Tilling and Planting

Tag: Jesus

  • Christmas Characters: Part 2

    Christmas Characters: Part 2

    Intro

    Thanksgiving is over and December is here, therefore Christmas season is in full swing and officially here! (Though it did seem to be in full swing even before Thanksgiving with all the decor in the stores, but that’s another story.) I’m glad you came back to read part two in my four part series: Christmas Characters. Today’s characters I’m looking at are Simeon and Anna. These two people worshipped in the temple daily for decades. Both were incredibly prophetic and had some amazing (and hard) things to say to Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. So let’s jump right into it.

    Who Were They?

    These two Christmas Characters could actually be considered barely a part of Christmas. After all, they didn’t come to see Jesus and it’s 8 days after His birth before they do see him. But that doesn’t really matter. What matters more is that they recognized Jesus as the Messiah while He was still an infant. This is going to be the common thread for all the Christmas Characters.

    Back to the characters, I already hinted that both Simeon and Anna were incredibly gifted in prophecy. And both were also pretty old. Though the Bible only calls out Anna as old. It doesn’t give any indication on just how old Simeon was. But there’s a couple of specific lines in there that I believe suggest he was getting up there in age. I’ll explain more about that later. But for now, ladies first.

    Anna

    There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

    Luke 2:36-37 (NIV)

    We know a bit more about Anna than we do Simeon. For instance, Anna came from the tribe of Asher and her father’s name was Penuel. We also know that she got married and lived with her husband for seven years until he passed away. Plus, Luke records her as a prophetess. And finally, she lived at the temple and prayed day and night until she was 84. The original text could actually be translated as saying she was a widow for 84 years after her husbands death. That would put her over 100 years old by this point! Either way, Anna spent the majority of her live devoted to God, fasting, praying, and worshipping at the temple without ever leaving. That’s powerful.

    I find it interesting that she didn’t actually leave. Did the priests give her living quarters because they recognized her as a prophetess? In those days, widows were supposed to be taken care of by family if they never got remarried. So the fact that she lived at the temple could also suggest that there was no family nearby who could help her. Perhaps her family lived too far from Jerusalem and the temple that she so longed to be near. Or perhaps most of her family wasn’t living or were unwilling to help. Who knows. In any event, she lived in the temple day and night and devoted herself to God.

    The results of being totally devoted to God were that she was regarded as a prophetess by all and she immediately recognized Jesus as being the Messiah. Verse 38 tells us that when she saw baby Jesus “she gave thanks to God” and then proceeded to talk about Jesus to ” all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).

    Takeaways

    As with my last post, I will point out key takeaways from the lives of each Christmas Character. For Anna, I think it’s pretty obvious. Living a life of devotion to God. Now that doesn’t mean you should go and live at your church and do nothing else but worship and pray (and eat and sleep, presumably). For one, I don’t know about your church but ours doesn’t have showers, so if you don’t go somewhere else to take one periodically….

    But barring that, each one of us can still live a live of worship that is devoted to God. Walking in step with Holy Spirit and doing all that He calls us to. And when we do, we become more and more sensitive to His leading and His speaking and we will recognize and see things in others that we can call out and encourage them with. That is one of the main reasons the gift of prophecy exists. Did you know that? We are to call out the gifts and abilities that God places inside each one of us and encourage each other to use them. I can only imagine how uplifting this experience was to Mary and Joseph.

    The other key takeaway is that Anna told everyone who would listen that the Messiah had arrived. And that’s another thing that we need to do. Tell people about Jesus. Jesus commands it in Matthew 28.

    Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

    Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)

    Simeon

    Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

    “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
    For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
    a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

    The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

    Luke 2:25-35 (NIV)

    As I hinted earlier, we don’t know a whole lot about Simeon. And yet, he gets more verses than Anna does! But what we do know is powerful. First we know he was a righteous and devout man who was waiting for the consolation of Israel – one among many. Luke also states that Holy Spirit was upon him and moved him to go to the temple that day – the fact that Simeon responded suggests strongly that this was not the first time and probably happened with some regularity. We also know that Holy Spirit told him he would not die until he saw the Messiah. When I take this line with what Simeon says upon taking Jesus in his arms – “you may now dismiss your servant in peace” – I see an elderly man who has lived his life and is ready to go home.

    When we read Simeon’s statements, we can also discern that he is a very prophetic man as well. Which makes sense since Holy Spirit is upon him and Simeon is frequently moved by Him. Like Anna, he immediately recognizes Jesus as the promised Messiah and declares Him to be God’s salvation, a light to the Gentiles, and the Glory of Israel. And then his prophetic message takes an interesting turn. He states that Jesus will cause the falling and rising of many (likely indicating that some will see Jesus as the Messiah and others will not), will experience opposition, and will reveal what’s in the hearts of many others. And we can see this throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry. Lastly, he tells Mary that a sword will pierce her soul. Many, including myself, see this as a direct reference to the pain she will bear watching Jesus be crucified.

