An Example

31996422554_f61de0e17c_o — Photo by Michelle Pearson

An Example – Part 1

Why We Must Keep the Bible in Context

In the last couple of posts, entitled One Body, I challenged everyone to take a hard look at the doctrines that divide us. You see, although it is imperative that we unite as one body, we can’t just say, “forget doctrine and come together,” that would be wrong. But, we do need to take a hard look at the doctrines that divide us, because if it isn’t messing with salvation by grace through faith in Christ, then why are we arguing about it? So, these next three posts are looking at an example of one of those doctrines, in fact, this is a doctrine that I was entangled by for many years. We’re going to look at it and do our best to set aside everything we were ever taught about it and see what the Bible says in context.

There is a large following, among Christians, of a belief known as “dispensationalism”. This belief system dates back to the mid-1800’s and is attributed to John Darby. I was taught this my entire life, and bought into it for many years, until one day when I started realizing what the Bible really says. This belief, however well followed, is simply not scriptural. This belief, among other things, teaches that there are 7 dispensations, or periods of time, the first 5 of which happened before Exodus chapter 19. The 5th dispensation is believed to have been when the Israelites in the Old Testament times were “under the dispensation of the law”. They claim that we now are in the 6^th dispensation, where Christians today are “under the dispensation of grace”. They believe this will last until the end of the Great Tribulation and will be followed by the 7th dispensation, “The Kingdom Dispensation”.

First, let’s look at the word that was translated, in the KJV, as “dispensation”. It only appears twice in the original scriptures, in Ephesians 3:2, and Colossians 1:25. Those who follow the belief of dispensationalism believe that the word means, a period of time, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The word in these two verses which was translated in the KJV as “dispensation” is the Greek word oikonomia (oi-ko-no-mē’-ä) which means, “The office of a manager or overseer, stewardship; Administration.” So, had Darby bothered to look at the original language, he would have realized what these verses were talking about.

Ephesians 3:2 (KJV)

^“2If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:”

Ephesians 3:2 (NASB)

^“2if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you;”

Colossians 1:25 (KJV)

^“25Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God;”

Colossians 1:25 (NASB)

^“25Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,”

As we can see, it’s not a time period of grace in Ephesians 3:2, it’s the stewardship of God’s grace that we were entrusted with. Again, it Colossians 1:25, it’s not a period of time that God bestowed on us, it is our stewardship God has bestowed on us. So many pastors will tell you, “They were under the Law in the Old Testament, but we are under Grace.” That is simply unfounded, and just another example of people trying to interpolate the scriptures to fit their preconceived beliefs.

Do you see how it changes the meaning of these verses when you mistranslate just one word? This is an example of why we must do the work of studying, 2 Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth”. When the writers of the KJV translated that word in 1611, the word dispensation meant something else. In the 1800’s, when Darby invented the theology of dispensationalism, he didn’t go to the original language, he just used the current meaning of the word.

This illustrates why it is imperative that we get a translation of the Bible that we can understand. In fact, the seventy men who translated the Latin Bible into English for King James in 1611, wrote a preface to the work, and in it, talked about how language changes over time and that it is imperative that we get a translation we can understand.

The Israelites of the Old Testament were not saved by keeping the law, they tried to make it about that, because that’s what we humans do. We always want to make it about what we do, as if we’re in control, somehow. To this day people are trying to make salvation about doing good works or keeping the law, but scripture makes it eminently clear that salvation has never been about works. Here are a few of the verses, but you really need to read all of Romans chapters 3 and 4 as well.

Habakkuk 2:4

^“4Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith.” Note the Old Testament reference.

Romans 3:19-20

^“19Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. ²⁰For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.”

Romans 3:27-31

^“27Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. ²⁸So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law. ²⁹After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. ³⁰There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.³¹Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.”

Romans 4:1-5

^“1Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? ²If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. ³For the Scriptures tell us, ‘Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.’⁴When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. ⁵But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.”

Romans 4:13-15

^“13Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. ¹⁴If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. ¹⁵For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)”

Romans 4:20-25

^“20Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. ²¹He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. ²²And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. ²³And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded ²⁴for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.”

In our next installment, we will look more into the place faith has in the life of a Christ follower, both now, and in the Old Testament. See you then.

An Example – Part 2

Why We Must Keep the Bible in Context

So, we’ve talked a lot about the belief of dispensationalism, and the fact that it is not scripturally based, so let’s look at the part faith plays now, and in the Old Testament. In Galatians 3:6 we read, “⁶In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” and in Galatians 3:8 “⁸What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would declare the Gentiles to be righteous because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” Did you catch that? “God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago.”

But, I need to stop here for a minute. Because, there are a lot of people out there preaching, simple faith…saying that all you need is faith. Here’s the problem with that, faith alone is simply not enough, look at James 2:19, “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” You see, it must be a life-altering faith which is evident in our works, James 2:26 “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” We are not saved by our works, but we are saved for good works. Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Christ goes on to tell us that He didn’t come to do away with the law but to fulfill it. He also talked about how important it is for Christians to keep the law. Do you see the order? We follow Christ first, then we keep the law. We don’t follow Christ by keeping the law.

Hebrews 11:1,4,5,6,7,8,9,11,13,17-28

^“1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.”

^“4It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith.”

^“5It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.” For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God.”

^“6And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”

^“7It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.”

^“8It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.”

^“9And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise.”

^“11It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise.”

^“13All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth.”

^“17It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac,”

^“18even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.”^“19Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.”

^“20It was by faith that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau.”

^“21It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.”

^“22It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones with them when they left.”

^“23It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command.”

^“24It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.”

^“25He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin.”

^“26He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward.”

^“27It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.”

^“28It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.”

