Stewartstown Baptist Church

ANSWER:

Thanks for the question. This is an interesting thought and I will try my best at providing an answer. First remember that Jesus may not have been the only person casting out demons. We do see in the book of Acts others beside Jesus having this ability. Second when a demon is cast out there is always a positive response. For example in Mark 5:19-20 the man whose experienced the work of Jesus went out and told others. So God receives glory for this work, I think even then the demons would not want God to get more glory. Third the logic of Jesus is sound in verses 23-27 of Mark 3. No matter if Satan can distract for a little while the destruction and defeat is always certain.

At the same time Satan does use other things, events and people sometimes to distract others from Jesus…however when one rightly looks at Christ then you see the one who says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to Father but through Me.” So if even if Satan made up this plan, all his other plans have failed and will always fail! Remember God will never share His glory with another, victory is certain!

ANSWER:

The best passage of Scripture on this subject comes in 2 Kings 20:1-7 (which you should read quickly). This is the account of King Hezekiah who was told by Isaiah that he would die. Hezekiah prays to the Lord, and Isaiah returns to say that Lord heard his prayer and that Hezekiah would live. Why did the Lord strike the king with an illness only to take it away after one prayer? Hezekiah was King of Judah, and I think the Lord wanted to see if Hezekiah would rely on doctors and human effort for his healing, or if he would rely on God. He chooses to seek God for a solution, and then it’s brought to him. What kind of disease did he have? We’re not sure, but it developed in a boil and was life threatening, possibly a version of the plague that was killing the Assyrians to the north.

In verse 7 it says that Isaiah told the doctors to lay a lump of figs on the boil, a medication, and he recovered. This may seem like a pretty simple solution, but I believe the solution was only presented after Hezekiah prayed. And it’s not the only time a simple solution has given big results. Alexander Fleming is attributed with discovering penicillin in 1928 to fight off bacterial infections. But records show that in 1875 people in rural England were using bread with blue mold, the type used to create penicillin, to fight off bacterial infections.

So when we pray, we should ask God for the healing. I once heard a man pray that God would heal “by miracle or by medicine”. God has given us the opportunity to use medications to improve our lives, and there is biblical evidence that medication was used, and approved, by God.

ANSWER:

Thanks for the question. Certainly times of illness can bring us down emotionally. Depression is also another tough issue that many people struggle with in their lives. I will say that coming out of depression can be a struggle but is extremely possible with faith in Jesus Christ. I am going to do my best here to give you some practical advice but please know there are no quick answers. It will require much prayer, much patience and learning to deepen your faith in Christ.

First, when dealing with a friend pray for their joy in Christ. Pray that God will lift their spirits, heal their body from the illness. Do not discount the power of prayer in this.
Second, do not try to fix them be there for them. Learn as a friend when you need to listen and when you need to speak. Sometimes the best thing a friend can do is listen to the person.
Third, you might want to help the person find some Christian professional counseling. Sometimes this is very helpful and I will strongly suggest going to a counselor who is a Christian and will counsel from Scripture.
Fourth, help the person realize who they are in Christ. Help them know that God loves them, that Jesus died for them and that in Jesus they have everlasting life if their faith is in Jesus.

I hope this helps in some ways. I will spend time today praying for you and your friend. Thanks again for the question.

ANSWER:

I have found the Christian life is very hard…often very hard. Certainly there are times in life that are tough. One of my former students recently lost their five day old child. There only child, just five days old suddenly passed away in his mothers arms. As Christians we are not immune to life’s problems, and struggles. Many people in the Bible struggled with pain and hardships. David in the Old Testament, lost a child, had a son that tried to kill him, people try to overthrow his kingdom. Job who lost everything…

Here are a few practical points on this matter:

1. Remember what God has done in your life:
Turn to Psalm 40:1-5
I think there is something here in David’s statement. There is faith in God and there is a remembrance of what God has done in David’s life. Notice there is a remembering on how God has worked:
v.2-3, 5

2. Remember that trials have a purpose:
James 1:2-8
James is clear that trials cannot be avoided, they are going to come and that God has a purpose in those trials. Someone once said a faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted. When we look at trials the response needs to be not why has this happened but what is God teaching me? When God’s people go through personal trials, they discover what kind of faith they really possess. Trials not only reveal our faith; they also develop our faith and Christian character.

3. Remember God loves you
Romans 8:35-39.
As believers in the moments of pain, hard times, tribulations this brings us joy, this brings us comfort to know that nothing will take us out of God’s hands. That God’s love for us has not changed, that He is a Father who cares, He is a Father who restores. So to answer the prayer question, it is many prayers of placing yourself, your life, your happiness back in who you are in Christ.

ANSWER:

It is not possible to live a sinless life because at our very core is a nature to sin, a nature to disobey and live for ourselves.
Romans 3:9-12 says, “What then? Are we better than they? Not all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good no, not one.”
It is not possible to live a sinless life also because the standard set by God is complete holiness, no sin…period. Not even one lie and that is something that no human can do. Only Jesus was sinless because He was fully man, fully tempted, but never sinned because He was also fully God.