    Takeaways

    So what are the takeaways from Simeon’s life? I see a few things. First, even though Luke doesn’t state it, we can surmise that if Simeon is so in tune with Holy Spirit, then he – like Anna – must’ve be devoted to pursuing God. Second, we see that when Holy Spirit moved, Simeon obeyed. We need to move and obey God when He directs us to. Third, we should be willing to be used by God. And lastly, never give up hope for the fulfillment of a promise from God. Simeon had a direct promise from God that he would see the promised Messiah before dying. And he held onto that promise and saw its fulfillment. This one is similar with the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Elizabeth held onto hope while Zechariah lost hope. Despite his age, Simeon did not lose hope in God’s promise.

    Wrapping Up

    Have you noticed some themes cropping up from these first two posts about Christmas characters? A lot of old people!

    In all seriousness, there’s a few common themes I see. First, all these people were righteous, devout people who sought God and waited for promises. And there’s a theme of hope woven throughout their stories. Anna and Simeon held hope in the promised Messiah – and both got to see Him before they passed. Elizabeth held hope that she would bear a child. Zechariah had that same hope at one time, but lost it.

    The last thing I see are a lot of prophetic voices. Holy Spirit moved on all these people. We see Elizabeth recognize that Mary carried the unborn Messiah and declare her the “mother of her Lord”. Zechariah prophesied that his son, John, would become a prophet, prepare the way of the Lord, and teach people salvation and forgiveness of sins. Simeon prophesied that Jesus’ ministry would be opposed, would teach truth, would reveal the hearts of many, and would suffer – bringing pain to Mary. We don’t see Anna – a prophetess – declare any type of prophetic message over Jesus or His parents, but – like Elizabeth and Simeon – she immediately recognizes Him as the Messiah through Holy Spirit and proceeded to tell everyone who would listen about Him.

    As I continue through the next two Christmas posts, I think these same themes are going to continue to come up. And these themes of hope in God’s promises, seeking God as righteous and devout people, and being sensitive to Holy Spirit’s leading and speaking are all things we need to day in our lives. Think on them and pray for them in your own lives.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Sin: What’s the Big Deal?

    Sin: What’s the Big Deal?

    Intro

    Everyone knows what the church preaches against. Sin. Traditional churches especially have this reputation of talking more about the “don’ts” of the Bible than anything else. They make sin out to be this really big deal. And you know something, they’re right. It is a big deal. And while I don’t think the church should be known more for what it’s against than what it’s for, we also need to remind people that sin is sin and it really is a big deal to God.

    That being said, we probably need a good definition of what sin is and why it’s such a big deal.

    Sin Defined

    To understand why sin is such a big deal, we first need to have a good, working definition of sin. People will frivolously throw out a really simple, basic definition of “whatever the Bible says don’t do” or “bad things you’ve done” or “anything that displeases God” or even “disobeying the laws of the land”. And while these are all technically true, they still don’t tell you much. After all, what defines “bad things”? And different countries have different laws that might actually contradict each other, so that’s a problem. And how do you know what “displeases God”? Ultimately, we need to come back to the Bible’s definition of sin. So that’s where we’ll start.

    The Biblical Definition

    There are a couple of good passages that define sin as rebellion against God (see Deuteronomy 9:7) and lawlessness.

    Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.

    1 John 3:4

    So, sin is equivalent to lawlessness. What is lawlessness? Lawlessness is continually breaking the law without any regard for it. However, this begs the question, who’s law? The answer is God’s law. For the Jews that meant the Mosaic law. And while we as Christians do not need to follow all the religious laws (the purity rituals and sacrifices to name a couple), there are plenty of moral laws found in the Mosaic law that we are still to follow, such as the Ten Commandments.

    So, yes, the definition of “whatever the Bible defines as sin” is true. But it’s a matter of knowing where to look. The letters of Paul are really good for calling out different kinds of sin and showing what parts of the Mosaic law are not necessary for the Christian. In addition, the Sermon on the Mount also contains teachings on the standard of living God calls us to (Matthew 5-7 can also read my posts all about these chapters here).

    To dig a little bit deeper, the Greek word for sin is “harmatia” and means “to miss the mark”, that mark being perfection. So, sin is breaking God’s law and not reaching His standards of perfection. That’s a pretty tall order. And in a later section I’ll discuss just how serious sin is in God’s eyes. But first – to clear up any potential confusion that might be out there – I want to address a couple of synonyms the Bible uses for sin and how they are similar, while also being distinct.