James 2:19-26

^“19You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. ²⁰How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

²¹Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. ²³And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. ²⁴So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. ²⁵Rahab the prostitute is another example. She was shown to be right with God by her actions when she hid those messengers and sent them safely away by a different road. ²⁶Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.”

Okay, there is just so much scripture on this subject, and, although I can’t cover it all. But, it is extremely clear that salvation has always been about a life changing faith in Christ…even before He came to earth. In the Old Testament, they were not saved by keeping the law, they were saved by their faith in the coming Messiah, but they had to demonstrate that faith by making the sacrifices. There is still a lot I want to cover, so let’s meet back here to finish this up.

An Example – Part 3

Why We Must Keep The Bible In Context

Okay, let’s finish this one up. In Galatians 2:11-21 it says,^“11But when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹²For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. ¹³The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? ¹⁵“We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; ¹⁶nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. ¹⁷But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be! ¹⁸For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. ¹⁹For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. ²⁰I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.²¹I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” Also in Galatians 3:6-9 ^“6Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. ⁷Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. ⁸The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” (Genesis 12:3)⁹So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.” And, again in Galatians 3:15-4:7 ^“15Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. ¹⁶Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ. ¹⁷What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. ¹⁸For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.¹⁹Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made. ²⁰Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. ²¹Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. ²²But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.²³But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. ²⁴Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. ²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. ²⁶For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.

4 ¹Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, ²but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. ³So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. ⁴But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, ⁵so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. ⁶Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.”

I realize that this is a lot of scripture to digest, but I don’t ever want anyone to think this is my opinion or my interpretation. This is the word of God and, as such, is irrefutable. God does not now, nor has He ever, awarded salvation in exchange for good works. Even the sacrifices of the Old Testament didn’t save them. The sacrifices were a symbol of the coming Messiah, and salvation came from their faith in the coming Messiah. We cannot be good enough to get into heaven, and neither could the Hebrews of the Old Testament. Paul made it clear that the law was never intended for salvation, but it was to show us how much we need God.

I know this one might be a little controversial for some, but please, study it out and see what the scripture says about this and any other doctrine you were taught by people. I John 4:1 says, “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.” So, don’t just blindly believe the doctrine you have been taught, and don’t just blindly believe me. You are charged with doing the work…study it out but keep it in context, then let me know what you find. I’d love to hear from you.

September 5, 2017 0

One Body

Old Florida Festival of the Arts Festival, Cedar Key 2013: Anoth — Photo by Michelle Pearson

One Body-Part 1

When you read through the New Testament you will find a few key themes. One of the most common themes in the New Testament is unity of the Church. In fact, the New Testament repeatedly compares the Church to a body and even calls us the Body of Christ. For example, in Ephesians chapter 4, where Paul is talking about pastors and says in verse 12, “Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.” And again just a few verses later in verse 15 where he says, “Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.” And back in verse 13, he says, “This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.” We will never measure up to Christ’s standard until we are united, as one body. Let me be clear here, in order for anyone to be part of this Body they must first trust in Christ. Acts 4:11-12 says, “¹¹For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’¹²There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” Yes, we need to all be united, as one Body, under one Savior and must agree that salvation comes by God’s grace through faith in what Christ did on the cross. We can disagree on anything else, although if we all stop trying to interpret the Bible and start taking it literally, in context, as a whole, we won’t disagree on nearly as much.

One great example of this is in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 where we find Paul talking about the gifts of the Spirit. Here Paul was having issues with the church at Corinth claiming that there were certain gifts that all Christians must have, a claim that some still make to this day. In this part of his letter, he is explaining that we can’t all have the same gifts, so he uses this analogy of the Body to explain the gifts. In the first eleven verses, he explains how one Spirit gives all the gifts, as seen in verses 4 and 5, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord.” So, no one gift is greater than another, they are all given by the same Spirit to serve the same Lord. Then in verses 12 through 31 he goes on to talk about the different parts of the Body and how these gifts fit in. He starts out in verse 12 by saying, “The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.” Then, over the next 15 verses, he talks about how these gifts relate to the parts of the body and how the Church couldn’t survive if everyone was a mouth, or if everyone was a hand. We must take the gifts that God has given us and work with them. So, if your gift is teaching, you shouldn’t say I wish my gift was healing. You must be the best teacher you can be for Christ. Verse 27 says, “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.” Think about your own body. You know that if you put your hand on the stove when it’s turned on, it will burn. But, what if your hand chose not to believe that? Will your hand not get burned, simply because it chose not to interpret pain as something else? Of course not. We all have different gifts, but we are all part of the same body, so we must work together in order to function. So, if anyone ever tells you that you must have a certain gift to be a real believer, take them to this passage.

Paul also uses The Lord’s Supper to demonstrate unity. In 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 it says, “¹⁶When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body.” For this reason, in our Church gatherings, we always used one loaf of communion bread instead of the little wafers. Of course, I’m not saying that this is a biblical mandate, I just liked to use it to remind our local Body about unity every time we observed The Lord’s Supper.

Unity in the human body is extremely important, but the unity of the Body of Christ is even more important. Check in on Thursday as we conclude this discussion in my next installment.

One Body-Part 2

Continuing where we left off last time, in Ephesians 2:14-16 Paul tells us that Christ used His death on the cross to unite us into one Body, “¹⁴For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. ¹⁵He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. ¹⁶Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.” And, again in Ephesians 3:6 “And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.” So, let’s talk about prejudice…Yep, I’m going there. I have known people who call themselves Christians and are prejudice against people of different races. I have even been in churches and heard pastors make racist remarks and try to justify it with the Bible. If you are a Christ follower, there are only two types of people; saved and lost. If they are saved, we are part of the same body and must love them. If they are lost, the only hope we have of winning them to Christ is if we love them. There is no place for hate in the Christian life.

