures associated themselves with the theories of John Locke and others.
• Religion: Promoted the concept of separating church and state and favored a critical examination of the Word of God “unprejudiced” by doctrine.

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Universal or Civil Religious Systems

• Theistic Rationalism: A universal ideology based on “natural” or “self-evident” religion with scriptural revelation judged by human reason, in which the primary role should be to bolster morality as a fixture of daily life.
• Freemasonry: Holds to a unitary Supreme Being, the Grand Architect of the Universe, denies Christ’s unique saviorship and atonement, and reduces religion to a moralistic observance of perceived common ethical principles.
• Unitarian Universalism: An eclectic system of reactions to orthodox Christianity that identifies God as a singular entity and rejects the doctrines of the Trinity, the pre-existence of Christ, predestination, and original sin. It also denies the doctrine of everlasting damnation, and proclaims belief in an entirely “loving” God who will ultimately redeem all human beings.

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• Theistic Rationalism�Human Reason and Providence

1. Theistic rationalists believe that natural religion and scriptural faith can coexist if guided and balanced by human reason. Parts of Scripture may be received as divinely inspired using reason as the criterion for acceptance or rejection.

2. They believe that a unitary God plays an active role in human life, rendering prayer effective. Further, reason dictates that human beings are under moral obligation and can be judged by their motives.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theistic_rationalism

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• Freemasonry�Indivisible God, Universal Fraternity

“Freemasonry transcends the bounds of Christian and Western civilization; it includes the Moslem, the Hindoo, the Buddhist, and the Jew. Without waiting for their respective faiths to come together in a visible federation or unity, Freemasons can all meet together in one another’s Lodges throughout the world and pray and worship together to the same one-and-only indivisible God whom all religions acknowledge and venerate.”

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry

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1717-1730

• Unitarian Universalism�One God and Universal Salvation

“While Unitarianism and Universalism both have roots in the Protestant Christian tradition where the Bible is the sacred text, we now celebrate the spiritual insights of the world’s religions, recognizing wisdom in many scriptures.

“From the beginning we have trusted in the human capacity to use reason and draw conclusions about religion. Each of us ultimately chooses what is sacred to us.”

www.uua.org/beliefs/what-we-believe

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1793-1825

• Enlightenment then�Focus on Kingdoms of Mankind

Annuit Cœptis

“God has approved our undertakings”

The All-Seeing Eye of Providence

Shining through the enlightened elite leaders of the new republic and radiating down upon the solid masses below

MDCCLXXVI

“1776”

Novus Ordo Seclorum

“A new order for the ages”

www.rd.com/list/dollar-bill-symbols

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• Enlightenment lately�Focus on liberation from oppression

“Enlightenment, understood in the widest sense as the advance of thought, has always aimed at liberating human beings from fear and installing them as masters. Yet the wholly enlightened earth radiates under the sign of disaster triumphant.”

Max Horkheimer, founder of the Frankfurt School of political philosophy, in his 1947 book Dialectic of Enlightenment

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment

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Woke eye wide open

Importance: Here or Hereafter?

• Secularism: Are our lives from birth to death in the palpable world around us all there is to be concerned about?
• Scope of Christian Faith: Or is there a divinely appointed hereafter that we should seek and be preparing for in this life?
• Civil Religion: In what ways does the theistic rationalism embraced by our founding fathers (and promoted in culture by God and Country patriotism, adaptations in church doctrine, and “rational” politics) differ from the biblical Gospel?

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“Beach”

“Sea”

1.

PURPOSES

Why do we find value in religion?

Purposes and Values of Religion

Personal

1. Bring personal peace, encouragement, comfort, and healing
2. Provide reliable guidance and power to build character
3. Foster righteous behavior and relationships

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Communal

1. Encourage public morality, inclusion, and tolerance
2. Strengthen social bonds of community that benefit public
3. Promote general welfare, peace, and harmony

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Eternal

1. Love and glorify God, inspire worship, and build His Kingdom
2. Emphasize reality of ultimate reward and punishment
3. Thereby encourage good and discourage bad behavior

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The Consensus of World Religions*

• The broad Communal teachings where different religions, philosophies, denominations, and sects of the world agree (primarily in the Golden Rule and the general decency of public morality) can be established as good for civil society.
• Any doctrines these systems may have that disagree with those of others are not of any serious positive value and can be disregarded since they can lead to bigotry and strife.

