Practical Christianity Class #6

Cheryl and Leah traveled with me out to Kamyanitza and visited with Vita and the baby while Stephen and I went to the class.
We had fifteen attend the evening class. We covered sections relating to the Word of God and determining the will of God for people. We showed how that God's Word must be primary and that therein is abundant and sufficient revelation to lead us to determine proper choices concerning the will of God for our lives. This often becomes confusing or mysterious to us, but that is not God's fault or intention. Sometimes we must be patient and allow other factors to lessen the complexity of the situation and allow God to work. Other times we face the frustration of what John Wesley termed wandering thoughts. We try to communicate with God but find ourselves distracted by a multitude of influencing thoughts. Some of these may simply be the stressful consideration of the daily responsibilities; others may be caused by the excitement of anticipating some special experience; still others may be the attempt of the influence of the powers of evil to thwart our attempts to communicate with God and find His will for situations in our lives. At any rate, God's will can be known. It is important to understand that the Christian who desires to live in the fullest harmony with God's will must know God's Word both in statute and principle. Many people become frustrated and confused because they can find no lead from God in specific circumstances they face. Dr. Allan Brown, professor of Biblical Studies at God's Bible School & College teaches what he terms the "UPSA principle". This acronym means that there is a universal principle which can be applied in specific applications. This is important for multitudes of situations. For example: you will not find a direct statute in the Bible declaring whether a person might smoke cigarettes or not. Is is wrong? Science has overwhelmingly determined that it is wrong from a physical, or health, viewpoint. But what about morally, or in the life of one sincerely trying to live n relationship to God? Since you will not find a direct statement against smoking, you must try to determine if there are any principles stated within the Bible that would apply to such an experience. In this case, the universal principle is that God has created us fully in wonder and with respect to the physicality of our humanity. We know that smoking destroys one's health and Paul, at least, had God's revelation which treats our bodies in the most sublime respect. Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19-20; 2 Cor. 4:7) declares that our bodies are synonymous to God's temple; where God resides; priceless with respect to the cost which we were bought through Jesus' blood. This principle applied to smoking, and a multitude of other experiences, can help us determine what to choose. This is an example of many situations we encounter.
Didn't mean to rattle on but we did have a good class. This particular subject area seems to be new ground for some of the students. Please pray for our classes as we next consider the place of conscience in our lives.