Author: believersarmedanddangerous

There’s a story that the demons one day wanted to have a yard sale.  They collected things from all over hell to put into the sale, pitchforks, union suits, air conditioners.  One brave demon even approached Satan himself and asked if he would like to contribute something.  Satan asked, “What sort of items are you looking for?”  He was told anything of value would be appreciated.  He gave his article to the demon and the demon sped off to place it with the others.

At the end of the sale, Satan’s item was returned to him.  It was priced too high.  The demon asked what it was.  “It’s a wedge,” said Satan.  “I use it to divide churches, marriages, friendships, all godly relationships, really.”  The story goes that it didn’t sell.  He still has it, and he still uses it.

Proverbs 6:16-19 (NKJV)
¹⁶  These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
¹⁷  A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸  A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil,
¹⁹  A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.

The Bible tells us of seven things God actually hates.  Last but not least is sowing discord among the brethren.

How do we sow discord?  We gossip.  We criticize. We don’t like the color of the church walls, we don’t think the music is very good, too loud or too soft.  It’s too old or too “young.”  The preacher taught something I don’t agree with.  I saw a deacon buying beer, and so it goes.

If God hates this, we should do our best to control it within our body.  When we hear an unkind word or are disapproving of someone’s actions, it is up to us to keep it to ourselves until we’ve addressed it with that person.

If a teacher or even the pastor teaches something you don’t agree with, it is up to you to talk with him and see what he meant.  You might be the one who is wrong.  Matthew 18:15-17 says just this, that we should take it to the one involved.  If you’re still convinced you’re right, then get another Christian of like mind and again approach the individual.  If he still doesn’t listen or change your mind, take it to the church leadership.  It stops there, by the way, and nothing more should be said outside that small leadership group.

Don’t let Satan use you as his wedge.  Stop dissension within the body.  Confront lies, answer questions, and stand with God in his hatred of discord.  Division starts one person at a time.  Stopping division happens the same way.  Be that person.

God says there are consequences to sowing discord, so watch yourself:

 Proverbs 6:12-15 (ESV)
¹²  A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech,
¹³  winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger,
¹⁴  with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord;
¹⁵  therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

You’re a first century Christian and reading through Matthew and come across the phrase, “it is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God,” (Matt. 4:4).  You ask yourself, where is that written?  The early manuscripts of the Bible did not contain chapter or verse divisions.  So, unless you were very familiar with the Old Testament, chances are it would take you months of reading through the entire text to find that portion of Scripture.  Even if you knew it was in the book of Deuteronomy, it would still take you some time to locate it. 

Interesting side note: early manuscripts of both the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testaments were written not only without divisions of chapters and verses but also without word separation.  So, you might see: “haveyoueverseenabundanceonthetable” which could be translated “Have you ever seen abundance on the table,” or, “have you ever seen a bun dance on the table.”  The translators would need to be able to read the passage in context to understand the meaning and translate it accurately.

Back to divisions.  At the time of the writing of Dead Sea Scrolls, it appears it was common to divide books up by paragraphs.  The Hebrew letter Peh (open) was placed at the beginning of a paragraph and the Hebrew letter samekh (closed) was placed at the end of each paragraph.  This at least divided up the text into usable portions but did not help identify one passage from another.

Over the centuries which follow a few other divisions were made.  The Jews divided the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) into 154 sections so they could be read one each week over three years.  Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 260 – 339 a.d.) divided the gospels into more manageable portions.  These and other systems were introduced over the years but are not the divisions we use today.

Archbishop Stephen Landgon (c. 1150 – 1228 a.d.) came up with the modern chapter divisions we use. 

So, now we had somewhat manageable portions of Scripture we could study and share more easily.  Imagine, though, trying to point out a sentence in Psalm 119 which is longer than some complete books of the Bible.  A usable system of still smaller divisions was needed.

Not until the 16th Century was a widely accepted verse division of the New Testament accepted.  Robert Estienne developed a verse system which he published in his 1551 edition of the Greek New Testament.  In 1571, Estienne issued a verse system for the Old Testament, and we use his verse division system for both the Old and New Testaments today.

While none of the chapter and verse systems we’ve seen over the years are in any way inspired, they do make study and communication of the passages much easier. 

So, next time you’re reading through Matthew and come across Matthew Chapter 4:4, “But he answered, ‘It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”, look at your reference list.  Some editor has most likely listed Deut. 8:3, and Langdon and Estienne have made it easy for you to find it.

As you know if you’ve been reading my blogs for the past 10 months, God has given me a a heart to help Jehovah’s Witnesses come out of the darkness of the Watchtower organization and for Christians who wish to deepen their understanding and their faith in Christ.

