19 Things to Mull Over In Your Mind

1.  Jesus said, “I am the truth, the way and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.” (John 14:6-7)

2.  It was Jesus’ claim to be God that got Him into such trouble with the religious leaders (Priests, Pharisees and Levites).

3.  God speaks to every believer, but He never speaks to any believer in any way that contradicts His Word.

4.  God works in our lives according to the Scriptures, not according to our imaginations.

5.  God requires perfection of us, but we are unable to achieve it for Him. He therefore provides our perfection through Christ. If we trust Him in Christ, we will not have to worry about our “works.” In direct proportion to our trust in His leadership, our works will “take care of themselves.”

6.  God never has, does not now and never will break His promise. His promises are clearly delineated in the Bible.

7.  God has a direction for your life that is in keeping with His word.

8.  God wants you to respond to the leadership of the Holy Spirit as He directs your daily life in accordance with His word.

9.  Commitment to God’s way for our lives is essential to experiencing Him.

10. Being in the center of God’s will is essential to experiencing Him. Anything that we do, think or say that is not in the “dead center” of God’s will is sin. He will not condemn us for it, but we will lose the joy and comfort of being in His will.

11. We do not determine God’s will by our experiences. Our experiences must conform to the Word of God or the results of them will be heresy. Experiences must be evaluated in the light of God’s Word. God will direct you in ways that are consistent with His Word.

12. Jesus is the only one worthy of our followship.

13.God’s will includes, but is not limited to: 1. Be joyful always. 2. Pray continually. 3. Give thanks in all circumstances. 4. Follow the Holy Spirit. 5. Study the prophets. 6. Test everything. 7. Hold to the good. 8. Avoid evil. 9. Sanctify (set apart) yourself for His works.

14. Being a servant of God means giving up one’s selfishness and dying daily for Him. Jesus is the potter, we are His clay to be molded in His hands according to His will.

15. God is not interested in our business for business’ sake. He wants everything we do to be for the ongoing and up-building of His work.

16. God’s church has three main purposes: 1) To worship and praise Him; 2) To edify (build up) one another; 3) To lead people to Christ.

17. God will use you to do His work. He will enter into a relationship with you. He will invite you to come to Him and to work for Him. He will speak to you through His word and through His Holy Spirit. He will see you through those times when you don’t understand what’s happening and when you tend to doubt Him. He will help you adjust your thinking to conform to His Word. He will help you experience Him more fully every day.

18. No matter how unable you think you are to follow and experience God, He can use you; starting where you are and advancing you to heights you may never have believed possible.

19. God is Holy. His ways are not our ways. We think we know how something should be done, but often God accomplishes His will in ways we never expect.

Twelve Things (But Not Everything) You Need to Know

Twelve things you need to know about God 

1.  God is the Creator and Supreme Being of everything that there is.

2.  God is totally righteous beyond anything we can begin to imagine.

3.  God is sovereign, that is, He can act on His own without man’s permission.

4.  God knows everything there is to know…everything…no exceptions.

5.  God is everywhere at once.

6.  God is more powerful than all of the atoms of the universe.

7.  God exists in a triune nature: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

8.  The concept of the trinity cannot be fully understood but is imminently Scriptural.

9.  God is perfectly fair. If He and I disagree about fairness, I am wrong.

10. God totally loves His creation in a way that His creation will never understand fully.

11. God loves individuals (including you) as much as He loves all of creation.

12. God wants a personal relationship with you.

Twelve things you need to know about Jesus Christ 

1.  Jesus is 100% God.

2.  Jesus was 100% man.

3.  You will drive yourself crazy if you try to understand that.

4.  The man who was born in Bethlehem was named Jesus.

5.  Christ is the title given to the one who would bring salvation to the world.

6.  Christ is the Greek translation of the Old Testament Hebrew word for Messiah.

7.  Jesus was God incarnate and came to show us God, to live among us without sin, to be crucified, to die, to be buried and to rise from the grave. By Him sin is atoned for.

