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Body-Builders |
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Issue 21 from |
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In this issue ·
Living in the Light of the Word — 4 ·
NEW – Old Testament Survey
Correspondence Course ·
Feedback For new subscribers: ·
Introducing
“Artios Ministries” |
Welcome to Body-Builders! This is a new series of teaching articles intended to
bless and build the Body of Christ. I trust you enjoy this the twenty-first issue, and I
welcome your feedback. For my latest personal newsletter, please click here. Every blessing, George Alexander For Artios Ministries |
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LIVING IN THE LIGHT OF THE WORD — 4 UNSWERVING OBEDIENCE |
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(For a
printer-friendly version of this article, click here.) For the last three issues, we’ve focused on this
passage: 20My
son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. 21Do not
let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; 22for
they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body. 23Above
all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. 24Put
away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. 25Let
your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. 26Make
level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. 27Do not
swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. Proverbs
4:20-27 How do we live in the light of the Word? Last issue we looked at this under three headings:
Concerning our mouth, uncorrupted speech (v24); Concerning our eyes,
undistracted focus (v25); Concerning our feet, unwearying stability
(v26). We have one last heading:
Concerning our direction, unswerving obedience. Obedience ·
A river meanders, progressing gently in twists and
turns. Conversely, a railway line
ploughs straight, through tunnel and embankment, neither permitting its
progress to be parried nor its direction deflected. If our focus is flexibility, the river may be our model. But if the danger is compromise, our model
is the railway line. The ability to move in a straight line is to be
prized. It takes strength, courage,
care, singularity and determination. So be careful to do what the
LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the
left. Deuteronomy
5:32 Do not turn aside from any of
the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other
gods and serving them. Deuteronomy
28:14 Be strong and very courageous.
Be careful to obey all the law my
servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that
you may be successful wherever you go.
Joshua
1:7 It’s much easier to disobey. It’s easier to yield and bend and twist and turn. The river after all has historically
developed along the path of least resistance. That path will take it somewhere, eventually to the
sea. But what if the sea is not to be
our destination? First our intended
destination should be established, and then the appropriate course set. If we stay on the course, we reach the
destination. If we turn away to the
left or the right, we’ll arrive somewhere, but in all likelihood we’ll
be in the wrong place. Obedience
involves overcoming resistance. Solomon ·
King David was a big act to follow. He was known as a man after God’s own
heart. He had served the Lord with
wholeheartedness. Who could adequately
replace him? Who could fill his
shoes? Someone had to be the
successor, but from a natural point of view it was not an enviable task. Better to let someone fail at it and then
succeed him! But David knew who his successor was to be. He also knew the great task that that one
was to perform, the task of building the Temple. Having acknowledged Solomon as successor, David smoothed the
way and made it easy for him. He
developed the plans, made the preparations and gathered the materials. There was a brief period when Adonijah put
himself forward and was proclaimed king, but the old king was alerted to
this, and duly established Solomon. Wholeheartedness ·
David publicly charged Solomon to wholehearted devotion: “And you, my son Solomon,
acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion
and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands
every motive behind the thoughts. If
you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject
you forever. 1
Chronicles 28:9 Solomon heard it. Later, again publicly, King Solomon prayed: O LORD, God of Israel, there
is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below — you who keep your
covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 1
Kings 8:23 Solomon knew it. At the end of this prayer, Solomon addressed the people,
ending with these words: But your hearts must be fully
committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands,
as at this time. 1
Kings 8:61 Solomon taught it. There were good times, times of accomplishment and
splendour. But later in Solomon’s
reign we read: King Solomon, however, loved
many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter — Moabites, Ammonites,
Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.
They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites,
“You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts
after their gods.” Nevertheless,
Solomon held fast to them in love. He
had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his
wives led him astray. As Solomon grew
old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully
devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the
Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the
LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done. 1
Kings 11:1-6 Solomon
apparently forgot it! So we
have the four stages: Solomon heard, he knew, he taught,
he forgot. Perhaps the fourth stage would be better expressed,
“Solomon decided not to remember.” In
any event, his obedience gave way. He
deviated from the straight path, and began to follow the meanderings of the
river. He had started well — but it’s
how you finish that counts. No Compromise ·
We all tend to have a way of believing the Bible and
obeying the Bible that works — but not when it would stop me doing
what I really want to do. Then I
become convinced that what I really want to do surely isn’t bad, and
surely God won’t mind. And before I have
the clarity to see the compromise, I’ve stopped laying track and I’m in the
meanderings of the river. Often for us, as for Solomon, it’s in the area of love
and women or men that we’re led away from unswerving obedience. So we adulterate the Word, we mix it with
something else, because of what we want to do and how we want
it to read. Be strong and very
courageous. Be careful to obey all
the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the
left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Joshua
1:7 It takes strength and courage to obey, particularly if
we want not to. For the grace of God that
brings salvation has appeared to all men.
It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to
live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we
wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and
Saviour, Jesus Christ Titus
2:11-13 Solomon detoured, but it wasn’t inevitable — ultimately,
it was his choice. He could have
served wholeheartedly, and maintained a straight course to his
destination. In the same way, we have
a grace available that enables us not to veer off or give up, but to keep on
the straight track all the way to the end of the line. We can choose to follow with
unswerving obedience. In the Light of the Word ·
Taking it all together, how do we live in the light of
the Word? Concerning our mouth, uncorrupted speech. Out of a guarded heart, we can take
responsibility and choose to live in the light of the Word as regards
our speaking. Concerning our eyes, undistracted focus. By maintaining our focus and keeping our
gaze fixed directly before us, we can choose to live in the light of
the Word as regards our looking. Concerning our feet, unwearying stability. By considering the right course and taking
only ways that are firm, we can choose to live in the light of the
Word as regards our walking. Concerning our direction, unswerving
obedience. By taking the courage to
maintain wholeheartedness, and with our eye on the destination, we can
continue the uncompromising course, and choose to live in the light of
the Word as regards our obeying. Let’s live in the light of the Word! George Alexander November 2006 Note: All Bible
quotations are NIV unless otherwise stated. For a printer-friendly
version of this article, click here.
