Apprising Ministries shows you in this piece the confusion now being sown over faith, which is actually a gift God gives to the Christian.
You’ll get a better understanding as to why you’re seeing Seeker Driven prophet-leaders like Steven Furtick trying to get people to “whip up” their faith and “believe God” by decreeing His Word a la Word Faith prosperity preachers like T.D. Jakes.
9 συνεπέθεντο δὲ καὶ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι φάσκοντες ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχειν. 10 Ἀπεκρίθη τε ὁ Παῦλος νεύσαντος αὐτῷ τοῦ ἡγεμόνος λέγειν· ἐκ πολλῶν ἐτῶν ὄντα σε κριτὴν τῷ ἔθνει τούτῳ ἐπιστάμενος εὐθύμως τὰ περὶ ἐμαυτοῦ ἀπολογοῦμαι, 11 δυναμένου σου ἐπιγνῶναι ὅτι οὐ πλείους εἰσίν μοι ἡμέραι δώδεκα ἀφ’ ἧς ἀνέβην προσκυνήσων εἰς Ἰερουσαλήμ. 12 καὶ οὔτε ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ εὗρόν με πρός τινα διαλεγόμενον ἢ ἐπίστασιν ποιοῦντα ὄχλου οὔτε ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς οὔτε κατὰ τὴν πόλιν, 13 οὐδὲ παραστῆσαι δύνανταί σοι περὶ ὧν νυνὶ κατηγοροῦσίν μου. 14 ὁμολογῶ δὲ τοῦτό σοι ὅτι κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ἣν λέγουσιν αἵρεσιν, οὕτως λατρεύω τῷ πατρῴῳ θεῷ πιστεύων πᾶσιν τοῖς κατὰ τὸν νόμον καὶ τοῖς ἐν τοῖς προφήταις γεγραμμένοις, 15 ἐλπίδα ἔχων εἰς τὸν θεὸν ἣν καὶ αὐτοὶ οὗτοι προσδέχονται, ἀνάστασιν μέλλειν ἔσεσθαι δικαίων τε καὶ ἀδίκων. 16 ἐν τούτῳ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀσκῶ ἀπρόσκοπον συνείδησιν ἔχειν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους διὰ παντός. Acts 24:9–16, NA28
9 The Jews also jointed in the attack saying these things to be so. 10 And Paul answered as the Governor nodded to him to speak: “Knowing that for many years you have been judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense concerning these things, 11 since you can take note that not more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. 12 Neither in the temple did they find me conversing with anyone or stirring up the crowds in either the synagogues or in the city itself. 13 Nor are they able to prove to you the things that they are now accusing me. 14 But I confess this to you that according to The Way which they call a sect, thus I serve the God of our fathers, believing in all the things according to the Law and the things written in the Prophets; 15 having hope toward God, which also these men anticipate, a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. 16 By this I also do my best to always have a blameless conscience toward God and men.” Acts 24:9–16, a personal translation from the NA28
In our last post, Fumbling the Ball, we looked at some disturbing examples of some very visible professing Christians and Christian leaders who have set an example of compromise. We discussed how this “fear of man” that causes Christians to compromise infects us all. What is that God-given mechanism that He put in each of us that works as the soul’s warning system? It is, of course, the conscience, which allows humans to contemplate their motives and actions and make moral evaluations of what is right and wrong. However, in order for the conscience to work correctly as God designed it, it must be informed to the highest moral and spiritual level and best standard. This means that we must submit it to the Holy Spirit through God’s Word (Romans 12:1,2; 1 Timothy 1:19; 2 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 10:22).