Since we’ve also seen that the mission of the church may be to teach and equip believers, the work of the ministry is also to be the result of that preparation by the local church.

Ephesians 4:11-13 (ESV)
¹¹  And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
¹²  to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
¹³  until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

To further my part in doing the work of the ministry, I’ve put together and am announcing a new website: AnswersAZ.com (Apologetics Networking System & Watchtower Emergency Rescue Service of AriZona) which is dedicated to helping Christians deepen their faith in Christ, to help them in their attempts to better understand and evangelize Jehovah’s Witnesses, and to better inform Jehovah’s Witnesses of the fatal flaws in their theology, the corruption of the organization, and their need for Christ alone.

AnswersAZ.com is not meant to replace this blog.  It is meant to stand on its own as a resource for anyone interested.

So, please visit AnswersAZ.com.  I would appreciate any comments and suggestions to improve.  It’s still very much a work in progress, but there is plenty there to give you a taste of what I’m shooting for.

Luke 19:1-10 (ESV)
¹  He entered Jericho and was passing through.
²  And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.
³  And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature.
⁴  So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.
⁵  And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”
⁶  So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.
⁷  And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
⁸  And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”
⁹  And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.
¹⁰  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

I’ve been looking at Zacchaeus lately.  What an interesting story.  Zacchaeus was the only person mentioned in the Bible to have been saved in the city of Jericho.  But, what a man to save.

According to verse one, Jesus was just passing through Jericho.  It wasn’t His destination but was a major city on the main road from eastern Palestine to Jerusalem.  According to Luke, Jericho was the last city He visited before entering Jerusalem to die on the cross, and Zacchaeus was the last to be saved.  You would think Jesus would make a major push to bring people into God’s Kingdom at the end of His earthly ministry.  But, only one man was saved? 

Zacchaeus was known by everyone in Jericho and by those regularly passing through.  According to Edersheim’s Life and Times of Jesus, there were so many Roman taxes archaeologists still haven’t been able to name them all.  And, Zacchaeus got a cut of everything that was collected.

He says in verse 8 that he would return any money he had received through defrauding taxpayers.  So, he had most likely been a cheat.  Tax collectors were seen as sinners in Jewish life.  Righteous Jews had nothing to do with them.  And Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector.

But, Zacchaeus received salvation this day and the change was obvious.  The man who had defrauded the people of Jericho was now giving half of his wealth to the poor.  Jewish law required a cheat pay back double any money he had made through fraud.  Zacchaeus gave back twice that.  The people of Jericho saw an immediate change in him.  Many must have questioned what caused the change in this chief tax collector.  Imagine the opportunities for telling people about how Jesus had moved in the life of Zacchaeus.

Jesus spoke to great crowds during His earthly ministry: 5,000 men at one time.  But, most often, Jesus shared one-on-one with people.  Individuals were saved and changed.  Others saw the change in them and wanted that new life as well.  Such is God’s plan and the story of our faith.  The gospel is most often shared with individuals.

Paul was saved by an individual encounter with Jesus and millions have found salvation through Paul’s letters.  Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, John Whitefield, John Wesley, D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday, Billy Graham, and Greg Laurie all had personal encounters with Jesus and through them millions have heard the good news God has for them.  Most of these men were led to Christ by an individual Christian.

Who knows, maybe all of Jericho was saved through the witness of Zacchaeus.  Thousands of travelers passed through this great city on their way to Jerusalem.  Think of how many heard the good news from the townspeople.  Jesus wasn’t holding back when He shared with Zacchaeus.  He had a greater plan.  He isn’t holding back with you either. 

We are the Zacchaeuses of our Jerichos.  Those who knew us before we met Christ can see the change.

Keep your eyes open.  You may be a Zacchaeus, or you might be the person God uses to bring one to Christ.

Romans 10:9 (ESV)
⁹  because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

I was an agnostic until I was 21.  I had been raised in a home with a religious mother but a non-religious father.  We would go to church once in a great while, but my parents said they didn’t want to influence us in what path to take, so they presented, really, no path at all.  I remember attending Catholic mass with my mother a few times in my teens, but I was really not impressed.  When I asked sincerely where Cain got his wife, the priest said, “We don’t ask those sorts of questions.”  I felt a blind faith was an empty faith, so I didn’t darken the door of a church for a long time.

When I met my wife, hers was a strong and genuine Christian family, and I began to attend church with them.  By that time, I had come to the mistaken conclusion that Christianity was some sort of club.  Most people I’d seen who attended church were good people.  I wanted to be a good person, too, so I began to attend church.  I was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Church, but my view of Christianity hadn’t changed.  I thought these folks who said you needed to be, “born again,” were just mouthing words someone else had coached them to say.  It was a sort of game I understood and eventually learned to play myself.

