No Other God

And turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.
Acts 9:40

It’s hard to read this account of Tabitha being raised from the dead without thinking about the Lord’s effectual voice one day commanding all the dead in Christ to, “Arise!”  The first person she saw when she opened her eyes was the one that called her to life, and when her eyes fixed on him, she sat upright.  Though redeemed, we are still redeemed sinners.  We wrestle with this old man, and so we will to the grave.  But something miraculous will happen when Christ reveals Himself to all at His return.  When he calls us forth from the grave unto eternal life, we will fix our eyes on Him, and for the first time, we will dwell in bodies free from the sin that weighed us down.  We will be upright!  No more shame and no more sorrow!  As 1Jo 3:2 tells us, “we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”  What a glorious thought!!

This reality ought to comfort our hearts regarding our brethren that have preceded us in death.  Yes we sorrow, but we sorrow as those who have hope! (1Th 4:13) “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” (v. 14) They are not lost, but rather their bodies are sleeping.  At Christ’s return, there will be a family reunion like the world has never seen!  It will be a coming together of a diverse group who are connected, not by physical birth, but the new birth into the family of God.  “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (v. 17) It is this truth above all that excites every true believer–they will always be with Christ!  So, what should we do knowing such a precious truth?   As the writer of 1 Thessalonians continues, “Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (v. 18)

What of the spirits of those gone before us?  Do they sleep as well?  Some teach such an error, but the scripture is clear that the spirits are very much awake at this present time.  If you remember Jesus’ parable of the beggar Lazarus and the rich man, both of them were conscious after their death.  Of the rich man, we read that he was carried to the torments of hell though his body was buried; meanwhile, Lazarus enjoyed the comfort of Abraham’s bosom. (Luk 16:19-25) We know that while the rich man’s spirit suffered, his brothers were still alive on the earth because he begged Abraham to send Lazarus to warn them of his place of torment. (v. 27-28) Remember also Jesus’ words to the thief on the cross that was saved just before his death: “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luk 23:43)

As wonderful as that day will be, dear Christian, let us not waste our time here daydreaming of deliverance from this present evil world.  Yes, as Paul said in Php 1:21, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”  We should long so to be with our Lord that we have “a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” (v. 23) But, the apostle didn’t have his head in the clouds fantasizing of eternal bliss.  He knew he had present work to do, understanding the he was still upon the earth because “to remain in the flesh is more needful for you”. (v. 24) We’re here because our labor is not done.  We still have work to do for the glory of our worthy Lord.  Remember, “the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth— those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” (Joh 5:28-29) Let us labor to the end for no true believer will lay his sword down before the fight is over.  “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” (Mar 13:13)

Jamie

For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
2 Peter 1:16

How we get into some of the discussions we do in our weekly Bible study, I’m not really sure! 🙂 Last week, a question was asked about Mormonism.  I didn’t have much to say because I wasn’t very educated in their beliefs, but I was surprised the topic came up since two days before I was approached by a couple of Mormons in my neighborhood.  I spoke with the young men for about 15 minutes while we were walking our dog, but I had to leave because it was getting dark.  Hearing enough to be burdened for their souls, I requested a time to speak with them further to find out firsthand what they believed.  They were all too eager for a future opportunity to proselytize me!

When I met them yesterday, they came with reinforcements.  There was an older gentleman that I assumed was there in the event they ran into trouble pleading their case.  I brought reinforcements as well, my 15-year-old son.  I wanted him to witness his dad feeling totally overwhelmed, not knowing what to say, but trusting God to keep His promise to grant wisdom to those who ask for it. (Jam 1:5-6)  Thank you God for hearing my cry!

Here are a few things I learned about Mormon doctrine along with the verses God gave me in response.  I know I’m a little wordier today than usual, but my prayer is that these comments will help you if challenged in the future concerning these things:

They said, “All men are God’s children”.  My question was why then did Jesus respond as He did to the Jews that did not believe Him when they claimed God was their Father? (Joh 8:41) “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.” (v. 44) Also, in the parable of the wheat and tares, Christ said the tares represented the “sons of the wicked one”. (Mat 13:31)

They said, “Men are born innocent, not sinful”.  But the record of Psa 58:3 is that, “The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.”  David even confessed of himself, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” (Psa 51:5) Paul reinforces this thought in Rom 3:23 stating, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.