8.  Jesus is God; the Second Person of the trinity.

9.  Jesus is the Living Word through whom God created all that exists. (John 1:1-ff)

10. If you know Christ, you know God.

11. To know Christ, you must repent of sin, place your trust in, and only in, His finished work at the cross of Calvary.

12. By God’s grace you are saved when you place your trust in His Son, Jesus, Christ.

Twelve things you need to know about the Bible

1.  The Bible is God’s written Word and was inspired by Him.

2.  There are 66 books in God’s Word, written by 40 different men of different ages and at different times.

3.  The Bible contains things about you, but it is not about you…it is about God.

4.  Everything you need to know about God is in the Word of God. Nothing you need to know about God is not in the Word of God. Anything you think you know about God that is not in the Word of God, you just made up.

5.  The books of the Bible are in the Bible because each of them totally conforms to all of the others. (Many other books, such as the “Apocalypse of Peter,” the “Gospel of Thomas” and other writings are not included because they do not conform to the others.

6. The Bible is God’s revelation of His character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption.

7.  The Bible is divided into two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament.

8.  The Old Testament’s purpose is to record God’s choice of Israel as the nation through whom the Messiah (Christ) would come to bring salvation to the world and to point to Him.

9.  Both the Old Testament and the New Testament are about Christ.

10. Old Testament believers were saved the same way New Testament believers are saved: by trusting in Messiah. 

11.  There were 7 covenants in the Old Testament: The Edenic Covenant; the Adamic Covenant; the Abrahamic Covenant; the Noahic Covenant; the Land Covenant (Palestinian); the Mosaic Covenant and the Davidic Covenant. Some were irrevocable, some were revoked by Israel.

12.  There is 1 covenant in the New Testament: The covenant made through Jesus Christ. The New Covenant supersedes all other covenants and renders them obsolete. (Hebrews 8:13)

A study in Hebrews week 8 - One Obsolete, One New

Hebrews 8:1-13 – An Overview

For centuries, devout Jews had been operating under the Old, Mosaic Covenant, but now they were being told by Jesus and the apostles that things had changed. They could not claim to have been uninformed that such a dramatic change was coming. The Old Testament writers had prophesied that a New Covenant was coming, one that was vastly superior to the Old. One such prophet was Jeremiah. Jeremiah 31:31-34 is the longest Old Testament citation to be found in the New Testament. The New Covenant is the subject of our text in Hebrews 8 (and beyond). It is yet another reason why the high priestly ministry of our Lord is vastly superior to that of the Aaronic order since the high priest must carry out the terms of the covenant under which he serves.

Jeremiah 31:31 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” says the Lord. 33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,” says the Lord. “I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people. 34 “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” says the Lord. “For I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”

This same text is repeated in Hebrews 8:8-12. This alone should be enough to show us the supreme importance of the New Covenant. If more is needed, consider I Corinthians 11:25.

This cup is the New Covenant in my blood; do this whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me. Notice it does not say, "This cup is my blood," it says, This cup is the new covenant of my blood" 

Also consider Luke 22:20. ''And in the same way he took the cup after they had eaten, saying, 'This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood'” 

When Christ spilled His blood at Calvary, He was fulfilling the Law and establishing forever this new agreement between God and His creation.

The Mosaic Covenant was a bilateral, conditional, covenant: “And now, if you will diligently listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be my special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine” (Exodus 19:5). The New Covenant is a series of promises that God made to Israel and Judah, promises which are unchangeable and irreversible, since they are sealed by God’s oath. These promises make the New Covenant vastly superior to the Old Covenant, so much so that the New Covenant replaces the Old, making it obsolete.

The author of Hebrews tells us that the New Covenant is better than the Old (the Mosaic Covenant), among other reasons because it contains better promises.

Hebrews 8:6 But now Jesus has obtained a superior ministry, since the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one. 8 But showing its fault, God says to them, . . .” 

In other words, the author (whom I believe to be Paul) says that  the only reason for a “new” covenant is that the “old” covenant is flawed in some way.

