This is a message from Bobby:

Imagine for a moment that you are instructed to read a driver’s manual, but afterwards, you are told that the purpose of reading the driver’s manual is not to drive a car, but to know about what driving a car looked like in the past. Now this could sound very convincing, unless of course, you will need to travel a long distance and you can only do it by driving a car. 

That’s how I feel much of Christianity looks like today: we are told to read the Bible by many ministers, but we are also told that a lot of the New Testament teachings do not apply for us today, because they only applied to the first century believers. It sounds kind of absurd, doesn’t it? That’s why, today’s topic about hearing God’s voice is so important because it’s so fundamental for our Christian walk as believers – believers who want to obey the Word of God and who want to be led by God’s Holy Spirit.

John 16:7-14 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged…. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” 

Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will come to His disciples for the following purposes: to convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgement, to guide His disciples in all truth, to glorify Jesus, to tell of things to come, to hear from God and speak the words of God to the disciples, and to declare everything that God wants to share. 

Now the question is: are these words by Jesus addressed only to his first disciples, or do they apply to all believers, to all of us? Are all believers expected to hear personally from God? Or has the Holy Spirit somehow changed since the writing of the Bible and is no longer able to personally speak to believers? Or, perhaps, the disciples have received a different Holy Spirit from us, who was there only for the sole purpose of writing the Bible and none of what we read actually applies to us today? 

To answer this question, we first need to ask does God’s Holy Spirit still convict of sin today as he convicted the world during the time of the first disciples and apostles of Christ? Has the Holy Spirit somehow lost the power to convict of sin the unbelieving world today? If anyone would argue affirmatively to that question, this would make the whole of Christianity completely meaningless, as why would Jesus need to die on the cross except for the forgiveness of sins. But if there is no conviction of sin, then how can we even speak of for the necessity of forgiveness then?

Second, we need to ask, does still the Holy Spirit guide into all truth today as He did in the day of the early disciples and apostles? Now, if we dare to answer negatively, we might wonder how trustworthy is the Holy Spirit if He can guide us only into partial truth, or even worse, if He might somehow deceive us. And how “holy” would that Spirit be if He’s not able to guide us into all truth? Unless, again, we have received a different kind of Spirit from the early disciples – one more untruthful, more misleading, more misguided and more untrustworthy. Of course, put this way such a statement sounds ludicrous, because if we happen to believe this, then Christianity itself becomes pointless. How can then be better for Jesus to die on the cross, if we are going to receive a Spirit whom we cannot trust fully? 

Therefore, the logical question becomes: if the first part of Jesus’ words still applies today (and the Holy Spirit still convicts of sin today and still guides into all truth today), then how much more should we have no doubt that the second would also apply to us today and expect God to speak personally to us through His Holy Spirit! 

No wonder then that we can see Apostle Peter declare on the Day of Pentecost (when the Holy Spirit was first poured out): 

Acts 2:14-18 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.”

Peter makes it clear what the purpose and function of the Holy Spirit is expected to be as prophesied by the prophet Joel: to enable sons and daughters to prophesy, young men to see visions, old men to dream dreams, and to enable God’s menservants and maidservants to prophesy. Then Peter promises that the gift of the Holy Spirit is available to be received to everyone, who is baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38). And this promise is for all generations present and future. 

Throughout the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit speaks to God’s people. 

In Acts chapter 5, we read about Ananias and Sapphira who attempted to lie to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3), but they were exposed. The Holy Spirit clearly spoke to the church and exposed their deception. 

In Acts chapter 9 we can see a disciple named Ananias to whom Jesus appeared in a vision and instructed him to meet the man formerly known as Saul, who persecuted the believers (Acts 9:10-16). 

In Acts chapter 13:2, the Holy Spirit spoke to the church in Antioch to separate Paul and Barnabas for the work for which He had called them. They did not have to guess because God’s Spirit clearly spoke to them. 

In Acts 16:9-10, Paul received a vision in which a man from Macedonia pleaded with him to come and preach the gospel. Paul concluded that God was calling to go to Macedonia and changed his plans. 

In Acts 18:9, God spoke again to Paul in a vision in the night encouraging him to remain in Corinth and keep preaching the Word of God. 

The prophet Agabus appears twice in the book of Acts. In Acts 11:27-29, he prophesies of a coming famine, and in Acts 21:9-11, we can see that he warns Paul of what is about to happen to him in Jerusalem. But Agabus who is from Judea is not the first to warn Paul. Acts 21:4 says that believers in Tyre also warned Paul through the Holy Spirit not to go to Jerusalem. In other words, the Holy Spirit spoke the same message to Paul through multiple believers at different points in time and in different places. 

In Acts 21:9, we also read of 4 prophetesses, daughters of Phillip. 

Suffice it to say, that we can see the role of the Holy Spirit in guiding the early church, clearly manifested through the Book of Acts. And the Spirit speaks to common believers (like Ananias and the disciples in Tyre) just as he can to apostles and prophets. And in some instances, we are not even told how or through whom the Holy Spirit spoke. 

Hebrews 3:7-19 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ” Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. 

The author of Hebrews devotes two chapters warning believers in the church that they should obey God when they hear His voice and not rebel against His voice like the Israelites did it in the wilderness. Because of their rebellion and disobedience, the Israelites were unable to enter God’s Promised Land, God’s rest. 

Hebrews 4:1-13 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it…. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. 

We have often heard the words of Hebrews 4:12-13 being applied to the written word of God, the Bible. However, if we look at the context, it would become clear that the author intends something more: 

Hebrews 4:7-11 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 

The context of Hebrews 4:12-13 is not reading the Bible. The context of these verses is that God can speak to everyone to expose what is hidden in their thoughts and hearts. The author of Hebrews intends for believers to hear God’s voice clearly and be transformed by it as they seek to obey him. The context is that we are expected to hear from God personally and His voice will reveal everything that needs to be corrected in our hearts. That’s why in verses 14-16, believers are encouraged to come to the throne of grace through Jesus because we have a compassionate High Priest, who can sympathize with our weakness and failings. In other words, we should not hide our sins from God because nothing is hidden from Him but we should allow Him to speak to us and expose them, so that we may obey Him and be led by His Holy Spirit. 

In Hebrews 12, believers are reminded that when God rebukes them that they should not become weary or discouraged, because God shows them His love through His discipline: 

Hebrews 12:3-6 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” 

Again, we see the same implication: God can and will personally speak to us when rebuking and correcting us, and He will reveal to us the areas in which we need to grow. Otherwise, how would we know what is the reason behind the troubles we face? Is God chastening us, or is it Satan’s work testing us like he tested righteous Job, or is it purely coincidence, or is it something else? We would have no clue, unless God clearly speaks to us and reveals that to us. That’s why the Book of Hebrews repeats over and over again the exhortation, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion…” 

In Hebrews chapter 10, we are encouraged to boldly enter the Holy Place “by the blood of Jesus” and not draw back, so that we may hear God’s voice and obey it. (Heb 10:19-22, 38-39). The blood of Jesus is our sacrifice that cleanses us from our sins and that allows us to enter into God’s presence. Yet, then we should expect God to speak to us, to correct us, to chasten us, so that we may learn how to do His will. 

The Book of Hebrews plainly tells us what the kind of relationship we are promised to have with God thanks to Jesus.

Hebrews 8:10-11 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 

What does it mean “to know God” personally and to have His laws written in our minds and hearts? Or what does it mean to have our conscience cleansed from dead works as declared in Heb 9: 14? This is all connected to hearing from God.

Why do I spend so much time trying to convince you that God can speak clearly to each one of us through His Holy Spirit? And why am I trying to encourage you to believe and seek that? Because if we think that the Bible is only speaking figuratively or these words do not apply to us today, then how would we know if the Holy Spirit is working in our lives? Is He simply a feeling, or a tingling sensation, or a religious ceremony, or some divine sign? How would we know that we are indeed walking in the will of God, unless God reveals that to us? After all, don’t we all want to be led by the Holy Spirit as children of God (Romans 8:14)? God is able to speak personally to us. Yes, He would never contradict His written Word, but He will speak to us, He will expose our secret sins, He will correct and chasten us, and He will teach us how to do His will, if only we are willing to hear and obey. 

The problem, however, is that when God does not speak, then believers can easily be manipulated and deceived. They can be deceived by prosperity teachers, who have mastered the art of making people feel good by creating a short-lived emotional high, thus misusing their spiritual gifts to fleece the flock and build massive empires for their own glory. They can also be tricked by cessationist teachers, who offer them a well-structured and organized religion, which appeals to the flesh by alluring to the sense of sensible country-club community, but it’s devoid of any spiritual life. But the Holy Spirit is not bound to a specific minister or ministry – He can speak directly to each individual believer and guide them into all truth. 

Finally, I know of so many ministers today, who deny the existence of spiritual gifts and deny that God can speak personally to believers. They claim that these things were only for the purpose of writing the Bible, and once the Bible was completed, then the Holy Spirit stopped operating in that way and we should not expect Him to do speak to us today. This sounds to me more or less like, once the driver’s manual was finished, then we could stop driving cars. 

I have one question to such cessationist ministers: if believers are not able to hear God’s voice like they did in the early church, and they are not able to prophesy, then whose voice did you hear when you decided to become ministers? In other words, who called you into ministry so that you can teach people not to believe what the Word of God plainly and clearly says? “Did God really say that you cannot eat from that tree”? 

In the end, I would like to clarify the difference between the gift of prophecy and hearing the voice of God speak personally to us. In 1 Corinthians 14:1, all believers are commanded to seek the gift of prophecy. But not all believers have that gift. But the expectation throughout the New Testament is that the Holy Spirit can speak to every believer. The main purpose of the gift of prophesy is for edifying and building up the church – God reveals a mystery or a hidden thing which serves to help other believers. On the other hand, when God speaks personally to me and reveals the areas in my own life which I need to work on, that’s for my own benefit. But when God trusts me to reveal deeper truths and mysteries to me that can help other believers be strengthened and grow in their faith, or unbelievers come to faith in Jesus, then I’m helping the entire church. That’s why, prophecies are also to be tested by other believers.

God can speak to us today. He is not a dead God, he is alive. Whatever he says to us will be in line with the word of God, it will never contradict the Bible. And if we want to hear God speak more clearly, we need to spend more time reading the Bible, and then we will hear God speak more clearly to us. When we hear his voice, let’s obey him, and not harden our hearts.

When reading through the Old Testament, we encounter many details about kings in Israel. Sometimes the reigns of these kings seem to blur together, and it’s possible to get the details get a little muddy. It can be hard to understand how these historical events apply to our lives as we read about king after king after king.

However, there are important lessons to be learned from these kings, for all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable (2 Timothy 3:16). Everything in the Old Testament is written for our admonition (1 Corinthians 10:11). The intricate details about Old Testament kings can help us grow spiritually if we understand them by the Holy Spirit, and sometimes these details fit together like a puzzle that reveals important truth.

Jehoshaphat was a king in Judah. He had many good qualities (2 Chronicles 17:1-13). He fortified the nation against its enemies. He sought after God. He got rid of pagan practices from among God’s people. He sent servants of God throughout his kingdom to teach the law of God. He experienced supernatural victory in battle and provided the people with all they needed. He was a good leader and a wise king.

However, he had one problem. He “made peace with the king of Israel.” (1 Kings 22:44). 

It might seem like a good thing to make peace with the king of Israel. After all, the people of God had been split into northern (Israel) and southern (Judah) kingdoms, and it might seem like a good thing to bring them back together. Jehoshaphat tried to do this. He thought this was a good idea. But sometimes our plans are not God’s plans. 

Unity is not worthwhile if it is at the expense of truth.

Ahab, the king of the northern kingdom of Israel, was an evil king who, through the influence of his wife Jezebel, spread pagan practices and Baal worship. Elijah had just confronted this Baal worship in the northern kingdom of Israel on Mt. Carmel, and he killed all the prophets of Baal. Jehoshaphat came onto the scene after this. Maybe he thought that Ahab had repented and an alliance with Israel was now God’s will.

It seems that Jehoshaphat wanted to get along with Ahab so badly that he turned a blind eye to Ahab’s false teachings and false practices. Even after the prophets of Baal were killed, Ahab continued supporting other false prophets. He also promoted other evil things in Israel. Jehoshaphat didn’t seem to care about this.

First, Jehoshaphat gave his son to marry Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (2 Chronicles 18:1). Athaliah seemed just as bad as her mother Jezebel (2 Chronicles 24:7). When she became older, Athaliah corrupted the nation of Judah (2 Kings 8:18; 2 Chronicles 22:3). But Jehoshaphat didn’t seem to think that allying with such evil people would be a problem. He valued this marriage alliance over the truth of God’s word.

Jehoshaphat had other problems.

One time Ahab asked Jehoshaphat to fight in a battle together against the Syrians (2 Chronicles 18:2). Jehoshaphat said they had to ask God first. So Ahab called for 400 false Yahweh-prophets. These prophets prophesied in the name of Yahweh, but they were false (2 Chronicles 18:10-11, 23). There were many false Yahweh-prophets in Israel in those days. They acted as though they were speaking the word of Yahweh, but in reality they were deceiving the people. 

Ahab asked these false prophets if they should fight against Syria. All of them said yes. They said that Yahweh would give them victory. The false prophets told Ahab what he wanted to hear.

It is easy to be a false prophet. False prophets say what other people want to hear. They encourage people in their evil ways. They do not confront them. False prophets are supported by the king and rulers in Israel. They are popular among the people. 

Jehoshaphat had discernment. He knew that these prophets were false. So he asked Ahab if there was another prophet who they could enquire of. Ahab said there was one other prophet, Micaiah. But Ahab didn’t like Micaiah because he was a true prophet who told him the truth. 

At Jehoshaphat’s urging, Ahab called the prophet Micaiah. Micaiah said that they should not go into battle because they would lose. 

Ahab was mad. He didn’t like God’s word. He didn’t want to hear it. He punished Micaiah by throwing him into prison and giving him bad things to eat. It’s hard to be a true prophet of God. It is unpopular. People often do not want to hear true prophecies. They will attack true prophets, while they praise false prophets.

It is interesting that the ratio of false Yahweh-prophets to true Yahweh-prophets in ancient Israel seemed to be 400 false prophets to 1 true prophet. Only 1/4 of 1% of the prophets in those days were true. This is a very low percentage. 

Remember, all the things in the Old Testament are written as examples to warn us. It is possible that in Christianity today there is a similarly low ratio of false to true prophets. We need to be discerning and measure every ministry and teaching by the word of God.

In spite of getting this true prophecy telling him not to go to battle, Jehoshaphat went into battle with Ahab anyway. 

Before the battle Ahab told Jehoshaphat to wear his royal robes while Ahab dressed like the other soldiers. It is obvious that Ahab is setting a trap for Jehoshaphat so the Syrians would kill Jehoshaphat, thinking that he is is the king, while Ahab is able to go free. Surprisingly, Jehoshaphat agreed to this plan. He went into the battle wearing his royal robes, while Ahab dressed like a normal soldier. God was merciful to Jehoshaphat and delivered him when he was about to be killed, and in this battle Ahab died.

Jehoshaphat had a heart for God. He had discernment. But he also had some major problems.

Why did he allow his son to marry the evil Athaliah?
Why did he agree to fight Ahab’s battle when God told him not to?
Why did he go into the battle wearing his royal robes when he might be killed?

Proverbs says “the simple believe every word” (Proverbs 14:15). It says that the “simple pass on and are punished” (Proverbs 22:3). The word simple means to be spacious, wide-open, too open-minded, easily enticed.