Finally, they said the leader of the Mormon church, currently Thomas S. Monson, was God’s prophet in the earth, a man chosen by God to deliver God’s gospel message in this age.  There had been a succession of prophets since their founder Joseph Smith in the 1800’s, who also was given what they call “another testament of Jesus Christ”, aka the Book of Mormon.  They said that the apostle Peter was the first prophet after Christ (they pointed to Jesus telling Peter in Mat 16:19 that He would give him “the keys of the kingdom of heaven”, the same portion of scripture Catholics refer to when identifying Peter as the first pope); however, after the apostles died, God had been silent due to man’s disobedience, that is until Joseph Smith appeared on the scene some 1500+ years later.  They believe the leader of the Mormon church continues to give us that needed revelation from God, and though there are apostles under that prophet, he ultimately speaks the word from God to the world.

I asked these men who kept this prophet of theirs in check, making sure he was speaking truth.  Their response was that God would not leave his prophet in the earth if that prophet would say anything harmful to the church.  If that prophet were to say or do anything that would lead the church into error, God would remove him before that could happen.  Well, God took my mind to Gal 2:11-16 where Paul publicly rebuked Peter (who, remember, the Mormon’s claim as the first prophet after Christ) for his sin in shunning the Gentiles and denying through his actions justification by faith alone.  Peter’s influence was so strong that his example had pulled away others into his error, including Paul’s companion Barnabas.  If Peter was the first prophet, why then did God leave him in the earth following such gross error which initially separated the early church?  I was answered again (as I was many times during our discussion), “You ask some great questions!”

In closing, I want to emphasize our main text today.  Peter reminded his readers in 2Pe 1:16 that they weren’t following “cunningly devised fables”.  Peter and the apostles were eyewitnesses of Christ’s majesty, men validated by God according to Heb 2:4 “with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will”.  These men walked with Christ, were taught by Him, saw Him glorified, and yet fled for their lives at his crucifixion; however, after Pentecost, these same men declared boldly, even to the point of martyrdom, that they had seen Jesus risen from the dead!  They preached and exalted Jesus Christ, not themselves or any other man.  Peter continued in 2Pe 1:20 that “no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation” and warned in 2:1-3 that “there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.”  He continues, “And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.  By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words…”

So, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1Jo 4:1) Our understanding is not based on feeling.  I say this because the Mormon’s recommendation per their pamphlet is to read the Book of Mormon, pray about it, and the Holy Ghost will confirm it is true through “feelings, thoughts, and impressions”.  Our understanding, however, is based on the leadership of the Holy Ghost coupled with the word of God, the scripture.  The two will always agree because the Spirit is the author of the word (2Pe 1:21, 2Ti 3:16).  Remember, God put His Spirit, the Teacher, inside each of His children.  “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you…” (1Jo 2:27) We can know the truth.  Ask of God AND study His word.  Be like the Bereans in Act 17:11 who when they heard Paul preach “received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”  Thank you for your prayers for us that we will faithfully and boldly declare the word of God, and please pray for the precious souls of these men to whom God provided us this opportunity of ministry.

Love in Christ,

Jamie

“…endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Eph 4:3

A book published in 2011 borrowed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s statement 50 years earlier, asserting that Sunday might be the most segregated day of the week. If there is any truth to this statement, the scripture surely teaches us there should not be!  When the world observes the church, they should see that it is here, among the people of God, that such walls are broken down.  We are exhorted to “walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling…” (Eph 4:1-4)

It is not culture or race that unites the people of God.  Per our text, it is the Spirit of God!  It is not the natural experience that binds us for in this spiritual body we are no longer what we once were in our gender, race, culture, or status in life.  We are made new creations in Christ Jesus. (2Co 5:17) “…old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”!  “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28) If we feel disconnected from anyone, it should be from those who are yet unredeemed.  That’s the only dividing line now, but it’s a dividing line that we desire no man to be on the wrong side of!

Prejudice has no place in the kingdom of God.  The world in prejudice seeks to alienate or destroy anyone different from themselves.  How differently the body of Christ thinks of those not like themselves!  Instead of pushing them away, we desire that they be drawn to us and ultimately to Christ, pitying them because we were once just like them!  Remembering who we were will remedy our hearts of all prejudice.  The common thread binding all humanity is that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. (Rom 3:23) We are all sinners!  The good news is that group is exactly who Jesus came to save. (1Ti 1:15)

The church is burdened for the lost because “we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” (Eph 2:3) In such a desperate state, we didn’t look inside and fix ourselves.  Rather, the next verse begins, “But God…”  I didn’t save myself.  God did it!!  The fact should eliminate any pride or prejudice from our hearts.  It was God, “who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…” (v. 4-5) I didn’t deserve it, and I didn’t earn it.  Jesus paid it all!  And so, because we are living proof that there is hope for those dead in sin, we then, “are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” (2Co 5:20) Though never at the expense of preserving the truth, the Christian’s desire should be for unity and peace.  “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” (Rom 12:18) Blessed are the peacemakers…

Jamie

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:58

The scripture above came to mind last week as we considered the times God had used us in others’ lives as he used Ananias in Paul’s. Ananias was called of God to set Saul of Tarsus free from his blindness. He had to step out by faith and do something that made him uncomfortable in visiting this former Christian-hater. Surely, Ananias approached this champion of the Pharisees with fear and trembling before the Lord, but what an encouragement it must have been to Saul in his brokenness when the first words out of Ananias’ mouth were, “Brother Saul”! (Act 9:17) Ananias would fade from the pages of the book from this point on, but he had played a pivotal role in launching the greatest ministry of the early Christian church.