How can a covenant be flawed? You can be sure that God did not flaw the covenant.

A covenant is an agreement; usually it is between two parties. There are two types of covenants in the Bible. Some of the covenants were bilateral in that there were obligations and commitments for both sides. The other kind of covenant in the Bible is a unilateral covenant. It is a covenant in which God binds Himself to do certain things, but not conditioned upon the actions of others. This is the type of covenant we find in the New Covenant.

The Old Covenant will not save anybody, no matter how great his or her determination to keep it. It will only condemn them. What, then, was wrong with the Old Covenant? The New Testament tells us. The problem with the Old Testament law is not with the law itself, for it sets forth a standard of righteousness that is holy, righteous, and good:

So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good (Romans 7:12).

The problem with the Old Covenant was on man’s side, not God’s. Thus, while the Mosaic Covenant would be broken by Israel and could never save anyone, the Israelites’ hope was to be in God, based upon His covenant with Abraham.

When we come to the New Testament, we find that God’s salvation in Jesus is presented as the fulfillment of both the Abrahamic Covenant and the New Covenant, as the result of our Lord’s work at Calvary. Put differently, it is by means of the New Covenant that God’s promises to Abraham were fulfilled when we come to the New Testament, we find that God’s salvation in Jesus is presented as the fulfillment of both the Abrahamic Covenant and the New Covenant, as the result of our Lord’s work at Calvary. Put differently, it is by means of the New Covenant that God’s promises to Abraham were fulfilled:

68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because he has come to help and has redeemed his people. 69 For he has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, 70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago, 71 that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us. 72 He has done this to show mercy to our ancestors, and to remember his holy covenant – 73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham.

Under the New Covenant, God does all of the “work.”  He has bound Himself to bestow salvation on those who know Him with no work to be done by them. It is a covenant of pure grace. Not just grace in some areas of spiritual life, but grace in every area of spiritual life!

Hebrews Chapter 08

Chapter 7:25 begins the high water mark of Hebrews He died down here to save us; He lives up there to keep us saved. He is able to keep on saving us. “To the uttermost” is all the way through; completely; perfectly. “Intercession” is intervention. “We shall be saved by his life” (Romans 5:10).

The Verses

Verses 1-5 – “The true tabernacle.” He is the real/general tabernacle. A priest must offer gifts and sacrifices. Christ offers gifts and sacrifices. Christ did not offer gifts and sacrifices on earth. On earth HE was the sacrificial Lamb of God.

The earthly priesthood was a shadow (a picture) of the tabernacle of Heaven. Christ serves in the real tabernacle (Hebrew: משכן‎, mishkan, "residence" or "dwelling place").

Here we have a better sacrifice, a better priest, and a better tabernacle. He died down here to save us; He lives above to keep us saved.

Verses 6-13 – There are two covenants. Christ is the Mediator of the better covenant…the NEW COVENANT.

The first covenant was not adequate. It sought a righteousness grounded in the Law.

In Romans we learned that if we depend on the Law of the Old Testament we are doomed. Romans 3:21-23 – “But now a righteousness from God, apart from the Law has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteous from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

There is nothing wrong with the Old Covenant, but it could only save perfect people. Romas 3: 20 – “Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the Law; rather, through the Law we become conscious of sin.”

The New Covenant causes people to be seen as perfect by God through Christ’s eyes when we place our faith in Him, His death, burial and resurrection.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 told us that the New Covenant was coming. 31 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. 33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

The church (a group of people redeemed from sin by Christ’s sacrificial death) is the beneficiary of the New Covenant. The Greek word "ecclesia," is correctly understood as: "The called-out (ones), "

Verse 13 is important: By calling this covenant ‘new,’ He has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

We are bound by the New Covenant, not the Old Covenant…and that should be shouting ground!

What is the Lord's Supper About?

Did you have “communion” in worship today? Communion is also known as the Lord’s Supper. Have you heard the event called “celebrating the Lord’s supper?” How accurate is that? Are we really supposed to celebrate the supper?