*per the “Theistic Rationalism” of the Founders and many others.

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Remaining aspects of Theistic Rationalism

• The particular teachings about Personal morality, adherence to sectarian scruples, and participation in religious activities can be left to individual conscience.
• Any claims or teachings about Eternal matters that various systems may have are unimportant. Rational civil religion holds a common understanding that people who behave well as reasonably good citizens can anticipate being rewarded appropriately by a benevolent Creator when they die.

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2.

FOUNDATION

What is our faith built upon?

Relationship between Reason and Faith

• Reason

The intellectual capacity that human beings have to evaluate whether information we’re receiving seems to be reasonable or not.

Does it hold together in a logical , rational, and practical way or is it potentially controversial and divisive? Sometimes we weigh in factors that include our assessment of whether it will be broadly appealing.

• Faith

The deeper sense that we have as human beings about whether what we’re seeing or hearing can be trusted and, if so, to what degree.

Primary factors involved include our own sense of the reasonability of the input we’re receiving based on the reliability of its source, e.g. the Bible.

Which factor do we discount when our understanding is cloudy?

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What is Primary Determinant of Truth?

• Do we use our ability to decide what is reasonable to separate truth from falsehood in the Scripture? If so, are we actually “rationalizing” or carrying along an underlying concept of the outcome we desire while we’re deciding?
• Or do we use our confidence in God and His Word to guide our reasoning abilities in understanding His will for our lives, trusting in His Word alone when we are uncertain?

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Body, Soul, and Spirit

And Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.

Matthew 22:37-38

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Fear, Faith, and Trust

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Proverbs 1:7; 3:5-6

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Solid Rock

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.

Matthew 7:24-27

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3.

FUTURE

Where is our faith taking us?

Abundant Life

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

John 10:10

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Salvation from Sin* and Gift of Abundant Life

Personal

1. Gift of forgiveness and the fruit of the Spirit – comfort, peace, joy, and healing
2. Build character with guidance, power, wisdom, and support
3. Foster righteousness and abundant life

Communal

1. Encourage public morality, inclusion, and tolerance
2. Strengthen social bonds of community that benefit public
3. Promote general welfare, peace, and harmony

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Eternal

1. Love and glorify God, inspire worship, and build His Kingdom
2. Emphasize promise of eternal life with Christ in paradise
3. Encourage Godly behavior with solid hope and anticipation

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*departure from God’s perfect will

Eternal Life

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

1 John 5:13

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One Way to Salvation

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.

John 14:6; 10:9

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Many or Few at the

Wedding Feast?

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. For many are called, but few are chosen.

Matthew 7:13; 22:14

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Repent and Believe

Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

But He saw there a man who

had no wedding garment!

The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe

in the gospel.

Matthew 6:33, 22:11, Mark 1:15

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Confess and Believe

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,

you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

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No Wedding Garment?��Heaven lost?

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Saved!�New Jerusalem found!

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A colorful and informative summary of the Biblical Festivals mandated in Leviticus 23, their fulfillment in Christ, and how to celebrate them in today’s world.

Preparing for the Lord’s Second Coming by honoring His Word to His First Covenant people, learning to observe His Appointed Times, and looking forward to celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles* in the Millennial Kingdom.

The second half of the book has a complete Haggadah with instructions for how to host, conduct, and celebrate a full Passover Seder* as a group.

*Upcoming Dates:

October 9-16, 2022 (get book for details)

April 5-13, 2023 (Easter April 9, 2023)

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Our Hebrew Messiah

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and some modern counterparts?

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Celebrate

Salvation!

How to find the door

to God’s Kingdom,

use the keys to get in,

get cleaned up,

and stay forever.

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https://celebratesalvation.org

Small group study material for your church

Being born again, pursuing God’s Kingdom and His righteousness, and sharing with others

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Celebrate Salvation!

Celebrate Salvation!

Being awakened in community, living in God’s Kingdom, and envisioning our ultimate destiny

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THANKS!

Any questions?

You can reach me at wmorehouse@gmail.com

celebratesalvation.org, hiskingdom.us, or wmorehouse.com

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