by: Colin McKee There is great interest in many realms as to who or what is number one. Sports fans make their case for their team being number one. Doctors and hospitals vie for the coveted recognition of being number one in their field. Internet providers tout their service as being number one over their competitors. Lawyers, vehicles, laundry detergents, etc. each make their boast of being number one and, therefore, worthy of your purchase. The race and the argument goes on from year to year. I can remember over the years of certain razors claiming to shave one closer and closer as their blades became finer and finer. It would seem that after 75 years there is no possibility of a blade getting any sharper! While the question of who or what is number one in all of those different realms remains, there are some number ones of which we can be sure:

Some people read 1 Peter 4:18 and become anxious about their eternal salvation. That verse reads, “Now ‘If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?’” (NKJV). Various readers coming across the verse think that since Peter said the righteous are scarcely saved that their salvation is in constant jeopardy. They imagine one can only make it to heaven by the skin of their teeth (Job 14:20). Is that true? What did Peter mean by ‘the righteous are scarcely saved’? We must understand that Peter was writing to Christians in the context of persecution and imminent danger from oppressors. They were “grieved by various trials” (1:6), facing the possibility of “suffering for righteousness’ sake” (3:14), experiencing ‘fiery trials’ (4:12), ‘suffering as Christians’ (4:16), and ‘suffering according to the will of God’ (4:19). Peter wrote to encourage them in the face of those then present dangers and to assure them of the victory they could expect even though it might include physical loss. Let us analyze the words in the passage. The word “scarcely” appears as “with difficulty” in other passages. “When we had sailed slowly many days, and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus…” (Acts 27:7); “…and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him” (Luke 9:39). The word translated “saved” does not always mean eternal salvation – salvation of the soul in Heaven. Our eternal salvation is sure as we walk in the light. Jesus saves “to the uttermost” (Hebrews 7:25). We are “…kept by the power of

Lazarus had been raised from the grave by Christ. His family had been sorrowing for four days, and the resurrection of Lazarus far surpassed their expectations, which moved some to believe in Christ (John 11:45). We might expect that everyone in Bethany would be rejoicing with Mary and Martha because their mourning had been turned into joy. However, there were some present whose hearts were so hardened and prejudiced that they could not be touched by the great miracle they witnessed. Rather, they watched Jesus only to find fault or to find some reason to discount His work. Some of them, therefore, went away to report to the Pharisees what Jesus had done (John 11:46). John 12:10 states that the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death. What had he done to deserve descent into the grave a second time? Could they now accuse him of some immoral actions? Had he maybe blasphemed God? Had he flagrantly violated some of their customs? Was he about to lead a rebellion? Neither any these things nor any other charge of wrong or misconduct could be charged against him. Instead, the answer is found in John 12:11, which reads, “Because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus” (NKJV). He was living proof of Jesus’ claims. Only someone with divine credentials could raise a man from the dead, and so, the Jewish leaders wanted to eliminate Lazarus as a concrete proof of Christ as the Messiah.

Some say that New Testament writers, like John, James, Paul and Peter, taught and believed that Christ’s coming again was imminent in the first century. If they taught and believed that, they were mistaken because it did not happen. Would God allow His inspired writers to believe and teach something that was not true? In 1 John 2:18, John wrote, “It is the last hour,” and then, he added that he knew it was the last hour because the anti-Christ had come. Did John mean to teach that the Second Coming of Christ was just at hand? If that is the meaning of the phrase, then he made a mistake because almost 2,000 years have transpired, and the world is still standing. Peter made a similar statement in his first epistle, “The end of all things is at hand” (1 Peter 4:7). James wrote in James 5:8, “The coming of the Lord is at hand.” Did these inspired writers err about what was soon to happen? Did they believe that the return of the Lord and the end of time on earth was soon to occur? The phrase, “at hand” is found in other New Testament passages, and it always means something that is very near to occurring. Inspired men taught that something was about to happen, not something that would occur thousands of years in the future: Matthew 3:2 – “The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” Matthew 25:46 – “He who betrays me is at hand” and Romans

In 1980, a horror film called The Shining was produced and offered to audiences across the world. It had to do with ghosts or spirits who were disturbing mortals that were occupying a hotel. The Shining was the supposed manifestation of occult power in the film, and of course, all of it was the fanciful invention of writers and producers. Yet, a real true shining is described in God’s Word. God promised to shine on man and in turn demanded a shining from man. In Isaiah God issued His promise for that shining and called on His people to shine His light to others. “The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” says the Lord. “As for me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendant’s descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.” Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. (Isaiah59:20-60:3) God, the Redeemer, promised to come and make a covenant with those who turned