(For purposes of this post, the term “Lord’s Supper” will be used.)

The Lord’s Supper references the last time the disciples ate with Jesus. It was Passover, but the bread and wine did not represent just another Passover meal in the minds of the disciples (whose heritage was Jewish). There was much more to it than that.

Passover commemorates the time when the blood of a lamb was painted over the door frames to signify the faith of the inhabitants of the house. When the Lord was going to strike dead the first-born of every Egyptian household, He promised to spare the children of faithful Jews. The whole thing was preliminary to Pharaoh’s releasing Israel and the parting of the Red Sea.

At the “Passover Seder,” faithful Jews eat a meal in a particular order. Each course of the meal represents a different part of the Passover story. The meal would include Maror (bitter herbs), Charoses (fruit, nuts, wine and cinnamon), Beitzah (a roasted egg) Karpas (a vegetable) Zeroah (roasted lamb) and Wine. During the meal, they drink four cups of wine, the third of which is the cup of redemption. This is the same place the cup was presented at the Last Supper. The fourth cup is not drunk, but is left for Elijah, the prophet.

The bread of the Passover meal was the “Afikomen.” It was the middle Matza, which is pulled out and broken in two. Half is wrapped in white linen and the other half is eaten at the end of the meal. The bread was unleavened, as leaven represents sin.

Accounts of the last supper are found in Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22 and John 13. John alone records a lengthy discourse Jesus delivers to the disciples on this occasion (and a prayer on behalf of the disciples and all future believers); it continues through chapter 17. Another account occurs in 1 Corinthians 11.

In each instance of the Lord’s Supper recorded in the Bible, the Matza and the third cup of wine is used to illustrate Jesus’ sacrificial death. Instead of bread broken in half, we have Jesus’ body broken for us. Instead of blood on the doorposts, we have blood shed on a cross.

Too often the Bible is read in accordance with what we've been taught or in accordance with what seems to “make sense” to us. The account of the Lord’s Supper is an example. What the elements of the Lord’s Supper represent is not left to conjecture, Jesus is clear. But He is often (or perhaps usually) misquoted or misunderstood.

The part about the broken bread is usually gotten right (if you don’t count the Catholic’s contention that the bread actually becomes a piece of Jesus’ body - Transubstantiation). In each account, Jesus says, “This is my body…” (Except for John, who emphasizes the washing of feet as a symbol of love and service). Matthew and Mark leave it at that. Luke adds the phrase “…given (or broken) for you.” 

In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul says “…which is for you” In each case, it is clear that the bread represents the body of Christ.

The part about the wine is another matter. It is usually read as thought is says, “This wine represents my blood.” It does represent His blood, but not as the complete meaning of the account.

Matthew uses the phrase, “…blood of the covenant.” Mark says, “…of the covenant.” Luke says, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood…” Paul’s account reads, “This cup is the new covenant…”

A pastor once noted that when God says something once it is important. When He says something twice, it is very important. When He says something three times, you’d better listen and if He says it four times or more, you’d be stupid to ignore it.

Four times Jesus refers to the blood of the New Covenant.

What is this New Covenant? It is the complete fulfillment of the Old Covenant in the person of Jesus, Christ. According to Hebrews 8:13, the Old Covenant no longer applies; it is obsolete…done. When Christ was on the cross, He did not cry out, “It is almost done!” He did not cry out, “Just a few more things to do!” Jesus did not cry out, “I've done most of the work, now you do your part!” He cried out “IT…IS…FINISHED!”

With Jesus’ death, the New Covenant was ushered in. Whereas under the Old Covenant there were certain foods that were unclean, under the New Covenant, all foods are allowed (Acts 10:9-16). Under the Old Covenant, obedience was blessed, disobedience was cursed. Under the New Covenant, God will NEVER curse one of His children. Under the Old Covenant, the Law was written in stone and carried around in a box. Under the New Covenant, God’s Law is written in our hearts…no box required.

The next time you celebrate communion or the Lord’s supper, remember the emphasis that Jesus put on His blood being the blood of the New Covenant. Without the Christ of the New Covenant, you are lost.