It is not a virtue to believe every word that is spoken. It is not a virtue to turn off one’s discernment in order to ally yourself with false teachings or false prophecies. Jehoshaphat probably believed that Ahab had his best interest at heart. He believed that Ahab was a good guy. He believed that Ahab was no longer deceived. Jehoshaphat said, “I am as you are, my people as your people” (1 Kings 22:4). He was wrong.

The solution for being too simple is to renew our minds with the word of God. We need to gird up the loins of our mind and be sober. We need to clearly see things through the lens of the word of God, and not allow ourselves to be carried away with our own soulish desires or plans.

Jehoshaphat valued an alliance and peace with Ahab more than he valued the word of God.

it is possible for God’s people to value a relationship with others at the expense of the word of God. Even if we have a heart for God, we must not put other people above the word of God, even if they claim to represent God. Even if we are close to them, we must declare that God comes first. We must humble ourselves before God’s word and be willing to confront others for their false teachings and errors. If we are blind to the many errors within Christianity today in order to be at peace with our fellow Christians, then we are deceiving ourselves. 

Jehoshaphat was a compromiser. He was a godly man, but he was ruined through compromise.

God rebuked Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Therefore the wrath of the LORD is upon you” (2 Chronicles 19:2). 

It is important for Christians to know when and where to draw the line. There are many false teachings today, and God doesn’t want us turning a blind eye to these things in order to get along with people. Compromising the truth of God’s word for the sake of relationships is not the will of God. It will lead to our own destruction. Our own good works or good understanding will not outweigh the evil effects of compromise.

It sometimes seems that compromise is a good thing. It creates unity. But this unity is a false unity because it is not based on God’s word. Compromise opens the door to the devil. 

As we stand strong for the truth of God, other people will be blessed, even those who oppose us.

This is a message from Micah:

God has a spiritual covering for his people. It is important to understand this spiritual covering. 

We can learn about this spiritual covering by understanding natural coverings like clothing. People wear clothing for several reasons. These natural coverings cover their nakedness. They provide warmth and protection. They wear clothing for style or beauty, or to enhance abilities or efficiency. Clothing can also be worn as a disguise.

Spiritual coverings are similar. People cover themselves with spiritual coverings in order to accomplish various goals.

The Old Testament is important for us to study because it contains many examples and symbols of spiritual truth (1 Corinthians 10:11, Hebrews 10:1). It is for our learning (Romans 15:4). We can learn important lessons from the Old Testament when we interpret these symbols. 

For example, when the Old Testament tells us not to muzzle an ox (Deuteronomy 25:4), the New Testament tells us that this instruction is written for the sake of supporting Christian workers (1 Corinthians 9:9-10). We need to interpret the symbolism of the Old Testament by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said that the days of Noah are symbolic for the end times (Matthew 24:37). 

Many of the Old Testament sacrifices were symbolic of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

We can also learn about spiritual coverings by understanding natural coverings.

There are two types of spiritual coverings mentioned in the Bible: false coverings and true coverings.There are three sources of spiritual coverings. There are demonic coverings (Isaiah 25:7, 28:20, 30:22). There are man made coverings of false teachers and false teachings (Revelation 2:6, 2:15, 2:20). And finally there is God’s covering (Revelation 7:9, and Romans 13:14).

God wants us to be clothed in the pure and white covering of his Son, Jesus Christ. This covering will protect us and bless us in many ways.

God also wants us to be covered with spiritual armor. This will enable us to wage effective spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:13-18).

At the end of the age, the bride of Christ will become prepared to marry her husband, Jesus. She will have washed her garments in pure water. These are her spiritual garments. All those who are inside the wedding supper will be wearing wedding garments (Matthew 22:11). It is important for Christians to be covered with the pure covering of Christ, and not with false coverings.

There are interesting Old Testament examples of coverings. When we study these examples of coverings, we can learn important spiritual lessons.

When David was about to fight Goliath, Saul put his armor on David. David was not able to walk with this armor on, and he had to remove it. Saul’s armor was a man-made covering. This covering was insufficient to defeat Goliath. It made sense in the natural to wear this armor, but spiritually it was of no use. Man-made coverings are of no use in warfare against the enemies of God’s people.

In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were naked and were not ashamed. However, they were not spiritually naked. They were clothed with the glory of God. They had a spiritual covering. When they sinned, they lost this spiritual covering and became truly naked. Then they tried to make a covering by sewing fig leaves together. This covering was insufficient and quickly withered. Then God made them a covering. He clothed them with the skin of an animal (Genesis 3:21). This covering is prophetic of Christ, the lamb of God, who covers our sins.

From these examples, we learn that we must reject false coverings. All man-made coverings like false teachings must be rejected, because they will actually leave us spiritually naked. We need to reject demonic coverings so we are not blinded and hindered.

We must put ourselves under the covering of Christ through faith. As we submit to Jesus, we will be protected by him.

Jesus said that he is the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father apart from him (John 14:6). There is no way to be saved apart from Christ, because there is no other way to be delivered from our sins except through his blood.

Jesus is the life. This means that he is the only source of true life in this world. All spiritual life comes from Jesus.

Jesus is the truth. This means that there is no truth apart from Christ. All true wisdom comes from Jesus. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). In Christ Jesus are hid all treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3).

Jesus is the way. He is a road. He is a path. 

Throughout the New Testament, the Christian life is called the way (Acts 9:2; 18:25-26; 19:9; 19:23; 22:4).

The Christian life is like a way because it is all about Jesus who is the way.

A road is a place of either forward or backward movement. It is not a place of sitting or standing still. In the Christian life God wants us to move forward.

A road is a place between two points. A road has both an origin and a destination. In the Christian life, we are to be moving toward a destination. We have left the sins and evil things of our past behind, and we are moving toward the future that God has for us.

To walk on this glorious way, we need vision. We must look to Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

The way that God has set before us is really an ancient way (Jeremiah 6:16). It is an old path (Jeremiah 18:15).

This old path and ancient way is the teaching of Jesus Christ and his apostles as recorded in the Bible (2 John 6). We need to get back to the teachings of the Bible and abandon the religious traditions that people have made up over the centuries. The vain traditions of people will not connect us to God. They will bring us into bondage. We need to purity of the word of God in order to encounter the purity and presence of God. In order to walk forward in the Christian life, we must obey the word of God. The word of God shows us the way, and it defines the way. When we deviate from the word of God, we can turn aside from this road that God has placed in front of us.

There are two primary spiritual roads in this world. 

One road is a narrow road that leads to life, and the other road is a broad road that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). Jesus said that many people go on the broad road to destruction, but few people go on the narrow road to life.

The narrow road that we are called to walk is called the “Highway of Holiness.”

A highway shall be there, and a road,
And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness.
The unclean shall not pass over it,
But it shall be for others.
Whoever walks the road, although a fool,
Shall not go astray.
No lion shall be there,
Nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it;
It shall not be found there.
But the redeemed shall walk there,
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads.
They shall obtain joy and gladness,
And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
(Isaiah 35:8-10)

This is the glorious highway that we are called to walk upon. It is possible to move quickly on this highway and grow quickly in God. 

This highway is a holy place. It is for holy people. When we are born again, God calls us holy. We are holy because our sins are taken away by the blood of Jesus. We are now called saints. The Bible commands us to be as holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:16). This is only possible by the Holy Spirit. 

According to Isaiah, no lions or other ravenous beasts travel on this road. As we walk with Jesus on the narrow way, on this holy highway, we are protected from evil spirits. Satan cannot destroy us.

There is fellowship on this road. The redeemed people of God are walking there, and they are all heading toward a common destination. It is encouraging to walk with like-minded people along this road. It’s good to walk in the same direction.

There is joy on this road. It’s a place of joy because everyone on this road has left a bad place and is going to a good place. They have been redeemed from sin and Satan. They are singing together.

The destination of this road is Zion. Zion is a spiritual place where God is. It is a place of spiritual blessing and power. It is a place of eternal life and joy and peace. Our heavenly Father is in Zion. 

We will reach the glorious destination of Zion when we die. But actually we are already in Zion because we believe in Jesus (Hebrews 12:22). We are already in Christ. We are citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem. As we grow in the Lord, we partake of God and of the riches of Zion more and more.

We draw near to God through blood of Jesus, which was shed to take away our sins. We can come boldly into the Holy of Holies to find grace and help from God (Hebrews 4:16). 

Through Christ, we walk on the glorious way he has laid out for us in his Word. This is the only place of true joy and peace in this world. Let us look to Jesus, and walk forward with him in confidence, leaving other things behind and not turning aside from this glorious path.

“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19).

God wants to do new things in our lives. He wants to make a way where there is no way. Whenever God does something, it is supernatural, because God is supernatural. God can do what people cannot do. He can make rivers in a desert and cause a road to appear in the middle of a wilderness.

To see these supernatural things, we need vision from the Holy Spirit.

“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he” (Proverbs 29:18).

Vision is the ability to see things the way God sees things. Having a vision is vital to the Christian life. When we have a vision, we can see things that others cannot see, because we are looking by the Holy Spirit.

Vision enables us to go into the future successfully. What we see is what what we can walk into. Vision gives light and dispels darkness.

In order to move forward into the future that God has for us, we need to forget some things from the past. Paul knew that to move forward in his spiritual life, he had to forget things from his past. Forgetting these things is the one thing that Paul did.

“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead” (Philippians 3:13).

Sometimes we are hindered spiritually because we are holding on too tightly to the past. Maybe we did wrong things in the past, and we keep thinking about our sins. Or maybe other people hurt us, and we keep thinking about those hurts. Or maybe we wish we were living in the past because we think the past is better than today. The past keeps coming up in our minds, and it becomes a weight around our present reality. This weight can hinder us spiritually from moving forward. 

God doesn’t want us living in the past. He wants us living in the present, and looking forward with hope to the future.

We made mistakes in the past. But those mistakes don’t define who we are. When we look back and realize we have sinned, we need to confess our sins. Then God will forgive us our sins and throw them into the sea. God has forgiven us, and now we are forgiven. We can move forward confidently into the future, without the weight of sin around our necks. 

God defines who we are. We are not defined by our past failures. We are children of God. We need to renew our minds with the word of God so that we see ourselves as God sees us.

We need to forgive others. Don’t hold a grudge. Stop thinking so much about what people did to you. Forgive them. Release them. As you forgive them, you will let go of hatred, bitterness, and desire for revenge. You will be healed from hurt. God helps us forgive, because he forgave us, and he is the great Savior of the world. 

We need to anoint our eyes with eye-salve (Rev. 3:18), so we can see things clearly. Jesus will anoint our eyes with the Holy Spirit and give us clarity.

Having a vision is connected to keeping the law. When we keep the word of God, we get a vision because we can hear from God. As we obey God, we walk along the road he has for us, and our vision is maintained. When we disobey God, our vision darkens and we cannot see the way ahead. Disobedience causes us to wander in the wilderness where there is no road.

God’s word is a lamp to our feet and light to our path (Psalm 119:105). When we keep the word of God, we can see clearly. We stay on the highway of holiness that goes toward Mount Zion.

God wants his people to move forward into the plans that he has for them. He has a vision for his people, and he wants us to see that vision and move ahead. Let us forget the things from the past that hold us back. Let us move forward confidently with God into the things he has for us in the future. When God turns a desert into water, and when he makes a highway in the wilderness, we want to see these miracles. We will see them as we follow the Holy Spirit and keep the word of God.

Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice (John 10:3).” If we believe in Jesus we are his sheep. This means we can hear his voice. 

We all heard the voice of Jesus at least once in our lives. We heard Jesus when we were born again. At that time we heard from God, believed his word, and were born again. 

Hearing God’s voice is not just a one-time experience when we are born again. We are to hear God’s voice throughout our Christian lives.

When we hear Jesus’ voice we can follow him. The word “follow” means in Greek to go along the road with. When we hear the voice of Jesus, we can walk with him in our lives. We can accompany him. If we follow Jesus, we will be where he is.

Jesus is the good shepherd. He will lead us to green pastures and still waters (Psalm 23). Rest and blessing will come into our lives as we follow Jesus. He will restore our souls. He will cause our cup to run over with abundance.

The word of God will bring peace to our lives. “I will hear what God will say, he will speak peace to his people” (Psalm 85:8). God will give us peace through his word, and this peace cannot be taken away from us by this crazy world.

The word of God brings comfort (Isaiah 40:1-2). God comforts us as a mother comforts her children (Isa. 66:13). All of God’s children need comfort now and then. Praise God that Jesus came to comfort all who mourn (Matthew 5:4).

When we were babies we needed comfort. We might have had a toy or blanket that comforted us when we were young. Our mother also comforted us in those days.

As we became older, maybe we felt that we outgrew that need for comfort. We threw away our comfort toys and stopped running to mommy when we skinned our knee. We took this as a sign of maturity.

But we will never become so mature in our Christian life that we do not need God’s comfort. This world is full of pain and hardship, especially for God’s people, because it is dominated by Satan. All of God’s people need God’s comfort in order to get through this world successfully.

Sometimes the pain of this world drives us to find comfort in other places. Some turn to alcohol, drugs, binge-watching TV, or junk food. There are many ways the world has devised to bring us comfort. But all of this will fail. This comfort is not enduring. We need the comfort that comes from God alone.

When we turn to other places for comfort, it can dull our need for God. When we crave comfort, our souls are really hungry for God. If we allow our souls to be filled with God at those times, our relationship with him will be strengthened. But if we fill our souls with other things during those painful moments, then our relationship with God can be damaged, for we are potentially turning to idols.

Our souls are made to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is called the Comforter (John 14:16). One of the main things the Holy Spirit does is comfort us. Our souls can find true satisfaction in God alone.

Our God is the God of ALL comfort (2 Cor. 1:3-7). There is no sorrow or trouble that is greater than God. God is infinitely greater than we are. He is far stronger than all our problems. This is why he is able to give us ALL comfort.

When we are comforted by God, we are supernaturally empowered to comfort others. The supernatural comfort we receive from God can be then given to our brothers and sisters in the church. The body of Christ is a source of comfort from God, because God is flowing among his people, and they are releasing the Holy Spirit to each other. 

The gospel is “strong comfort” (Hebrews 6:18). The gospel is eternal comfort, because when we die we will go be with Jesus. The gospel is also present comfort, because it is the way we access God and the infinite spiritual resources that he has for us.

If we need comfort, we need to go to God. We are his sheep, so we can hear his voice. When we hear his voice we can follow him. And when we follow him, he will lead us to green pastures, still waters, and he will restore our souls. 

Turn to the Bible. Read it. As you do, your ears will be opened to hear from Jesus (Romans 10:17). As he speaks to you through his word, he will comfort you. The Holy Spirit is your helper. He will never leave you nor forsake you. No matter what you are going through, God understands, and he is your refuge and strength.

Sometimes we need God to act. We can’t do it ourselves, and no other person can help us. We need God to come through.

Isaiah 64:1-4 says 
Oh, that You would rend the heavens!
That You would come down!
That the mountains might shake at Your presence—
As fire burns brushwood,
As fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the nations may tremble at Your presence!
When You did awesome things for which we did not look,
You came down,
The mountains shook at Your presence.
For since the beginning of the world
Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him.

Isaiah is praying desperately to God. He wants God to come down and act. Our God is a God who does miracles. Miracles are normal for God. Everything God does is supernatural, because God is supernatural.