I sat through a sermon one time where the pastor kept repeating I Hate Catholics. After the service, I went to him and said, “God doesn’t hate Catholics, in fact, God doesn’t hate anyone. He didn’t even hate Osama Bin Laden. God loved him so much, He sent His son to die for him. But God was sad that he chose not to follow Him.” You see, God loves us all equally. There isn’t a person on this earth that Christ didn’t die for. C.S. Lewis said it best when he said, “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals who we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit.” Everyone you meet on the street has an immortal soul, and that’s what we should be looking at. We should have compassion on them and pray for them. The Bible never says that they will know we are Christians by our steeple, or by our stained-glass windows, but Jesus did say in John13:35, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” They will know we are Christians by our Love!

And, of course, every body must have a head to survive. Colossians 1:18 says, “Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.” And in Colossians 2:19 “and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.” The body can survive without a lot of its parts, but not without a head. Christ is the head of the Church, He is the head of His body. Because He is our head, we must go where the head leads, we must do what the head tells us to do, and we must honor the head. The unity of the Church is dependent on Christ and is because of Christ. Colossians 1:22 “Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.” We appear holy and blameless before God because of what Christ did on the cross. We should all be willing to suffer for the body like our head suffered for the body. Paul considered it an honor to be able to suffer for the body, Colossians 1:24 “I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church.” The Bible never says we will have an easy life here on earth, in fact, it says the exact opposite. In 2 Timothy 3:12 it says, “Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” And, also in John 16:33 it says, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” So, when we suffer, not if we suffer, we need to have Paul’s attitude toward it and glory in the fact that we can suffer for the body of Christ.

Because we are part of the Body with Christ as the head, we must be thankful because we have a peace that surpasses the ability to understand it. Colossians 3:15 “And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.” Also in Ephesians 2:14, “For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.”

We’ve all heard sermons on 2 Chronicles 7:14, “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” But, we must take this passage seriously. “If my people”, this is a call to the body, not just part of it, but all of it. You may grow your church, you may become a mega church, and you will probably bring people to Christ along the way. But, if we have any chance of changing our world, we must unite as the body of Christ, and humble ourselves and pray, we must seek His face and turn from our wicked and divisive ways. Then, and only then, will He hear our prayer, forgive our sin, and heal our land. We like to blame all the problems of the world on everyone else, but the truth is we, the Church, are at fault! We are to blame for the immorality, we are to blame for our nation turning away from God, we are even to blame for groups like Isis getting a stronghold on the world. If we truly want to be world changers, we must repent and unite as one body.

I’d like to end this with Paul’s words, Ephesians 4:1 “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.” If you are a Christ follower, you have been called by God for a purpose. We must live worthy of that high calling. To do so, we must put aside our petty differences and unite for one cause, for the glory of one God, by the power of one Spirit, under one head…Christ!

August 29, 2017 0

In Christ

Common Buckeye — Photo by Michelle Pearson

IN CHRIST-Part 1

Have you ever found yourself saying, “I keep praying that God would take away _______(Fill in the sin you can’t give up)?” You pray and pray about it, but He just never seems to take it away? I’ve been there myself, it’s frustrating and you find yourself questioning God. The thing is, it’s not that God isn’t answering your prayer, the problem is that there is something on your end that must be addressed. God showed me something a few years ago that changed my life, and I wanted to share it with you. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” Notice this verse doesn’t say, “if anyone is born again”, or “if anyone is saved.” It says, “if anyone is IN CHRIST.” Being “in Christ” doesn’t mean that you go to church once or twice a week. It doesn’t even mean that you pray every day, or that you read your Bible every day. To be “in Christ” is to be totally and completely sold out for Him, it means you give Him your everything. If you are “in Christ”, your every thought is on those things that are true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable (Phil. 4:8). If you are “in Christ” you must decrease and He must increase (John 3:30). Of course, you will still sin occasionally, we are still human, but you are no longer a sinner, you are a saint. There is an old hymn that I grew up singing in church that makes me cringe every time I hear it. The song says “I’m only a sinner, saved by grace.” No, I’m not! I was a sinner, but, by the grace of God, I am now a saint. We can’t be declaring that we are sinners, we are no longer identified by our sin, we are identified as a child of the One True King. If we have any hope of being a new creature, we must be IN CHRIST. Then, and only then, will those old things pass away and all things will become new.

So, why is it so important to be “IN CHRIST”? I’m glad you asked. First, because redemption is in Christ, Romans 3:24 “being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;” So without Christ, there is no redemption. Secondly, life is in Christ. Romans 6:11 “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Just a minute, did you get the first half of that verse? “Consider yourself to be dead to sin.” Going back to the last paragraph, if you are “dead to sin” how can you be a sinner? Just sayin’. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians 2:5 “even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together in Christ (by grace you have been saved),” Life itself is in Christ, but not just existence, but a rich and satisfying life, John 10:10 says “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” Thirdly, freedom is in Christ. Freedom from condemnation, Romans 8:1 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” And freedom from the law of death, Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” We are no longer a slave to sin, we are no longer a slave to condemnation, we are no longer a slave to the law, we are free to live in Christ.

We’re going to finish up looking at being in Christ in our next installment. Remember, I love your comments and insights, so let me know what you think.

IN CHRIST-Part 2

In the last installment, we looked at the importance of being In Christ. We saw that; redemption, life, and freedom are all In Christ. So, let’s pick up where we left off.

One of the key themes of the New Testament is the unity of the Body. Where does that unity come from? You guessed it, unity comes from being in Christ. Romans 12:5 “so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” Philippians 2:1-5 “¹Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, ²make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. ³Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; ⁴do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. ⁵Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,” As I stated, unity is a key theme of the New Testament and it is imperative if we ever want to make an impact on our world. Unity will be a posting in and of itself, so stay tuned for that.