    Some Other Words

    The Bible doesn’t just use the word “sin” when talking about sin. You’ll also see words like “trespass”, “transgress”, and “iniquity” – along with different forms of these words. So to provide a bit of clarity, trespass and transgress are equivalent in their meaning. I think most of us know what it means to trespass (hint: ever see a “No Trespassing” sign?) and to transgress means the same thing. They’re crossing a boundary you are not supposed to cross. Iniquity is making a premeditated choice to sin and then continue in that sin without repentance. For this one you can think of a serial killer. Just over and over choosing to commit the same sin (murder in this case) without remorse and without repentance.

    Different for Different People

    Now all this is great, but doesn’t constitute a list of all possible sins. And it’s not supposed to. My intention is not to tell you what all possible sins are. Because frankly, that’s not possible for me to do (especially in a roughly 2,000 word blog!). I already mentioned the letters of Paul are really good for these since he constantly had to deal with sin in the Church. And to make it more interesting, James and Paul both have some fascinating things to say about what constitutes sin. And spoiler alert, it can be different for different people.

    If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

    James 4:17

    In this passage, James challenges believers that if they know they should be doing something good, and they don’t do it, then it is sin for them. I want to point out the phrase “sin for them”. This means that James is not talking about blanket “do good deeds” for all people. He’s referring to specific deeds that Christians feel called to do. He’s saying if God tells you (specifically you) to do this good deed, and you do not do it, that is sin. Because that is in direct disobedience to what God has told you to do. This passage comes at the tail end of rebuking people for arrogantly going about doing things without consulting the Lord and trying to live life on their own terms. James also calls this out as wrong. Now let’s turn to Paul’s statement in Romans.

    Eating Food?

    Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.

    One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

    Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died.

    Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.

    So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

    Romans 14:1-2, 5-6, 13-15, 20-23

    Okay, there’s a lot to unpack here. First off, Paul is addressing Jewish believers who say that because of Christ, there is no unclean food and they can eat it all. And even Paul says that he is of that mindset. However, there were Jewish believers who still believed that they couldn’t (shouldn’t) eat unclean foods. And Paul tells those who are okay with eating anything that they should not condemn or judge those who refuse to eat them. Everyone is in a different place and Paul tells those that are okay with it that it would be sinful for those who aren’t to eat unclean food while they still struggle with the idea of eating it. Notice that it’s not sinful for those who think it’s okay, just for those who think it’s not okay.

    For us today, that would be like Christians drinking alcohol. Is it sinful? That depends on who you ask. I know plenty of Christians who have no problem with drinking a beer every now and again. They don’t get drunk, because the Bible explicitly calls that out as sinful. However, there are also Christians (myself included) who won’t touch it at all because for them it would be wrong.

    Notice what is wrong for those who are okay with it. I already referenced the judging and condemning – which are wrong – but Paul also says that being a stumbling block is wrong. To be a stumbling block would be to cause another believer to sin. In Paul’s day that would be pressuring others to eat unclean food, for today it would be pressuring someone into trying a beer when they are convicted that they shouldn’t.

    From Faith

    Paul also says that anything not done from faith is sin. What does that mean? Well without faith it is impossible to please God. And I’ve already defined sin as anything that breaks God’s law – which displeases him. So breaking God’s law is equivalent to doing anything not done from faith.

    Oof. That was a lot. Now let’s turn to the seriousness of sin and why it’s such a big deal.

    Seriousness of Sin

    So now that I’ve defined sin, what’s the big deal? Let me go back to my statement that sin breaks God’s law. As well as my statement that sin is missing the mark of perfection. Why is that a problem? Well, the only way to be in God’s presence is to be perfect. Sin cannot enter His presence. In fact, Jesus commands us to “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48 NIV).

    Okay, so sin is big deal because we can’t live with God for all of eternity because of it. Well, yes, but it’s goes further in that we can’t even have a relationship with God because of sin. The Bible indicates that sin creates a barrier between God and humans (Isaiah 59:2). It’s kind of like when someone you trust lies to you and breaks that trust. It damages the relationship and can be difficult to mend it again. In a similar way, the sin of Adam and Eve broke the relationship between God and mankind. And all mankind has inherited that tendency toward sin ever since. Consequently, our sin dooms us to Hell and the Lake of Fire for all of eternity – totally separated from God. It’s pretty messed up. So what can be done?

    The Solution

    Hebrews 9:22 says that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”. That’s why the animal sacrifices were instituted in the Old Testament. The shedding of the blood of animals temporarily covered and forgave the people’s sin. It was a brutal, bloody, way to receive forgiveness, but it was what God required of them. However, if you read through the entirety of Hebrews 9, you’ll see that while those could cover the sin temporarily, it could do nothing for the guilty conscience or give people the strength to overcome their natural tendencies to sin. And God knew that. That’s why the entire Old Testament points to a newer and better covenant where God would totally forgive all sins and cleanse people’s hearts and minds of sin.

