Month: September 2016

From Such Turn Away!

Mark 7

7 Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.

2 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.

3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.

4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.

5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?

6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

10 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:

11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.

12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;

13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

14 And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:

15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

16 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

17 And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable.

18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;

19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?

20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.

21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

I had it on my mind today to talk about thinking. You know…….a man left alone with his own thoughts and what God thinks about that. After all, most of what we hear today is derived from our own thoughts. Whether you are one who chooses to think that God does not exist, that God is a God of love and accepts or tolerates everything and everyone, or that the rules God has may be a little more conservative than this liberal world would like Him to be, or thinks He is. No matter what, I got to thinking…..what does God think about our wisdom compared to His. I was led to Mark chapter 7 and read this beautiful nugget of wisdom. I praise God for His teaching.

First let’s take note that Jesus corrected sinners. Yes, that’s right, Jesus corrected people. Please, don’t take my word for it, read it here. The Pharisees were self-righteous people who thought that they were better than everybody else because they were righteous and everybody else was not. They thought they did not sin, and they were trying to trick Jesus into blasphemy as they questioned His wisdom with their own. Their conduct is sin, its idolatry. And notice that Jesus referred to the Pharisees as hypocrites. Why is that important? Because if Jesus was alive today and did that so many people would say, “Don’t judge me.” Notice that Jesus did not condemn them, so there was no judgment. He did identify a behavior and called it our as such. The point here is that there really is a difference. I think that sometimes we are guilty of reading the written word and injecting emotion where it ought not to be. However, I also believe that sometimes we read the written word and fail to inject the appropriate tone, inflection, excitement, anger, and other emotions too. We think what our minds want us to think. I believe that means that we want to think that Jesus never corrected anyone, he never called a man out on his sin, and he never got angry or spoke with emotion. I believe these verses tell a different story. I believe that Jesus was passionate about being about His Father’s business. I think these words indicate that Jesus was not the all loving God that tolerated everything. I think it clearly states that Jesus was the all loving God who put his foot down and did apply emotion when it was the right time.

Notice verse 21. Let’s clearly indicate that when we talk about the heart, it is a metaphor for the brain. Let’s admit what we know, the human heart is a muscle that pumps blood through the body. It does not think, feel, love, or engage the rest of the body in any form of action. It pumps blood as commanded and regulated by the brain and that’s it. The brain is where we think and that is what Christ is talking about here. From our mind, where we are to meditate on God in ALL ways and at ALL times, we derive evilness. These are not my words, but those of Christ. Here Jesus tells us where we go wrong most of the time. He tells us that the things we say, the things that come from within, and the thoughts that generate our words and our action are what defile a man. In our mind we think of all the things he mentions in the remaining words of 21 and in verses 22 and 23. Jesus tells us the things we contrive in our head are sinful, but if we were to think on the things above, we would not sin.

2 Timothy 3

3 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,

7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their’s also was.

10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,

11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.

12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;

15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Again, I read verse 8 and wanted to post it. But as I read the verses around it, and saw the context, I see again that God is better at explaining His point than I am. I am so unworthy. In verse 8 God tells us that in the end times man will have a corrupt mind. Now I do not know exactly how close we are or are not to the last day. I will not even pretend to guess, as God has clearly told us how foolish that is. Man has also made himself out to be a fool by repeatedly predicting the end of time inaccurately. But again, in this chapter we are seeing the unacceptable behaviors laid out for us to know and understand. We are also told what the acceptable behaviors are. It does not matter who you are, you cannot change those. If you are an unsaved sinner looking to make God into something that brings you comfort in your sin, you will not find that in the Christian faith that I belong to. If you are a Christian trying to tell the world that living in sin is okay because God loves everyone, then you are not telling God’s word you are telling your own story and according to verse 8 you are reprobate concerning the faith, which is to say that you are so far away from the faith that you have no conscience for your sin. You have no shame or guilt for your sinfulness. And to approve of sinfulness would indeed be a message that is anti-scripture and, as fruit, would indicate that the truth is not in you. I know too many people who proclaim Christ and tell me that hanging out with sinners is good, and that even Jesus did it. Yes, He did, as he talked to them about that sin. He did not sit with them and drink booze, smoke cigarettes, watch horror movies, throw parties and give them any reason to believe that living in their sin was okay with our ways. What does it say from the end of verse 5? “From such turn away.” You are not the God man, you are not to befriend and live with the unsaved.  You are told to stay away because you may fall yourself, and Christ knows that so He tells you to say no to those relationships.