Another benefit to being in Christ is that, when we are in Christ, nothing can separate us from the love of God, and it doesn’t get any better than that. Romans 8:38-39 “³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians 2:5-6 “⁵even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together in Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”

So, what does it mean to be “IN CHRIST”? As I stated earlier, Philippians 4:8 says, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your hearts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” and John 3:30 tells us, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” This brings us to what is known as the Christian walk. So, what does that mean? No, it isn’t about the way we strut, it’s the way we live in front of others, our daily lives. Earnest Humphries, the pastor I grew up under, used to say, “Your life may be the only Bible that some people will ever open.” That’s our Christian Walk. To understand it more, read Ephesians 4:26-32.

To truly realize that Christian walk, we must imitate God. Ephesians 5:1-2 “⁵Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. ²Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.” In Matthew 28:16-20 we read what is known as the great commission. This is the last thing that Christ told His disciples. In verse 18 He told us to go make disciples, He didn’t say go make congregations, or go make audiences, He said to make disciples. A disciple is someone who imitates the one they follow. Be a disciple…be an imitator.

You see, it is natural to want to be in Christ because we are created in Christ. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” And, what we must realize is that everything that’s not Christ is crap! Philippians 3:7-8 “⁷I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. ⁸Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ” The Greek word used in this verse, that was translated as “garbage” is skubalon {skoo’-bal-on} which means; “any refuse, as the excrement of animals, offscourings, rubbish, dregs. Of things worthless and detestable.” So, it is literally saying that anything that is not in Christ is crap, the lowest of the low…it is worthless.

So how do we achieve this? How can I live IN CHRIST? First, we must have faith that He will finish what He started, but realize that it is an ongoing work and won’t be finished until He comes again. Philippians 1:6 “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” And, Philippians 1:19-21 “¹⁹For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance. ²⁰For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. ²¹For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.” Just ask God, He will take care of whatever is needed to be in Christ, Philippians 4:19 “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”

And never forget to put on the whole armor of God. We can’t go into battle without it, Ephesians 6:10-20. If you missed it go back to my first three blogs, it was dedicated to this passage.

August 22, 2017 0

A Lesson In Prayer

2825321771_4eaa499177_o — Photo by Michelle Pearson

A Lesson on Prayer-Part 1

In my last series, we talked about putting on All of Gods Armor from Ephesians chapter 6. I ended the last post with verses 18-20 where it just says over and over again to pray.

In these few verses, Paul says a lot about prayer. He has just finished telling us to put on all of God’s armor, now he tells us to Pray in the spirit at all times. He tells us to pray for All believers everywhere, that’s right, even the ones you don’t particularly like. He tells us to pray for him, or any of our Church leaders, and goes on to tell us what they need prayer for. First of all, that God would speak through them. We don’t need to hear what they think the Bible is saying, we need to hear what the Holy Spirit wants them to say. And then he says to pray for boldness, and that applies to every Christ follower. We need to be bold to speak the Gospel. In 2 Timothy 4:2 he says, “Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.” What he is telling us takes boldness. You have to be bold to correct, rebuke, and even to encourage people, whether the time is favorable or not. This is especially true in our society where everyone is offended at everything. The time is definitely not favorable to correct and rebuke people today. So we need boldness. But, of course, when you boldly correct, rebuke or encourage people, always do it in love and from scripture, not your own opinion. And, don’t miss that one word that precedes it all…Patiently.

So, today we are going to start looking at prayer. The words pray, prayer, praying and prayed appear 436 times in the Bible, not to mention the number of times it talks about speaking to God or meditating on His word or any of the other references to prayer without actually saying the word. Prayer and Bible study are the most important parts of the Christian life. They are our link to God. The Bible is His letter to us, His instruction manual if you will. And, prayer is our personal link to Him. It always amazes me how we have a direct line to God. I couldn’t speak to the President of the United States if my life depended on it, but I can talk to the God of the universe, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, anytime I want. I hear people say all the time, “I don’t know how to pray.” Well, if you are one of those people, this is your lucky day, because I’m about to show you what the Bible says about prayer. And, if you do know how to pray, this will still be good for you, because sometimes we miss things in the Word that can be a huge blessing.

Now, I’m not saying that I’m some kind of expert on prayer or on the Bible, I’m just saying that I might catch something that you have missed, and vice versa. The Bible says, Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” We are all here to sharpen each other, and that’s exactly why I am writing this blog, to help sharpen others. I will always strive to back everything up with Scripture, and not my opinion of what it is saying. Also, at the end of this blog, I will include some links for some great Bible study aids.

When speaking with people about prayer, both believers and non-believers alike, the 2 biggest questions I hear are; “Does God even hear me when I pray?” and “How do I know that He will answer my prayers?”. They want to know if God really has time to listen to their prayers and if He really cares. These are valid questions, but once you know what the scriptures say, it is extremely clear. We also need to ask one more question, not just is God listening to us, but am I listening to God? Andrew Murray said, “Prayer is not a monolog, but dialogue. God’s voice in response to mine is its most essential part.”

So, let’s take the first question. “Does God hear me when I pray?” The Bible clearly says he does hear us, but if we really want to be heard, we are given steps to follow.

STEP 1: To be heard, you must be righteous. Proverbs 15:29 says, “The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of the righteous.” And in Proverbs 15:8 “The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but he delights in the prayers of the upright.” We learned in the last blog that the Body Armor of Righteousness comes from studying the Word of God. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “¹⁶All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”

STEP 2: Our loyalty cannot be divided. James 1:6-8 “⁶But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.” Are you truly loyal to God, or is your loyalty split between God and the world? Romans 12: 2 “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Also in James 4:4 “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.”