    The Old Covenant was sealed in blood sacrifices. A lot of them. The New Covenant was also sealed in a blood sacrifice. Notice I made that singular? Because only one was needed. Because the one who sacrificed Himself was Jesus Christ – God in the flesh. Jesus never sinned and never inherited the sinful nature from Adam. Therefore, He had no sin of His own to die for. God actually took all the sins of all the people for all time (past, present, and future) and laid them upon Jesus when He hung on the cross. And Jesus bore the sins and then bore the wrath of God so that you and I don’t have to experience God’s judgment upon our sin (I cover this more in one of my Easter Posts).

    How Serious?

    So how serious is sin to God? Serious enough to send His only Son, Jesus, down to die the most brutal type of death found in human history and bear the weight of all sins from all time and bear the entirety of God’s wrath and judgment upon sin – all so you and I can have a relationship with God. Wow. That’s intense. So, yes, sin is a very big deal to God. However, if you are saved and have a relationship with Him, He no longer sees your sin, He sees the righteousness of Jesus which covers your sin. Now that’s incredible. God transferred your sin to Jesus, in order to transfer Jesus’ righteousness to you.

    Wrapping Up

    I hope this post gave you a bit of clarity when it comes to sin and what it is. As well as why God sees it as such a big deal. God longs for us to be in relationship with Him and He fought for us to be able to have the opportunity to be in right standing with Him. And He still fights for us today. Let us praise and worship our God who loves us so unconditionally even when we mess up. All He asks is for us to come to Him and repent and He will restore our relationship with Him.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Real and Fake

    Real and Fake

    Intro

    Wrapping up the Sermon on the Mount, we enter into a list of real and fake Christians and how to identify them. I think these passages are all pretty familiar to us (as has been most of this sermon), but I hope to not only refresh your memories, but also bring new perspective on each of them.

    Spotting the Fakes

    Real quick before delving into each of the individual sections, I want to tie this to my post about judging rightly. In that post, I explain that Jesus wants us to judge, but to do so with humility, love, and kindness. Not with condemnation or a holier-than-thou attitude. And these sections very quickly destroy the claim that Christians can’t judge people period. After all, how in the world can we spot the fakes if we don’t discern (judge) their actions? And how can we then warn others about them if we haven’t determined (judged) that they are fakes? Food for thought as well as additional arguments for judging rightly. This allows us to not only steer people back onto the narrow path, but also help to spot the real from the fake Christians.

    Real and Fake Prophets

    “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”

    Matthew 7:15-20 (NIV)

    This first warning Jesus issues about “real and fake” deals with false prophets. I think a lot of times when we read this, we think about people outside the church either intentionally trying to deceive people to get money or self-proclaimed prophets like Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism) who added onto the Bible with his Book of Mormon. And while that certainly could fit, the passage also says they are wolves in sheep’s clothing. We as Jesus’ followers are called sheep. Therefore, this passage also refers to people within the church who claim to be Christians and yet are not living for God. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be the leaders. Could be anyone.

    Jesus says we know them by their fruit. In other words, we can identify them by their actions, their lifestyles. Are they producing fruit consistent with the Fruit of Holy Spirit? Do their lifestyles match the lifestyle that Jesus tells us to live? If they aren’t producing fruit watch out! They may be hanging around church to deceive, disrupt, or distract the body. And we must be able to discern that and reject anything they say that does not line up with the Word of God. We should do the loving thing and try and correct them (gently) but if they reject us, then it would be better to interact little with them. If they aren’t seeking God and they find their message is being ignored, they’ll move on.

    If you find that the false prophet is in leadership, approach someone else who’s in leadership there. Because it could be that person has also deceived the others on the leadership team. But you may also find that the entire leadership team falls into this camp of false prophets. At that point just leave.

    Real and Fake Disciples

    “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

    Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV)

    The next warning Jesus issues about “real and fake” are disciples. Unlike the previous one where there’s much more intent of deception and a focus on people gathering a following, this one is more broad and more introspective. Jesus is warning us about self-deception. His desire is for all His disciples (that’s us) to be genuine and seek His will and do His will for the glory of God the Father. However, many so-called Christians deceive themselves into doing lots “for God” but not for His glory. They’re doing it either for the praise of man, or their doing it because they’ve deceived themselves into believing in a works-based salvation rather than trusting in Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross.

    This one is scary because so many people will go their whole lives believing that they are going to Heaven because the did such-and-such for the Lord. But they’re going to get there and get a rude awakening. And Jesus lists out some pretty impressive things including prophesying and miracles. Honestly it’s hard for me to imagine anyone being able to perform miracles in Jesus name and not be saved. But Jesus seems to say it’s possible. But how?

