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Look A Little Deeper My Friend

by Dr. Henderson Ward  
2/19/2017 / Christian Living


We all by now must surely know of the story of the Titanic. If perchance you have been detached from the world for the last century, and haven’t a clue as to what the Titanic is all about, let me update you.

“RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning of 15 April 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. Of the 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died, making it one of the deadliest commercial peacetime maritime disasters in modern history.” (From Wikipedia article on RMS Titanic, accessed 19th February 2017)

One can never know the exact reasons why a historical event occurred, or the full facts surrounding the case. History is not some objective reality, but has been shown to contain a litany of errors, and falsehoods, and depends on who wrote the stuff, and the prejudice of the sponsors, and such like. What we do know is that the Titanic’s captain, Edward John Smith, boasted that no iceberg could sink his ship, because modern ships, like the Titanic, were unsinkable.

An iceberg, as you well know,  usually has some ice sticking up above the sea surface, and floating ice in some regions is no big deal. But not always. Many times what sticks out of the water is just a tiny fraction of the whole, and what lies below is mountainous; as the Titanic found out.

An iceberg stands as a metaphor for those who are superficial in their assessments, who would regard what they see on the surface as the substance and make their determinations accordingly. People who are too lazy, impulsive, careless or lacking the desire to get to the root of the matter, are the ones who end up saddened or worse; just like the Titanic.

This is true in the natural, everyday world, but it is even truer, and have more serious consequences, when we are dealing with spiritual things.

A lot of people, I hesitate to say believers, are going to miss out getting into God’s kingdom because they have a love for the superficial; the sweet sound bite, the nice-sounding theory, the it-sounds-good-to-me doctrine, the my-pastor/teacher/Mullah/leader told me so and it must be true, and that is what I was taught in my youth, so it must be so.

These people, and others who think the same, run the risk that at the last days, when they are judged they will hear, not what they expected, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34) but rather, the words no one ever wants to hear, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41)

Finding truth, like finding real gold, is a deep-mining exercise. Fools gold is on the surface, but if you want the real gold you need to dig deep, exercise determination and stamina, and test to see that you have the real thing. Spiritually speaking, this is crucial because when you get to eternity it will be too late, you can then do nothing to alter your circumstances.

Where life and death issues are concerned, it pays to look a little deeper, and be sure you get it right. You will recall that on Paul’s second missionary journey, he presented the gospel to the Thessalonians, and after the Jews rose up against him he went to Berea, and there presented the gospel to them.

The Bereans were glad to hear the gospel, but they were not just going to let some sweet-talking, charismatic preacher feed them untruths that would eventually damn their souls. They looked a little deeper into what Paul said, and the Bible recorded it thus, “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:25)

It is sad when people allow themselves to be misled, when all they need to do, to get things right, is to look more fully into the matter, do some research, find things out for themselves.

When I did my doctorate I did not study Islamic theology, mainly because Islam has no relevance to Christian Theology, although in private study I read a great deal about Islam, because I like to know what gives on any major branch of religion.

Islam teaches that Jesus Christ is a prophet, and nothing but a prophet. Both branches of Islam, Sunni and Shia, teach this.

That Jesus Christ is a prophet only, and not God, is not just settled Islamic Theology, it is also what Jehovah Witnesses believe, as well as some Christian sects.

The Muslims base this teaching on the Holy Bible, and YES, the Bible shows that Jesus was a prophet. So are the Muslims correct? Let’s find out.

A prophet is someone who prophesies, foretells the future, tells us what is coming. If you read Matthew chapter 24, you will see the greatest prophetic chapter in all the Bible. It shows Jesus at the height of his prophesying, where he informs his disciples what will happen to Jerusalem in the year AD70, as well as the events at the end of time. Jesus articulates here in detail what others like Daniel, and Isaiah mentioned. So yes, Jesus was a prophet.

However, the strongest scripture the Muslims use is from another prophet, Moses, and here is the verse. “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.” (Deuteronomy 18:15)

It is settled Christian theology that Moses in this verse was referring to Jesus Christ. And the Apostle Peter made the reference explicitly clear when, in reference to Christ, he quoted Moses thus, “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:22-23). So yes, Jesus was a prophet.

The Muslim, and those of similar opinion, declare a false dichotomy. They say, if Jesus is a prophet, like Moses, like Elijah, then he cannot be God.

The truth is there is no reason why God cannot be a prophet, there is no logic that says being divine exempts God from prophesying, and that God and being a prophet is an oxymoron.

It is these false distinctions that create the problem. Here are some more false distinctions:

  1. Jesus was born, and we know God is from the beginning, so Jesus can’t be God.
  1. Jesus said, “The Father is greater than I” therefore Jesus cannot be equal to God the Father.
  1. We know Jesus died on the cross, and we know God is everlasting, so Jesus can’t be God.

The answer, as always, is to look a little deeper, and dig below the surface.

We know that Jesus was a prophet, and also that Jesus is God. These scriptures should leave us in no doubt that Jesus is God, and we can teach it, preach it, and live it; for it is so.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1).

“For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” (Colossians 2:9).

"For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him." (Colossians 1:16)

"And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." (Colossians 1:17).

"But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." (Hebrews 1:8)

"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." (Matthew 1:23)

"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)

"For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." (Matthew 3:3)

"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." (Isaiah 40:3)

In order to get it right, it pays to examine the matter more closely, pay more attention to the details, and make sure we look a little deeper. It will take time, it may even become tedious, but God wants a people who know that they are standing on firm ground, will not be shifted by every wind and doctrine, and on whom he can depend to assist others along the way.

Enough said.

Books by this author you may wish to read.

THINGS EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD KNOW (e-book)
Volume 1 – Five tough facts to be faced
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YX5NSI

STAND UP TO THE DEVIL  (e-book)
Volume 1 – You must first identify him
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005BQVLSS

BASTARD: A STORY OF REDEMPTION(e-book fiction)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006OF3SD6

ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT ON GOD’S CLOCK (Hard copy)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002X78D16

ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT ON GOD’S CLOCK (e-book)

http://tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-60799-630-9

Dr. Henderson Ward received his Doctor of Divinity in theology, with distinction, from Masters International School of Divinity, USA, where he is currently a post-doctoral fellow. Dr. Ward's career involved pastoring, evangelism, and teaching. Copyright 2017

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