In 1975, Jerry, a Jehovah’s Witness, was hired at work.  Shortly thereafter he asked who the “born again” Christians were.  I raised my had, and nearly every day after that he would raise one problem or other about what Christians believed.  For a while, I went to my wife’s parents for answers for Jerry.  They eventually gave me a copy of Walter Martin’s “Kingdom of the Cults,” where the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses were laid out plainly and how they differed from historic biblical Christianity.

At one point, Jerry and I began to talk about salvation and what it meant.  Martin’s book laid the biblical position out clearly for me: salvation required turning control of my life over to Jesus Christ.  I thought, “That’s great.  I’ll share this with Jerry.”  But, God said, “Read it again.”  I had never really done it myself, turned my life over to God’s control.  I was unwilling to let anyone control my life but me, so I said, “no” to God.

Well, after about six months of consciously fighting with God for my future, he finally threw me up against the wall and made it very clear what my choices were.  He showed me the dark destination I was headed for.  I saw what needed to be done and grudgingly  turned my life, hook, lie, and sinker, over to Him.

It was the best decision I’ve ever made.  My life was forever changed, and I now know what it means to have a personal one-on-one relationship with the God of the universe.

The reason I’m writing this is that I don’t think I’m the only one who thought Christianity was less than it is.  Maybe you think that still.  It’s not a club like the Lions or Elks.  It’s the proverbial hospital for sinners.  Jesus, its Head, is the one and only source for forgiveness of the sin in our lives and reaches out to us all to have a personal relationship with Him.  We only need to make Him Lord of our lives, not a Character we know about and talk about.  Knowing about someone is not the same as knowing someone.  He’s real.  His gift of salvation and forgiveness is real.  The peace and joy that accompany His forgiveness is real.  If you haven’t taken advantage of it, there’s no time like the present.  Just ask Him to take charge of your life and follow Him.

I spent much of the last couple of days discussing the evidence for Christianity with an atheist on FaceBook.  The point I made that he was most resistant to face, and actually never did, was the fact that Christianity began in the very city where Christ was crucified, where all the witnesses to His execution lived, where the proclaimers’ stories of His resurrection could be most easily refuted if their tales were false, and where there were both Roman and Jewish leaders who were more than willing to disprove those stories..

The example I used in our discussion was this, “Suppose we went back to Dallas in January of 1964 and proclaimed JFK had been risen from the dead?  What would be the chance of building a following of 5000 within just a few short days as the disciples of Christ did?”

Just like our example, the Church of Jesus Christ was founded only a few weeks after His death by those claiming His resurrection.  These were men who were so frightened of the authorities that most of them hid while Jesus was killed, laid in the tomb, and rose from the dead.  They were certainly changed men when they stood in the temple proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection just a few short weeks later. 

All but one of these men died a horrible death.  Peter was crucified upside down because he refused to die as his Master had.  Thomas was run through with a spear as he preached the gospel in India and continued to preach until he died of his wound.  Andrew was crucified  on an “X” shaped cross and preached to his executioners and standers by until he died of his wounds.  Bartholomew was skinned alive but, as with the others, told of Jesus during the ordeal.  And, those are just a few examples.  Yet, none of these men ever denied the story they told of a risen Christ.  What do you suppose happened that took frightened men and changed them into bold proclaimers of a truth they were all willing to painfully die for?

Should someone ever tell you they doubt whether Christianity is true, ask them how they think the Church began, tell them about how hard it would be to start the church in the city of Jerusalem where Jesus was executed;  about the men who were once frightened but then stood courageously proclaiming a truth they died for.

There are a lot of reasons we know Christianity is true.  These are simple and easy to understand.

Acts 17:10-11 (ESV)
¹⁰  The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.
¹¹  Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

 

Imagine that.  The Apostle Paul himself came to Berea and preached the gospel.  But the Bereans wanted to check out his teaching and went to the Scriptures to see if what he taught was true. 

We should learn a couple of things from this passage of Scripture: firstly that the Scriptures are the standard of truth and doctrine and, secondly, that those who checked out Paul’s teachings were called “noble.”  Noble because they examined what was being taught to make sure it lined up with God’s Word.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, it is our task to examine what we are taught on blogs, in books, and even from the pulpit to make sure what we’re hearing is accurate and stands in line with what we already know to be true: Scripture.