32 Πᾶς οὖν ὅστις ὁμολογήσει ἐν ἐμοὶ ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὁμολογήσω κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν [τοῖς] οὐρανοῖς· 33 ὅστις δ’ ἂν ἀρνήσηταί με ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἀρνήσομαι κἀγὼ αὐτὸν ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν [τοῖς] οὐρανοῖς. Matt. 10:32–33, NA28
32 So everyone who confesses me before men I also will confess him before my Father who is in Heaven 33 and whoever denies me before men I will also deny him before my Father who is in Heaven. Matt. 10:32–33, a personal translation from the NA28
What does it mean to confess Jesus before men? Is it what so many say in our time that it is a simple profession of faith that you are a “Jesus Follower?” Or as so many do in that they point to their religious affiliation? One thing is made clear in Sacred Scripture; if one does profess to be a Christian then that “faith” that is presented will be tested. The test will be along some line of demarcation that divides what is genuine faith from what is of the flesh or of this world. Of course, there are three results of these tests. Christians go through the fires of tribulation and stand firm and their faith is strengthened as the Holy Spirit works through that test to reveal the truth of their faith to them and also to those whom God intended to see it for his own purposes. However, genuine believers can also fall badly as their faith is tested as did Peter the night of our Lord’s trial in which he denied our Lord 3 times and also when Paul had to confront him about his hypocrisy when the Judiazers came to Antioch (Galatians 2:11-13). In both cases Peter failed the test because of “fear of men.” Did this make him an unbeliever? Of course not! No, these tests were used by God to reveal to him problems with his walk in which he needed to confess and repent. On the other hand, there is a third result in which disingenuous faith is revealed and these false believers immediately fall away as their faith is revealed to be not supernatural, but of the flesh or of the world. I covered this in this post back in 2006.
There is a default spiritual condition in every man that is deplorable. Many professing believers, while extolling the great work of God’s grace on their behalf to save them or they would be among those doomed to an eternity in hell, actually hold to a position that is based entirely within the scope of self-righteousness. These “believers” seek to be justified before God in and of themselves. They may not declare it verbally, but by their own acts it is obvious that they view their “sanctification” and their religiosity as that which is justifying them before God. This is nothing new. The Word of God makes clear that even Cain slew Able because his own “religious works” were not acceptable to God while righteous Able was justified before God because of an imputed righteousness about which Cain knew nothing. This continues in 21st century Christianity. The tragedy is that a huge contributor to this problem is a dreadful lack of the teaching of the deep things of God in our churches. This results in so many Christians being ignorant of the basics of theology.
John Bunyan was an incredible Bible teacher in 17th Century England. Bunyan understood more than most that genuine Christians are so because of God’s grace alone. He also understood that God had every right to take away as well as to give, all by grace, to prepare believers for service in whatever capacity was required for the Kingdom. Since this was so, how could justification be based upon man’s own efforts, abilities and deeds?
Possessing the Treasure shares Bunyan’s essay, “Justification By An Imputed Righteousness or No Way to Heaven but by Jesus Christ”, in which Bunyan deliberately exegetes sacred Scripture to clearly teach these truths to God’s elect.
8 ἀλλὰ μενοῦνγε καὶ ἡγοῦμαι πάντα ζημίαν εἶναι διὰ τὸ ὑπερέχον τῆς γνώσεως Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ κυρίου μου, δι’ ὃν τὰ πάντα ἐζημιώθην, καὶ ἡγοῦμαι σκύβαλα, ἵνα Χριστὸν κερδήσω 9 καὶ εὑρεθῶ ἐν αὐτῷ, μὴ ἔχων ἐμὴν δικαιοσύνην τὴν ἐκ νόμου ἀλλὰ τὴν διὰ πίστεως Χριστοῦ, τὴν ἐκ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην ἐπὶ τῇ πίστει, 10 τοῦ γνῶναι αὐτὸν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τῆς ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ καὶ [τὴν] κοινωνίαν [τῶν] παθημάτων αὐτοῦ, συμμορφιζόμενος τῷ θανάτῳ αὐτοῦ, 11 εἴ πως καταντήσω εἰς τὴν ἐξανάστασιν τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν. Phil. 3:8–11, NA28
8 But even more so I consider all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom all things I suffered loss and I consider them dung, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having my own righteousness that is of the law, but the righteousness through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based upon faith, 10 to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death, 11 that if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Phil. 3:8–11, a personal translation from the NA28