According to Isaiah, God does things that we aren’t looking for. We weren’t planning for these things. God has his own time-table and he does things whenever he wants to. The Israelites didn’t know Moses would deliver them from Egypt. They didn’t know Jesus would be born in a manger. But suddenly the power of God came to save them. We don’t know the times and seasons in which God is going to do something (Acts 1:7). God does not act according to our will, but he acts whenever he wants to act. When he acts, miracles happen.
Isaiah says that God “acts for the one who waits for him.” If we want to see God act, then we need to wait. Waiting precedes miracles.

There is no other God like this. Other gods act when people want them to act. Mammon is a god of money. Mammon will do whatever people want it to do whenever they want it to do it. But mammon is an evil god. Our God is holy. He acts whenever he wants to act. He is not controlled by us. In order for us to see God act in our lives, we need to wait for him.

God rewards those who wait for him. When we wait for God we show that we trust him. We have faith. We are not taking things into our own hands, trying to do it ourselves.

When we do things in our own strength according to our own wisdom, the results will be very paltry. They won’t be miraculous. In order to get supernatural results, we need God to work. And for God to work in our lives, we need to wait for him.

Once Abraham and Sarah didn’t wait for God. They had a son through Hagar, called Ishmael. Ishmael created a lot of problems for God’s people. When we become impatient and panic, we stop waiting. Then we go into the flesh and produce the works of the flesh. This creates trouble for ourselves.

God has an appointed time when he will act. This is a time that is set in the wisdom of God. We don’t know when this time is. We need to wait for this time to come.

As we wait for God, Satan will attack us. He will put doubts in our minds. He will try to make us think that God’s word will fail or that God will not come through. We defeat the lies of Satan through the word of God.

We need to wait in the word of God (Psalm 130:5). The word of God is the ground of successful waiting. God works according to his word, and we are waiting for God’s word to be fulfilled.

We need to wait with perseverance (Romans 8:25). We must persist through the challenges of waiting. Waiting is not passive, but waiting is active, trusting in God for his word to be fulfilled.

When we wait we change our strength. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). The word renew is change in Hebrew. When we wait on God, we change our strength from our own strength to God’s strength. Supernatural power and energy from the Holy Spirit comes into whose who wait for God. This power will enable us to inherit God’s promises. It will strengthen us until the word of God comes to pass in our lives.

Sometimes while we wait evil people prosper. Evil people can cause us to worry and stress out (Psalm 37:7). They can do evil things to us. We should not be discouraged. God will defend us from evildoers. Vengeance belongs to God. As we wait for God, he will defend us and ultimately we will inherit the earth. The wicked will be cut off, either in this life or in the next age.

Waiting can be hard. David had to wait for God to come through, and it was hard for him to wait. He cried a lot. He suffered (Psalm 69:3). But he never stopped calling out to God. In the midst of the pain and turmoil of his heart, he cried out to the Lord. Finally God came through. David’s enemies were destroyed, and David was exalted to be king.

God calls us to wait for him. If we want to see God do anything in our lives, we need to wait. God does not work on our time table. He is our sovereign king. As we wait for him, we trust him, we believe his word, we call out to him. He will come through.

Jesus commanded his people to be ready for his second coming. He said we don’t know when he is coming back, but he told us to be prepared (Matthew 24:44).

Jesus told his apostles to be prepared for his second coming, way back in the first century. When they got ready for his coming, they weren’t wasting their time, even though Jesus didn’t come within their lifetimes. They were obeying God. Throughout history, God’s people have been preparing for his coming. This was not wrong. How much more do we need to be prepared? Jesus’ coming is a lot closer now than it was 2,000 years ago.
In order to be prepared, we need to know what God wants us to do. The only way to know what we are supposed to do is by reading the Bible. When we understand the word of God, we will know how to prepare. Then by the Holy Spirit we need to act appropriately according to that knowledge.

Noah was a prepper. He built a massive boat to get ready for a flood. Everyone thought he was crazy, but he prepped anyway. 

We need to be spiritual preppers, who are getting ready spiritually for the coming of our Lord. Sometimes natural preparation is helpful. But what we really need is spiritual preparation. If we have the best natural preparation but no spiritual preparation, we will not be ready. But if we are ready spiritually, then we can face anything.

John the Baptist was a preparer. He was preparing the way of the Lord and making his paths straight. He knew that Jesus was coming because he understood the word of God. So he called people to get ready and repent. 

Many people did not recognize Jesus when he came the first time because they didn’t know the word of God. They were not ready when he came, so they killed him. When Jesus comes the second time, it will be impossible to kill him because he will appear in glory. Everyone who is not prepared when he comes the second time will fight against him, just like they did the first time. But they will not be able to kill him. Instead, they will be destroyed.

In the Old Testament, the Day of Preparation was the day before the Sabbath (Mark 15:42). On the Day of Preparation people got ready for the Sabbath, because they could do no work on the Sabbath. All work had to be done before the Sabbath. We are going to enter a time when it will be impossible to work (John 9:4). We will have to be hidden in God and do his works. This will be the Sabbath, in which we cease from our own works and do God’s works (Hebrews 4:10). When we do God’s works, his kingdom and glory will be revealed. During this glorious Day of God, all works of man and the flesh will be destroyed. The Sabbath symbolizes our rest in God, which we enter into by faith. We enter this Rest when we walk with God and stop just doing whatever we want to do. Today we don’t keep the one-day-a-week Sabbath (Colossians 2:16-17), but we seek to obey God all the time, entering into his Sabbath Rest 24/7. It’s time to prepare spiritually to enter into God’s Rest.
Jesus commands us to watch. He said if we don’t watch, we will be caught unawares. Then the thief will come in and destroy our life. To watch means to be alert. It means to be prepared to face enemies.

If we know we need to do things to get ready for the coming of Jesus but we refuse to do those things, Jesus says we will be beaten with many stripes (Luke 12:35-48). This will not be pleasant. We need to prepare according to the word of God so that we avoid such problems.

Jesus calls us to walk in holiness. All the things in the world that are not according to God and have come from the carnal mind of man are going to be destroyed. They will be destroyed by fire. Our God is a consuming fire. His word is like fire. When the word and presence of God comes in fullness to the world, everything not according to God will be burned up. Let us cleanse our lives from these carnal things now, before they are burned up from our lives later.

The wise virgins had oil in their lamps, so they were ready for the the coming of Jesus. We need to have oil. This symbolizes the Holy Spirit. We need to be full of the Holy Spirit. We must learn to walk in the Spirit, so we will not live in the flesh. We need to be led by the Spirit so we can be revealed to the world as the sons of God (Romans 8:14).
In order to prepare for the coming of Jesus, we need to keep our garments (Rev. 16:15). Our spiritual garments reveal our spiritual condition. As we keep our spiritual garments unspotted, we stay undefiled from sin. Then Satan will not have advantage over us, and evil spirits will not be able to hinder us. If we do not keep our garments clean, then we are naked. We are not under the covering and protection of God. Evil spirits are then able to harass us, and we are unprepared for the coming of Jesus.

We must get ready as individuals, and we must get ready as a church.

The Bible says that the church is going to get ready before Jesus comes back (Rev. 19:7). She is going to become a holy and spotless bride, ready for the wedding supper (Eph. 5:26-27). Jesus is waiting for his bride to get ready.

Our individual preparation depends on being part of a healthy, Biblical church that is seeking to obey the word of God and abandon the religious traditions of men. This is the environment where spiritual growth of the individual can best occur. As we grow together as a church, we will also grow as individuals. Both individual Christians and the church will prepare together.

God commands us to be ready for the coming of Jesus. We don’t know when he will come back. But he wants us to be ready anyway. The command to be ready for the second coming of Jesus has applied to all Christians throughout history, but it applies especially to us, who are living closer to the return of Christ than Christians ever have before.

We live in a time when there are increasing divisions within society. There are political divisions and disagreements about cultural issues. The language used and the tone of discourse surrounding these topics is often rough and rude. Sometimes people become threatening and evil when they engage in conversations with others about hot-button issues.

As Christians, we are called to be shaped by God, and not by the culture around us. Even if everyone becomes rude and nasty, we are not to become like this. We are to be shaped by the Bible and by the Holy Spirit. God is our Father, and he has a standard of holiness that we need to follow.

It is important for us to know how to relate to our enemies. 

There will be people who disagree with us, and they may become our enemies. Sometimes people become our enemies for seemingly no reason at all. They just don’t like us. They actively seek to harm us, slander us, or do evil to us.

There are two ways to deal with enemies. We can fight back against them. We can plot and scheme against them and seek to harm them. The problem with this is that it leads to hatred and bitterness. It fills our hearts with evil. It leads to stress and anxiety. This is not the way God wants us to deal with our enemies.

Once we were enemies of God (Romans 5:10). We did things against God and lived at enmity with him (Colossians 1:21). How did God relate to us when we were his enemies? He did good to us. He loved us so much that he sent his Son Jesus to die for our sins so we could be saved (John 3:16). This shows us how we are to treat our enemies. The Holy Spirit will inspire us to deal with our enemies the same way God dealt with us when we were his enemies.

To deal with enemies successfully, we need help from God. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is not something we can do in our own strength. It’s too hard. Enemies can be exhausting. We need the Holy Spirit to help us to deal with our enemies. God is an inexhaustible supply, and he will give us grace. As we draw on the fountain of the Holy Spirit, we will be empowered to deal with our enemies successfully.

Jesus said the first thing we should do for our enemies is to love them (Matthew 5:44). The word for love is agape. This is not the mushy love of feelings (philos). God does not command us to have warm, fuzzy feelings for our enemies. Instead, we need to consciously choose to do good to our enemies. This is agape love. Agape love comes from God. We need God to help us love our enemies. This love is supernatural. God will help us do this which is beyond our own abilities.

The Bible says we should pray for our enemies. We pray for their benefit, welfare, and for good to come to them. We don’t pray for evil to befall them. We don’t curse them, which means to wish evil upon them. Jesus tells us not to curse our enemies.

We are to bless our enemies. To bless them means to speak a spiritual blessing over them. It also means to say good things about them. When our enemies say bad things about us and curse and slander us, we are not to do that back to them. We are to speak good things about them. This is hard, and this is only possible by the Holy Spirit.

We are to do good to our enemies. If they’re hungry, we feed them. If they’re thirsty, we give them something to drink (Romans 12:20). We don’t do evil to them, but we repay evil with good. This shows that we are the children of our loving Heavenly Father. It’s the goodness of God that leads to repentance (Romans 2:4). The goodness we show to our enemies may lead them to repentance. 

We need to forgive our enemies. Don’t hold a grudge against them and become bitter. Release them from the debt that they owe you (whether moral or material), and don’t demand repayment. Forgiveness is a process. Sometimes we have to keep forgiving someone over and over again. As we keep forgiving, we will keep releasing them, and then we will no longer be bitter. When Jesus was on the cross, he forgave those who crucified him. When Stephen was being stoned, he forgave those who threw the stones at him. We can forgive others by the strength of the Holy Spirit. When we forgive, we will be healed.

Don’t repay evil for evil. If people shout at you, don’t shout back. If they do evil to you, do good in return. God commands us to overcome evil with good.

When we have an enemy, it is important to maintain boundaries. We need to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. We don’t have to be close to our enemies. God doesn’t want us to be abused. We need to know when and how to draw the line in our relationships. As we maintain healthy boundaries, we can also love and do good to our enemies.

God is a God of justice. We don’t need to take vengeance against our enemies because that is God’s job. He will do a perfect job, and he will defend his children. Sometimes our enemies will face problems in this life because of what they do to us. But even if not, we know that in eternity God will judge them. They may end up spending an eternity in hell. Hell is a painful, terrible place. Many of our enemies may end up in hell. We don’t rejoice about this, but we feel sad about this. We want our enemies to repent so they can know God. Regardless, we don’t need to take judgment into our own hands. God will take vengeance for us, and he will do it perfectly, either in this age or in the age to come.

Dealing with enemies is hard. But the Bible shows us how to do this. And God will give us strength from the Holy Spirit in order to do this. 

The Bible tells us how to relate to our enemies so that we can be at peace. There is no peace in following the way of the world and becoming nasty and full of anger and hatred, and plotting for revenge. We will only find peace as we follow God’s word. 

The Bible tells us what will happen when Jesus returns.

When the last trumpet sounds, Jesus will return to the world, dead believers will be resurrected, and living believers will be transformed to receive glorified bodies.

“in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:52).

There are seven trumpets in Revelation. During trumpets 1-6 many terrible events will happen on the earth. This will be the Great Tribulation, during which many people will be killed. Trumpet 7, the last trumpet, will mark the end of the Great Tribulation and the end of the age. Jesus will return to the earth at the last trumpet.

These same events are described in another passage.

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” (1 Thess. 4:16-17)

According to these verses, a trumpet will sound when the dead are raised. This is the last trumpet, according to 1 Cor. 15:52. At this time the living saints will be “caught up.”

This means that God’s people will be alive on the earth during the Great Tribulation. How will they survive?

God is able to protect his people in the midst of great trouble. When a great flood came on the world, Noah and his family were safe in the ark while everyone else was destroyed.

When great plagues came on the land of Egypt, the Israelites were kept safe while the Egyptians were all judged. This is because God’s people were under the blood of lambs. If we are under the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, we can be supernaturally preserved from evil. But even if God doesn’t keep us physically safe, we know that we will be kept spiritually safe. If we die we will go be with God.

Jesus prayed, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.” (John 17:15) Jesus didn’t pray that we would be removed from the earth, but that we would be kept safe from the devil. Jesus can keep us safe from Satan, even in the midst of Great Tribulation. In fact, God has a powerful plan for his people on the earth during the end times, and he wants them to be ready to fulfill that plan.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 speaks of believers who are alive on the earth being caught up in clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

What does this mean?

First of all, to be “caught up” doesn’t necessarily mean to be caught of physically. It can also mean to be caught up spiritually. When John saw the visions of Revelation, he was quickened spiritually and went up higher. And after this, John said he became “in the Spirit” (Rev. 4:1-2). When someone is in the Spirit, they are quickened spiritually.

Paul was once caught up to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2). This is a spiritual place where he heard awesome things from God.

At the last trumpet, the living saints will be transformed and get their glorified bodies (1 Cor. 15:52). This will be a powerful “catching up” which will happen spiritually.

At the last trumpet, the saints will be caught up “in the clouds.” Clouds can symbolize dead saints in the New Testament. We are surrounded by all the saints who have gone before us, called a “cloud” of witnesses (Heb. 12:1). When the Bible says that the living saints are “caught up” in the “clouds,” it is saying that the living saints will be transformed to receive their glorified bodies at the same time that the dead saints are resurrected to receive their glorified bodies. 

The living saints will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. “Air” can symbolize a spiritual place. Satan is called the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2). This doesn’t mean that Satan is the prince of the air we breathe, but that he is the prince of the spiritual realm that surrounds the world. When Christians are caught up in the air, it can refer to being quickened spiritually and coming to a higher spiritual plane.

When the living saints are “caught up” in the “clouds” to meet the Lord in the “air,” this is just a symbolic way of describing the transformation that will happen when living believers get their gloriified bodies at the return of Christ.

In summary, we can easily understand some important facts about the second coming of Jesus by comparing two important Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. These two Scriptures describe the same events in slightly different ways.

These two Scriptures describe the return of Christ, the last trumpet, the resurrection of the dead, and the living believers being changed to get their glorified bodies.
All of this will happen at the seventh trumpet of Revelation, which will mark the end of the age.

By fitting these Scriptures together, it becomes easier to understand the prophetic timeline of the end of the age.

Jesus will come back to the earth someday.