ANSWER:

Often the question is asked, why God would do something knowing ahead of time we would disobey. For instance, why did God create Adam and Eve if He knew they were going to sin anyway? Why does God tell us to love our enemies when He knows we will not always do that? Understand that yes, God knows all these things and God created us with free will, we are not robots. He has given us the freedom to make decisions. So the real fault lies not on Jesus but on the leper, he disobeyed. We must understand God is not going to change His standards, His expectations for us; the standard is set, complete obedience. What we gather out of this is that even though we fall short in His standard He still loves us to offer up forgiveness through His Son Jesus.

ANSWER:

There are several reasons that Jesus worked miracles and instructed people to be silent about the healing that had taken place:

1. Jesus wanted to avoid a confrontation with Rome. The political atmosphere was often tense. The Jews did not want to be under the rule of Rome anymore and wanted a Messiah to overthrow the Romans. Jesus did not want to be seen as a political threat.

2. Jesus does not want to be known as a miracle worker only. Jesus did not want to become popular for the miracles in which He worked. This would detract from His message of repentance and belief in the gospel.

3. Jesus did not want to be seen as a political leader. He did want to be known as someone who was after position or titles. Clearly this showed because He was not crucified for political reasons.

Thanks for the question.

ANSWER:

Thanks for the question, I hope this helps.

There are no passages in the bible that indicates entire families, including infants and children were baptized at once. There are passages that indicate salvation coming to entire households, so let’s look at three that are most often cited.

Acts Chapter 10 tells of a Roman named Cornelius. He had a love for God, but lacked the message of the Gospel. He was told in a vision from God to send for a man named Peter. In Acts 11, Cornelius recounts to Peter how an angel came and told him that Peter would “...speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 11:14). This is a specific promise to specific person, and not a universal one. It doesn’t mean that all of Cornelius’ house would be saved at the same time, but that the truth of the Gospel would be known throughout his family and likely his servants. No mention of baptism is made, though there is no reason to doubt it was administered to those who believed.

Of course in Acts 16, the Philippian jailer came to Paul and asked what he needed to do to be saved. Paul says in Acts 16:31, “...believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” This is a more universal statement, indicating to the Philippian that this message could bring salvation to his family as well if he would simply tell them. Again, no mention of baptism is made.

Finally you have an earlier mention in Acts 16 of Paul meeting a woman named Lydia. She listened as Paul spoke to a crowd, and she understood and responded to the gospel that Paul preached. It then says in Acts 16:15 that after this, her entire household was baptized. We have seen that Paul clearly taught salvation through Jesus, and it’s unlikely to believe that he would have baptized non-believers, including children. This does not create an argument for infant baptism, since the greek word can simply apply to her servants, indicating they also heard the message that Paul preached.

Baptism only “counts” as an act of obedience. If someone were to be saved, and then die before he had a chance to be baptized (a deathbed repentance for example), the person does not die with a box “unchecked”. Baptism was instituted by God as an easy and public way for a believer to indicate to other believers that he understands and embraces the forgiveness and lordship of Jesus Christ in his life. Baptism would be considered invalid or unfulfilled if a person was baptized before salvation. In that situation, being baptized as a believer would be the appropriate step as if the first baptism never occurred.

ANSWER:

Thanks for asking your question. I am going to list out some points to make it easier to answer your question.

1. If you have a problem with someone in the church and their actions then please see them. As the Pastor I do not know what everyone believes, nor do I know what everyone says.
2. I think it would be unfair to say all “Baptist” do not believe in fundraising. I do not like fundraising but at times I believe it is needed. For instance the yard sale and golf tournament we did this year helped raise funds for people who needed assitance to go on the mission trips that as a church we were taking. I believe the yard sale and golf tournament went well and I hope we do them next year. I do not like having fundraisers for everything but I believe in some cases these fundraisers can be helpful and good.
3. I believe you would have a hard time to make a Biblical case against fundraisers. I cannot point to a verse that says they are good nor can I point to a verse or verses that say fundraisers are bad. If you can find a verse or passage that speaks against them, I would be happy to discuss this with you.
4. Our mission here at SBC is to see people “Seek the Lord, Build Relationships and Commit to Serve.” This is a big mission and sometimes not all of the tithes cover this goal so therefore we need extra help.
5. One of the great things about our fundraisers was we had many from our community that played in the golf tournament and came to the yard sale. It was fun to interact with people that normally may never come to our church for whatever reason.
6. I would like to invite you to our services. By the wording of your question it seems like you do not come here to SBC. We love for you to come, we have services on Sunday mornings at 9:00 and 10:30.

Thanks for asking and I hope this helps!

Pastor Lee

ANSWER:

When you come to the end of Luke 24, you see Jesus claiming that all of Scripture is about Him. Indeed when you trace the salvation story from Genesis 3:15 to the end of Revelation we see that a Savior/Messiah would come and reconcile sinful man to a holy God. Who is this Messiah and how do we know that Jesus was the Messiah? You see in the Bible many prophecies that tell us who this Messiah would be and where he would even come from. Jesus has perfectly fulfilled all these prophecies. The Messiah is not living on the earth because Jesus has not come back. One day the book of Revelation teaches that Jesus will return but He has not yet.

Here are a few resources to check out that you can read on your own:

Read the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and see how the prophecies relate to Jesus
http://www.jewsforjesus.org/answers/jesus/proofessay
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-r004.html
Case for Christ by Lee Strobel (deals in depth with this topic)

Thanks for the question