Speaking from experience, which I am sure most of you can relate to very much, one the most frustrating things for me to bear is to have to be subjected to a teaching or information or even something shared about a situation or another person that I know to be false beyond any doubt and yet those expounding what is not true either will not listen to the truth or are beyond the reach of my revealing the truth to them. It is an amazing thing to witness those sure in what they perceive to be the light of a truth that really is darkness. Those mired in postmodernism may at this moment be wanting to scream at me that “truth is relative,” however that stance is illogical and the orthodox Christian doctrinal stance says that God’s truth is revealed to us in his Word and his truth is immutable, eternal and authoritative. This being so, and since believers should seek to be Orthodox Christians who reveal their authenticity through their Orthopraxy as they abide in Christ, through this they must come to a true knowledge of their Saviour. In fact, genuine Christians have that hunger born of the Spirit as Paul declared in the passage above that to “know him” was worth losing all things that this world has to offer. I submit that in our time there are many declaring that they have attained this knowledge, but what they proclaim reveals that they are liars because what they are saying our Saviour is like or what he is saying the Church is to be about is not Biblical. We know they are liars and are, therefore, false teachers or wolves in sheep’s clothing, because we compare their teaching with the straight line of God’s Word, our Orthodoxy and this reveals that what they are saying is Orthodoxy is instead heterodoxy, that is, another truth, therefore, a lie.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Matt. 6:19–24
As we waited for the early service folks to exit the auditorium this morning before we entered to find a place to sit for the later service, we decided to look at some books for sale in the book store near the door. I ended up buying a textbook used in the seminary that meets on our campus. It is an introduction to Biblical hermeneutics. Yes, I know, it’s not very exciting and so much of it is something I already have a firm grip on. However, during the sermon this morning on Matthew 6:19–24 (above), I heard the preacher go to great lengths to put our Lord’s statement there in context and at the same time make it understandable to people living in the early years of the 21st Century. It was then that I reevaluated my purchase and how important proper Biblical hermeneutics is in both attaining and adhering to solid Christian Orthodoxy. I struggled all day on how to address this in this post. As our Lord said in Matthew 6:23, for those who believe they are in the light, but are deceived by false doctrine, “How great is the darkness!”
The leaven of the Church Growth Movement has now virtually penetrated all of professing Christendom bringing about cries of “peace, peace,” and turning the the mission of the church into bringing about God’s supposed dream that all unite and make the world a better place.
Apprising Ministries shows you from Scripture that they couldn’t be more wrong as we move further into what is, at least, a large falling away from the faith.
21 Οὐ πᾶς ὁ λέγων μοι· κύριε κύριε, εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. 22 πολλοὶ ἐροῦσίν μοι ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ· κύριε κύριε, οὐ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι ἐπροφητεύσαμεν, καὶ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι δαιμόνια ἐξεβάλομεν, καὶ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι δυνάμεις πολλὰς ἐποιήσαμεν; 23 καὶ τότε ὁμολογήσω αὐτοῖς ὅτι οὐδέποτε ἔγνων ὑμᾶς· ἀποχωρεῖτε ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν. 24 Πᾶς οὖν ὅστις ἀκούει μου τοὺς λόγους τούτους καὶ ποιεῖ αὐτούς, ὁμοιωθήσεται ἀνδρὶ φρονίμῳ, ὅστις ᾠκοδόμησεν αὐτοῦ τὴν οἰκίαν ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν· 25 καὶ κατέβη ἡ βροχὴ καὶ ἦλθον οἱ ποταμοὶ καὶ ἔπνευσαν οἱ ἄνεμοι καὶ προσέπεσαν τῇ οἰκίᾳ ἐκείνῃ, καὶ οὐκ ἔπεσεν, τεθεμελίωτο γὰρ ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν. 26 καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἀκούων μου τοὺς λόγους τούτους καὶ μὴ ποιῶν αὐτοὺς ὁμοιωθήσεται ἀνδρὶ μωρῷ, ὅστις ᾠκοδόμησεν αὐτοῦ τὴν οἰκίαν ἐπὶ τὴν ἄμμον· 27 καὶ κατέβη ἡ βροχὴ καὶ ἦλθον οἱ ποταμοὶ καὶ ἔπνευσαν οἱ ἄνεμοι καὶ προσέκοψαν τῇ οἰκίᾳ ἐκείνῃ, καὶ ἔπεσεν καὶ ἦν ἡ πτῶσις αὐτῆς μεγάλη. Matt. 7:21–27, NA27
21 “Not all the ones saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the one doing the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name, and perform many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from me you who work lawlessness.” 24 “Therefore, everyone who hears my words and does them will be compared to a wise man who built his house upon the rock. 25 And the rain came down and the rivers came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it did not fall for it had been founded upon the rock. 26 And everyone hearing these my words and does not do them will be compared to a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. 27 And the rain came down and the rivers came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and the fall of it was great.” Matt. 7:21–27, a personal translation from the NA27
What is Christian Orthodoxy? Possessing the Treasure looks at the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms to help in offering a succinct definition before sharing a helpful teaching on the importance of a proper balance between orthodoxy and orthopraxy.