When Jesus came to the earth the first time, 2,000 years ago, he was a baby born to a poor family. He came in weakness and mercy. Many people didn’t recognize that he was the Christ because they didn’t expect him to come in a such a lowly way.

When Jesus comes the second time, it will be different. He will come in awesome power and glory. There will be no more time to repent or get right with God. The age will be over in a flash of blinding light as Christ judges the world. 

It is important for us to know what the Bible says about Christ’s second coming, so we aren’t caught off guard.

Jesus says no one knows the day or hour when he will come back to the earth (Matthew 25:13). If anyone tries to predict the day of Christ’s return, they are probably wrong.

Even though we can’t know the exact day, we can know the season of his return (Matthew 24:33). Jesus talked a lot about what the world would be like when he comes back.

Before Christ returns, there will be great apostasy, as many Christians fall away from the truth. The Antichrist will be revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4). Throughout history there have been many antichrists (1 John 2:18), but at the end of the age there will be one Antichrist who will rule the entire world and work astounding miracles.

Jesus is coming at the last trumpet (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-54). At the last trumpet the dead in Christ will be resurrected, Christians who are alive on the earth will be transformed to receive their glorified bodies.

The last trumpet is the seventh trumpet in Revelation (Revelation 10:6-7 and 11:15-19). When the seventh trumpet sounds the age will be over as Christ returns in glory.

Before the last trumpet blows, trumpets 1-6 must sound. Many terribly destructive things will happen on the earth during these trumpets. Many people will die and the earth will be an cataclysmic turmoil. This is the time of the great tribulation. To get more details about these events, you can read about trumpets 1-6 in the book of Revelation.

When Jesus returns to the earth, every eye will see him (Revelation 1:7). Everyone on earth will see Jesus when he comes back, no matter where they live. They won’t see him because he is appearing on smartphone screens or TVs, but they will see him directly for themselves. There will be a clear revelation of Jesus Christ to everyone in the world, everywhere in the world.

When Jesus comes back it won’t be in secret. He won’t be off in a remote desert or in an inner room of a temple somewhere (Matthew 24:23-28). If someone has to tell you that Jesus has come back, then he has not come. This is because his arrival will be obvious to everyone in the world and no one will have to tell anyone else. They will all know directly it for themselves.

When Christ returns, he will be like lightning shining from one part of heaven to the other. This will be a spiritual reality that will shock the world.

When Christ returns he is going to judge the world. All nations will be gathered before him, and his throne will be exalted over everything. He will divide all people who ever lived into two categories, believers and unbelievers (Matthew 25:31-32). The believers will go into heaven to be with him forever. Those who are not believers will go into hell to be tormented forever.

Jesus told us many times to watch and be alert for his second coming. He wants us to live in light of the fact that someday soon we will stand before him. Whether we are alive when he returns or we die tomorrow, we are going to someday soon be face to face with God. Let’s clean up our lives and get rid of sin. Let’s stop wasting our time with foolish things. Let’s live in the light of God’s throne, for it will soon be exalted over the earth. May God give us his abundant grace to get ready for his glorious return.

In the Garden of Eden, there were two special trees. One was the tree of life, and the other was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The tree of life represented fellowship with God. Before the Fall, Adam and Eve ate of this tree. They partook of the life of God. As long as they ate of this tree they had eternal life. 

The other tree was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This tree represented independence from God. It represented abandoning God and going in their own way. God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of this tree, for if they ate it they would die. 

Like everything else he had made, God said the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was very good. It was good because it preserved humanity’s free will. It gave Adam and Eve an option to leave God and his garden if they wanted to. They were not forced to be in Eden. Adam and Eve were not robots, forced to follow God. Instead, they were free to choose him or reject him. This freedom meant they could truly love him.

Adam and Eve chose to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were immediately separated from God, and they became slaves of Satan. They could no longer live in the Spirit, but became mired in the flesh. Their way was blocked to the tree of life, and they no longer had eternal life. They were kicked out of the garden and had to die.

The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represent two different ways of living. 

We can still eat of these two trees today.

We eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil when we live independently from God. We decide and calculate what is right or wrong, and we make decisions based on our own wisdom. Almost everyone in the world is eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They are doing whatever they want to do, living in their own way, independent of God’s guidance. 

This way of living seems wise. It seems knowledgable and good. But eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is living in the flesh, not in the Spirit. It is living according to lies and not truth. It leads to slavery to Satan and ends in sin and misery. It leads to death.

We eat of the tree of life when we live our lives according to Christ. Instead of doing what we want to do, we do what God wants us to do. Our lives are about him and not ourselves. When we eat of the tree of life, we enter into God’s rest. We stop doing our own thing, and we do what God wants (Hebrews 4:10).

Jesus is the tree of life: “whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (John 6:54). When we trust in Christ, the way is opened up for us to eat of the tree of life.

Jesus showed us how to live based on the tree of life. We are called to follow his example.

Jesus never ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He could only do what he saw his Father do. He could do nothing by himself (John 5:19). Jesus was never independent from God. All he did originated in God. 

By dying for our sins and rising up again, Jesus restored the possibility of us eating from the tree of life. This means we no longer need to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Because of Jesus, we can live in the Spirit and not in the flesh.

God is raising up people who are weaned off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They will not calculate and decide what to do based on their own minds. Instead, they will live by revelation of the Holy Spirit. They will eat of the tree of life, who is Christ, reflecting God’s kingdom into the world.

To live according to the tree of life, make God number one. Read the Bible and see what God says. Pray and hear from him. Be in fellowship with strong Christians who will encourage you to follow God. As you grow in your faith, eating from the tree of life will become more normal, and you will leave the tree of the knowledge of good and evil behind.

God wants his people to be sanctified.

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3).

God doesn’t want us to be sanctified a little bit. He wants us to be totally sanctified.

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

Sanctification is the same word as holiness in Greek. To be sanctified means to be holy.

Holy means getting rid of sin. God is holy. The Spirit of God is called the Holy Spirit. The angels around God’s throne shout out “Holy Holy Holy” all the time. 

Holiness is beautiful. We are to worship God in the beauty of holiness (Psalm 96:9). Sin is ugly. Sometimes the world tells us that sin is beautiful, and our flesh believes this lie. But sin is ugly, and we are called to hate it. We need to love what is truly beautiful in the eyes of God and hate what is evil.

Becoming holy means being transformed into the image of Jesus. Jesus is perfect and without sin. He was completely holy and sanctified while he walked the earth in human flesh. We are called to be like him. 

“but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15)

“Be as holy as God!” That’s a high standard of holiness.

Becoming sanctified is a process. It’s not going to happen overnight. As long as we are alive on the earth in this flesh, we will be going through this process of sanctification.

The first step toward sanctification is to be born again. Righteousness is a free gift that we receive by grace through faith when we are born again. When we are born again the Holy Spirit comes inside us and enables us to be holy. It is impossible to know true holiness apart from God. Only God’s children can partake of the Father’s holiness.

“Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (1 Corinthians 7:1)

Whenever we sin, we need to confess our sins. The Bible says if we confess our sins God will forgive us of our sins and cleans us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). We should not hesitate to confess our sins. If we are repeatedly confessing and repenting of the same sin, we may have some sort of bondage in that area. We need special prayer and possibly counseling in order to break that bondage.

We are sanctified by the word of God. The word of God is the truth (John 17:17). Jesus said the truth will set us free. As we read the word of God, we are cleansed from defilements and our minds are renewed. As we obey the word of God, his word becomes a part of us and creates true holiness deep within us.

Suffering can produce sanctification. As we go through difficulties, God cleanses us from evil. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into a hot oven tied up with ropes. The fire burned the ropes off and set them free, but the fire did not harm them. The trial that we go through can be the means of our deliverance from the ropes of sin and Satan.

“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:1-2).

Jesus suffered in the flesh. He suffered because he was obeying God. As we obey God, we will also suffer because Satan and the world will attack us. When we suffer for obeying God, we are taking up our cross. As we take up our cross and suffer for Jesus, we will be delivered from sin and bondage.

Suffering sanctifies because it shows us that we need God. It improves our relationship with God. It shows us our own weakness and drives us to prayer and reliance on God. Sin can happen when we are lazy. It happens to societies when they become focused on decadence and luxury. Throughout history, some of the most corrupt societies have been the most wealthy.

Sanctification is important for several reasons. 

Sanctification pleases God. It is God’s will. When we are sanctified then we are able to represent God well on the earth. We become vessels unto honor that are fit for the master’s use (2 Timothy 2:21). God want us to be holy people. He doesn’t want us to put him to shame.

Sanctification protects us from Satan. When Satan attacked Jesus, he could find nothing in him to bring him down (John 14:30). This is because Jesus was free from sin and therefore he had full authority over the devil. When we are sanctified, then the devil has less power over us to drag us down.

Sanctification will make us happier. Holiness and happiness go hand in hand. This is because sin brings sorrow. Sin results in death. Sin makes us feel guilt, shame, and fear. It makes us depressed and stressed. Holiness produces life and peace.

Let us pursue sanctification. Let us put away the defilements of the flesh and put off the old person that is corrupt because of lusts. Let us be renewed by the Holy Spirit and put on true holiness that comes from God alone.

The government passed a law in Babylon that everyone had to worship a statue. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to do this. As punishment, they were thrown into an oven to be burned alive (Daniel 3).

Shadrach and his friends weren’t thrown into an oven because they were murderers or thieves. Instead, they were thrown into an oven because they were obeying God.

When we follow God, we sometimes have to go against the world and even the government. The limit of our obedience to the government is defined by the word of God. When the government tells us to do things that are contrary to the Bible, we have to refuse. This can be hard, and it can lead to severe consequences.

In the New Testament the government commanded Christians to stop telling people about Jesus. Christians responded, “We will not comply. We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Then they were thrown in jail. In many countries today, it’s illegal to preach the gospel. The punishment for telling people about Jesus is jail or death.

Are bold Christians preaching the gospel anyway?

In Babylon, the punishment for obeying God was being burned alive in an oven. This was a severe punishment. Being roasted alive is painful and frightening. When murderers or other criminals were burned in Babylon’s oven, it was a hot. But for refusing to worship Satan, Babylon’s oven was made seven times hotter. The punishment was worse because Satan hates people who refuse to submit to him.

An Irrational World that Hates God and His People
Roasting people alive for not bowing to a statue seems irrational. But Satan is irrational, and he gets people to do irrational things.

It might be hard to imagine something like this happening today. But the Bible says that such a thing will happen again. In the end times, a global law will be passed that everyone has to worship an image. If people don’t worship this image, the government will try to kill them (Revelation 13:15). 

This may sound impossible. Maybe we think this would never happen. But sometimes crazy and unexpected things happen in the world. Adolf Hitler suddenly emerged out of nowhere and killed millions of people. So did Stalin and Mao. Right now, every year approximately 50 million babies are killed worldwide through abortion. The name of Jesus is greater than these horrors.

The history of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is recorded by Daniel to prepare God’s people for the end times. Daniel is a prophetic book, and it’s written to equip God’s people for the future.

Going Against the Flow
In Babylon everyone was worshiping this statue. It was a nice statue. It looked impressive. Everyone liked gold, and the statue was made out of gold. Rocking music playing, and everyone was getting into it. They were all having a great time. 

Only Shadrach and his friends refused to join the party. 

Whether in ancient Babylon or today, it’s hard to go against the crowd. Whenever we go against the world a violent mob might come against us. People will try to turn up the heat against us seven times hotter than before. They might treat us worse for obeying God than they would if we had committed a terrible crime. They will slander us. They will try to destroy us. They will do all of this because Satan hates us.

Unconditional Obedience
Facing a blazing inferno, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew God’s power. They knew that he is greater than the burning fiery furnace. They knew he could deliver them from the fire. 

Shadrach and his friends weren’t presumptuous. They said “our God can deliver us, but even if he doesn’t deliver us we will not worship this statue.” They knew God could deliver them, they weren’t sure if he would deliver them. They knew what God could do, but they didn’t claim to know what God would do. They were going to trust God anyway, regardless of the outcome.

They didn’t put conditions on their obedience. They didn’t tell God that they would only obey him if he delivered them. Their obedience did not hinge on what God did. They were going to obey God even if he didn’t deliver them. We must rest under God’s wisdom and authority, and trust him regardless of the outcome. We know that even if they kill our bodies, they can’t kill our souls. And if we do die, we will go to heaven to be with Jesus!

Shadrach and his friends told the enraged king, “Even if you put us into a hot oven and roast our flesh alive, we will not worship your statue.” They were going to obey God even if it cost them their lives. They valued God and his word above everything else.

The king of Babylon became hopping mad. 

Strong soldiers tied up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and threw them into the oven.

God is With us in the Fire
Jesus doesn’t promise that we won’t go through the fire. But he promises to be with us in the fire. He doesn’t promise that we won’t face problems, but he promises to be with us in the midst of problems. Jesus is with us to encourage us and strengthen us by his Holy Spirit inside us.

Inside the furnace, with flames swirling all around them, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were kept safe. Jesus was with them in the swirling flames, protecting them from the fire. 

Jesus promised to never leave us or forsake us. He said he would always be with us: “I will be with you until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Praise God for his presence with us!

Set Free by the Fire
When Shadrach and his two friends were thrown into the oven, they were tied up with strong ropes. These ropes were so tight they couldn’t even stand up. They fell down on the coals. But in the fire, the ropes burned off and they were set free. They began walking around in the fire with Jesus.

When we go through a challenge trusting in God, we can be set free. The fire that was meant to destroy us can actually deliver us. Sometimes bondages break in the midst of the fire. Ropes that held us back are burned. The fire purifies and cleanses. It tests and strengthens our faith.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the hottest furnace of Babylon, astounding everyone. They proved that God is awesome. They obtained a testimony that still reverberates around the world.

No Smell of Smoke
When they came out, not even the smell of smoke was on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 

Sometimes when we go through the fire, the smell of smoke comes on us. This means when we face challenges we are tempted to complain and become bitter against God. Even after we get through the fire, we are still angry about what happened. We didn’t want to go through that fire in the first place. Even though we got through it, we still  hold onto doubts or anger. We lash out at others, venting our smoke.

Shadrach and his friends did not smell like the furnace. They did not become bitter or offended by having to go through such a hard experience. They didn’t complain. They didn’t murmur. “God, why did you let this happen to me? God why didn’t you stop us from going into that furnace? Don’t you care about us or love us?” The aroma of God was still fragrant in their lives, even after the fire.

Equipped with Greater Resources
Today, in the time of the New Testament, we are blessed. We have the Holy Spirit inside us. Christ has already gone to the cross and conquered sin and Satan. We have the entire Bible. God has equipped us with powerful tools to face challenges successfully. We have more spiritual blessings than Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had because we are Christians who are filled with the Holy Spirit.

Let’s take these spiritual blessings and get ready. We don’t know what will happen in the future, but we know that God is powerful, that his word is true, and that he is faithful. We can face the future successfully through God’s power. When challenges come, let’s not be surprised. Let’s stay faithful to God. Let’s not try to tell God what to do, but trust him to do what is best. As we keep believing, we will experience miracles. And these miracles, born of indomitable faith, will overthrow kingdoms.

As Daniel said, at the end of the age, “the people who do know their God will be strong and do exploits” (Daniel 11:32). 

Astounding miracles will happen, as we believe in God. But even if they don’t happen, we will not bow down to the devil.

One of the most important things Jesus taught us to pray for is for our daily bread. 

“Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11).

God wants to give us daily bread. He has a provision for us every day. He promises to provide all that we need. He is Jehovah-Jireh, which means that he is our Provider.