How Have You Defined Faith?

Hebrews 11:1 "Faith is the ¹substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things unseen."

What does that mean? Theologians will repeat it as though repeating it explains it. That is linguistically impossible. You can't define something by repeating it.

SUBSTANCE

"Substance" is the essence of something. It is the basis of something, hence, assurance guarantee, confidence. (Greek: hupostaseos, fem. noun from huphstemi - that which underlies the apparent, hence, reality, essence.”)

In Hebrews 1:3, the person of Christ is defined as the very image of God. It speaks of the Divine essence of God existent and expressed in the revelation of His Son. Substance is what it is made of. "Substance" is the constituency of something.

Substance is the real nature of a thing which underlies and supports its outward form or properties. It describes the nature of the Son as the image of God’s essential being.

Understanding the word ‘substance’ can be difficult, because we today do not have a word that expresses its exact meaning. The Jews and Jewish Christians would have understood it quite well.

So what "substance" is hoped for in faith?

The context of the book of Hebrews tells us. Remember, Hebrews is the revelation to the Jews of the person of the New Covenant, Jesus; Messiah. The idea of a New Covenant would be understood by the Jews, although they would be surprised by it. 

Up to chapter 11, Hebrews has been about the superiority of Jesus as a sacrifice for sin. In chapter 11, it continues to be about the same thing. The "Hall of Faith" is an extension of that premise. 

Therefore, the "substance" is the person of Christ. Each of the “Hall of Faith” members was hoping for Messiah, God’s Savior.

EVIDENCE

What, then, is the "evidence of things unseen?" Well, what had the elders not seen? They had not yet seen Messiah, their Savior. The evidence of Him, though was all around them. The salvation of Noah in the flood, the priestly robes, the crossing of the Red Sea and the fall of Jericho were all evidences to the Jews of God’s plan of salvation through Messiah. They had confidence that He was coming.

Abel believed Messiah would bring right standing with God. Enoch believed Messiah would bring right standing with God. Noah believed Messiah would bring right standing with God. Abraham believed Messiah would bring right standing with God. Isaac believed Messiah would bring right standing with God. Jacob believed Messiah would bring right standing with God. Joseph believed Messiah would bring right standing with God. Moses believed Messiah would bring right standing with God. Even Rahab believed Messiah would bring right standing with God. So did Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all of the prophets.

Each member of the "Hall of Fame" had faith that God was working out of his salvation through the person of the Messiah. So must we have faith

Are you still looking for salvation? Are you still hoping for Messiah? If you are, you are not saved.

For an in depth discussion of “substance,” click HERE. 

¹Some translations use “being sure,” or some other word or words. In this, the King James has the better translation. The word “hupostaseos” is best translated “substance.”

How Should Scripture Be Applied?

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard the expression, "Scripture has one interpretation, many applications." It is patently false.

Maybe you've heard the expression, "Don't be so Heavenly minded that you are no earthly good." That is also false and is very bad advice, probably from an unsaved person who thinks he is saved.

The two thoughts are related. "Application" is determined by your "Heavenly mindedness."

Rest assured, my friend; if you are not Heavenly minded you will be no earthly good whatever. And if you are not Heavenly minded when you apply Scripture you will fall into the subtle trap of legalism, even while you are denying that you are a legalist.

Scripture is not about what you should or should not do to please God. Sure, if you keep the Ten Commandments you will please God. But you can't keep them. Paul, in Romans, tells us that the purpose of the Law (the Ten Commandments and the Law of Moses) is to reveal our sinfulness and to convict us of our individual sin. Sin's only remedy is Christ.

Our inability to keep the Law is not an excuse for sin. Paul also wrote in Romans that we must not sin more so that we can experience a higher level of God's grace. "I'm only human," does not excuse sin or any act of sin. You are human, but any iota of sin not covered by the blood of Christ will condemn you to eternal Hell.

Fortunately, or more precisely, gracefully, Christ's atoning death covers all of our sin with His blood.