It’s interesting that Paul’s first letter to Thessalonica, where he received a rather poor reception (Acts 17:1-9), includes the instruction to test everything and hold fast to what is good (1 Thess. 5:19-21).  So, it’s our task to examine the spiritual food we receive just as we should check much of the physical food we consume.

This is not to say everything you read, hear, or see should be counted as false teaching.  We can go far afield thinking there are false teachers under every bush and behind every pulpit.  Walter Martin used to use the example of training bank tellers to spot counterfeit bills.  The trainers didn’t show them counterfeit money.  They had them handle real cash constantly so that when a counterfeit bill crossed their palm, they didn’t even have to look down.  They were so familiar with the real thing, that they could spot a counterfeit immediately.

Like them, we should make ourselves so familiar with the Truth, the real thing, that we can spot a counterfeit immediately.

Let us study to show ourselves approved of God, workmen who need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Tim. 3:15)

 

Acts 17:1-9 (ESV)
¹  Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
²  And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
³  explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”
⁴  And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
⁵  But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.
⁶  And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,
⁷  and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”
⁸  And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things.
⁹  And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 (ESV)
¹⁹  Do not quench the Spirit.
²⁰  Do not despise prophecies,
²¹  but test everything; hold fast what is good.

2 Timothy 2:15 (ESV)
¹⁵  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

Hebrews 5:12-14 (NKJV)
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

 

     A friend asked the other day, “What is and what is not biblical discipleship?”  I thought that was a good question to address here. 

Discipleship is following Jesus’ words in Mark 12:28-31 where He tells each of us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Most Christians understand the love-with-all-our-heart part pretty well.  Discipleship certainly involves showing God’s love to our fellow man.  But, how about loving God with our minds?  When we share Christ or disciple one another, shouldn’t we be accurate in what we say or teach?

If we don’t know why we believe our faith is true, we are in danger of straying.  We run the risk of misinforming or misleading others.   Paul warns us in 2 Cor. 11:3-4 that there is another Jesus, another spirit, and another gospel.  A little later in the same book, he tells us to examine ourselves to make sure we are in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5).  How does a disciple know if he’s in or outside the faith if he doesn’t know what the faith is to begin with and why he should believe it?

Jude 3-4 says, we are to earnestly contend for the faith against those who would pervert it.  Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:14-15 that we’re supposed to have answers for what we believe.  It seems a disciple should be able to readily share and defend the faith (2 Tim. 4:1-6).

I’m not trying to discourage believers from sharing.  Personal testimony of how a life was changed by the blood of Christ is an effective way to witness.  My experience, however, has been that questions arise, people misunderstand the gospel, false beliefs need to be corrected (2 Tim 3:16-17).  To be able to address those issues, we need a better understanding.

The instructions and warnings in Scripture aren’t directed solely at the leadership of the church either.  They were given to the rank and file as well.  Leaders aren’t filled with the Spirit and able to share their faith after they become leaders.  They become leaders because they are first filled with the Spirit and able to share their faith (1 Tim. 3:1-7).  A disciple should be able to do that if he’s known Christ for any length of time.  It’s not a blind faith.  It’s true, and we should act like it.

It’s Easter time, and we’re all being encouraged to invite our friends and neighbors to church to hear the Gospel.  That’s a great thing to do, a good way to introduce people to Christ, and we will certainly see people come to know the Lord.  People need to hear the story of how Jesus, once pronounced dead, rose again to show His power over sin. 

Is discipleship just leading people to church, though, or is it leading them to Christ?  Have our churches given up on us sharing the truth with our friends and settled for having us invite them to church? 

We are the church, not that building down on Main Street.  Christ Himself sent us into the world to preach the gospel, but not only that, we are to make disciples.  How do we make disciples if our own discipleship lacks a full understanding of what the Bible teaches?  My pastor said it well when he asked, “Are we coworkers with Christ or just customers sitting in church?” 

Are all Christians disciples?  Discipleship is not passive.  It is dynamic.  It is to love God, to be filled with His Spirit, and to follow the commands and instructions He gives us in Scripture.  Then we are to share that with others, both believers and non-believers.  God is the Object of our praise and love, but He should also be the source of instruction in our lives.  A well informed Christian is an effective witness.

We have the truth.  The world is gaining on us not because it’s right, but because the church is less informed and less willing and able to defend what it believes than the world.  Let’s fight back!  Let’s make an effort to know what we believe and why we believe it well enough to stand against the flaming darts of the evil one and take the offensive Sword in hand (Eph 6:13-18).  Let’s put on the full armor of God, the full armor of discipleship.  Let’s go into all the world and preach the gospel by being and making disciples.