“My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

God promises to provide for our material needs.

“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Jesus promises to provide our material needs as we seek first his kingdom.

God will also provide for all our spiritual needs. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). All that we need spiritually is found in Jesus Christ. We need the word of God. As we meditate on and obey the word of God, we will grow strong.

We need spiritual food more than we need material food. If we have material things without spiritual things, we have nothing of real value. But if we have spiritual riches, no matter what our material situation is, we can be content.

In the Old Testament, God gave the Israelites manna. Manna was a supernatural food that gave the Israelites supernatural strength to get to the Promised Land.

Manna represents the daily bread that God wants to give to us.

Manna is written about in Exodus 16.

Every day the Israelites had to go out and get manna. This daily process showed their continual dependance on God. 

Manna represents our daily bread from God. God has daily bread to give to us. We need to ask God for this daily bread.

Manna came to the Israelites in the morning. God’s mercies are new every morning. In God’s mind, every day is a new day. Even though we may have made mistakes yesterday, today can be different. God is merciful to us today. Even though yesterday was full of trouble, today can be full of blessing. God makes every day new, and he has new spiritual provision and supply for every day.

Manna appeared on the ground. To get manna, a person had to bend over to the ground. This represents humility. If we want to get a word from God, we need to humble ourselves.

Manna appeared after the dew. The dew represents the Holy Spirit. The word of God is deposited into our lives by the working of the Holy Spirit. The more we are full of the Holy Spirit, the more daily bread we will have from God.

Manna was small. It was not obvious. The Israelites had to look for it. The word of God is sometimes small. Sometimes we don’t recognize what God is doing because it doesn’t come with a loud sound. The word of God is not noisy like the words from Satan. We need to listen carefully for God’s word.

Manna was white. This represents holiness. The word of God is holy. When we get a word from God, it will cleanse us as we obey it. The word of God sanctifies us from the defilements of the world.

The word manna means “what is it?” Manna was not like anything the Israelites had seen before. This is how the word of God is. God’s ways are higher than our ways, and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Sometimes we don’t understand the word of God because it is different from our way of thinking. But if we are to get daily bread from God, we have to be open to the unexpected.

Manna was only good for one day, and it could not be stored up for the next day. If manna was kept up for the next day, it would rot. This represents that when we get a word from God we need to obey it. We shouldn’t delay obedience until tomorrow, because we don’t know what can happen tomorrow. The word of God is for implementation, not just for increasing our knowledge. Knowledge is great, but knowledge can puff up. Love and obedience builds up.

When the Israelites got manna, they all took it back to the camp and measured it all out. Then they all shared. Each one got as much as he needed. Some people could gather more, and others could gather little, but there was always enough for everyone at the end. This represents that we need the body of Christ in order to be blessed with daily bread. Some people may get more bread from God, and others may get less, but when we come together in fellowship, the word of God will be enough to feed everyone. This is the beauty and necessity of the body of Christ. Sunday mornings are particularly important for our individual growth, as we can be blessed with the spiritual supply of others when we are hungry.

Manna had to be gathered every day. This means that there is a routine involved in hearing from God. We need bread every day. We need to ask God every day to feed us spiritually. If we go without spiritual food, we will wither and become weak. In order to get the word of God every day, we need to spend time in the word and prayer. We must do this even when we don’t feel like it. There must have been days when the Israelites didn’t want to go out and get manna, but they forced themselves to do it anyway because they knew this was their necessary food. Similarly, even if we don’t feel like praying or reading the Bible, we need to do it anyway. This is part of routine, and this is important for our spiritual growth. Let’s not base our spiritual life on feelings, otherwise it will be very inconsistent. We must base our spiritual life on the word of God. Then we can maintain spiritual disciplines.

The manna melted in the sun. Before the sun came up, and the Israelites began focusing on other works of the day, they had to get the Manna. This shows that when we are busy, it can be hard to get a word from God. We may not have time to read the Bible or pray. We need to set aside a time to do this so that we won’t be distracted with our other daily tasks.

Finally, Manna was very tasty. It was like wafers made with honey. The word of God is the best food there is. It is like honey that feeds our souls. There are a lot of other words in the world today – they pour out from the TV, internet, and radio. These words often don’t help us. But sometimes we think these words are tastier than God’s word. This is a lie. God’s word is the best, and it is the only sustenance that will get us through this wilderness to the Promised Land of the fullness of the kingdom of God. God’s word is supernatural food for us, a heavenly, supernatural people.

Let us pray, “Give us today our daily bread.” As you do, know that God wants to bless you, even more than you want to be blessed. 

A message from Bobby:

Last time we discussed the Parable of the Sower and we saw the four different kind of soils and how they responded to the seed of the Word of God. I was surprised to learn that the Parable of the Sower is a foundational parable, because Jesus asked his disciples, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?” (Mark 4:13). As a result of this discovery, which Peter pointed out, I was curious to find out and examine more practical examples from the Bible of these kinds of people who represented these four types of soils – examples, which would be less abstract and more specific. 

However, as I was looking deeper into the Parable of the Sower and into such examples, I marveled at the width and depth of knowledge I was able to uncover in a short time. And I had to digress from my original purpose, because I really wanted to share some of the revelations from the Word that touched my heart. And I hope what I share will stir the curiosity and desire for each one of us to dig deeper into the Word and eat the meat of it with delight.

The first thing to note about the four types of soil in the Bible is that the Parable of the Sower is presented somewhat differently in the different gospels. While in Mark 4:1-20 and in Matthew 13:1-23 the versions of the parable share a lot of similarities, in Luke 8:4-15, there are a few nuances which add extra meaning to the same parable. 

First Type of Soil

The first type of soil represents people, who never came to believe the Word, and thus, were never saved.

“the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved” (Luke 8:12)

The Bible is true, inerrant and we can point to much historical evidence of its reliability. Yet, these kind of facts are not what is going to change people’s minds and hearts and convince them to trust in God. What will change people is the gospel. To understand the Bible, a person must first be born again, and this happens through faith in Christ. Until then, a person cannot understand the Bible.

“the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2:14)

We know that the Bible is inspired and authored by the Holy Spirit (2 Tim 3:16) – that is, the Bible is a spiritual book, and a spiritual book can only be understood through spiritual means. And the natural (or soulish) man cannot perceive it through the flesh. Thus, there is no point of trying to convince anyone, who does not know the Holy Spirit, who has not been born by the Spirit of God, to understand a spiritual book, like the Bible. It’s like trying to teach a fish to walk out on sand. First, the Holy Spirit must give spiritual birth to a person and open their eyes to spiritual truth, before they can believe the Bible and start exploring the deep secrets of God:

“But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.” (1 Cor 2: 9-10)

“These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” (1 Cor 2: 13:)

We must make sure that unbelievers are given the opportunity to hear the main message of the Bible – that everyone, who wants, can have a personal relationship with a perfect Savior, and the only requirement is faith.

What are some examples in the Bible of people in the first category of hearers – who outright rejected Jesus and his gospel?

• Herod the king (Matthew 2:3, 16)
• The scribes and Pharisees
• Demetrius, the silversmith, and the other craftsmen in Ephesus (Acts 19:23-29) – they were more interested in not losing their profits than in gaining the knowledge of the life which only Jesus can give.

Second Type of Soil

The second category of person is those who initially receive the Word with joy, but after testing, trial or persecution, they fall away (in Luke 8:13) or stumble (in Mark 4:17; Matthew 13:21). 

We have to make sure our faith is fully alive and does not wither at the first challenge (unlike the second type of soil). And if we pass the first test and start bringing forth fruit, we should not allow future challenges to stifle our spiritual growth, to stop us from continuing our spiritual journey and keep us from walking by faith (unlike the third type of soil). But we should keep pressing on by faith and passing our tests until we are fully pleasing to the Father, like Jesus was (like the fourth type of soil).

The Greek word used in Luke 8:13 for “fall away” has the same Greek root as the word “apostasia” in 2 Thess 2:3, from which we get the word apostasy and which is translated “the falling away”:

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling awaycomes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition (2 Thess. 2:3)

The exact same word from Luke 8 13 is also used in 1 Timothy 4:1, but is translated as “depart from”:

Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons (1 Timothy 4:1)

Usually when people “depart from” the faith and from God, they are deceived and they also move towards something else – they start trusting in “deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons”. These end-time verses clearly speak of people who turn away from the faith and are damned when they do so. They are the ones who will deny the faith, follow the beast and receive his mark. Most Bible scholars would say that such self-professed believers never actually believed in Jesus in the first place. Their profession of faith was a false profession. They were never born again of the Spirit of God. And I think that might well be the case.

As I was studying the use of that same Greek word “fall away”, I also found it used by the author of Hebrews, who calls out to his “brethren” to stand fast in the faith till the end:

Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. (Hebrews 3:12)

But exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. (Hebrews 3:13-14)

How can a heart of unbelief be found in a believer? If a believer is hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, was he ever a believer, did he have a genuine relationship with God? 

The Christian journey is like the journey of the Israelites through the wilderness. God saved them from Egypt and then He led them towards the Promised Land. But they never reached their destination, because they rebelled, because they wavered at the challenge ahead and failed in the time of testing. They lost faith in God’s ability to deliver on His promises. Their example can be used as our example in our Christian walk, because we are going somewhere and we are led by the Holy Spirit towards our eternal destination in heavenly places, in the Kingdom of God. And we’ll face challenges and testing, but we should never waver or give up. Moreover, Hebrews 5: 12-14 and 6: 1-3 discuss the foundations of the faith and the need to move beyond spiritual milk. Hebrews chapter 11 gives us the examples of the patriarchs of the faith, and their example of a life walked by faith through various testing and trials. Finally, we arrive at Hebrews chapter 12, which lays out the discipline of the Lord:

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? (Hebrews 12:7)

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11)

In conclusion, I think Hebrews 3:12 fits into the larger context of the Book of Hebrews, which is a book about God’s discipline and spiritual growth in time of testing, rather than potentially losing our salvation. When we first believed, we were like newborn babies – we were born of the Spirit of God, but then we needed to grow with the milk of the Word (1 Peter 2: 2). We know that as babies continue to grow, they become little children, who need to be disciplined. We know that if parents leave children on their own devices, they cannot expect anything good from them. Children need to be taught right from wrong, need to be disciplined, need to be shown how to take responsibility and how to choose to do what is good and right. And parents do this for the good of their children, so that they may grow, mature and become self-reliant adults, who may function well in the world and manage to build a good life for themselves. In the same way that children must be taught about earthly things, we need to be disciplined by God about spiritual things, so we may have true life and have it more abundantly. This is the message of the Book of Hebrews and that’s how I think we should interpret that particular verse, despite of the word “fall away” being used in it.

Similar verses to the ones found in Hebrews, which have sober warnings to believers, can be found throughout the Bible. Paul exhorts the Galatian believers:

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. (Galatians 5:1)

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (1 Peter 5: 8-10)

What does it mean for Satan to devour a believer? Again, I do not think this is about necessarily losing one’s salvation, but rather about not reaching the fullness of what God wants for us. The Bible plainly tells us that our best examples of faith from the Old Testament are the patriarchs of the faith (Hebrews chapter 11), and our worst are the rebels in the wilderness (Hebrews chapters 3 and 4), who doubted in unbelief and disobeyed the Lord. Think also of Job’s friends, who appeared to be righteous and godly people, concerned with the well-being of their friend. In the end, they failed their test, but Job passed with flying colors in the midst of the largest storm of his life. In the end, God was very displeased with Job’s friends and he asked Job to pray for them. 

The Galatian church is an example of a church that departed from the path they were going, from the truth, but Paul never condemned them and called them that they were lost to the faith. Even so, they were in clear danger.

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth … Are you so foolish?  Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? (Gal. 3:1-3)

To distinguish between the 2^nd and 3^rd type of soil in the Bible could be very difficult at times because none of these soils brought the desired fruit. Perhaps, we can point out that there are no apostates or false professions of faith in the 3^rd type, and there are also no believers who “depart from” the faith altogether. In addition, the 3^rd type must have passed at least one test, while the 2^nd kind failed at the very beginning, at the first sign of serious trouble. And to complicate it further, some may repent and come back, like John Mark, who initially wavered and “departed from” the work of the apostles, but then he changed course.  (Acts 15:36-38; 2 Timothy 4:11)

Let us look at the word “stumble” used in Mark 4:17 and Matthew 13:21, which also means “offended”. This same word is used in Romans 14:21

 It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. (Romans 14: 21)

Certainly, Paul is not suggesting that we have the power to condemn our brother or sister in the faith to hell by what we eat. But we can certainly lead them to commit sin. Similar word is also used in Revelation 2:14.

But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. (Revelation 2: 14)

Again, the example we have is of Balaam, who in the Old Testament led the people of God to sin against God, so that God could not bless them and prosper them in their conquest of the Promised Land. What is the application for us today? It’s that if we listen to people like Balaam and sin against God, we won’t be successful and prosperous in our spiritual journey, the goal of which is to be bountiful fruit bearers, whose lives are full of supernatural love and peace and joy, and whose prayers are answered, and who can see God deliver them from every test and trial victoriously. 

The people represented by the 2^nd type of soil wavered in the time of testing. This is a category none of us wants to be in. This is a serious warning to all believers! We don’t want Satan to devour us and trick us through the deceitfulness of sin. Rather, we want to pursue the Lord, who is able to deliver us from any difficulty, temptation, trial or tribulation, and use it ultimately, for our own good. We want God to help us finish our walk of faith victoriously, passing our tests, fully pleasing to the Lord, triumphing over the forces of darkness and wicked spirits, who seek to oppose us and prevent us from making it to our Promised Land.

Some of the practical examples of the 2^nd kind of soil were mentioned above:

• Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus for money and was condemned. He was motivated by money and greed. The Bible says he was a thief (John 12:6).
• Balaam – a false prophet, who was condemned, because he led the people of God to commit sin (Jude 1:11; 2 Peter 2:15).
• The woman, false prophetess, Jezebel, who led the church of Thyatira into sin and idolatry (Revelation 2: 20).
• Hymenaeus and Philetus – who taught that the resurrection had already taken place and overthrew the faith of some (2 Timothy 2: 17-19).
• Demas, who loved this present world and left Paul (2 Timothy 4:10; Colossians 4:14; Philemon 1:24).
• Diotrephes, who did not receive the apostle John and other believers (3 John 9-10).
• Perhaps, Job’s friends, because they displeased God and did not do what was right in the time of Job’s testing. It’s interesting to notice that their testing was their response to Job’s trials.

Hopefully in the coming weeks we will have an opportunity to look more closely at the last 2 groups of hearers – those growing among thorns and thistles, and those on the good soil. The final category is the one God wants us all to be in, for he wants us to bring forth fruit. His word will bring forth fruit in our lives as we believe it and obey it.

One of the most important parables Jesus told was about a sower who sowed the word of God into people (Mark 4:3-20). Jesus said that this parable is important. If  we don’t understand this parable, we won’t understand his other parables. 

In this parable, Jesus said the sower sowed the seed of the word of God. Some of the seed didn’t do anything, but other seeds produced a harvest.

Jesus explained the symbolism of this parable. The sower is Jesus. The seed is the word of God. The different grounds where the seed was sown represent different types of people.

The sower and the seed are the same throughout the parable – there is never a lack in the sower or the seed. Both Jesus and his word are perfect. The only problem is with the ground where the seed is sown. Some ground produces a harvest and some does not.

In this parable there are four places where the word of God is sown. These four places represent four types of people.