STEP 3: Does what we ask for, please God? 1 John 5:14 “And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.” It’s just like with your earthly father. If you ask him for the keys to his car so you can go buy some drugs, chances are you won’t get the keys. But, if you ask him for the keys so you can go buy your mom a birthday present, he’ll probably do that, because it pleases him.

STEP 4: We must call on Him in Truth. Psalm 145:18 “The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth.” And, where did we learn truth comes from in the last blog? The word of God IS truth, John 17:17 and Psalm 119:160.

We’ll continue this discussion in the next installment. We’ll pick up by looking at the question, “Does God Answer Our Prayer?”

A Lesson on Prayer-Part 2

Now for the second question, does God answer our prayers? 1 John 5:15 “And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.” Also, in Matthew 7:7-11 we read, ⁷“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. ⁹“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? ¹⁰Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! ¹¹So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him”. And in Jeremiah 29:11-12 “¹¹For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. ¹²In those days when you pray, I will listen”. There are many more verses on God answering prayer, but suffice it to say that He does.

In the New Testament, Jesus gave us an outline for prayer. Many people call it “The Lord’s Prayer”, but The Lord never Prayed it, in fact, the real Lord’s prayer is found in John chapter 17. This was simply an outline to teach his disciples to pray. We find this both in Matthew 6:5-18 and Luke 11:1-13. We know that it is just an outline and not something to be religiously quoted, by reading verses 5-9. In verses 5-8 He is telling his disciples not to pray like the religious people who pray for show, and not to pray like the pagans who just babble on and on, but to get alone and sincerely pray to God. Then in verse 9, He says “Pray like this:”. Notice He doesn’t say pray these words, He says pray like this. So let’s look at the outline.

Vs. 9 “Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.”
1. Start by praising God
Vs. 10a “May your Kingdom come soon.”
1. Pray for His second coming…soon.
Vs. 10b “May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
1. Pray for His will to be done in your life, and to be done here just like it is in Heaven.
Vs. 11 “Give us today the food we need,”
1. We are to pray for today’s sustenance…not next years, not for the rest of our lives…TODAY’S.
Vs. 12 “and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.”
1. Notice He didn’t just say, “forgive our sins.” He said to forgive our sins the way we forgive others. So, if you hold a grudge, you’re asking God to hold a grudge against you…just sayin’.
Vs. 13 “And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.”
1. Do you have a sin in your life that you have trouble letting go of? I know I do. We need to remember that our willpower isn’t enough. We can’t resist temptation without God’s help. Pray that God will not let you yield to that temptation, and name the temptation. News flash, God already knows what that temptation is, He just wants you to admit it.
2. Then ask Him to deliver you from the evil one, and He will.

Next time we will answer the questions, like: When Should I Pray? How Should I Pray? How Long Should I Pray? And, What Should I Pray For?

A Lesson on Prayer-Part 3

Okay, we know that He hears and answers our prayers, so let’s move on to the mechanics of prayer. We need to answer questions like, When Should I Pray, How Should I Pray, How Long Should I Pray, What Should I Pray For, Should I Pray Alone or With Others, and that nagging question, What Is This “Praying in The Spirit” All About?

When Should I Pray?

This one is pretty simple. 1 Chronicles 16:11 “Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him.” Always, there is never a bad time to pray. Prayer isn’t just asking God for the things you want, God’s not a genie. Prayer is our link to God, it is meant for us to commune with him. Just talk to Him, all the time. Talk to Him about how your day is going. Talk to Him about the guy that just cut you off on the freeway. He wants us to spend time with Him, He wants a relationship with us. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “¹⁶Always be joyful. ¹⁷Never stop praying. ¹⁸Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

How Should I Pray?

We should pray with an alert mind and a thankful heart, Colossians 4:2 and Psalm 95:2. We should pray earnestly, 1 Peter 4:7. We should pray boldly, Hebrews 4:16. We should be thankful to God when we pray, 1 Corinthians 1:4 and Philippians 1:3-4. Sometimes, we need to pray to God privately, Matthew 6:6. And, we should pray in the Spirit which we will talk about shortly, Ephesians 6:18. We should pray with lifted hands…that’s right, get those hands up. 1 Timothy 2:8 “In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy.” And, Psalm 141:2 “Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering.” That’s right, it’s not just for the charismatic crowd.

How Long Should I Pray?

Of course, everyone says “Pray without ceasing”, 1 Thessalonians 5:17. The problem is that it’s not that simple. What are you praying? Are you just babbling on and on? Matthew 6:7 tells us, “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles (or pagans) do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.” To “never stop praying” is talking about that relationship with God I mentioned earlier. Don’t just repeat words…talk to Him.

Luke 6:12 “One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night.”

Luke 18:1 “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.”

Romans 12:12 “Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.”

Matthew 7:7-8 ⁷“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

What Should I Pray For?

The simple answer is found in Philippians 4:6, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Pray about everything and thank God for what you have. We should pray for wisdom, James 1:5 “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” I learned to take this verse literally from my youngest son. Caleb is one of the wisest young men I know, so one day I asked him about it. He said he read this verse when he was about 13 years old and has prayed for wisdom ever since. Matthew 5:44 “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!” and Luke 6:27-28 ²⁷“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. ²⁸Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.” Enough said. As it said in the model prayer, pray that you won’t be tempted, Matthew 26:41 “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”. Pray for others, Romans 15:30 “Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 1:11 “And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety”, especially our leaders…yes, even the ones you don’t agree with, 1 Timothy 2:1-2 “¹I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. ²Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.” Don’t just pray when you are in trouble, but be ready when you need to; Psalm 50:14-15 “¹⁴Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High. ¹⁵Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.” And, most importantly, pray for your loved ones to be saved, Romans 10:1 “Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved.”

We’ll finish up this talk on prayer in the next installment by answering a few more questions, like; what does the Bible say about praying alone as opposed to praying with others, and the big one, what is this “Praying in the Spirit” all about? See you then.