I love verse 16 because in it, we are told to use the scripture to reprove (which means correct) each other and that those who are of the spirit will receive that correction. Those who wish to do good works would be wise to hear it, and do it. In James we are told to be doers of the word, not just hearers of the word. If you hear the correction, then make the correction.

This world is not kind to correction. It is absolutely comfortable living in its sin. It is only going to get worse. But we exacerbate that because Christians are not following the word. We are letting the people we love slip away from God by being too afraid to hurt their feelings, or to lose them as a family member. We are picking our earthly relationships over our Godly relationship. In that end, we will only ever have our earthly relationships.

I love you so much that I will not lie to you. I love you so much that I will not withhold from you the truth that set me free, because I want you to be free from the consequence of sin too. I will love you so much that I will not quit or give in just because you say God’s truthful love is hateful; because I know that no one really wants to endure correction, even me. I will love you so much that I will not hoard salvation all to myself, but rather share with you the truths you need to know so you can make the best choice in your life, to receive Christ into your mind and share His greatest gift of all, the cleansing love of the blood of Christ.

If you stand in the mirror, what will the reflection tell you about your relationship with God and what are you going to do about it? May the peace of God be abundantly heaped upon you and your home, straight from the cross to the Christian!

Christ is not your boy toy.

This world is coming unraveled, and it is speeding up the unraveling with each passing day. The bible warns us, many times over, of what is to come (which I believe is already here in some regard) and how to identify it, and then how to deal with it. We can boil the reasons down to just one, sin. But I know that is when people start rolling their eyes and say, “Yeah, yeah, yeah! Sin, that’s the reason for everything with you people!” So instead of just saying ‘sin’, let me try to put it another way, let me reveal how God puts it, and see if we can’t clear some things up.

I am reading from the second epistle (a short dispatch or note) of John. There is only one chapter, so let’s go directly to verses 7 through 11.

7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

To start off with, we are told here that if there be a person who does not confess that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, they are a deceiver. We have no need to interpret this, as it is plain. There is no reason why a Christian entertains theory from a person who does not believe that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. In fact, there are many who confess this, but fail to actually believe it. This is a principal that is a huge hiccup for a lot of people. Faith is more than lip service. It is a total belief system. You say it, but do you confess it from the nucleus of your mind? With all of your logical senses, do you truly confess that Christ is God in the flesh?  In the next verse, John starts of with the word ‘THIS’. The word indicates the behavior. ‘This’ really means those who do not confess and believe that Christ is the God man, and that this behavior makes a person a deceiver and the enemy of Christ. I know that when we talk about an anti-christ, we think of just one person that is going to rise to power as the testimony of Christ reveals in the pages of Revelation. But here, John is letting you know that ALL who do not believe are an enemy of Christ. This is serious business folks. I put it to you because I think the Christian of today believes that a relationship with Christ is some cavalier on again off again deal. Christ is not your trophy girlfriend, or your boy toy. He is almighty God and this is a lot more serious than you think!

Ellicot wrote– “among all the human errors by which the influence of the Evil One is manifested, this is the most destructive. Those who adopt such errors are the most fatal deceivers and opponents of Christ and truth.”

John Gill wrote- “who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh; these were not the Jews who denied that Jesus was the Christ, though they would not allow that Christ was come in the flesh; but these were some who bore the Christian name, and professed to believe in Jesus Christ, but would not own that he was really incarnate, or assumed a true human nature, only in appearance; and denied that he took true and real flesh of the virgin, but only seemed to do so; and these are confuted by the apostle and upon everyone of these he justly fixes the following character.”

8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.