The first place where the seed is sown is on the highway. On the highway the seed is immediately gobbled up by birds, and it produces no fruit. The highway is a place of traffic. It’s where a lot of people go. The highway represents the culture or the world. Most people are going on the broad path to destruction. They are just going along with the world. The way that Jesus wants us to walk is a narrow way. This is the way that leads to life, and few people find this way.

On the highway many people trample the word of God. They don’t believe it, and they don’t want you to believe it either. There are a lot of birds on the highway of the world. These birds represent evil spirits who take the word of God out of our hearts. 

If we are going to bear a harvest for God, we can’t live our lives on the highway of the world. We have to do things differently and walk on the narrow path that God has laid out for us.

The second place where the seed is sown is the rocky place. This place represents a hard heart. God said that he would take away the stony heart out from us and give us a soft heart. This soft heart is able to receive the word of God. A hard heart cannot fully embrace the word of God.

Jesus said that one symptom of having a stony heart is being easily offended. It’s easy to be offended these days. We can get offended at other people, and sometimes we can even be offended at God. Being offended is sometimes seen as a mark of moral superiority, as we think that our indignation is righteous when someone else offends us. But this is not what the Bible says. The Bible tells us to be quick to forgive people when they offend us. If we don’t forgive, we will be caught in a trap of Satan.

Those who have a stony heart do not have the word of God rooted in themselves. The word of God sprouted in their lives, and they became very happy. But the word did not get rooted into them. The root just stayed on the surface; it didn’t penetrate into their heart. When things became hard and there was no moisture, the root withered, and the little plant died. People who have a hard heart need a lot of watering. The water doesn’t last long on top of the rock, so they need to be continually watered. If they go without water for a while, or if something offends them, then the seed of the word in their lives will wither and die.

We need to have the word of God rooted into us. For this we need genuine faith and obedience. Excitement and feelings are not enough. We need to follow God, not our feelings. Christ is not to remain on the surface of our lives, but it is to get deep inside of us. When we believe the word and obey it even at a cost to ourselves, then the word of God is rooted in us. It will grow and bring forth fruit.
The third type of person is the person who receives the word of God but their hearts are full of thorns and thistles. Jesus says these thorns represent the deceitfulness of riches, the cares of the world, and lusts. These things come in and choke the word. In this person the word of God has been rooted inside their hearts, and it has grown into a plant. That’s good. But the plant is not able to produce fruit because it has been choked out by weeds.

The solution for this person is to cut down the weeds. Stop loving money, crucify the flesh and let the lusts die, and cast all your anxiety on God. When the weeds are gone, then the plant of the word of God will be able to produce fruit.

The fourth and final category of person is the person who has a soft heart, without weeds, who receives the word of God and it produces a harvest. Some people in this good category produce a harvest of 30 times as much as the original seed, others 60 times as much, and others 100 times as much.

The word of God has power within itself to produce a harvest. As we become the ground that will bring forth fruit, we will experience more of the power of God’s word working in us to manifest this harvest.

In this important parable, Jesus reveals how we can allow the word of God to be planted in us and how it will grow strong to produce a harvest. First, we cannot just go along with the highway of the world; we have to be willing to walk in a different way. Second, we need to have a soft heart that is not easily offended, and we must be tender so the word of God can be rooted inside us. Third, we need to get rid of thorns and thistles out of our lives. As we do these things, then the word of God will bear fruit in us.

Jesus told us this parable because he wants us to bear fruit. May he help us to do so, for his glory and the expansion of his kingdom in the earth.

When Jesus was born Israel was at a low point in their history. They were dominated by the Roman army. They were ruled by Herod, a corrupt king. And their temple and religion was dominated by the Pharisees. Into this dark situation was born Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

The Jews had been waiting a long time for their Messiah. Ever since the Garden of Eden, when God prophesied that one day the Messiah would come and crush the head of Satan, the Jews had been waiting for their Messiah to come.

When Jesus was a baby, Mary and Joseph took Jesus into the temple to fulfill some religious rituals of the Old Testament (Luke 2:22-39). While there, they saw some priests and other religious leaders. Apparently none of these religious professionals recognized that this baby was the Messiah.

Then Simeon came to meet them. He was different than all the priests. He was a man who heard from God. His name means “hearing.” He had a close relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was upon him.

Simeon had revelations from the Holy Spirit. Once the Holy Spirit told him, “Before you die you will see the Messiah.” Simeon believed this and held onto it. 

Maybe he didn’t tell anyone about his revelation. If he had told them, they probably would have thought he was crazy. He must have been a man who was outside the established religious system. They didn’t understand this man. But that system killed Christ, so it was good to be outside of it.

Simeon was led by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit led Simeon to come into the temple at the exact moment he needed to in order to meet baby Jesus. We need to be led by the Holy Spirit. When we are led by the Holy Spirit we will have divine encounters. Simeon was not walking according to his own mind, but according to the Spirit. The Holy Spirit knows more than our mind, and when we walk in the Spirit we tap into infinite wisdom.

The Holy Spirit will help us see what others cannot see. All the priests in the temple had no idea this baby was the Messiah. But one humble man named Simeon knew. He knew Jesus not by natural wisdom, but by spiritual wisdom.

Simeon had been waiting for God’s word to him to come to pass; was waiting to see the Messiah. It often takes time for the word of God to be fulfilled. Maybe Simeon waited a long time. He was old. He may have waited for decades, holding onto the word of God. 

Are we willing to wait for the word of God? If Simeon had not believed God’s word and waited for it, he may not have been in the right place at the right time to see its fulfillment. He would have been doing something else. If we want to see God work, we have to be willing to wait.

The baby Jesus may not have been the Messiah that Simeon was expecting. Most Jews thought the Messiah would be a conquering king who would overthrow Rome. This was just a little baby from a poor family. This may have not been according to Simeon’s expectation. It certainly wasn’t according to the expectation of the religious leaders. But Simeon allowed the Holy Spirit to dominate his thoughts, and therefore he recognized the Messiah as a helpless baby.

Sometimes when the word of God happens in a way we don’t expect. It may be smaller than how we thought. But we should not despise the day of small beginnings. Don’t reject the fulfillment of God’s word because it’s not in the package you were expecting. Simeon was flexible, and he didn’t put God in a box.

At the end of the age, there will be many Christians who miss what God is doing. They will have an expectation that things happen in a certain way, and God will work differently than what they expect. Because of this they will miss out. Those who walk with God at the end of the age will be those who are in a close relationship with the Holy Spirit. They will hear from God and follow him. They may be a small number of people. But they will recognize God’s hand because they are close to him.

After seeing baby Jesus, Simeon knew that his life’s work was over. He could leave the world now and go be with God because God’s word had been fulfilled in his life and he had seen the Messiah.

The Christian life is like a race. God has set a course out before each one of us. He has things he wants us to fulfill before we die. Simeon was a man who finished his race. Paul said there was a point in his life when he finished his race (2 Timothy 4:7). This means he had accomplished all that God wanted him to do. And so he could look forward to going to be with Jesus, which is far better than continuing in this broken and painful world (Philippians 1:23). We need to keep running with the Holy Spirit so we can finish our race.

What was Simeon’s life all about? We don’t know. All we know is that he saw a baby and spoke to the parents. But people all over the world are still talking about what Simeon did. This was something that seemed very insignificant. But because it was done in God it was powerful and affected eternity. God is able to take insignificant things and make something powerful out of them.

There is no insignificant life in God. Do what God tells you to do. That’s the main point of life. Don’t care what the world thinks. What does God say? If you are faithful to God, your life will have eternal fruit.

After this, Anna came and met the young family. Anna was a prophetess. She did not become spiritually dull in her old age, but she was like Caleb, who though he was old, was a strong as ever (Joshua 14:11). Anna had an important ministry of serving God through prayer and fasting. This is a powerful ministry that changes the course of lives and nations. Through prayer and fasting, Anna had become close to God. She knew the Holy Spirit and what he was saying. By the Holy Spirit, Anna also knew that this baby was the Messiah. 

Anna began speaking about Jesus as the Messiah to all those who would looking for redemption in Jerusalem (Acts 2:38). There was a group of people who were dissatisfied with the religious system, and they were looking for deliverance in Jerusalem. Anna spoke to these people about Jesus. Not everyone is satisfied with the religious status quo. There are a few who know something has to change. They are hungry for God to do something. They want God to work. These are the ones who are open to hearing about the Messiah.

Simeon and Anna knew that baby Jesus was the Messiah because the Holy Spirit revealed it to them. They were walking with God, and therefore they were able to see the Son of God. There was nothing in the natural that would have revealed this to them, it was from the Holy Spirit.

God is raising up a body of people in the earth who will be confined to his will. He will live in them and walk through them. As we learn to live and walk in the Spirit, we will go where God wants us to go and do what God wants us to do. God’s faithful remnant at the end of the age will know the leading of the Holy Spirit. To them God will reveal his Son in a glorious and powerful way, and he will shine through them into the earth.

Balaam is an intriguing character in the Bible. There are more prophecies from Balaam recorded in the Bible than there are prophecies from Obadiah. Balaam was not an Israelite, but he was from Mesopotamia which was about 400 miles away. 

Archeologists have discovered an ancient inscription that refers to Balaam. The ancient Deir Alla inscription (which was dated to within Balaam’s lifetime) says that Balaam the son of Beor got a message from the Shaddai gods that judgment is coming. 

Even though he was from Mesopotamia, Balaam knew and understood the true God. He called God by his proper name, Yahweh. He called him El, which means the mighty God. He called him Shaddai. He called him Elyon, the Supreme. He called God Melek, the King.

The Holy Spirit came upon Balaam (Numbers 24:2). Yahweh put a message in Balaam’s mouth (Numbers 23:5). Balaam even called Yahweh his God (Numbers 22:18).

Balaam seemed to have a godly attitude. He said he wasn’t interested in money. He said that would only say what God told him to say. He would only do what God told him to do (Numbers 22:38; 23:12; 24:13). 

Remember the famous verse, “God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do? Or has he spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). This was spoken by Balaam.

Balaam even prophesied about Jesus (Numbers 24:17,19).

But Balaam is a complicated character. Even though he apparently had all of these positive qualities, he also had a lot of problems. The Bible also calls him a soothsayer (Joshua 13:22). The word soothsayer in the Bible refers exclusively to sorcerers or witches. Balaam was also known for loving money, even though he said he didn’t care about money (Jude 11, 2 Peter 2:15). Balaam also had a dangerous false teaching which corrupted ancient Israel.

Most of what we know about Balaam comes from the Bible’s record of his interactions with Balak, the king of Moab. This interaction is recorded in Numbers 22. 

King Balak and the rest of the Moabites were terrified of Israel. Israel had just come out of Egypt. They split the Red Sea, saw Pharoah’s army defeated, and conquered the powerful kings Sihon and Og. Moab was afraid that Israel was going to turn against them and defeat them too. Moab knew that military might could never defeat Israel. Israel was a miraculous nation that was walking in spiritual power. So Moab turned instead to witchcraft and evil spirits. Balak hoped a powerful curse would unleash fallen angels against Israel and render them impotent.

King Balak knew there was a man named Balaam who carried spiritual power. Balak called for Balaam to come and curse Israel. 

Balaam asked God if he should go, and God told him not to go. So Balaam told King Balak he couldn’t come. Then Balak sent more people to call Balaam a second time. This second time Balaam agreed to go to King Balak. 

God was not happy that Balaam went to curse God’s people, so he sent an angel to oppose Balaam on his journey. Balaam’s donkey saw the angel and was frightened. Then the donkey began speaking to Balaam, telling him he shouldn’t be going. Balaam and the donkey had an argument, and finally Balaam saw the wisdom of what the donkey said and agreed that what he was doing was wrong.

Interestingly, there is only one other example in the Bible of an animal talking, and that is the serpent in the Garden of Eden. The serpent spoke because it was indwelt by Satan, and Satan spoke through the serpent. In this case, the donkey was influenced by the Holy Spirit to speak to Balaam.

Balaam finally met with Balak and saw the camp of Israel. He prepared to curse God’s people. But when he opened his mouth, the Holy Spirit spoke out an amazing blessing upon Israel. Balaam tried a second time to curse Israel. But again God turned the curse into a blessing. This happened four times. Balaam was unable to curse the people of God.

King Balak was upset. Instead of cursing Israel, Balaam blessed them four times! 

Israel was under the protection of God. No weapon formed against them could prosper. Neither human armies nor fallen angels could defeat them. They were going from strength to strength, and the devil was powerless to stop them. 

Then something strange happened.

The next verse, Numbers 25:1, we read that Israel began to commit sexual immorality with the Moabite women and engage in demonic rituals. Through sin and Satanic rituals, they attached themselves to a fallen angel called Baal-Peor.

How did this happen? Why did Israel go from such heights of glory with God to such depths of depravity with Satan?

The fall of Israel was actually due to Balaam. Balaam knew that the secret of Israel’s success was the fact that God was protecting them. Balaam told Balak that the only way to defeat Israel would be to get them to sin (Numbers 31:6). If God’s people sinned, they would open themselves up to Satan, and fallen angels could ravage them from within.

Balak listened to Balaam’s advice. He sent beautiful women to seduce the Israelites and convince them to engage in pagan rituals. Through compromise with sin and pagan practices, Satan was able to invade the people of God and destroy their power.

What Moab couldn’t do by attacking Israel head-on through sin or witchcraft, they were able to do by seducing Israel to corruption. When Israel compromised with the world, they lost the power and protection of God.

Jesus said that the church has fallen for the same doctrine of Balaam that attacked ancient Israel. 

“But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality” (Revelation 2:14). 

Like ancient Israel, the church is called to be a strong, conquering nation. But often the church is not fulfilling her calling. This is because she has abandoned the word of God and compromised with the world. Because of sin and compromise, the church has become spiritually weak.
When God’s people submit to the word of God, they are protected from the devil. But when they turn from God and sin, then they open the door to the devil. In addition to this, sometimes God’s people engage in pagan rituals, often without knowing what they are doing. This also opens the door to Satan.

Jesus warned the church to be aware of the doctrine of Balaam. Why? Because the  doctrine of Balaam pulls God’s people out from under his loving hand of protection, and opens the door to the devil’s attacks.

Satan is always looking for an access point to destroy the people of God. He’s like a roaring lion, seeking people to devour. 

Praise God for the blood of Jesus which cleanses us from all of our sins. Jesus can wipe us clean from all sin and compromise. He can take away the results of sin. Then we can kick the devil out of our lives, and he has no power over us. 

May our eyes be opened to the insidious doctrine of Balaam. May we close the door to the devil and apply the blood of Jesus Christ liberally to our lives. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Under the protecting hand of Almighty God, no enemy can assail us, and every curse will be turned into a blessing.

Pride is often seen as a virtue in our culture today. But the Bible says pride is a sin. 

God hates pride (Proverbs 8:13).
Pride brings shame (Proverbs 11:2).
ONLY by pride comes contention (Proverbs 13:10). This means if there is a fight somewhere, pride was involved.
The proud will be punished (Proverbs 16:5).
Pride leads to destruction (Proverbs 16:18).

The Bible is clear: God hates pride, and we need to get it out of our lives.

“Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5).

Younger people are commanded to submit to older people. Submission means “subordinate, obey, be under, subdue unto, yield.” 

Our culture often views submission as a bad thing. But it’s a virtue according to the Bible. Every Christian should cultivate the virtue of submission. 

Submission means that there are authorities to submit to. Authorities are not bad. They are necessary. The benefit of submitting to authority is protection, peace, and a quiet life.