    There’s really two possibilities here and both could fit the overall context of the Bible. And some people might fall into one category or the other on the day of judgment. But one thing they have in common, they never came to true faith in Jesus and thus will not spend eternity in Heaven with God.

    The Options

    The first possibility on how unsaved can perform miracles is the deception of Satan. The magicians of Egypt were able to mimic a few of the plagues as well as the staff-to-serpent sign. Now it is possible that these magicians used sleight of hand and similar things. But it’s also possible there was some demonic activity going on. The New Testament also warns about false signs and wonders designed to deceive people. Again, some of these are going to be fake and not miracles at all, but some could be demonic. Then there’s the example of the psychic girl that Paul rebuked. These types of “miracles” are likely the most common for the demonic – after all they can communicate with each other and spread information around to make psychics appear genuine. And as my pastor says, they can also “predict” the future by causing the future they just predicted.

    The second possibility is that God will empower unbelievers for His glory. The best Biblical example of this is Judas Iscariot. He followed Jesus for His entire ministry and performed miraculous signs and wonders like the other eleven. However, his heart did not belong to the Lord. And he ultimately betrayed Jesus and then hung himself in shame. God saw fit to use Judas alongside the other disciples for His glory despite the condition of Judas’s heart. And God might continue to do that today and in the future. Why? I don’t know. But Paul said that there were people preaching the name of Jesus out of envy and rivalry (Philippians 1:15-18) and he rejoiced! Why? Because the gospel was still being preached. So if these miracles are genuine, then praise the Lord and give Him glory.

    What do We do?

    So what do we do if we suspect that someone performing these miracles are not true disciples? Two things: determine if their message lines up with Scripture, and determine if their fruit lines up with Scripture. If either of these is “no”, talk to them in love and gentleness and try to steer them onto the narrow path. If they refuse to listen, then they are probably in the “false prophet” camp and we should avoid them and warn others about them.

    But as I opened this section with, we must beware that we are not deceiving ourselves into falling into this camp of false disciples. And we may have the right message to boot! But don’t live in fear about whether you’re actually saved or not; if you’re questioning it, there’s actually a good chance you are saved. If you need assurance, pray. Pray hard and read your Bible. Talk to someone who’s more mature in the faith. Search your own life for fruit. If you find you are living in sin and have no desire to change, that’s a red flag. If you find that over time since your point of salvation you have been making progress in overcoming sin and are producing more fruit of the Spirit, then those are indicators that you are truly saved.

    Real and Fake Builders

    “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

    Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV)

    This is a story I first learned through song format. Which is kind of funny when you think about it. “What would make a good children’s song?” “How about the story of a couple of guys building houses and the one guy’s house comes crashing down.” “Perfect!” I titled this section “Real and Fake Builders” because only a fake builder would build on a foundation of sand. So be sure to check that guy’s credentials before you hire him!

    All joking aside, this store contains powerful truths and warnings. Again, this one is more introspective. Jesus warns His followers against merely hearing His words and then doing nothing with them. He compares such people with a foolish person who builds his house on a sandy foundation. Sand is very unstable and pretty much guarantees that something is going to go wrong. And this isn’t a warning about ignorance. The foolish person is not stupid or ignorant. The foolish person already heard the truth. But the foolish person chose deliberate action to not do what they know to be the correct way of doing something.

    In contrast, the wise person hears the words of Jesus and puts them into practice. As a result, he can weather anything that life throws at him because he has Jesus’ teaching and Jesus Himself to fall back on. Jesus and all of His teaching forms a foundation that is rock solid.

    Sidenote

    An interesting tidbit about this parable is that it echoes many Proverbs that contrasts wise and foolish people. So His listeners hearing the initial part of “a wise man” probably expected to hear the contrasting actions of the foolish man. This was a common style of teaching for the Jews and was very familiar to His listeners. This wasn’t the first time Jesus used a familiar style of teaching, nor would it be His last. Though in many of Jesus’ familiar styles of teaching, He often subverted expectations in some way. Does Jesus do that here? I say yes. After all Jesus opens this parable with “everyone who hears these words of mine”. That’s bold. Jesus is putting His words on par with Scripture and on par with the very words of God. That definitely ruffled some feathers amongst the religious leaders. Which actually leads to my final point.

    True Authority

    When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

    Matthew 7:28-29 (NIV)

    In the end, we see that the crowds were amazed. Because Jesus taught with authority, unlike the religious leaders of the day. Honestly, given how much the religious leaders puffed themselves up, it’s almost weird to hear such a statement. They lorded themselves over the common people, so how could Matthew write that the teachers of the law didn’t teach as if they had authority?

