Hebrews, Faith, & Martyrs

Hebrews, Faith, & Martyrs

The writer of Hebrews could so easily see the dangers faced by those Jewish Christians. The nation that killed God’s Son turned its wrath on the church almost from the day it began. Jesus had warned them about the trials that were coming. Obviously, they persecuted those Gentiles who had become followers of Jesus, but their persecution was even more fierce on the Christians addressed in this epistle.

They had begun their walk with Jesus and faced many trials which came their way. Hebrews chapter ten describes this: “After you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings…you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations.” The author then adds, “You became a companion of those who were so treated” (10:32-33).

How did they emotionally respond to all of this? “You joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods” (10:34). Earthly possessions are meaningless when viewed from the eternal truth about our existence. They could so easily give up that which was temporal. “Knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.”

Living faithfully on this earth for many years is so difficult. We understand the faith of those who are martyrs for the cause of Christ. At that last moment they reached deep within their souls and their faith sustained. What we may have done is overlooked the depth of the faith of those who face not a momentary trial, but serve Him for years and years. We rightly honor the faith of martyrs, but perhaps it takes a deeper faith to serve Him for years and years.

When this letter was written their devotion was weakening. Look again at this chapter and the admonition given to them. “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God you may receive the promise…if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in Him” (10:35-38).

Now make the application in your life. How long have you been a Christian? Where is your faith in Him compared to what it once was? Remember how joyfully you served Him at first? Remember your routine of daily Bible study and prayer? Remember the joy of partaking of the Lord’s Supper and being part of worship, praising His name? Is it possible that we have become “tired” because the journey seems so long? It is not that we have walked away from Him, but have we lifted our anchor and are we slowly drifting away (Heb. 2:1)?  God help us to remember to view our life on this earth as being only a moment compared to eternity!

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Sarah Called Her Husband Lord

Sarah Called Her Husband Lord

Imagine starting marriage counseling by asking the prospective bride: “Are you ready to call him lord?” referring to her boyfriend.

The reaction you would likely receive would be visceral and immediate. After recoiling, they would likely inform you very quickly that the only Lord they serve is Jesus Christ. Well, some would. Others would likely sit and stew as they crossed their arms, revealing they aren’t about to allow anyone to take their current position of being number one in their own eyes. These narcissistic individuals have bought into the idea that the world revolves around them, and as such, they will serve no one.Abraham and Sarah

When you point out that God instructs the man to be the earthly head over his wife many ladies refuse, ripping Ephesians 5:21 out of context and demanding mutual submission. If one were to continue reading in Ephesians 5 theywould discover the Bible clearly depicts a hierarchy with Christ as the church, and the husband as the head of the wife.  In 1 Peter 3:6 “as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.”

The reason many women recoil at the very thought of calling their husbands lord is because they have been influenced and impacted by radical feminism and our culture. For more than fifty-years femvertising—that is, advertising that sells the concept of empowerment—has dominated our media. We’ve gone beyond Rosie the riveter’s message of “We can do it” to feminist author and tenured professor Vivan Gornick’s message of, “Being a housewife is an illegitimate profession…the choice to serve and be protected and plan towards being a family-maker is choice that shouldn’t be. The heart of radical feminism is to change that.”

At some point in this empowerment movement women began craving work outside the home. They longed for independent careers, claiming equal rights and equal pay. (Let me calmly point out a real biblical worldview clearly teaches fair compensation, “a worker is worth their wages.” 1 Timothy 5:18). But the unstated message that was being preached over and over is that a woman is incomplete if all she does is manages the home and rears children. They were silently—but effectively—brewing discontentment in the hearts of many Christian women.

Fast-forward 50 years and we see their revolution has been extremely successful in many ways. Women have abandoned the home. They are hiring others to raise their children. They are competing in every aspect of the workforce. They, too, are bringing home the bacon.

But has it really been a success? A recent American Family survey found liberals, especially liberal women, are significantly less likely to be happy with their lives and satisfied with their “mental health”, compared to their conservative peers aged from 18-55.

Survey after survey is finding women not really satisfied, as they realize you “can’t have it all.” Julie Bindel recently published an article in Aljazeera titled, “Liberal feminism has failed women,” pointing out that many of the crazy practices of feminists actually benefit men.

What all of the studies and articles fail to point out is that God’s plan—if followed—is both empowering and fulfilling. When you read about the virtuous wife in Proverbs 31 you do not get a sense of discontentment or a woman screaming, “My body, my choice.” Instead, we read, “She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.  Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her”  (Proverbs 31:27-28).

Christian women would do well tuning out the femvertising pushed on them by our culture, and instead look at women in the Bible like Hannah and Mary—women who humbly set about being good mothers. Instead of kicking against the goads in rebellion, we need to raise up a generation of women who realize their power comes from harnessing meek and gentle spirits that are willing to train up the next generation of warriors for Him!

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Canon of a Book of the Bible

Canon of a Book of the Bible

What makes a book of the Bible a book that belongs to the Bible? It has to be part of the canon. The canon of a book is the rule or standard by which something is judged. Oxford Dictionary defines it as thus: “a general law, rule, principle, or criterion by which something is judged.”

Bible Canon

The canon of a book tells you whether or not something belongs in that book. So what is the canon for the Bible? There are two separate canons: one for the Old Testament, and one for the New Testament.