A Lesson on Prayer-Part 4

Should I Pray Alone or With Others?

The answer to this question is yes…The Bible talks a lot about praying in private, like in Matthew 6:6 where it says, “But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” But, it also has a lot to say about praying together or corporate prayer. In Acts chapter 1 we see the beginning of the first church, and the first thing they did together wasn’t to sit down and listen to a sermon, it wasn’t to have a potluck dinner, it wasn’t even to take up an offering, it was to meet together and pray. Look at verse 14, “They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus.” And then in the very next chapter, we see an outline of how their meetings went. Acts 2:42 “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.” Prayer is extremely important in the Christian life, but it is equally important to the life and health of the body of Christ, the Church.

What is this “Praying in The Spirit” All About?

This is a question that has caused a lot of controversies, and even divided church bodies. The reason this question has been so divisive is that so many church members, and even church leaders, try to interpret the scripture, they don’t take it literally and in context. So, what does the Bible say about “praying in the Spirit”? Ephesians 6:18 says, “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.”

So, praying in the Spirit means to always be in a prayer attitude and constantly pray for all believers everywhere, but is that all? No, there is much more to it than just that. If you look at Romans 8:26, you’ll see this; “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” This is saying that praying in the Spirit is also letting the Holy Spirit intercede for you when you don’t have the right words to say, but there is more. 1 Corinthians 14:15 says, “Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the spirit, and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand.” This passage, along with others, is clearly talking about praying in an unknown language, not a foreign language, but the language of Angels, 1 Corinthians 13:1 “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” The languages of earth and of Angels…that isn’t French, or German, or even Hebrew, it is an unknown language to us. But when we let the Holy Spirit intercede for us, He prays through us in the language of angels.

What are the Results of Prayer?

Well, as we’ve already seen, He hears and He answers our prayers, but there is so much more than that. The first benefit of prayer is Peace. Philippians 4:6-7 “⁶Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” He’ll show you things to come, Jeremiah 33:3 “Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.”

So, as it says in Ephesians 6:18-20 “¹⁸Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. ¹⁹And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike. ²⁰I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.”

For more on prayer, also read James chapters 4 and 5…Oh yeah, I promised some study aids. Well, here they are:

Bible Gateway

Blue Letter Bible

The Linked Word Project

Bible Study Tools

Bible Tools

You Version

Here are a few more quotes on prayer:

“Those persons who know the deep peace of God, the unfathomable peace that passeth all understanding, are always men and women of much prayer.” ~ R. A. Torrey

“You may as soon find a living man that does not breath, as a living Christian that does not pray.” ~ Matthew Henry

“Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.” ~ John Bunyan

May 19, 2017 0

Put on All of God’s Armor

33783704493_90cea2ff14_o — Photo by Michelle Pearson

Put on All of God’s Armor-Part 1

In 1 Samuel 17, we read the story of David killing Goliath, but I want to look specifically at verses 38-40. They say, “³⁸Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. ³⁹David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before. ’I can’t go in these,’ he protested to Saul. ‘I’m not used to them.’ So David took them off again. ⁴⁰He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine.” There were a couple of problems with Saul’s armor. First of all, it was the wrong armor, Saul’s armor was made for Saul, a man who stood head and shoulders above everyone else. Secondly, David didn’t know how to put it on or how to wear it. David was just a shepherd boy; he didn’t have any idea how to put on armor.

I have read a lot of commentaries on Ephesians 6:10-20 and heard many different pastors preach on it, but I have never heard anyone talk about where to get the armor. So today I want to look at the importance of wearing the right armor and how to put it on.

In Ephesians chapter 6, starting at verse 10, the Bible tells us to put on ALL of God’s armor:

^“10A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. ¹²For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.”

In these first three verses, the Apostle Paul tells us twice to put on all of God’s armor. He doesn’t say to put on some of God’s armor, or just to put on what feels good, he emphasizes ALL, so this is the first thing we must understand. The Church today feels entitled. we think we can pick and choose what we want to believe and what we want to obey. If we are to be effective for Christ we have to completely surrender to Him. We must quit picking and choosing and start obeying. I know in our privileged and entitled society this is not a popular statement, but it is the truth. Matthew 4:4 says, “⁴But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”” Did you get that? Every word, that means we can’t pick and choose, we can’t decide which parts we want to believe, we must believe and live by the entire Bible…every word.

So, once we have surrendered ourselves to His will and realized that putting on all of God’s armor is a prerequisite, the next question is, where do I get it?

Let’s see what Paul tells us in verse 14 “Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.” So, in this verse, he first tells us to stand our ground. So, we can’t waver, we can’t be wishy-washy, we must stand firm, and in order to stand firm, we have to know what it says…all of it. Then it gives us the first two pieces of the armor. He says to put on the Belt of Truth. In armor, the belt wasn’t just there to hold your pants up or to hang your cell phone on, it was to protect your gut. It was usually made of thick leather and covered your stomach and bowels. And in God’s armor, your gut is covered by the belt of truth. Have you ever had a gut feeling that something was wrong? We know the truth in our gut. So, where does this belt of truth come from? John 17:17 says, “Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.” and Psalm 119:160 says, “The very essence of your words is truth; all your just regulations will stand forever.” So clearly, the belt of truth comes from reading and knowing God’s Word, because His Word IS truth. Notice it doesn’t say that His word teaches the truth, or that His word tells the truth, it says that His Word IS truth. The word of God is, by its very nature, truth itself. It embodies truth, it doesn’t merely speak the truth.