Submission is connected to humility. If a person is humble, he or she will be submissive.

The opposite of submission is “contrariness, balkiness, defiance, resistance, obstinacy, willfulness, stubbornness, hardheadedness.” This is rebellion. A rebellious person will refuse to submit. Rebellion will lead to trouble, pain, and sorrow. 

When the Bible tells the younger to submit to the elder, it is not necessarily speaking about natural age. While it is important for young people to show respect to older people, this is primarily a spiritual instruction. God is urging those who are spiritually immature to submit to those who are spiritually mature. Spiritual maturity is not a function of years as a Christian. Sometimes people are Christians for forty years but they are still spiritually immature. Spiritual maturity comes not through time but through obedience to God. Sometimes a person has been a Christian only for a short time, but because they have obeyed God in key things they quickly become spiritually mature.

In all areas of life, there are authorities that we need to submit to. As citizens, we should submit to the government. As members of a family or a household, we should submit to the authority in the home. We should submit to authority in the workplace. We should submit to leaders in the church (Hebrews 13:7). We should all identify who the authorities are in our lives. The limits of our submission are defined by the word of God. If an authority tells us to do something that is contrary to the Bible, then we should obey God rather than man. Otherwise we need to submit.
Right after talking about submission, the Bible says that God resists the proud. This is because pride is connected to lack of submission. A proud person will have trouble submitting to authority. Lack of submission is a symptom of pride. Pride produces rebellion. 

Pride comes from the flesh. When we believed in Jesus our flesh was crucified. But sometimes our flesh is still alive and kicking and squealing like a stubborn pig. We need to crucify our flesh and put off the old man. Submission is an opportunity to crucify the flesh.

During the time I was working overseas for the Lord, I spent a summer here back in the US. This was before I was married. That summer I was studying organic agriculture so I could teach organic principles overseas as a way to reach poor farmers, and also in preparation for whatever may be coming in the world. So I planted a large garden with all kinds of crops. Interestingly, Abraham Lincoln once prophetically said, “Before long, the most valuable of all arts will be the art of deriving a comfortable subsistence from the smallest area of soil.” That’s an important statement.

My garden was growing, and it was looking good. 

Next to my garden was a hog shed. There were two big hogs inside this shed. Somehow they escaped their pen and began tearing up my garden.

I ran out to try to get the hogs back into the shed. They didn’t want to go. I couldn’t push them, they would turn on me and push at me. They were stubborn. They didn’t listen to reason. They had an idea about where they wanted to go and no one could convince them otherwise. Finally through much prayer and the help of a big slab of plywood, I urged them back into their pen.

Pride is like a stubborn hog. It refuses to submit. It is defiant. If you tell it to do something, it squeals. It tries to bite. It will try to roll around with you in the mud.

Proverbs 9:7 says if you rebuke a wicked man, you harm yourself. The flesh doesn’t want to be corrected or rebuked. Pride says, “I know better. Who are you to tell me what to do?”

Isaiah 59:5 says when some eggs are broken a viper emerges. Some people are fragile. When someone corrects them with the word of God, they snap. They get mad. They become a viper. This violent response is a sign of pride.

Proverbs 9:8-9 says if you rebuke a wise man he will love you. A wise person loves rebuke because it helps him grow spiritually. A wise person is humble. He is submissive. He is like Christ.

In Psalm 141:5 the Psalmist says let the righteous rebuke me, and it will be like a precious oil. A rebuke from a spiritually mature person brings the Holy Spirit into a person’s life. This is why the wise love rebuke and instruction. Our flesh doesn’t like it. But let us walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7). Fools are proud, and therefore they are unable to receive correction.

Pride often comes from insecurity. Insecurity often comes from worrying too much about what others think. Insecurity causes a person to walk around with a chip on their shoulder. This means that they refuse to bend down. They are defiant and arrogant. Insecurity leads a person to focus on self-preservation. The desire to preserve self produces rebellion. Jesus says we must be willing to lose ourselves in this world. He said we must take up the cross daily. If we are worried about self-preservation we will not take up our cross.

True security can only come from God. When we are secure in God, then we will trust him to preserve our lives and our reputations. Then we can take up our cross and allow our flesh to be crucified. We can become humble and submissive, knowing that God will preserve us.

God knows how to deal with pride. The Bible says God resists the proud. This means that he blocks up their way. He makes their path miserable. He opposes them. It’s not pleasant to be opposed by God.

Let us forsake pride. Let us embrace humility so we can receive grace from God. We want his presence to flow into our lives. Let us embrace submission. Submission is not a bad thing, but it’s a sign of humility and Christlikeness. As we humble ourselves, we will experience more of God’s presence, power, and authority in our lives.

The Bible says that before Jesus comes back, two things will happen. First, there will be great apostasy. This means that Christians will fall away from the truth of God. Second, the Antichrist will be revealed (2 Thessalonians 2:3), and he will dominate the world. Both apostasy and the Antichrist must happen before Jesus returns.

We see signs of apostasy, as many Christians are teaching false doctrines, promoting false prophecies, and some are abandoning the faith. But we do not yet see the Antichrist. The Bible tells us what the Antichrist will be like, and he is not yet revealed. Therefore, we know that the day of the Lord has not yet come.

There will be a global government before Jesus comes back. The arrival of the Antichrist will be preceded by the establishment of a global government, and the Antichrist will precede the return of Christ.

The Bible says that this global government will create political unity all over the world (Daniel 7:23). This government will have a common religion (Revelation 13:8). It will promote worldwide economic unity (Revelation 13:16-17). 

When the final global government is revealed, Jesus’ return is imminent.

Peace and Safety
The desire for peace and safety drives the push toward global government.

The League of Nations was formed in the aftermath of World War I as an early attempt at global government. The nations were tired of war, and they thought a global government could stop war and bring peace. This didn’t work, and disagreements soon overwhelmed the world again. World War II broke out. After WWII, a stronger global government was formed, called the United Nations. People currently trust the UN to maintain peace around the world.

People not only want peace, they want safety. They want safety from terrorists, safety from crime, safety from climate change, safety from disease, and safety from other threats. Globalization is seen as a way to stay safe.

The problem is, peace and safety can only come from God, not come from human government. The Bible warns us that the peace and safety offered by the final global government will be a mirage. “For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). “They” refers to unbelievers. At the end of the age the world will unite in a global government, pursuing peace and safety. But when this dream is achieved and the Antichrist rules over all, the kingdom of God will shatter this global government. Sudden destruction will come upon the world as the Day of the Lord dawns.

Tower of Babel
There was once a global government. After the flood, Nimrod united the world to build the Tower of Babel. They all spoke the same language had the same ideology. “And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them” (Genesis 11:6). Shocking advances in dark spirituality and evil technology were being made at Babylon. The limit to their progress was only their own imagination.

God didn’t like this “progress,” because it was apart from his Spirit and contrary to his word. So God scattered their language. He gave them different languages so they couldn’t understand each other. They were forced to stop their building project and disunite. They left Babylon and went all over the world, establishing different nations. 

Today, the nations of the world are uniting again. They are trying to recover what was lost at Babel. They are able to speak the same language and have a common goal. As it was at the Tower of Babel, the limit to their progress seems to be only the human imagination. But God will bring an end to humanity’s globalization through the arrival of his Son which will manifest his kingdom all over the world and destroy every other kingdom.

Our Response
We must understand what the Bible says about this final global government and be prepared to face it. Why? Because the Bible says Christians will be the final enemies of this global government. This government will persecute the people of God (Daniel 7:21). It will make war against them (Revelation 13:7). There is a path to victory, and it is by the Holy Spirit.

God’s people have often been the enemies of governments. They were persecuted in ancient Egypt. In Persia, God’s people were sentenced to death. But God gives supernatural victory to his people.

We are blessed to be living in the United States when we have freedom to worship Jesus. We should never take our freedom for granted, because most Christians today don’t have such freedom. Today, throughout the Muslim world, Christians are persecuted, and they are being arrested throughout China and India. God has given us the privilege of religious liberty for a reason. 

Freedom gives us the opportunity to spiritually prepare.

The Limits of Obeying the Government
We should try to obey the government as much as possible. But when the government tells us to do something that contradicts the Bible, we must disobey. When the government told Peter and the other apostles to stop preaching, they disobeyed that law because God said they should share the gospel. “But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). We must be ready to disobey a government when it tells us to do things that are contrary to the Bible.

When the government orders people to get a mark in their bodies in order to buy and sell, we will have to refuse. Even if life gets uncomfortable, and even if everyone in the world is getting such a mark, we must not. God will take care of us. The Bible says that all who take the mark will go into hell (Revelation 14:9-11). Discomfort in this world is better than spending an eternity in hellfire.

At the end of the age God’s people will overcome through the grace of Jesus Christ and practical operations of his power. Safety is only going to be found in the bride of Christ. All over the world, God will have a faithful remnant of people who are obeying the word of God and refusing to follow the vain religious teachings of men. Just like Noah had to build an ark to be ready for the flood, we must do our part to build up the true church of Jesus Christ so we can be safe in the end times. God is raising up his bride all over the world. We want to be a part of it.

God will protect his people. He will be a shield over them to guide them and protect them (Isaiah 4:2-6). As they gather together in faithful assemblies all over the world, God will be their covering.

Don’t be afraid. God is our shield. He is our protection. Greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world. Jesus did not pray that God would take us out of the world, but that he would protect us from Satan (John 17:15). God is going to answer the prayer of his Son. He will keep his people safe. And even if some Christians die (and they will), they can rejoice because their names are written in heaven. They will go to be with Jesus which is far better than anything else. 

“Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28).

One of the amazing things about the Bible is the accurate predictions it makes about the future. This is not surprising because the Bible is written by God, and God knows everything about the future. He can tell people what will happen.

Daniel was a prophet who lived during the 500s BC. He prophesied about the destruction of Babylon, the rise of Medo-Persia, the rise of Greece, and the rise of Rome. Greece did not rise until 340 BC.. Rome did not become an empire until after 100 BC. How did Daniel know about these future events? Because the Holy Spirit revealed them to him. Daniel explains in his book about how angels came and told him what the future would be.

If someone understood these prophecies of Daniel in those days, he could have easily understood what would happen in world politics.

100 years ago, liberal scholars did not believe that Daniel could make such predictions. They did not believe in prophecy, and many of them did not believe in God. So they theorized that Daniel was written much later that 500 BC by someone other than Daniel (even though the book claimed to be written by Daniel). These faulty conjectures were disproved when an early copy of Daniel was discovered along with the Dead Sea Scrolls. This manuscript was dated at 150 BC. At this time Daniel was already accepted as Scripture. The the fact that it must have taken many years for the book of Daniel to be copied and reach that location and become widely accepted as Scripture, is one strong evidence that Daniel was written around 500 BC. Archeological evidence and true scientific inquiry and discovery will always support and prove the Bible. But people didn’t need to wait for the Dead Sea Scrolls to be discovered in order to believe Daniel. Jesus talked about how Daniel wrote the book of Daniel (Matthew 24:15). Jesus believed the book of Daniel. If people don’t believe in Jesus, they won’t believe Daniel either. Daniel is an important book, and it reveals important things.

Daniel not only prophesied about the Greek and Roman empires, but he also prophesied about the end of the age. He told what the political situation of the world would be like at the end of time right before the return of Christ.

Daniel said that at the end of the age, there would be a world government. Daniel described this global government in this way: “A fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces'” (Daniel 7:23). This government will be violent. It will be evil. It will dominate the entire world. 

Daniel said this global government is “different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet” (Daniel 7:19).

This final global government will be led by the Antichrist. It’s not going to be pleasant.

We can read about this final global government in Revelation. “It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.  All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:7-8).

This global government will dominate the entire world. It will demand political and religious authority over everyone. It will also unite the world economically using advanced technology. “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Rev. 13:16-17).

The Antichrist along with the final global government will turn against God’s people. Revelation says this government will make “war with the saints” (Rev. 13:7). Daniel says it will “make war against the saints and prevail against them” (Daniel 7:21). 

The Bible is clear. This is not a wild-eyed conspiracy theory. At the end of the age there will be a government that will rule over the entire world. It will be a strong global government that will dominate all peoples and nations. It will be Satanic. This government will demand political and religious allegiance from everyone. It will institute a new economic system of control, with a mark in each person’s head or hand. Without this mark, people will be unable to buy or sell or participate in the economic system.

There is a movement now toward globalization. The nations of the world are joining together at the United Nations and in other places in order to create more political unity. Economic unity is also racing ahead as trade deals are signed and economic barriers fall. Organizations like the World Economic Forum are promoting ideas like the “Great Reset” and “Build Back Better.” These slogans have been adopted by politicians around the world, proving that they are guided by a political power greater than themselves. These leaders envision building a new world order, in which a single global government controls the destiny of the world and enforces peace and safety for all the inhabitants of the world.

We can see these movements happening now, before our eyes. We should not be surprised. The Bible tells us where all of this is headed. A strong global government will be created. The Antichrist will emerge and dominate this government. This government will turn against God’s people.

We should not be afraid. God has a plan for his people. God’s kingdom is stronger, and it will ultimately destroy this evil global government. At the end of the age there will be spiritual victory for God’s people. 

“But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.” (Dan. 7:18 KJV)

“Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” (Daniel 7:22 KJV)
“But the court shall be seated, and they [saints] shall take away his [Antichrist’s] dominion, to consume and destroy it forever” (Daniel 7:26).

“The saints will judge the world.” (1 Corinthians 6:2).

These verses speak of the final victory of God’s people over Satan and all the forces of darkness. We have nothing to fear. Greater is he who is in us, than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

We will look more into these things next week. We will learn about how we should respond to these imminent developments. The rise of this global government is ultimately a spiritual problem, and spiritual problems require spiritual solutions. To get ready for next Sunday, please read Daniel chapters 2 and 7, and Revelation.

The Bible compares growing in our spiritual life to growing physically. Just as we grew from babyhood to adulthood, in the same we we must grow spiritually from spiritual babyhood to spiritual maturity. This is a process that every Christian must go through.

Babies
When a baby is born into the world, there is a lot of joy. People think the baby is very cute. They want to spend time with the baby and take care of it. The baby is helpless. He can’t feed himself, dress himself, or take care of himself in other basic ways. He is ignorant of many things and makes many mistakes. But people are patient with the baby because they know that this is how babies are.

When we heard the gospel and believed it, we were born again. Our dead spirits were made alive, and the Holy Spirit came inside of us. At this time there was a lot of joy in heaven. Maybe other Christians were happy too. We probably made some mistakes in those early days. We were spiritual babies. We didn’t understand basic things about the Bible. We didn’t really know how to talk about God with others. We sometimes ate wrong things that made us sick (false teachings or worldly wisdom). We needed a lot of patient guidance from those who were more spiritually mature. 

Milestones
After a few months, a healthy baby will start hitting milestones. He will roll over and start crawling. Then he will start walking. He begins eating solid food. Eventually he will talk. All of these changes are remarkable and happen quickly. The baby is changing a lot in these days.

After being born again, a healthy Christian will hit spiritual milestones. He will understand and implement the spiritual foundations of Christ in his life (Hebrews 5:12-6:1-3). He will be baptized in water and baptized in the Holy Spirit. He will begin to study and understand the Bible. He will connect to a Biblical church. During this time the changes in his spiritual life will be drastic. He might change so much spiritually that he becomes almost a different person. 