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News and Update |
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The Christmas adverts are starting to appear on the television again,
and another year is rapidly drawing to a close. The current course module “Pastoral Epistles” is drawing to a close
too. It’s been good, and has been
particularly rewarding to teach. (For
more information, click here.) In this Issue, I’m concluding the series of articles based on a
favourite passage of mine, Proverbs 4:20-27, under the general heading
“Living in the Light of the Word”.
Part 1 was on Life and Health in the Word, Part 2 was Guarding the Heart, and Part 3 was How to Live in the Light of the Word. Now Part 4 is entitled Unswerving Obedience.
All feedback appreciated. In response to a request, printer-friendly versions of the Body-Builder
Articles are now available. To access
the list, click here. “Old Testament Survey”, the first of the correspondence courses is
now available. For more information,
click here. Apart from correspondence courses, there’s general update information
on the Artios School of
Theology, and links to any
previous issues of Body-Builders that you may have missed. There’s also a link to my latest personal newsletter. So much unwanted e-mail flies around that ISPs are always trying new
ways to curtail it. Recently, there
have been some problems with e-mails to mail@artios.org
being rejected. If that happens to
you, please try again. It will
eventually get through, and we’re trying to solve the occasional problems. In addition, please add mail@artios.org
to your address book so that any anti-spam software you may use doesn’t put
the Body-Builders in the “Junk” folder, but that you continue to receive them
as normal. If you have difficulty opening these e-mails or if the text looks weird
and you suspect it’s not showing as it was intended to (I know it looks a
little strange in Hotmail for instance), please let me know and I’ll try to
solve the problem. Alternatively, you
could try the web version (click here). I continue to receive more requests to subscribe to Body-Builders. If you have received this e-mail
second-hand and would like to be subscribed, please click here. If you’d like to subscribe a friend,
please click here.
(The friend will first receive an e-mail offering the chance to
subscribe.) Check out www.artios.org
for updates. More news and
developments soon …. Return to top
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Previous Body-Builders |
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You may have missed or
mislaid a previous issue of Body-Builders.
If so, don’t despair! They can
be accessed by clicking the links below: Issue
2 (The Beginning of Life) Issue
3 (Getting the Word Out) Issue
5 (The Purpose of the Church) Issue
6 (Pointers to Personal Purpose) Issue
8 (Laying Hold of the Word) Issue
9 (The Community of Perfect Love) Issue
10 (What Should We Do With Christmas?) Issue
12 (Internal Prosperity) Issue
13 (How To Develop Spiritual Strength) Issue
14 (Building the Walls of Your Life — 1) Issue
15 (Building the Walls of Your Life — 2) Issue
16 (Building the Walls of Your Life — 3) Issue
17 (Up and Down the Mountain) Issue
18 (Living in the Light of the Word — 1) Issue
19 (Living in the Light of the Word — 2) Issue
20 (Living in the Light of the Word — 3) NEW! Printer-friendly versions of the
articles only are now available. To
access the list, click here. |
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Artios School of Theology |
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Artios School of
Theology is a modular course leading to a Diploma in Theology from Artios
Ministries. The first run of the
School, with classes held in Dunfermline, is currently under way. The first
module, Old Testament Survey, had eighteen students enrolled, and was
completed in June 2004. The second
module, “Acts of the Apostles” had seventeen students, and completed in
December 2004. That was followed by,
“Gifts and Ministries”, “Spiritual Dynamics”, and “New Testament Survey”,
which finished before Christmas 2005. In 2006, we have done “Romans”
and “Healing”. “Pastoral
Epistles” is in process. For
information, click here. If
you’re within striking distance of Dunfermline, you can register in advance
for the next module. Click here. For general information on the Artios School
of Theology, please click here*. “Old Testament Survey”
is now available as a correspondence course (distance learning). The module comes with a notes booklet,
teaching sessions on audio, and email support. The audio teachings are recordings of the “live” class, and are
nominally 20 hours in length. There
is a charge for this course. To
apply, request more information, or ask a specific question, click here.
Other modules are
currently in preparation as correspondence courses and will be introduced
soon. * If you tried this and
it didn’t work, you may have to download an Acrobat Reader first. This is available free of charge from
Adobe. To get it, click here. |
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Introducing Artios Ministries
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Artios Ministries is a new ministry launched
officially in October 2003. The Founder and Director is George
Alexander. For 12 years, George pastored Liberty Church in Dunfermline,
Scotland, before being released in 1997 to a wider teaching ministry. The
aims of Artios Ministries are: 1.
To proclaim the Christian doctrine and principles through teaching,
literature, and other means 2.
To provide Biblical education and ministry training 3.
To promote good practice and sound doctrine in the Church of Jesus
Christ Artios
Ministries is a charitable trust recognised in Scotland as Scottish Charity
number SC 034194. |
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“Artios” is
a Greek word occurring in the New Testament. It means, “complete,
fitted, completely qualified, with all its needed parts”. It
occurs, together with another word derived from it, in 2 Timothy
3:16,17 “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for
every good work.” RSV |
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Contact Information |
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Difficulties or Comments? Just click here and let us know. |
Artios Ministries 13 Whinhill Dunfermline Fife KY11 4YZ U.K. |
01383-739537 (+44-1383-739537) |
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© Copyright 2006 Artios Ministries |
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