If you need help becoming a better disciple, seek out someone you see in the church who can help you.  If you’re already confident and well informed in your faith, seek out someone to invest your time in.  It will help you and them become better disciples.

 

Mark 12:28-31 (ESV)
²⁸  And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”
²⁹  Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
³⁰  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
³¹  The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

2 Corinthians 11:3-4 (ESV)
³  But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
⁴  For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

2 Corinthians 13:5 (ESV)
⁵  Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Jude 1:3-4 (ESV)
³  Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
⁴  For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 3:14-15 (ESV)
¹⁴  But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,
¹⁵  but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

2 Timothy 4:1-5 (ESV)
¹  I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:
²  preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
³  For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,
⁴  and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
⁵  As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)
¹⁶  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
¹⁷  that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

1 Timothy 3:1-7 (ESV)
¹  The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.
²  Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
³  not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
⁴  He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive,
⁵  for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?
⁶  He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
⁷  Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)
¹⁸  And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
¹⁹  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
²⁰  teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

 Ephesians 6:13-18 (ESV)
¹³  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
¹⁴  Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
¹⁵  and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
¹⁶  In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
¹⁷  and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
¹⁸  praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

I just can’t seem to get my mind out of Phil 2:5-10 lately.  Maybe it’s because it speaks of a character trait that is so obviously absent from my life: humility.

Phil 2:5-11 tells us that Jesus existed in the very form of God.  He was God Himself.  Yet He was willing to leave that role as God and come to earth as a man and die on the cross for us.

Think about that for a moment.  The God of the universe, Second Person of the Trinity, God the Son, the One who spoke and a universe so large it takes light 15 billion years to travel across it, that incredibly powerful God, came to earth as a servant and washed the feet of men.  Not only that, but He was happy to do so (Heb. 12:1-2).

Now, God tells us to be humble (James 4:10).  The difficult part for us in all this is that the Holy Spirit tells us at the beginning of the Philippians passage that we are to have this same mind, this same attitude of humility that God the Son had in coming to earth as a man, washing the feet of men, and dying on the cross.

This humility, of course, must come from our love for our Lord.  But, are we really willing to humble ourselves?  Are we willing to get our hands dirty, get down in the muck, work with people who offend us, take on tasks we might think are beneath us?  Are we willing to forgive those who have wronged us even if they don’t ask us to and haven’t shown any sign of remorse?  We’re supposed to do just that, you know (Matt 6:14-15).

So, this week, how about we try, you and I, to take a step down from our tower of pride and do a job no one else wants to do that would glorify our Lord.  Maybe it’s something someone would never see, and keep it just between us and God.  Let’s give that a try.  It would be nice to build up a little secret treasure in heaven.  And, God says He’ll bless us for it.  Let’s let this mind be in us which was also in Christ Jesus.

 

Philippians 2:5-11 (ESV)
⁵  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
⁶  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
⁷  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
⁸  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
⁹  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
¹  Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
²  looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

James 4:10 (ESV)
¹⁰  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Matthew 6:14-15 (ESV)
¹⁴  For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
¹⁵  but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

For today’s blog, I thought I’d republish the text of a letter of mine which was published recently in the local paper.  It’s on the impossibility of a true separation of Church and State in America:

“It is impossible for the United States to have actual separation of church and state.  The analogy would be something like little Johnny and Mary are in the back seat of the family car.  Mary says, “Johnny’s touching me,” and Johnny accuses Mary of the same.  Mom tells them to stop touching each other but gives governing authority to Johnny.  He decides what touching is, who can touch whom, and is given the ability to punish Mary if she breaks any of Johnny’s regulations.  That’s not separation and not very fair, is it?  But, it’s the same system of separation of church and state we have today.  The state is in control of that separation.  The State tells us what we can and cannot do in practicing our faith and where.  If you don’t think this is true, how about we let the church take its turn at controlling what separation looks like.

“Separation of Church and State, as I’m sure the advocates know, is not in the Constitution but was a decision of the Supreme Court.  Supreme Court decisions and even at least one Constitutional amendment have been overturned.  Let’s treat “Separation” with that in mind, and give the subject a little more thought before getting on our high horses and pointing fingers.”

So, when someone argues with you about prayer in school, Bible classes in government offices, or that nativity scenes on public lands should be prohibited on the basis of Separation of Church and state, remember this idea is from an interpretation of the Constitution by the Supreme Court, not in the Constitution itself.

The basis of the Supreme Court’s decisions regarding separation of Church and State is a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptists in 1802.  He used the phrase, “separation of Church and State” but meant that government should be separated from the Church, not the other way around.  

Here is a link to the Jefferson letter:

https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html