Testing the Spirits

In ACts 17:11, the Bereans looked into the scriptures to double check what the apostle Paul was telling them. Think about that, they were questioning and double checking the apostle Paul! And they were commended for it! The Bible does not teach blindly following what people say. It teaches that we are to compare everything we are told to the Bible. In I John 4:1-3, we are told to test the spirits to see if they are from God. Do we test those who teach and preach? do we compare their words to the Bible? I hope so! I hope we all search the scriptures, test the spirits, and do not blindly sit and accept what is preached to us without seeing if it is in accordance with God's word.

"Bue I believe..."

That is a statement that comes up often. “But I believe this that or the other.” The implication is that belief in something makes it right. And far too often we answer, “Yeah, but I believe this instead.” Once again, with the implication that our belief makes it so.

The truth is that what God said is what He said. And regardless of what we may believe, it does not change the truth. It does not change what God established, nor does it alter what God desires.

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man,

but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Proverbs 16:25

Following God is not a matter of believing in something, and then sticking to it. It's a matter of seeing what way God says is right, then believing it. Our opinions, our thoughts, and our beliefs have no effect on what is righteous and true.

This does, of course, mean that we have to be able to understand what God says. I Corinthians 1:10-17 is one of several useful passages that show this. In this passage, Paul states that God wants His people to be united in mind and judgment. He goes on to explain that God does not want confusion and division among His followers. If God does not want His people confused and divided, if He wants His people to be united, then it must be possible to do so! And since our faith and obedience is based on the Bible (John 10:30-31, Romans 10:17), it must be possible to understand the Bible, and for everyone to understand it in the same way: the way God intended.

So, if we can understand what God says, then we can easily understand that my opinion and your opinion are largely irrelevant. What matters is what God says.

Let us not follow a faith of what I believe or what you believe, but rather follow a faith of what God says and wants. After all, isn't it better to follow the Lord than ourselves?

It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.

It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.

Psalm 118:8-9

Would you rather put your trust in what your opinion or belief is, or in what the Lord says? After all, we are merely men and women. We are frail, fallible things. God is not.

We must put away what we want to hold to. No matter how comforting a belief may be (“God wouldn't send anyone to hell.” “God is ok with little white lies.” “God won't mind if I skip services just occasionally.”), what matters is what God says (Matthew 25:31-46, Colossians 3:9, Hebrews 10:25, respectively).

Surely, we must believe and have faith. But our belief must be in line with what God wants. We must be sure that our faith is in accordance with God's word and will. Anything else is a faith built on shifting sands (Matthew 7:24-27). Anything else is putting confidence in man, and not trusting in the Lord. My belief does not make it so. Your belief does not make it so. What God says DOES make it so.

How Many Apostles Were There?

Twelve, right? Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the less, Thaddaeus, and Judas. Well, and there was Matthias, who replaced Judas. And Paul. And Timothy and Silas (I Thess. 1:1, 6). Also were Andronicus and Junia (Rom. 16:7), Apollos (I Cor. 5:6,9), Barnabus (Acts 14:14), James, the Lord's brother (Gal. 1:19), and of course, the ultimate and perfect apostle, Jesus Christ (Heb. 3:). So, there's at least 10 more than the twelve who, in scripture, are named apostles.

Your Teaching is Too Negative!

How many times have we heard someone say this? We are, after all, accused of being too negative in our preaching and teaching. Don't we know that preaching is supposed to be all positive?

When John preached to the people, he was not as positive as people would have liked, I'm sure. In fact, it was far more “negative” than how we teach today.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

Matthew 3:7-8

When Paul wrote, it was often what we would consider to be negative teaching.

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Galatians 1:6-8

And of course, in looking for examples in teaching, we should always look to our perfect example, the example set by Christ.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

Matthew 23:25

There are times when sin must be addressed. And when we do so, it is not pleasant. Yet we cannot ignore it because we do not enjoy talking about it. We must recognize sin for what it is: the element that cuts us off from God. As it says in Isaiah 59:1,

But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

And anything which separates us from God must be avoided. And in our love for each other, we must help others avoid it and make correction as needed. We do not practice “negative teaching” because we dislike and hate, but because we want all men to repent and turn to God. We do not teach against sin and speak of its consequences because we do not recognize God's love, but because we want all to be able to take hold of the gift of grace. We want everyone to make correction, repent, and turn to God so that everyone can have eternal life.

Throughout the Bible, we are taught to rebuke, as needed (Titus 1:13, II Timothy 4:2, I Timothy 5:20, Luke 17:3). We must call sin what it is, and we must warn against it. When others walk in sin, we must call it what it is, and help them overcome it. When we walk in sin, we must be humble enough to accept rebuke and help, in order to make correction in our own life.

And even, in the end, negative teaching is positive. Our “negative teaching” is done in order that we can help each other have eternal life. We teach in such a way that we can live more like Christ. In doing so, we not only pursue righteousness, holiness, and godliness, but run from sin and worldliness (II Timothy 2:22).