The second part of verse 14 says to put on the body armor, or breastplate, of God’s righteousness. So, we are to have God’s righteousness covering and protecting our heart. This is extremely important in every aspect of the Christian life. Proverbs 4:23 tells us “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” The profit Malachi tells men twice to guard our hearts to stay loyal to our wives. And in Philippians 4:7 it says, “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” So, this body armor of righteousness is obviously important. His righteousness guards our heart, which keeps us loyal and determines the course of our lives. So, without it we are lost, but where do we get it? 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;” So, all scripture is profitable for training in righteousness. So many believers think that once they have accepted Christ they are righteous. This could not be further from the truth. We need to be trained in righteousness and that training only comes from reading, memorizing, meditating on, studying and living the word of God. Psalm 119:11 ^“I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

This takes us to verse 15, which says, “For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.” So, the next thing is to cover our feet. Our feet do the work, they take us where God sends us. This one is pretty clear cut. It says to cover our feet with the peace that comes from the Good News. The definition of the word Gospel is Good News. In fact, some translations say it, cover your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace. We are to go in peace, but be ready for war. And, to prepare for going in peace, we must know the Gospel…we have to be well versed in the Good News that we are taking. In 1 Peter 3:15, the Apostle Peter tells us, “Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.” So how can we always be ready to give an answer? We have to know the Gospel; we have to know the word of God. Are we seeing a trend here? So far we have learned that, in order to have the belt of truth, the body armor of righteousness and the shoes of peace, we have to know what the Word of God says. We’ll pick up in verse 16 in our next installment and see what else we need to do.

Put on God’s Armor-Part 2

In our last blog, we looked at the first three pieces of armor. The next verse goes on to say, Verse 16 “In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.” The devil is constantly shooting flaming arrows at us, so we had better have a shield to stop them. Sometimes when we think of shields, we think of a small shield that straps to the soldier’s arm, but that shield is to defend yourself against a strike from a sword. The shield that stops arrows, especially flaming ones, is a large shield that you can crouch down behind and it covers your whole body. This shield is the shield of faith. Now, faith is something we need to talk about because faith is paramount in the Christian life. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:6 that it is impossible to please God without faith, but many in the Church today have started worshiping the faith itself instead of the one we are to have faith in. As my wife often says, “faith does not move mountains, God moves mountains, but we must have faith that he can do it.” Quite frankly, God can move mountains whether we have faith or not. But to ward off the fiery arrows of Satan, God tells us to use the Shield of Faith. So, where does this Shield of Faith come from? I thought you’d never ask. Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Okay, so faith comes from hearing the word of Christ, and where do we hear the word of Christ? The Gospel, the Good News, The Bible. So, to have the Shield of Faith, we must hide the word of Christ in our hearts. We must crouch down behind our faith and trust God to protect us from those fiery darts. Matthew 23:37 says,“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me”. God wants to protect us under His wing just like a chicken protects her chicks. The only way we can let Him is to have a relationship with Him and have true faith that He will be there.

Verse 17 goes on to say, “Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” This verse gives us 2 more. The first one is to put on Salvation as our Helmet. Without the Helmet of Salvation, the rest is completely useless. Without salvation, all the faith in the world won’t help you. There are more verses on salvation than I can list, but here are a few:

Hebrews 2:3 “So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak?”
2 Samuel 22:47 “The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock! May God, the Rock of my salvation, be exalted!”
Psalm 18:46 “The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock! May the God of my salvation be exalted!”
Psalm 27:1 “The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?”
Jonah 2:9 “But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”
When John the Baptizer’s father, Zechariah prophesied over him, he said, Luke 1:76-78 “⁷⁶And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. ⁷⁷ You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. ⁷⁸ Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us.”

As with every other piece of the armor, we cannot get salvation without the Word of God. In Romans 10:14 we read, “But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?” Also in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.” And in 1 Corinthians 1:21, “Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.” So, the Helmet of Salvation comes from the preaching of the Word. Again, I can’t stress enough the importance of salvation. Notice it is the helmet, it is the top thing, the most important, it protects our head. Without the Helmet of Salvation, the rest of the armor doesn’t matter. Acts 4:11-12 says, “¹¹For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ ¹²There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” In today’s world, I constantly hear people say, “it doesn’t matter what you believe in as long as you believe in something.” That is nothing but a lie from the Devil. It is exactly what Satan wants us to believe, but the Bible makes it perfectly clear that salvation is only through Jesus, the Christ.

So, what is salvation?

Admit that you are a sinner and in need of salvation.
1. Romans 3:23 “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”
2. Romans 3:10 “As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one.”
3. Romans 5:12 “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.”
Realize just what that means.
1. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
I’m not worthy! That’s right, none of us are.
1. Romans 5:8 “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
What do I need to do?
1. Romans 10:9-10 “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”
How do I know if it worked?
1. Romans 10:13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Now What? Live it!
1. Matthew 5:16 “In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”

I’m going to let you chew on that, and we’ll finish this up in our next blog. See you then.

All of God’s Armor-Part 3

Up to this point, we’ve looked at the Belt of Truth, the Body Armor of Righteousness, the Shoes of Peace, the Shield of Faith, and the Helmet of Salvation.

The next piece, in the second half of verse 17, is the Sword of the Spirit, and he gives this one away because he says, “which is the Word of God”…pretty cut and dried, right? In Hebrews 4:12 it says, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” Our weapon is the Word of God. Everything listed up to this point is defensive, it is all for protection, and it all comes from the Word of God, but our weapon is the Word itself. Have you ever watched one of those “swashbuckler” movies where a guy picks up a sword but doesn’t know how to use it? It never ends well, does it? So again, we have to be well versed in our weapon, it has to become an extension of our arm, we have to become one with it. But this verse doesn’t end with the Word of God is a sword, it goes on to say, it divides the soul and spirit, joint and marrow, and it exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. The Word of God cuts deep it exposes who we really are, it strips away any pretense.

