BiblicalInsights.net

     I am a regular reader of Kiplinger magazine which provides finanical information to the average consumer.  In August of 2009, an article appeared in Kiplinger written by Andrew Feinberg titled, “A Prescrption for Panic.”  In this article, Feinberg warned against panic in the financial markets and in the average investor.  He references Paul Krugman’s The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008, and remarks, “But Krugman also noted that panic can become self-fulfilling and that the “expectations, even the prejudices, of investors become economic fundamentals.”  Panic can drive markets!  Whenever panic becomes a predominent force, the markets generally suffer.  Feinberg goes on to say that governments have an uncanny ability to throw gasoline on almost any economic fire.  He states, “Conclusion: Blind trust in government is not a wise investment strategy” (p. 43).  Feinberg lists the enemies of investing: incompetent government officials, executives, monumental greedheads and misguided investors.  He then remarks, “But the biggest enemy of all may be heedless panic” (p. 43).  Human folly generates panic that is detrimental to investing. 
     Human folly generates panic that is detrimental to life!  When facing any crisis we have two choices:  panic or peace!  Consider for a moment the alternative to panic–peace.  God is the “God of Peace.”  This phrase is found in the New Testament seven times (Rom. 15:33, 16:20; I Cor. 14:33; II Cor. 13:11; Phil. 4:9; I Thess. 5:23 and Heb. 13:20).  God gives men peace. Peace is “a conception distinctly peculiar to Christianity, the tranquil state of the soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatever sort that is” (Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon, 182). The peace God gives is inner peace that is not dependent upon or affected by external circumstances.  It is the result of salvation through Jesus Christ.  It is peace through conquest.  “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly” (Rom. 16:20).  God’s power destroys the works of the devil (I John 3:8).  Sin creates enmity between man and God.  Remove sin and peace results!  Christ’s blood removes all iniquity and brings us into full reconciliation with God (Rom. 5:8-10). 
     God’s power brings us into His presence!  Consider these words from Scripture: “Finally, brethren, be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you” (II Cor. 13:11).  The Christian lives with this promise–God will never fail nor forsake him (Heb. 13:5).  Brethren should live in peace.  Five things rob of peace:  avarice, ambition, envy, anger and pride.  These enemies of peace must be banished!  I might add one more: unbelief in the living God.  Peter experienced panic whenever he stopped trusting in the Lord (Matthew 14:25-31). 
     When faced with a real crisis (even a financial crisis), we can either panic (the result of unbelief or misplaced trust) or have peace (the state of tranquility of the soul that fully trusts in God).  God’s power brings us into His presence where we have great peace!

     The following quotations are taken from Ravi Zacharius’ book, Deliver Us From Evil.  In this book, Zacharius shows how the postmodern mind strips humanity of decency by eliminating objective standards of right and wrong.  Secularism has impacted our society in three ways:  (1) denuding the world of a sense of transcendence (eliminate God from the thinking of people); (2) rendering Scripture irrelevant; and (3) reducing human kind to nothing more than matter (absence of spirit or soul).  “Secularism’s primary target is Christianity” (p. 52, 53). 
     “Secularism strips humanity of decency because it strips it of common sense first by denuding the mind” (p. 63).
     “Shame or remorse or society’s disapproval is powerless today to induce a desire to change, because the ideas that shape our culture make shame a hangover of an antiquated religious world-view” (p. 64).
     “Shame is to the moral health of a society what pain is to the body.  It is the sense of shame that provides an indicator to the mind” (p. 64). 
     “How pitiful is the condition we have reached if we smother that sense of shame that was a part of society’s  scanner system to detect wrongdoing and deal with it” (p. 65).
     “To raise a child without shame is to raise one with no immune system against evil” (p. 66).
     “Secularization–the silencing of the supernatural–brings about an eerie silence” (p. 67). 
     Where there is no spiritual sense of the holy, which comes directly from God, there is no conscience of the unholy.  This lack of conscience centered in one’s belief in God and His holy Will, results in  no compass for the soul, no moral direction for life.  The sense of shame is the direct result of knowledge of the holy.  Where there is no knowledge of the holy, the profane mind rules.  This reprobate (corrupt) mind (Rom. 1:28) produces all manner of evil.  Listen to the words of the apostle Paul, “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not covenient (fit, acceptable to God, DS).  Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate (strife-DS); deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (Rom. 1:28-32).  Take heed, whenever a reprobate mind rules in the land and a sense of shame is destroyed, evil abounds!