    Well, what I found out when I asked this question is that the religious leaders actually would have always appealed to the highest authority. In rabbinic tradition, it often meant referring to the which “line” of rabbis a particular teacher came from. In more genuine cases, the teachers might have appealed to the authority of Scripture and the author – either the human author or God Himself. But when Jesus taught, the authority He appealed to was Himself. No other teacher, no rabbit, etc. For Jesus was and is, the ultimate authority.

    And at the end of the day, we can identify real and fake people by whether they accept the ultimate authority of Jesus Christ (1 John 4:1-3).

    Wrapping Up

    We all need to be able to discern those who are real followers of Christ and those who are fake. The ones that are fake are dangerous since they often sound good, but underneath are not living for Him. These people can deceive many others into believing false doctrines. So we must be alert to not fall into that and to help guide people out of it.

    That’s the end of my series on the Sermon on the Mount. In many ways it feels like it went too fast. I didn’t go into real depth on most of the topics, so if there is one that you you want me to go into greater depth, please leave a comment on this post or on the post where I touched on that topic! I don’t want this blog to only be what comes to my mind, but also what you, my readers, want to understand better. So please leave a comment or reach out to me through the contact form.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Seek and Find

    Seek and Find

    Intro

    In these next couple of sections, Jesus invites us to ask His Father for good gifts. He lets us know that if we seek after His Father and if we walk His path, we will find Him and eternal life. These are the core elements to get out of these verses. But there is a lot more to be pulled from this text. As well as some confusion and misconceptions to clear up. So let’s get started.

    Don’t Stop Asking

    “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

    “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

    Matthew 7:7-12 (NIV)

    Ask and you shall receive is a phrase that I think we have all heard over the years. The problem is when we start asking for the wrong things and then we get upset when God (or our parents) don’t deliver. “But you said to ask and we shall receive,” we whine. Yes, Jesus did say that. And yes, parents have said that. But to understand what “ask and it will be given to you” means, we need to read the rest of the passage. And it goes on to say “seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” and then affirms that everyone who does these things will be satisfied.

    Not Just Anything

    And then the next paragraphs starts. Jesus asks His listeners if they would give bad things to their children when they ask for good things. And Jesus asked rhetorically. Obviously none of them would. And that – Jesus says – is the type of Father that God is. He gives good gifts to His children when they ask for them. The key here is “good” gifts. And the definition of good here is God’s definition. In His infinite wisdom and knowledge, knowing past, present, and future, He knows what we need and what will benefit us the most. I covered in an earlier post Matthew 6:25-34 where Jesus clearly states that God knows what we need, and He will provide them to us. In that passage, Jesus says to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added.

    Elsewhere, Jesus states that if we ask in His name, He will do it (John 14:14). Now to ask of anything in Jesus’ name is to invoke His authority, but it is also to pray in His will. I mentioned that God knows what we need and will give us the good things we ask for. If what we ask for will lead to destruction or is just plain wrong, He will refuse to give it to us – just like a loving parent will refuse to give their kids ice cream for every single meal.

    God Honors Our Prayers

    What’s awesome about this passage, is that when we understand what God will honor, and if we truly seek His will in all things, we will find Him and we will find what we are looking for – because a prayer that honors God and His will is one that God will honor. And while I’m not going to go into depth here, God wired us to have certain desires and if those desires are honoring to God, He will grant them as well – perhaps not as quickly as we want, but they will come. Case in point, I got married several years later than what I had desired and prayed for. But God needed to prepare both me and my wife. It wasn’t that it was a bad thing to get married, but my timing of that marriage wasn’t right.

    God needed to get my heart to a place of being okay being single and needed to work out a couple of other issues in my life to prepare me for my wife. And He needed to do similar things for her. So if what you ask for is good, and you’re confident it is within God’s will, keep asking! Keep knocking on the door of Heaven! But above all, seek God and a greater relationship with Him and you will find Him. And He will – in His perfect timing – bring about what you are seeking.

    The Golden Rule

    The last verse in this section contains what we commonly call “The Golden Rule”. There are a couple of variations you may have heard depending upon which translation of the Bible it came from. The two most common I hear are “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” and “Treat others the way you want to be treated”. In either case, the meaning remains the same.

    If you want others to be kind and gentle with you, then you should be kind and gentle towards others. If you want others to show you grace and mercy, then you should show grace and mercy. And if you want others to forgive you, then you should forgive others. The list goes on and on. And there’s no reason for me to continue. Insert your own thing that you want others (broadly) to demonstrate towards you and become that kind of a person.