Sadly, there are so many phonies in the church today. People that make it all about them, they constantly talk about the “gifts” they have and the miracles they have performed. If they truly got into the Word, it would divide their soul and spirit. It would expose their innermost thoughts and desires, and then…and only then…could they be used.

So, to recap, we are to put on all of God’s armor:

The Belt of Truth = The Word of God
The Body Armor of Righteousness = The Word of God
The Shoes of the Preparation of the Gospel = The Word of God
The Shield of Faith = The Word of God
The Helmet of Salvation = The Word of God
The Sword of the Spirit = The Word of God

But it doesn’t stop there. Verses 18-20 go on to say, “¹⁸Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. ¹⁹And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike. ²⁰I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.” So, he says to pray in the Spirit at all times, be persistent in your prayers for all believers. Then Paul says, pray for me that God will give me the right words to say. Then he ends it by saying, pray that I will keep on speaking boldly.

Paul starts out by telling us to put on all of God’s armor, which, as we have seen, means stay in the word, then he says to pray, and pray, and pray, and keep on praying. So the formula for protecting ourselves from Satan’s fiery darts is to study, memorize and meditate on the word of God, and then pray. Pray for each other, pray for our spiritual leaders and pray for ourselves. We’ll go more into prayer soon.

This passage is one of many examples that show us how Christianity is not about showing up at church every Sunday. It’s not about doing a quick 15 minute devotional every morning, rather than immersing yourself in the word and prayer. It is not about religion! If you study the New Testament, you will see that every time religion is mentioned, with the exception of one verse, it is mentioned in a negative light. Paul kept saying how he left the religion of his father to follow Christ. The people that Jesus had problems with were the religious leaders. The only time that religion is mentioned in a positive light is in James 1:27 “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” So, what God sees as true Religion is caring for widows and orphans and keeping yourself pure from the world. It’s not about where you “go to church”, or the organ, or the stained glass windows. It is about a relationship with God. Relationships only work when we put work into them. If I spent one hour a week with my wife, our marriage wouldn’t have lasted a year, and yet so many people who call themselves Christians do just that with God, they give him one hour a week. God doesn’t want our leftovers, He wants everything, and the only way we can cultivate that relationship is to spend time with Him. Spend time studying and memorizing His word, spend time talking to Him and listening to His voice.

So, put on ALL of God’s Armor, and be ready…the enemy is out there. 1 Peter 5:8, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

May 11, 2017 0

What is Cathedral Made Of People?

34424815281_0fafce1971_o — Photo By: Michelle Pearson Photography

If you would like a copy of my new book, Cathedral Made of People, you can purchase it on Amazon in both paperback and electronic forms by clicking on the picture above. You can also request a copy from me and I will make sure you receive it.

Welcome to my blog. The title comes from a song by the band, Downhere, and is on their album, End from The Beginning. I chose this title because it sums up what my overall message is in these upcoming blogs. The chorus of the song says:

We are a cathedral
made of people
In a kingdom that
the eye can’t see
We’re a house, we are the bride
Where God’s Spirit lives inside
And nothing ever
can stand against her

The decision to start this blog was born out of an event in my life in 2010. My wife and I had moved to a small, North Florida town to help my mother, and God called us to plant a church there. The town only had about nine hundred people, and already had four churches, so most people thought we were crazy. If we had been opening a business, like the fourth McDonalds in this town, I would have to agree that this was a dumb idea, but the church isn’t a business. I started checking around, and these four churches all run thirty-five to forty people, so that’s between fifteen and eighteen percent of the population. I started asking the locals why they didn’t go and got the same answer over and over. You see, a large part of this town’s population were alcoholics and addicts, and when I would ask them, they would say, “I don’t feel welcome in any of them.” Now, I hope that wasn’t a conscious effort from those churches, but it was very real. Here’s the thing, if you don’t feel comfortable in church, that’s the Holy Spirit convicting you, but if you don’t feel welcome…that’s on us.

So, in starting this church, I asked God how He wanted me to do it, and He told me to look at the first church, so I did. I spent about a year studying the first church, and do you know what I found? They were a family, and everyone was welcome. There were no denominations, they were one body, in fact, one of the key themes of the New Testament is the unity of the Body of Christ.

After this, I started talking to many pastors from all over the country and asking them why they chose the denomination they were part of. The answer I kept getting was staggering. Over and over, they told me that they chose the denomination based on the way they interpreted Scripture…did you get that? The way they interpret scripture. Every one of those pastors said that they believe the Bible is the verbally inspired, inerrant, infallible word of God. So, here’s the problem, we are not infallible, we are not inerrant, so when we put our fallible and errant interpretation on the perfect word of God, it is no longer perfect. The Bible was never meant to be interpreted. It must be taken literally, but in context, and as a whole. Not just in the context of that chapter, because the Bible wasn’t written in chapter and verse. Not just in the context of that book, but in the context of the whole Bible, as well as historically and linguistically. So, what I’m trying to say is that it takes work, but in today’s technological age, there is no excuse. On my phone, I have Greek and Hebrew dictionaries, lexicons, and the Bible in any translation I want to look at. I firmly believe that, if every Christ-follower took this approach, there would be no need for denominations. We may still see some minor things differently, but we would all agree on the major issues.

I am, by no means, saying that I have all the answers, but the Bible does. If you disagree with something I have written, feel free to contest it, I could be wrong, but anything you write, must be directly from Scripture and taken in context…so do the work. I have had people try to contest Scripture using a book on Baptist Polity before, you can imagine how that went over. So please, read and join in on the discussion. I look forward to growing together in Christ.

May 9, 2017 1

Tag: Religion

An Example

One Body

In Christ

A Lesson In Prayer

Put on All of God’s Armor

What is Cathedral Made Of People?

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