If we do not teach against error, if we do not help others reach the goal, then what good is our teaching? If all we speak are comforting words that fail to have any real meaning, what good is it? If all we do is speak generally and generically of God, without making any application, what good is it? If our teaching is like that, then we are like the false prophets in the time of Ezekiel.

Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace;

Ezekiel 13:10

If You Love Me

In John 14:15, Christ makes a simple statement.

"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

Now, you notice it doesn't say, “you'll obey me in some things, but not in others.” And it doesn't say, “you'll obey me part of the time.” What it says is that if we love Christ, we will keep His commandments. If we keep His commandments, we love Christ. And of course, if we do not love Christ, we do not keep His commandments. And if we do not keep His commandments, it is because we do not truly love Christ. That includes not only faith, but baptism, meeting together, taking the Lord's Supper, and everything we are told to do. And remember I Corinthians 16:22.

If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed.

Sister Bertha better-than-you

“All the way down to the amen pew
where sat Sister Bertha better-than-you”

Yes, that's right. The words you read above are from a Ray Stevens song titled “Mississippi Squirrel Revival.” And we've all met “Sister Bertha better-than-you.” It is the person with the “holier than thou” attitude. The person who enjoys condemning others without fixing her own errors. The person who teaches others not to convert them to Christ, but to display what a good and knowledgeable person he/she is.

Christ himself encountered Sister Bertha better-than-you, in the form of the Pharisees.
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence."You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. "Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Matthew 23:23-28

You see, one of the things that identifies a Sister Bertha is she does not correct her own errors and sins. She puts on a public show of holiness, yet like the Pharisees, she is a whitewashed tomb. This is not to say that as Christians we cannot approach others about their sin. We know that the apostle Paul had to approach the apostle Peter, because Peter was walking erroneously.
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision.
Galatians 2:11-12

We must be sure we are doing so for the right reasons, though. We must do it out of love and the desire to help others take hold of, and maintain, eternal life Paul writes to Timothy in II Timothy 2:25-26:
with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

The difference between Sister Bertha better-than-you, and those who actually follow God's word is a simple one. Sister Bertha teaches and talks and confronts in her pride, to convince others that she is more holy. Instead, let us approach others meekly, with love in our hearts. Let us be less concerned with our outward appearance, and more with our inward man. Let us put off our pride which causes this, and follow humbly in the footsteps of the Messiah. Are you a Sister Bertha-better-than-you?

Conversion

We throw around the word “conversion” a lot, but do we really focus on what it means? Conversion is a change from one thing to another. So, in become a Christian, what conversion takes place?

From Dead to Alive Ephesians 2:1-5

From Old to New II Corinthians 5:16-17

From Slavery to Freedom Romans 6:15-23

From Wicked to Sanctified I Corinthians 6:9-11

From Our Will to God's Will I Peter 4:1-4

From Enemies to Reconciled Romans 5:10-11

From Proud to Humble Matthew 18:1-4

From Unlike Christ to Like Christ II Corinthians 3:18

From Corruption to Knowing Christ II Peter 2:20-22

From Children to Heirs Galatians 3:12-16

From Sinful to Covered Over James 5:19-20

Hur

So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

Exodus 17:10-13

It's a simple story that sometimes we forget about. As long as Moses held his hands up, the Israelites were winning the battle. But when he lowered his arms, the Amalekites began to win. And of course, we often spend a lot of time in talking about Moses. And for good reason, after all! Think of all the things that Moses did in service to God. Consider the years he dedicated to the Lord.

And we often spend time in thinking about and studying Aaron, Moses' brother. We consider how he was appointed by God to speak for Moses, and spend time in learning how his family line became the line of Levitical priests. We contemplate his failures and his triumphs both.

But how often we do we think of Hur? How often we take the time to consider his role?

Here is a man who is rarely mentioned in scripture. And what we see here is no great work. All he does it help to hold up one of Moses' arms. Yet he did not seem to think it was beneath him. He did not consider it a trivial thing. He saw something that needed to be accomplished, and he did what was necessary.

How often are we like Hur? How often do we look for even small things to do? And how often do we skip over those small things as being unimportant? Surely Hur expected no great accolades for his efforts. It's pretty certain that he did not think to himself, “You know, if I stand here and hold Moses' arm, I'll be put into a book that people will read for thousands of years, and eventually, someone will use me as an example in a bulletin!” His mind was not on personal glory, but on what needed to be done.

And think about what a great effect he had! For his small effort, the Israelites defeated Amalek. If Moses' arms were not held up, then what would have happened? If we go off of what we see in scriptures, the battle would have been lost. But, in part because of Hur's effort, God gave Israel the victory.

A small effort can have great results. A card written to someone in encouragement. A phone call. A kind word. Offering to help carry someone's heavy bag. They are all little things. But each can have a significant impact.

So let us consider our small works that we can do. When something is necessary, let us not balk at doing it. Too often we overlook the “small” things while we seek out the “big” things. Let us walk in the footsteps of Hur, and do the small things that need doing. Let us think first of God's will, and put ourselves forward to be used in His service.