The proper application of Scripture MUST point one to Christ. Any other application is a false application. It is born of, and supports the cause of Satan. It leads people astray, causes despondency, discourages people (when it is supposed to encourage them) and causes them to trust in their behavior rather than in the Christ of Calvary.

Let's lose this "there is only one interpretation of Scripture but many applications" mentality. Let's let Scripture point not to our behavior as Christians but to the One who is the point of Scripture, the Lord, Jesus, Christ. Let's focus on Him. (After all, we cannot focus on Him and sin at the same time. That is impossible.)

That kind of Heavenly mindedness guarantees that you will be of earthly good for Christ.

Is Jesus Equal to the Babylonian Moon God?

Reading by Narrative

Sometimes well meaning people fall prey to the artificial subject titles of Scripture. It's as though the subject titles themselves are equal in inspiration to the words of Scripture. That inevitably leads to a misunderstanding of the Bible.

Even the division by chapter are verse have nothing to do with divine inspiration. They were placed in the Bible by a translator or a transcriber to help us find our place, that's all. That is absolutely all.

Let me give you an example

I cannot count the times I have heard preachers preach from Ephesians 5:23 and thought it was a good beginning place. That's because some scribe put the words "Wives and Husbands" (NIV) just before it. Actually, it is a totally rotten starting place, because if you start there you think wives are supposed to submit to their husbands and that's that.

What if you take the "Wives and Husbands" part out and just read the flow of the text? Then the complete passage reads: "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives...to your husbands as to the Lord...Husbands (to) love your wives just as Christ loves the church."

As a matter of fact, if we complete the thought Paul is expressing, we find out that he is not even talking about husbands and wives!

"What's that?" you ask. "He's not talking about husbands and wives? Joe, have you lost your mind? What do you think he is talking about?"

I don't have to guess. Paul tells us clearly. He says, "...but I am talking about Christ and the church."

"Well, yes...mumble, mumble, mumble, he's talking about the church, but he mentions husbands and wives." Yes, he does, and if you want to pretend that's the subject, go ahead, but beware! You will be teaching heresy. If you think there's some righteous application there, OK. But be aware that you will be misusing the text. Is that what you think God wants you to do?

Paul does write those words, but if you use these verses to prove something about how husbands and wives should behave toward each other, you are too soft headed to really be reading Scripture.

Immediately following his "...love your wives..." phrase, Paul makes clear that he is using the perfect relationship between husband and wives originally intended in Genesis (that they become one flesh) to illustrate the relationship of the Bride of Christ to the Bridegroom.

I just recently heard another use of Scripture based on the afore mentioned scribe's putting the words "Overseers and Deacons" before 1 Timothy 3:1.

To begin with, most preachers, deacons and teachers skip right over verse 1, which very, very clearly says, "If anyone sets his heart on being and overseer..." It seems that inviting a person to be an "overseer" is not initiated by the church, but by their burning desire to serve in that capacity. The person "sets his heart on being..."

Secondly, the passage is not even about the overseers and deacons as prospects, it is about being very careful to place only those whose doctrine is sound into leadership positions.

The issue in Timothy's church, as revealed in the narrative, was leaders who subscribed to weird and heretical doctrines (check it out in Chapters 1 and 2). Paul addressed this topic (sound doctrine) four times in the narrative of the book, each time urging Timothy to remain steadfast in the doctrine of the birth, life, death, burial, resurrection and second coming of Christ...and nothing else...period.

Timothy is urged to remain faithful to the message that there is one God and one mediator (Christ) and that a teacher chosen must be someone committed to the "true faith" (verse 7). He is told that there would be those who were never committed to Christ and would fall by the wayside and teach things taught by demons! (Any of those teachers in your church? There have been in every church I've ever served in.)

Paul instructs Timothy to point out false doctrines (4:6ff). We are simply not to allow false doctrine to be preached or taught in the church...period. It must be called out and corrected. That might mean exposing some false teacher's teachings in order to demonstrate how and why they are false. That might mean showing how some revered conference leader is teaching false doctrines and urging our members not to associate themselves with such a conference leader.