We live in a time marred by man-centered Seeker Driven megachurches who were sold out to the ill-fated Church Growth Movement.
As such, we have scores of professing Christians who never been taught the cardinal doctrines of the faith such The Holy Trinity.
Apprising Ministries believes the wise ministers of the Gospel will also being to spend some time in their preaching/teaching catechizing their hearers.
6 Θαυμάζω ὅτι οὕτως ταχέως μετατίθεσθε ἀπὸ τοῦ καλέσαντος ὑμᾶς ἐν χάριτι [Χριστοῦ] εἰς ἕτερον εὐαγγέλιον, 7 ὃ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλο, εἰ μή τινές εἰσιν οἱ ταράσσοντες ὑμᾶς καὶ θέλοντες μεταστρέψαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ. 8 ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐὰν ἡμεῖς ἢ ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εὐαγγελίζηται [ὑμῖν] παρ᾽ ὃ εὐηγγελισάμεθα ὑμῖν, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω. 9 ὡς προειρήκαμεν καὶ ἄρτι πάλιν λέγω· εἴ τις ὑμᾶς εὐαγγελίζεται παρ᾽ ὃ παρελάβετε, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω. 10 Ἄρτι γὰρ ἀνθρώπους πείθω ἢ τὸν θεόν; ἢ ζητῶ ἀνθρώποις ἀρέσκειν; εἰ ἔτι ἀνθρώποις ἤρεσκον, Χριστοῦ δοῦλος οὐκ ἂν ἤμην. Gal. 1:6–10, NA27
6 I marvel that you are so quickly being turned from the one who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel; 7 which is not another; except there are some troubling you and are desiring to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel to you besides that which we preached to you, let him be a curse. 9 As we have previously said, and now again I say, if anyone preaches a gospel to you besides that which you received, let him be a curse. 10 For am I now trying to convince men or God? Or am I seeking to please men? If I were still pleasing men, I would not be Christ’s slave. Gal. 1:6–10, a personal translation from the NA27
Along the lines of our last post which was from John MacArthur’s book, Ashamed of the Gospel, in which he summarized Charles Spurgeon’s struggle with the move towards Christian liberalism in England in the 19th Century. This move began earlier after the Puritan era and gained momentum as Christian leaders sought to become more appealing and less strict, more conciliatory and less divisive no matter the cost in terms of theology. While some held the high ground in terms of their own theology they saw no issue in the compromise in fellowshipping with those who held more “liberal” views than they or some of their peers did. As this trend continued the erosion led to a spiraling down that became known as the Great Down Grade. In the end, the struggle led to the ejection of from England’s Baptist Union of Spurgeon himself because he had led the defense against the Down Grade. For Spurgeon it cost him his health, but for the Baptist Union it cost it it’s spiritual life. The liberals won the leadership and led the denomination into the death throes of Christian Liberalism. Yes, it still exists today, but it stands for nothing having lost its backbone. What would Charles Spurgeon think about that?