Now, if we compare the visible influence we’ve had in the lives of others to Ananias’ effect on Saul, many of us may feel a bit insignificant, but that’s exactly where our text above hits home! The fact is that we are all insignificant and inadequate of ourselves. Even the apostle Paul had to confess concerning his ministry “I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” (1Co 15:10) The truth is that success in ministering to others is an act of God not a matter of our skill or intelligence. Yes, we labor, but only God can make that labor effectual even as Paul admits in 1Co 3:6: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.”

What our text today encourages us to realize is that when we are faithfully serving the Lord as witnesses to Him, we cannot fail! No matter how worthless we may feel or how wasted the effort may seem, when we labor for God’s glory, we do not labor in vain!! Remember, our goal is not to be profitable. We are called to confess just the opposite about ourselves: “when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'” (Luk 17:10) Our goal is to be faithful. When we are faithful, be assured God is using our efforts whether we see it or not. Be encouraged. Those who remain “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” will one day hear their Master say, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord!” (Mat 25:21)

Jamie

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1:3-6

Who are “God’s chosen people”?  Who are the “children of God”?  Many Christians would say without hesitation that these titles belong to the nation of Israel, those literal descendants of Abraham that came through the line of Isaac.  It is this belief that drives a number of Christians from different denominations to say that we must always side with Israel in conflicts like the one currently in the news.  “After all, they are ‘God’s chosen people’…”  I’ve heard that statement over and over again through the years from evangelicals.  This topic came up in our Bible study last week, and I thought it might be good just to share a few key passages with you that shed further light on this topic in the New Testament.

The first of these passages is our text above.  Note that Paul is writing to Gentiles in Eph 1:3-6, specifically saved Gentiles or “saints” as he calls them in v. 1.  Paul, a natural Jew, includes himself with these Gentile believers and says that God “chose us in Him before the foundation of the world”, i.e. we believers are “God’s chosen people!”  Further, the apostles says that God has “predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself”.  Simply put, believers then are the “children of God”!  Yes, God chose the nation of Israel as the people to whom He would give His word and preserve it for our benefit now.  Most importantly, He chose them as the literal people from whom the Lord Jesus would descend.  Our understanding, however, of “God’s chosen people” should now be expanded since the Light of the world has come and revealed this mystery God kept hidden from the beginning. (Eph 3:1-11)

Part of what causes people confusion in this area is a failure to understand there are two Israel’s.  There is the literal Israel, those physical descendants of Abraham, but there is also a spiritual Israel who God claims as His chosen.  Gal 6:16 refers to this spiritual group as “the Israel of God”.  It is that distinction that Paul is also making in Rom 9:6 when he says “they are not all Israel who are of Israel”.  He makes clear here that there are two Israel’s we must consider.  He further defines the two  in v. 8 saying,  “those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.”  Consider the following passages that also make this distinction between the natural descendants of Abraham and those that are spiritual descendants who possess the same faith as Abraham:

For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. (Rom 2:28-29)

…just as Abraham “BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. (Gal 3:6-9)

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Gal 3:26-29)

Did you catch that?  “There is neither Jew nor Greek”!  In Christ, there is simply one church, His beloved bride!  Do you possess faith in Jesus Christ?  Then you are a child of God, His chosen people, regardless of your ancestry!  On the flip side, if a man rejects the Lord Jesus Christ, regardless of his heritage, he is not a part of God’s chosen people.  The key to being a member of God’s family is faith:

Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised [Jews] by faith and the uncircumcised [Gentiles] through faith. (Rom 3:29-30)

These truths have important consequences and will affect the way we interpret the word of God.  I pray they may be used of the Lord to help us embrace all He has provided for the church, His chosen people, the true children of God.  To those Peter writes, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” (1Pe 2:9-10) May we rejoice to know that God has gathered in Christ a people to Himself out of “every tribe and tongue and people and nation”. (Rev 5:9) There are no special favors based on natural lineage, but to all of these redeemed souls, “the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” (2Co 1:20)

Jamie