Just because someone writes a book, that is no reason to believe or follow what they write. Many contemporary writers present their knuckle headed ideas and then go searching for some Bible verse that proves their position.

Do you remember the "Prayer of Jabez?" What a farce! What a stupid, asinine, heretical use of one part of one verse to form a doctrine of getting God to do what you want Him to do! Yet many, many preachers and other Christians fell for it, hook, line and sinker. There was not even a pretense of seeking a context of the verse, let alone substantiating it with other Scripture.

Come on, Christians! (The bold letters mean I'm yelling) Get with God's program! Let the Holy Spirit put God's Law of love and grace in your hearts, and stop this silly business of using Scripture to prove what you want it to prove!

STOP IT! (The bold capitalized letters mean I'm yelling even louder.) READ THE BIBLE AS A NARRATIVE AND FIND OUT WHAT IT REALLY MEANS (The underline means I'm just about screaming.)

Use the chapters, verses and section topics as aids. Don't think they are part of God's inspiration.

Matthew 7:15 "Beware of false prophets. They come in sheep's clothing, but...are ferocious wolves"

Are You a Christian Mystic?

Sometimes I am at a loss for words to express how much superstitious mysticism has invaded our churches and our faith. It is so pervasive as to almost have taken the place of Christ and His redemptive purpose. People think this way: "I am a Christian. I had this experience. The experience must have come from God." Or they think: "I am a Christian. I thought of such-and-such. The such-and-such I thought of must be from God."

What a total perversion of what Truth is and how it is presented to God's followers in Christ!

Over the years people have come to me to "enlighten" me about how God works. Once, when I was suffering a physical condition, a pastor type came to me and proclaimed that I was in that condition because I had "confessed it," and that I had "failed to accept God's offered healing." To back his position he quoted to me Isaiah 53:3, "...But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." He leaned very heavily on the "...with his stripes we are healed" part. 

When this (I guess well meaning) pastor recited those words to me, I suppose he thought I had never read them before. In over 57 years of studying and teaching the Bible, I have never read Isaiah 53:3? Is that what he thought? How does he think I missed that part? Does he think I just ignored it? Perhaps he thinks I just skipped over it.

Actually, I have read and taught Isaiah many, many times and I have always included Isaiah 53:3. I am not ignorant of it, I just think beyond any shadow of a doubt that this pastor was totally miss-applying it, as do many, many Christians.

The idea that this passage refers to Christ's being whipped brought physical healing to us requires us to believe that God is capricious and disorderly in His revelation through His word. It requires us to think that the beginning of the passage (rightly) refers to spiritual things, but then God arbitrarily threw in a short physical reference before continuing His spiritual discourse.

Folks, there are no instances in all of Scripture where the revelation proceeds in this manner. Sometimes Paul is accused of being "stream of consciousness" in his presentation, but properly read and understood, nothing could be further from the truth.

What that pastor was actually guilty of (as are far too many Bible expositors) was having an idea (whether on his own or taught), considering himself a Christian, and concluding that the idea must, therefore, be from God. That is the essence of the error of Christian superstition and mysticism.

Another way of considering the thought processes that lead to superstition and mysticism goes like this: “I saw/experienced/heard X, therefore, X is true and should be pursued as a practice of our faith.” 

But true biblical reasoning must go: “Though I saw/experienced/heard X, I must rigorously test it up against a hermeneutically sound interpretation of Scripture. If Xconflicts with Scripture, it is X that is abandoned as a practice of our faith, not Scripture. 

Scripture alone is the authority.” Put another way for the sake of argument: “I think I saw a unicorn. Scripture says that unicorns do not exist. Therefore, I saw something, but it was not a unicorn.”

Though we may experience interesting spiritual phenomena, if the phenomenon is not supported by a sound interpretation of Scripture, then it is not to be pursued as something of the Christian faith. It would dissolve into superstition and mysticism.