    Pick the Right Gate

    “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

    Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)

    Jesus wraps up what we call chapter 7 with a bit of a cautionary warning. He informs us that the way to life is through a narrow gate and down a narrow path. It’s not easy. Much easier is the path that leads to destruction – wide gate, broad road, piece of cake. But here’s an interesting interpretation I found of this passage that is different than what I think most people assume. I for sure assumed that Jesus is referring to the path to Heaven. But in light of the rest of the Sermon on the mount, Jesus is more likely referring to heart posture vs outward piety.

    We can refrain from murdering someone and thus obey the law, but we could still harbor hatred toward that person – which Jesus said earlier equaled murder. That hatred leads us down the broad path that leads to destruction. And the same goes for all of the other things Jesus refers to in this sermon. Effectively, these two verses sum up everything Jesus said already by saying that all the outward actions with no heart change is the wide gate and broad path leading to destruction. And having the proper heart attitude leads to life.

    Jesus doesn’t want us to just seek after pious actions, He wants us to seek heart change – which leads to those actions. And if we seek that heart change with the help of Holy Spirit, we will find it.

    Wrapping Up

    I hope you now have greater confidence to ask God for things that you know are good and align with His will and desires. If you aren’t sure, ask Him! Seek council from the Word, from Holy Spirit, and from men and women in the faith who are maybe a little wiser. If you earnestly seek to understand what God seeks to give you, you will find it. He doesn’t want to hide His desires for your life from you, but if you don’t seek Him, how will you ever know what those are?

    And heed Jesus’ warning about taking the easy road. The one that leads to destruction. Even those of us who are on the road to Heaven can take detours that destroy various areas of our lives. Relationships, reputation, etc. So beware and seek guidance from Holy Spirit.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Judge Rightly

    Judge Rightly

    Intro

    To judge or not to judge, that is the question. People who know little to nothing about the Bible do know “Do not judge” is in there. Rather than make this just one of a few topics from the Sermon on the Mount squished into a single post, I’m going to address the first six verses of Matthew 7 separately. It’s a topic that has been misunderstood, misused, and abused over the years. And yet, it’s so important to understand. Too many Christians judge poorly and frankly, we need to judge rightly. If we can’t do this, we become ineffective at so many things that Jesus calls us to do. So let’s dive in and find out how to do this correctly.

    What Does it Mean to Judge?

    “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

    Matthew 7:1-2 (NIV)

    I’m going to just get this out of the way up front: Jesus wants us (His followers) to judge. However, as I mentioned earlier, all too often we judge wrongly. And that’s why I’m going to explain what Jesus was talking about here when He says “Do not judge”, that way we can all learn to judge rightly. Christians have been scared into silence because of unbelievers pointing their fingers and saying, “You can’t judge me”. But the problem is that what those people are claiming is that by “judge” Jesus means “Don’t reject alternative lifestyles” or “Accept everyone and don’t encourage them to change”.

    But this is just wrong. If that was Jesus’ meaning then He would be the biggest hypocrite of them all. After all, He called the religious leaders “vipers” and “hypocrites”. He also told the young rich man that to inherit eternal life he needed to sell his belongings and give to the poor. And how about the woman caught in the act of adultery? He told her to “go and sin no more”. Jesus clearly rejected the lifestyles of the Pharisees and encouraged people to change. So, Jesus can’t mean any of those commonly believed interpretations of “Do not judge”. So what is He saying?

    The Definition

    The Greek word for “judge” here is krino which can mean “to discern”, “to decide”, or “to condemn”. And I’ve already pointed out that Jesus can’t mean “discern” or “decide” because He discerned that the rich man had a great love of his wealth and that needed to change. And likewise, He discerned that the woman’s accusers were trying to trap Jesus, so Jesus flipped the tables on them. That really leaves only condemnation for Jesus’ meaning. And this fits the overall context. After all, later in chapter 7 of Matthew (coming soon to a blog near you), Jesus starts telling us how to identify (judge) fake and real people. And later, Paul calls Christians to approach sinning brothers and sisters and point out their sin and urge them to repent (more on that in the next section).

    In Jesus’ conversation with the woman caught in the act of adultery, He asks her “Has no one condemned you?” And the He says, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:10-11). So very clearly, Jesus is not about condemning people, but He is about making a judgment about a person’s lifestyle and then encouraging them to change it to line up with how God wants them to live.

    So, in conclusion here, Jesus calls us to not condemn people. After all, we don’t know what’s in their hearts. It’s not our job to condemn people. It’s our job to love people and bring to them the truth of the gospel and introduce them to Jesus. Let Him sort out their messes. He’s better at it then we are.

    Measure it Out

    How about that phrase “with the measure you use, it will be measured to you”? What’s that all about? This one is pretty simple. If you routinely look in condemnation upon people – and verbalize it – than other people will do the same to you. It’s another form of the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. If you treat people poorly, expect people to treat you poorly at some point. Show grace, kindness, and love towards others and you can expect the same to come back to you.