Why is the gathering of the saints important? Why is a church home important? Why should the brethren be the most important people in your life? Because we are to ‘look to ourselves’. We are to be AWAKE!! We are to be on constant guard for the series of men who deceive and who are an anti-christ. We are to be a peculiar people set aside all on one accord, like minded so that when we see that which is not right we can identify it as such and stay clear of it. Christians are not hate mangers and we are not filled with phobias. We believe the BIBLE declares a right behavior and a wrong behavior. As we all should be on the constant lookout for flaws in our own lives, we are also on the constant lookout for the snares of the world. And we are to identify them, call them out so we can all, together, stay clear of them. Why? So that we do not lose the things which we have wrought. This is very clear. We must be watchful for if we fail, we lose all the ground we covered. It is a constant effort, it is an endless walk, it is enduring to the end, it is making the good choice, it is leaving behind your earthly flesh and giving over to God all that is you. There is a finish line to cross, a reward to be lost, and a hell to shun. But there is a full reward to be had, a heaven to be gained for those who endure unto the end. In Galations 3:3 Paul asks the Galatians if they were so foolish as to begin “in the spirit” and then be “perfected by the flesh”. We must remain vigilant in rebuking those who would mislead us with wrong interpretations of God’s word. That is the answer to the ‘why’ questions. So that we can bare each other’s burdens and be our brother’s keepers.

Benson comments– “Lest you lose the reward of what you have already done, which every apostate does; but that we receive — Which every one that is faithful unto death shall do; a full reward — That, having fully employed all our talents to the glory of him that gave them, we may receive the whole portion of felicity which God has promised to diligent, persevering Christians.”

Adam Clarke comments– “This reading is more consistent and likely, and is supported by at least as good evidence as the other. We find that if these persons did not keep on their guard they might lose their salvation, and the apostles their rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus. Even this intimation might put them on their guard. Had the apostle said ye cannot finally fall, what a different effect would it have produced!”

Ellicott writes– “The result of the error would be loss of the fellowship with the Father and the Son in truth and love.”

9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. 10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: 11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

Again, there really is not need for too much discussion as this is pretty clear. If you subscribe to crying out LORD LORD and do not have the doctrine in you, you are not abiding with God. These are His words. Not only does God want you to believe in Him, He wants that faith to produce obedience. He does not just want you to believe in Him, He wants you to abide with him. The word abide (μενων) refers to being one with, not separating or becoming something different. That’s how close God wants you to be with Him. But if we transgress by not being one with the doctrine of Christ, God tells us we are not one with Him, but that we have become something different; we are apart from Him. If we do keep the doctrine then we are one with Him. And this is so important to God that He tells us, that if anyone comes teaching something that is not right, we are not to receive that person. Now, John is saying that this person should not be permitted to teach or preach in the house of God because that is not the doctrine of Christ. But this verse does not stop at the house of God alone. If you are a true Christian, then when you leave church and go home, you are truly leaving one house of worship and going to another house of worship. So if the anti-christ is not to be in the church house, he is not to be in your home also. In-fact, the next few words tells you to not bid him God’s speed. This means that we are not to encourage them to continue to preach, teach, talk false doctrine. If you encourage an anti-christ, you then are promoting the false doctrine and are now one with the enemy of Christ. God is simply saying, pick a side. There is no middle. You are either one with me, or you are not.

Benson states– “….so the Christian sister to whom the apostle wrote this letter, being probably rich, and of a benevolent disposition, thought herself under an obligation to supply the wants of those strangers who went about preaching. Wherefore, to prevent her from being deceived by impostors, the apostle here directs her to require such teachers to give an account of the doctrines which they taught; and if she found that they did not hold the true Christian doctrine, he advised her not to receive them into her house, nor to give them any countenance. And this advice of the apostle was certainly perfectly proper, because they who entertained, or otherwise showed respect to, false teachers, enabled them the more effectually to spread their erroneous doctrine, to the seduction and ruin of those whom they deceived.”

Ellicott writes– “Although it would be possible to love unbelievers, in the sense of earnestly desiring that they might come to a knowledge of the truth, it would be wrong—for sincere Christians it would be impossible—to hold out to them the right hand of fellowship. Especially dangerous would it be for the matron and her family.”

This sharing of the word is done so that we may allow the spirit to convict each of us accordingly. I can only know for sure where I stand. Am I a deceiver, or does God abide in me and me in him? I fail everyday to be perfect. But I strive to be as perfect as possible. I am confident that this is a goal that only Christ attained, but I cannot let that be the excuse to do less than I am gifted to do. The truth is, I may not be gifted to do much at all. But God, I believe, loves to see the effort. I must try to grow and learn and to allow the spirit in me to produce works that bring glory to the throne of God.

If you stand in the mirror, what will the reflection tell you about your relationship with God and what are you going to do about it? May the peace of God be abundantly heaped upon you and your home, straight from the cross to the Christian!