There is another issue that leads to superstition and mysticism. It is correctly quoting Scripture but doing so out of the context of the word used in the original language, the verse it is in, the chapter it is in, the book it is in, the Testament it is in, the Covenant to which it applies and the Bible as a whole. All of those must come into play in order to correctly interpret and apply Scripture.

What often leads to bad theology and heresy is connecting Scriptures that are unrelated and from them establishing a theology or theosophy. For example, the following Scriptures are word-for-word what the Bible says:

Matthew 27:5 "So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself."

Luke 10:27 "Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise."

John 13:27 "What you do, do quickly."

Put them all together and you can use the passages to conclude that Jesus justifies suicide! Nonsense, of course.

Sadly, that is how Christians establish their doctrines and theosophies. The end result is superstition and mysticism.

There is at least one more approach to Scripture that leads to superstition and mysticism. That is to totally misunderstand how Scripture is to be applied. There is a saying, "Scripture has one interpretation, but many applications.” That is patently false.

The problem with that approach is that it reduces Scripture to a form of Christian behaviorism. But that is not what Scripture is about in any way, shape or form. Some present this idea under the guise of Scripture being “designed for application, not just for spirituality.”

As long as that is totally understood in light of Scripture, that can be true. But the Bible is not a guide for living. If you need a guide for living, there is none better, but that’s not what it is about. Nor is it a book of history. If you need a history of the beginning through the end, there is no better book, but that’s not what the Bible is about. The Bible is not about correcting social injustice. If you need guidance as to what social ills need attention, there is no better source than the Bible, but that is not what it is about.

The Bible is God’s revelation of His character, His love of His creation and His plan for its redemption. The purpose of any Bible study must be to determine what the passage reveals about God’s character. Miss that, and you miss the meaning. The purpose of any Bible study must be to discover how much He loves His creation. Miss that, and you miss the meaning. The purpose of any Bible study must be to uncover anew God’s plan for man’s redemption. Miss that, and you miss the meaning.

The Word of God is rooted in Truth (Jesus Christ). That Truth has nothing to do with what we wish God was like. It has nothing to do with coincidental events in our lives. God’s Truth is totally removed from any hint of superstition or mysticism. His Truth finds its absolute sufficiency in Christ, without added experiences, pretentions or imaginations.

Discerning Right Doctrine in Prayer Part 1

A Mixture of Christianity
and Eastern Religions

Have you ever heard the phrase "contemplative prayer?"

Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-1816 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Corinthians 14:15, Paul instructs us to pray with our minds. So, clearly, prayer does involve contemplation.

Unfortunately, there has arisen a part of the so-called "emergent church" movement a meditative process where the practitioner focuses on a single word and repeats that word over and over for the entire "prayer." Supposedly, one can clear one's mind so that God's voice may more easily be heard. Following the vocal part of the "prayer," the practitioner is to sit still and to listen for direct guidance from God.

Contemplative prayer, is essentially Eastern/New Age meditation disguised with Christian terminology. You'll hear such things as "empty oneself and be in God's presence," or "The silence is there within us. What we have to do is to enter into it...to become the silence...Silence is the language of the spirit." Contemplative prayer might sound like an innocent or sincere exercise but contemplative prayer is anti-Biblical; it has no Scriptural support. Instead, it focuses on some mystical interaction with God.

God is indeed mysterious. But He is not mystical. He has given us His Word upon which we are to base our faith. The Bible presents to us the essence of Truth, which is a who, not a what. His name is Jesus.

What we know about God is based on Biblical fact. Trusting in experiential knowledge over the Biblical record takes a person outside of the standard that is the Bible.

Contemplative prayer is no different from the meditative exercises used in Eastern religions and New Age cults. It has no basis in Christianity and Christians should have no part in it.

If someone in your sphere of influence (a church friend, a neighbor, a TV preacher, a pastor or any other entity) tries to introduce you to or encourages you to practice contemplative prayer, do not walk away from them; run away from them as fast as you can. They are spreading the word of Satan, not of God.