    Moving on we’ve got a couple of more sections of this passage to cover in order to really grasp what it means to judge rightly.

    Speck Vs Log

    “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

    Matthew 7:3-5 (NIV)

    I think people have taken this passage on specks and logs too far as well. To the point where some Christians think (or non-Christians try and tell us) that we have no right to point out other people’s sin because we ourselves have sin in our lives. And once again, we must use context. As I mentioned earlier, Jesus pointed out other people’s poor behavior, attitudes, and sin. So He can’t be saying that here. And as I also mentioned before, Paul tells Christians to come to other believers and gently point out sin in their lives.

    What Jesus is addressing here is what He’s been addressing throughout this entire sermon: hypocrisy and holier-than-thou attitudes. In this context, this passage would be like a Pharisee telling people how bad their sin is and what they can do to fix themselves – while being ignorant of how much fixing they need, because as religious leaders who followed the Law to the letter, they must be perfect.

    In light of this, I think the log isn’t what we might think of as a traditional sin, i.e., drunkenness, sexual immorality, etc. I think the log is pride. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were swimming in pride and self-righteousness. And pride blinds us to our own faults and magnifies everyone else’s. It makes us feel like we’ve got it all together. But what Jesus wants is for us to humbly remember that we too are sinful and avoid the self-righteous attitude if/when we come to a brother or sister and point out that they are living in a way that is dishonoring to God. This is another aspect of what it means to judge rightly. Humbly admitting that we ourselves are imperfect and with mercy and grace approach the one with the speck.

    Avoid Criticism

    Another aspect to this speck vs log is to not be critical. And I don’t mean constructive criticism. I’m talking about being critical and offering no additional help. Basically the attitude of “What a horrible thing you’re doing that God’s going to judge you for. Have a nice time in Hell!”

    Now this might sound a little extreme, but being critical of another person’s lifestyle (to their face) without offering grace, mercy, hope, or any way around it, is just plain mean. Even the religious leaders didn’t do that (most of the time). Sure they were pretty critical, but they usually followed it up with “If you would just follow the Law…” etc. So they offered a solution, even if it was done with disgust and a holier-than-thou attitude. At times, with the “worst of sinners”, they might be less “helpful” and have a more critical disposition. And this is what we must avoid if we want to judge rightly. Our words must be laced with love, grace, and mercy. Not criticism. We must be gentle, not harsh.

    Dogs and Hogs

    “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”

    Matthew 7:6 (NIV)

    In this last section, Jesus does one of the things He does best: throw out a metaphor that seems to be completely out of left field and not make any sense given what He was just talking about. Except that perception tends to be for the modern reader rather than His first century listeners who could usually pick up on most of the cultural cues. In this case, and in this context, Jesus is telling His followers that if the person with the speck refuses to listen to you and rejects your correction – even when you do it with love and respect – then don’t bother telling them anything more. If you keep doing it over and over, they’ll likely come to resent you and the gospel and become even more hard-hearted. At that point, your best option is to let it go and pray for them.

    That can be hard to hear if the one you’re trying to love into the Kingdom is a relative or a close friend whom you dearly love. But sadly, not everyone wants to hear that they’re living a sinful lifestyle that’s going to send them to Hell. Some people just don’t want to change. And having the discernment (judgment) to know when a person is in that place and drop the subject – without coming down critically or holier-than-thou – is the last piece of what it means to judge rightly.

    Wrapping Up

    As you can see here, there is a right way and a wrong way to judge others. Jesus doesn’t want His followers judging people the way the self-righteous religious leaders of His day judged others. He wants us to be wise and discerning, always falling back on loving others. If we learn to judge rightly – with love, grace, and mercy – we’d be amazed at the spiritual growth we’d see in others – and ourselves. It’s going to take practice. And forgiveness. And probably some apologies along the way, but with God’s help, we can do it.

    One more thing. During my research and reading articles written by others, I found this from one blogger named Matt Walsh that I’d like to quote because I agree with this wholly (full post here).

    I am a sinful person. If you would ever consider accepting and celebrating my sins for the sake of being “non-judgmental,” please do me a favor and stop doing me that favor. I don’t want to be made comfortable and confident in my wrongdoing.

    I’d rather have you hurt my feelings as you help me get to Heaven, than protect my feelings as you usher me right along to Hell.

    And to be honest, if a Christian strongly disagrees with this statement (i.e., doesn’t want to hear where they’re going wrong), then I fear they are too comfortable in their sin and they need God to wake them up before it’s too late. Who knows, maybe He’ll use you or me to do it with a well placed conversation.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!