Old Testament Canon of a Book:

1. Since God is perfect and infallible (incapable of making mistakes), an inspired book must be perfect and infallible, in the facts and teachings of the original manuscript of the inspired writer.

Neh. 8:8: “So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.”

It is so perfect, it can be understood by all who take the time to study it.

2. Since God is perfectly holy and pure, an inspired books must present only pure and holy teachings.

Psa. 19:7-11: “7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.”

Psa. 119:105: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

3. Since God is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent, an inspired book should reflect those characteristics.

a. If a book of the Bible speaks of future events, those events MUST happen.
b. If a book of the Bible speaks of locations, those locations MUST be real.

By studying the Bible, archaeologists have found cities and nations no one had heard of until then.  The Bible was often laughed at for having stories of the “Philistines” and the “Amalekites,” nations thought to have never existed.  But in the end, God had the last laugh, when these nations and people were found to be real.

4. Since God is absolute truth, no Bible verse can contradict another.

5. Since God is absolutely just and fair, the Bible must be impartial to everyone without prejudice to anyone.

How might you tell a false prophet from a real prophet? If his words are true, then he is a real prophet (Jer. 28:9). How can you tell a false book of the Bible from a real one? If the words are true, it is a real book of the Bible!

New Testament Canon of a Book:

The New Testament has another set of rules on top of the rules we’ve already mentioned. The following four are the rules by which the New Testament books are judged.

1. Apostolicity: Did an apostle write the book?

If an apostle did not write the book, then did someone closely associated with the apostles write it? Mark, Luke, James, and Jude were not apostles, but they WERE contemporaries and friends. An example of this is found in each of Paul’s letters.

Eph. 1:1: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:”.

2. Authenticity/Accuracy: Is the book accurate and true in all that it says?

If the book speaks on anything historical, scientific, moral, anything about anything, then it must tell the truth on what is written.  If the book speaks falsehood, then it is not canonical.

3. Acceptance: Did the 1st century church accept the book?

2 Tim. 3:16-17: “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, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

These books were used to guide the church in all spiritual matters (and are still used for the same purpose!).  If they were not accepted because they were not profitable, then they wouldn’t be profitable for us either! The New Testament church did not accept every writing given to them: they put time and effort into deciding which books should be accepted.

4. Genuineness/Inspiration: Was it “God-breathed?”

In 2 Tim. 3:16 (quoted above), the phrase “given by inspiration” is “theopneustos” in the Greek. In other words, we want to ask the question: Did God inspire this book?

1 Pet. 1:22: “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:”.

This truth that came through the Spirit is the truth of the Bible.  Did the Spirit guide the writer into writing this book?

 

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Christian Don’t Be Afraid

Christian Don’t Be Afraid

Jesus knew that fear was a great problem for God’s people. In the accounts of the gospel (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), Jesus warns against “fear” or “being afraid” at least seventeen times (maybe more, depending on how you count). Do we recognize the great danger that fear poses? Jesus certainly did, and He did more to remove fear from our lives than any other. Hebrews 2:14-15 says, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Fear of death subjects us to bondage. Jesus came to release us from the fear and power of death.Be afraid

In John 10:10, Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Who is the “thief?” What does he steal? Why doesn’t he enter by the door? Who are the sheep? How does the thief steal the sheep? What is his purpose in stealing the sheep? Why is the life that Jesus gives contrasted with the work of the thief? How is Jesus the Good Shepherd? From what does He protect His sheep?

When we are children, we are taught to fear many things. We compound these fears as adults until we are compassed on every side. “Fear” is a great merchant; it peddles many things; it takes life as payment and steals our allegiance from God. Denying fear simply increases it. Only Jesus can take away fear when we put Him in place of our fears.

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Time to Trim Down the Events

Time to Trim Down Events?

I get the opportunity to speak on a lot of lectureships, seminars, men’s days, youth rallies, etc. I am thankful for each opportunity and I spend a lot of time in preparation and prayer for those events.  I want to pose a question–not meant to divide, judge, or cause strife–just meant to get everyone thinking. Is it possible we have oversaturated our lives with these special events and continue to add more and more, so that we don’t have to do the “dirty” work of actually going out and conducting Bible studies/evangelizing?Youth Rally Event

The truth is we can fill our calendar with these special events, have special lessons on every subject under the Sun, and do all kinds of “activities”…maybe even learning a great deal and making ourselves feel good. All the while, the lost souls around us continue to step out into eternity.

It’s kind of ironic that we have all of these special series that have been branded with really cool names and logos where men talk about the importance of evangelism and disciple-making–and yet, most people aren’t actually doing it.

In fact, sometimes it feels like the number of special events seems to be growing faster than actual membership in most congregations. And everything now has to be a big production. It has to be filmed and have cool lighting. It needs to be entertaining–with “Big Name” speakers.

Church, maybe it’s time we take a serious look at all of the special events we are hosting and ask ourselves: Are our people really going out and making disciples, or are these events giving them the false sense that they are busy in the Lord’s Kingdom?

It’s not about the events. It’s not about the cool stage lighting. It’s not about the speakers. It’s about Jesus. It’s all about what He did on the cross. And until we get out of our comfort zones and tell more people about Him and His precious gift, the world will remain lost.

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