     A recent Columbus Dispatch article relates a study published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine dealing with abstinence-only education.  The article was titled, “Study: Abstinence sex ed is effective” (Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010).  The article was written by Rob Stein who states, “In the first carefully designed study to evaluate the controversial approach to sex ed, researchers found that only about a third of sixth-and seventh-graders who went through sessions focused on abstinence started having sex in the next two years.  In contrast, nearly half of students who got other classes, including those that included information about contraception, became sexually active.”
     After declining for more than a decade, births, pregnancies and STD’s among U. S. teens have begun increasing again.  The current administration eliminated more than $150 million in federal funding targeted at abstinence programs, which are relatively new and have little rigorous evidence supporting their effectiveness.  The same administration has proposed spending $183 million in 2011 on programs aimed at preventing pregnancies that have been shown scientifically to work. 
     Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation who wrote the criteria for federal funding of abstinence programs commented on the new study.  He states, “This takes away the main pillar of opposition to abstinence education.” 
     Stein further stated, “Based on the findings, Obama administration officials said programs like the one evaluated in the study could be eligible for federal funding.” 
     Sexual abstinence before marriage is not a new idea.  The Bible plainly teaches it.  “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Heb. 13:4).  One of the aspects of sexual purity that is based upon a love and respect for God is fewer pregnancies out-of-wedlock and fewer sexually transmitted diseases.  Sexual purity leads to a healthier lifestyle!   Why not associate sexual abstinence with sexual purity?  Someone may argue that the separation of church and state forbids us from teaching morals in our schools.  However, we teach students that they cannot lie to the teacher or cheat on a test.  We teach them to respect the property and person of another student by not hurting (bullying) them or stealing from them.  Yes, these things are taught every day in schools across the nation and they are moral imperatives that improve character and enhance the atmosphere of the school.  Why not teach sexual  purity and sexual abstinence?  Sexual  purity involves respect for self and others.  Sexual purity is a value worth restoring to our schools and our society.

     Jesus Christ is our high priest.  In Hebrews 7, the author quotes from Psalm 110:4, “The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek” (KJV).  The priesthood of Jesus Christ means that the Law of Moses has been abrogated (set aside).  Jesus Christ is not a high priest after the order of Aaron.  Let me appeal once again to Hebrews 7:11-19.  “If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?  For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.”  Jesus is not from the tribe of Levi.  He is from the tribe of Judah (v. 14).  Consequently, Jesus could not be a priest if the Law of Moses was still in effect.  A change in the priesthood necessitates a change in the law.  This is positive proof that we are not living under the Law of Moses today.  We are living under the law of Christ (the New Testament). 
     Jesus is a priest after the order of Melchizedek.  He is God appointed. “And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest” (Heb. 7:15).  Melchizedek was both a priest and a king (Heb. 7:1).  He is a type of Christ.  Christ is also a priest and a king.  Notice this, Jesus is a priest and a king at the same time!  Whenever Jesus ascended up into heaven, He became a priest and a king (Dan. 7:13,14; Heb. 1:8; 7:14).  Jesus could not be a priest on the earth (8:4).  “For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law.”  If Jesus could not be a priest on the earth, He could not be a king on the earth!  The doctrine of premillennialism which promotes the idea that Jesus will have a future reign on the throne of David in the city of Jerusalem is false.  Jesus reigns right now from the throne of God in heaven (Heb. 1:8). 
     The consequences mentioned above follow a proper understanding of the high priesthood of Jesus Christ.