Participation In A Traditional Church May Save Your Life

2 Thessalonians 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

The people this verse was written to had just been reminded of the saving plan and labor of God who had, by His Gospel work, secured their place in the everlasting glory to come. But those verses were nested in foreboding darkness... the darkness of the end-times. What will keep that end-time generation anchored in light through those dark times? Paul says it is the truth they have been taught and have believed. Paul called this saving light “the traditions”. The word tradition literally means “the content of instruction that has been handed down.” BDAG

Paul knew the importance of each generation holding to the truth of God’s Word. All it takes is the defection of one generation for the comfort of truth gained by faithful Christians to be lost, and generations can then be left with no light for their path… even when the darkness of the end-time apostasy comes.

A church should work hard at building an enduring tradition of truth which can be handed down from generation to generation. Noah consistently labored over decades to build an ark that would carry his family through dark days of judgment. A traditional church is constantly building an ark of truth for each successive generation.

A traditional church is easily recognized. I'm not talking about architecture, music, or whether they sit on pews or chairs. A traditional church is one where the Bible is actually taught, whether the people sit on pews, floors, or on rough wooden planks, or use 50 gallon drums to keep rhythm as they sing. A solid tradition of opening the words of the Book is the norm not the exception. In each worship service and class the real meaning of the verses in the Bible is the focus, not the traditions of men about those verses, or religious rituals. There can be no greater legacy than Truth. And those who find themselves in the darkness will see this beacon of light as their family's ark of safety.

The generation who will be here to endure the end-time apostasy, and the worldwide judgment mentioned by the Apostle Paul, must follow Paul’s admonition in this verse. They must “stand fast” and “hold” to the Word of God. This must be their demand: give us the Scriptures, for in them we have eternal life and enduring strength. That generation will be standing on the shoulders of generations before who also faithfully held to “the traditions”. A church which stands on “the traditions” is a church built on solid ground.

Tradition, A Nonconformist's Word

2 Thessalonians 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

When it comes to church life the word “tradition” can bring strong emotions. For some people the word is a cruel jailer keeping creativity chained to a cold wall in the dungeon of conformity. To others tradition is grandmother's overstuffed chair sitting by the warm fireplace of yesterday. It seems to keep the instability that comes with change always below the safe horizon of sameness.

Paul was a teacher of truth, and he was writing to people who were frightened and under stress. Change had come to their lives in the form of persecution. Persecution for simply believing a different tradition from those around them. The word tradition literally means “the content of instruction that has been handed down.” BDAG To the persecutors, the Christian beliefs were new... revolutionary... threatening. To the Christians they were old, solid, and comforting. Could it be that there are really no new ideas, only ideas that are new to us? New and old, at least in this instance, was a matter of perspective.

In this case the persecutors were trying to use force to bring about conformity to their traditions. Paul's nonconformist argument in the face of this force was conformity to his and the Bible's traditions. There is a great comfort that comes from knowing the truth in times like these, and knowing that this tradition has stood the test of time, it has been handed down to us beaten, bloody, and bruised by the bullying forces of conformity, but intact, as alive today as it was in the Garden of Eden. Tradition delivered by the Creator and then hardened and refined on the human anvil of ignorance, fear, prejudice, superstition, and the violent need for conformity is the strongest material in this unstable world.

The Apostle Paul's traditions, and the rest of the Bible's teachings, are at once solid, unchanging, stable... and nonconforming, revolutionary, and explosively unstable. When we stand there... solid in those traditions, everything seems to stand still, its as if we are already in the eternal day, but the world is still churning around us. It's like living in the eye of a hurricane. There's no place on earth like it. Lord keep me solidly conformed to Your nonconforming traditions... this is where I want... no... where I must remain.

Absolute Proof - Beyond Any Doubt

Acts 1:3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs,

In US courts we have various standards for decisions made by jurors. In criminal cases a verdict of guilty cannot be returned unless the juror is sure of guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt”. This means that the evidence presented to the juror has established a particular point to a moral certainty, and it is beyond dispute that any reasonable alternative is possible. But “beyond a reasonable doubt” does not mean absolute proof or the absence of any doubt.

In civil cases there is the standard of “proof by clear and convincing evidence.” This is a lower burden of proof than reasonable doubt. It is a decision by the Juror that there is high probability that “a fact sought to be proved is true.”

In the language of the New Testament a word of evidence and decision making was used in this verse. It is translated “infallible proofs”. The Greek scholars in Friberg’s Analytical Greek Lexicon defined this word as: “evidence that removes doubt.” This is the highest level of proof: these people witnessed the same reality over, and over, and over again, to the point that they could not mistake the truth of what they had witnessed. The proof was absolute. This word was used here by Luke concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

An Animal That Can Disappear By Removing Its Shadow

How can I make my shadow disappear? By shining light on it. But what about at night when there is just enough light to silhouette my body? Well… to be silhouetted you must have a small amount of light shining behind your body. Your silhouette will disappear if you produce that exact level and quality of light on the shadow side of your body. Producing that light will also take away any shadow.

This is the science God used to camouflage the little 2 inch Hawaiian Bobtail Squid. This predator lives in the shallow coastal waters of Hawaii. As it moves through the water at night hunting prey it casts no shadow and cannot be silhouetted against the moon or starlit sky.

But this Squid cannot produce any light, so how can it make its shadow and silhouette go away? It is born with a special organ in the underside of its body, which was made to house a specific light producing bacteria. It only allows that one type of bacteria to live in its “rooms”. Once the bacteria enter this organ they are fed, cared for, and reproduce causing a glow beneath the Squid. The cells of this organ are photosensitive, which means the squid knows how much light the bacteria are emiting. Surrounding this organ are “reflectins”, unique proteins that change and direct the intensity of the light. It also has a transparent lens, a shutter mechanism to decrease or increase light, and a filter to change the color of the emitted light.

But... these Squid don't hatch with the bacteria already in the special light organ. How do they get inside the Squid and then inside the organ? Well... when the squid hatches the organ has ciliated “arms,” and pores just the right size to allow the entrance of the bacteria which are swept into the pores by the “arms.” After enough bacteria enter the organ the arms disappear and the pores close. The squid's system is able to tell the difference between this specific bacteria, vibrio fisheri, and the millions of other bacteria floating in the water around the hatchling.

The Squid senses the detail in the light above its body, and reproduces that same light below its body. This removes its shadow and silhouette! Another complex system confounding the notion of chance development by atheistic evolution. There is a Creator and He is amazing!

But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Job 12:7-8