Growing to Maturity
After the baby hits the basic milestones, he might be 5 years old. He is still not mature. He still has a long way to go. He’s not a baby anymore, but he is far from adulthood. He has to keep growing until he is about 21 years old and becomes an adult.

It is similar for us spiritually. Being born again and hitting a few spiritual milestones is not the end of our spiritual life. It might have brought a lot of changes to us, but this is only the beginning of our spiritual journey. We don’t just get our ticket punched to heaven and then we can sit back and relax because we’ve made it. We’ve got to keep growing.

Our goal is to become spiritually mature. Jesus commanded us to “be as perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” We’re not there yet. The word “perfect” means “mature” in Greek. We need to keep growing spiritually until we reach this very high level of spiritual maturity. 

Paul was a mighty apostle. He planted many churches, wrote a lot of the New Testament, and had powerful revelations of God. Yet he never reached this place of full maturity. He was still pressing toward it knowing that he had to grow (Phil. 3:15). If Paul was still growing spiritually until the end of his life, how much more do we need to keep growing spiritually?

God wants all of us to reach maturity (Col. 1:28). This means he wants all of us to keep growing. 

Physically, we grow until we’re about 21. Then we are physically mature and we stop growing.

Spiritually, the process of growth will last our entire lives. As long as we’re on this earth, we must keep growing spiritually. This process of growth will only end when either Christ returns, or until we die and go to heaven. 

Healthy Habits
Physical growth happens as we engage in healthy habits. We must eat healthy food, get enough sleep, and get some exercise regularly in order to grow. 

When we were young our parents probably guided us to have healthy habits and make good choices:
“Eat your vegetables.”
“Don’t eat so many donuts and Doritos.”
“Go play outside and get some fresh air.”
“Don’t watch TV all day.”
“Stop playing so many video games.”

If a 10 year old is left only to himself, he probably won’t make good choices. He needs his parents to guide him.

We need spiritual guidance so that we don’t stay spiritually immature. We need the body of Christ and input from older brothers and sisters in Christ (Eph. 4:11-16). As we listen to them they will help us develop healthy habits so we can grow.

Just as we need to form good physical habits in order to grow physically, we must develop good spiritual habits in order to grow spiritually.

We can’t just rely on our feelings. “I just don’t feel like eating my vegetables, I feel like eating cake.” “I don’t feel like exercising, I just feel like playing video games.” If a child just follows his feelings, then he won’t mature. He will get sick.

It’s the same spiritually. We must not just follow our feelings spiritually. Our feelings will not help us mature. If we are waiting for feelings before we do what we need to do spiritually, we will remain immature. We are exalting ourselves over God. We are serving ourselves and choosing what feels good to us rather choosing God and what he wants.

In order to grow spiritually, we need healthy habits.

We need to read the Bible regularly. Jesus said that we won’t live by natural food, but by spiritual food (Matthew 4:4). If we don’t read the Bible, we will not grow.
We need to pray consistently.
We must obey God.
We should share the gospel with others.
We need to go to church each week. We need input from other members of the body of Christ. We need to pray for each other and minister to each other. The early church met at least once a week on Sunday, and we need to follow their example.

We need commit to developing healthy spiritual habits in order to grow. We must not just follow our feelings regarding these things, but we must force ourselves to do what is right. As we do, the Holy Spirit will help us. The Christian life is not about following our feelings and doing what feels good. It is about obeying God and doing what he has told us to do. God wants us to grow. He wants us to not be babies anymore, but to grow into spiritual maturity. 

This process of spiritual growth will go on our entire lives. We need to dedicate ourselves to this and be diligent so that we can stand on this earth as strong men and women of God, fulfilling our divine purpose, and not crawling around on the floor like babies.

God’s people need heavenly bread in order to survive spiritually. Jesus said that we will not live by bread alone, but by the word of God (Matt. 4:4). When God’s people lack spiritual bread, they become desperate for heavenly food. These times of desperation are times that God comes through and gives them supernatural provision.

Jesus once told a parable about a man who was traveling (Luke 11:5-8). The traveller came to his friend’s house late at night and he was hungry. His friend had no bread in his house. His host became desperate because he had no bread, so he went to a neighbor’s house at midnight. After knocking a few times, the neighbor got out of bed and gave him three loaves of bread. The man went back home and fed his hungry friend.

Spiritual supply often comes to the desperate. We have nothing from ourselves that can benefit others spiritually, and we need to get something from God. We need supernatural bread. Times of desperation can be dark. They may be like midnight, when all hope seems lost. At times like this we need to go to God with our desperation. He has the supply, and he will give us all the bread we need.

Bethlehem

Bethlehem was a small town in Judah. It was an insignificant place to most people (Micah 5:2). But the provision of God often comes from places that appear small or insignificant. The name Bethlehem means “house of bread.” Bethlehem represents the place we receive spiritual supply of bread from God.

As we study Bethlehem in the Bible, we can learn about how the bread of God comes to his people.

Rachel Dies, Benjamin is Born

The first mention of Bethlehem in the Bible is in Genesis. Rachel was pregnant with Benjamin, and she and her family were traveling to Ephratah (which means fruitful) (Genesis 35:15-19). On their journey, the family stopped at Bethlehem. Rachel went into labor. Her labor was hard, and the life of both mother and son appeared to be in jeopardy. But Rachel received enough strength to bring forth her son. During the labor Rachel died. She was buried in Bethlehem. 

Bethlehem was the place where Benjamin was born – the precious son of the right hand! There was a provision there. But Bethlehem was also a place of struggle and desperation. In order to get into the place of fruitfulness, there had to be death. To get the supernatural provision of God our flesh must be crucified and we must come to the end of ourselves. When we do this, we will see a breakthrough.

Ruth and Boaz

Naomi was originally from Bethlehem. When they were young, Naomi and her husband had left Bethlehem and went to Moab. In Moab Naomi’s husband and two sons died. She became desperate because of a famine. She left Moab and came back to Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law Ruth to find some food. 

When they came back to Bethlehem, their desperate cries to God were heard. Bethlehem was the “house of bread” for Naomi and Ruth. God blessed them there. First they got some grain, and then Ruth found a husband, Boaz. Boaz and Ruth then had a son named Obed. Obed became the grandfather of David.

David

Decades later, David was born in Bethlehem. David was like the runt of the family. He was ignored by people. But God had chosen him to rule over his people and become a symbolic representation of Christ. When Samuel came to Bethlehem to find David, his father showed him all his older and stronger sons. But God had chosen the youngest, David, to become king.

The provision of God often seems small. It is something that most people overlook. But it is God’s provision to deliver his people. It is God’s bread. And it comes to the desperate and hungry.

Jesus

Centuries later, Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem to be counted in a census. When they reached Bethlehem, they could not stay at the inn because it was full. So they stayed in a barn. There Mary went into labor and birthed Jesus. She put him in a manger, which is an animal feeding trough. The manger represented that Jesus is the true spiritual bread that gives life to the world.

The bread of God often comes in small packages. It comes in the midst of dire circumstances. It comes to desperate people. It often comes in ways that the world does not recognize. But it comes to those who are in tune with God. When we are at the end of ourselves, the bread of God will come through to nourish us.

At the end of the age, there will be people who are desperate for God. In the midst of the trials and troubles of the dark world, they will cry out to God. They won’t be satisfied with the empty vessels of Babylon. They will want something more. God will hear their prayers, and they will receive supernatural provision that will give them strength to overcome. They will be like Mary at Bethlehem, who through the midst of terrible difficulty, saw the glory and provision of God.

Prayer opens the door for God to work in our lives. Prayer is the beginning of miracles. We need to know how to pray successfully so that we can see answers to our prayers. There is no point in praying if our prayers aren’t connecting to God or accomplishing anything. The point of prayer is to commune with God and grow in our relationship with him, so his kingdom can come and his will can be done. 

The Bible tells us how to pray successfully.

First, we need to pray in the name of Jesus. Jesus said, “whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you” (John 16:23). 

Praying in the name of Jesus means to pray under the authority of Jesus. It means to approach God because of Jesus’ righteousness, not our own. 

When we do something in someone else’s name, we do it on that person’s behalf. When we make a request in another person’s name, it is as though the other person is making the request through us. When we pray to the Father in the name of Jesus, it as though Jesus is praying to the Father through us. This is why praying in the name of Jesus makes our prayers effective.

We cannot pray in Jesus’ name if our prayer is not according to the will of God. Whenever we ask for something in the name of Jesus, we must be sure that our prayer is according to God’s will. Using the name of Jesus to pray for something that is not God’s will is using his name in vain. This is wrong. God doesn’t want us to use the name of Jesus randomly or for our own personal ends. 

“Now this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15). 

It is possible to know the will of God (Eph. 5:17). The Bible tells us what the will of God is. Sometimes we don’t know God’s will, and we need to ask God to reveal his will to us. When we know what God’s will is, we can pray with confidence, knowing that God will hear our prayer. Praying according to God’s will is the key to successful prayer.

To pray successfully, we must pray in faith. Jesus said, “Whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (Matt. 21:22). We need faith in order to please God (Heb. 11:6). We must pray without doubt, if we want to receive answers to our prayers (James 1:6-7). 

Faith comes by hearing. When we hear God speak, we know what his will is, and then we have confidence that he will perform his will. As we read the Bible, we will understand the will of God more clearly, and faith will rise within us. 

Faith is preceded by the word of God. Faith does not create things, the word of God creates things. The power to create is inside the word of God. Faith releases the power of the word of God and brings the word to pass on the earth. When we believe the word of God, its power is unleashed to change people and situations. This is why faith comes by hearing. Our faith must be in the word of God to be effective. Faith in the air will not accomplish anything. When we pray, we must believe in the already existing word of God, and trust that God’s word will happen.

We must pray by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit inspires us to pray, and he prays according to the will of God. The Holy Spirit prays through us to the Father in the name of the Son. The Holy Spirit has many things to pray for. He understands things that are beyond our own minds. When the Holy Spirit prays through us, he lifts us beyond our own understanding and helps us pray in ways that are beyond ourselves. Sometimes we will pray with groans which are beyond speech (Rom. 8:26). 

We are commanded to pray with confidence – to come boldly to the throne of grace to find grace and mercy to help us in time of need (Heb. 4:16). We don’t need to be shy when approaching God. We are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. We are accepted because Jesus is accepted, and his blood has taken away all our sins. We are no longer under the burden of guilt and shame. We don’t have to run away and hide from God like Adam did. 

We should lift up holy hands and pray (1 Tim. 2:8). Our hands are holy when they are cleansed from sin. Our hands do a lot of things, and sometimes they get defiled because we sin. When we sin we need to confess our sins and repent. Then our hands will become clean again, and we can lift them up to God in prayer. Lifting up our hands when we pray is a blessing.

When we pray, we must forgive others. We need to forgive everyone from the heart for anything they have done against us. Bitterness, anger and grudges come from unforgiveness, and these things hinder our prayers. 

Jesus told us to pray in our closet with the door shut (Matt. 6:6). This means we must shut out distractions. It’s easy to be distracted when praying. Our phones buzz, our thoughts turn to dinner, or our hearts are burdened with worry. Satan often tries to disturb our minds when we pray. We need to shut out distractions in order to pray successfully. Closing our eyes can help us avoid distraction when praying.

When we pray in a group with other Christians, the power of prayer is multiplied. When we agree together in prayer, we can bind and loose things in heavenly places. It’s important to actively agree with the others while they are praying. Prayer requires spiritual effort. 

Prayer is about talking to God, not people. When we pray in a group, let us not seek to impress others. And let us not worry about what others will think about our prayers. Let us avoid long prayers which monopolize the prayer time. Let us not pray for a long time as a pretense.

When we pray, it is important to avoid vain repetitions. Prayer is not about many words. It is about communion with God. God already knows what we need before we ask him. Therefore we don’t need to keep repeating things to him when he has already heard us. Persistence is important, but not repetition. We keep knocking, but when the door is opened, we stop knocking. We keep asking, but when the answer comes, we stop asking. Long prayers can be good; Jesus sometimes prayed all night. Persistence is important, and sometimes answers take years. But we don’t need to pray for a long time just for the sake of praying for a long time.

We are commanded to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17). This means that our spirits are constantly engaged with God throughout the day. Even when we are working or talking to others, our spirits are connected to God. We are always ready to serve God – to hear from him and do something or say something for him. Few Christians live in this way, because it is so easy to be distracted by the world. But it is possible to grow in this so that our spirits are in continual fellowship with the Father.

Humility is important when we pray. True prayer is not about pride. It is about God accomplishing his will in us. When we pray, we must be willing to lay aside our own will and allow God’s will to be done. Sometimes God doesn’t hear our prayers because of sin or other reasons (Prov. 15:29; 28:9). When this happens, we are praying to ourselves (Luke 18:9-14). This kind of prayer is ineffective. To be sure that God hears us, let us confess our sins.

It’s good to pray with passion and zeal. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much (James 5:16). Jesus prayed with great drops of blood. Sometimes God’s people are desperate, and they cry out to God for help. It’s ok to allow our emotions out when we pray. It’s ok to shout and get excited about prayer. God is the most awesome person in the universe, and prayer is about talking to him. Prayer is hoping that he will work and do a miracle in this dead world. Sometimes if God doesn’t work, all hope is lost. We need to see God work, so we need to pray.

Prayer has always been important for God’s people. As we get closer to the end of the age it will become even more important. At the end of the age, the prayers of God’s people will unleash great changes in the earth (Rev. 8:1-6). We need to continually seek to pray more effectively. The Holy Spirit will fill us and help us to do this.

Along with successful prayer will come powerful results. We will be transformed, and the world will change because of our prayers.

Sometimes we get stuck in life because we look at things from the wrong perspective. We need the word of God to change the way we see things. When our perspective changes through the word of God, we can get a breakthrough and move forward.

Hagar

When Hagar was kicked out of her house with her son, she was wandering in the wilderness. She had no more water and no more food. The heat was unbearable. Hagar was sure that her son was going to die. She put the boy under a bush and went away to cry.

Then God spoke to Hagar. He opened her eyes and showed her a spring of water. He told her that her son had a future. 
The word of God gave Hagar a new perspective. It enabled to see something that she couldn’t see before.

The spring was always there. But Hagar was too desperate to see it. She was too overcome with sorrow. The tears had clouded her eyes. Sometimes our desperate emotions block us from seeing the provision that is already there. Our fears get in the way. But in every situation there is provision to get through because God will never leave us or forsake us.

Water symbolizes the Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit in every situation. We need to see him and draw on this divine supply in order to overcome challenges.

God was going to make Hagar’s son a great nation. Inside Abraham’s home, her son could not become a great nation because of conflict. Hagar had to take her son into the wilderness for this prophetic word to come to pass. The wilderness was actually the doorway to the fulfillment of God’s word. God is able to bring good out of apparently bad situations for those whom he loves (Rom. 8:28).

Sometimes we are like Hagar. The provision from God might be right in front of us, but we can’t see it because we are overwhelmed. We need a new perspective from God to see this provision.

Gideon

Growing up, Gideon thought he was weak and the least in his father’s house. He had a low impression of himself and a high impression of his enemies. He grew up with idols and probably thought they were fine.

Then God spoke to Gideon and gave him a new perspective. God said that he was with Gideon. He called Gideon a mighty man of valor. 

Sometimes we need to change the way we view ourselves. We are more than conquerors through Christ. We are children of God. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. This is our identity. We need the word of God to define us, not the world. The world will put us down, and Satan will try to destroy us. But God will lift us up. We need to renew our minds through the word of God.

God called Gideon to destroy the idol in his father’s house. The things that were accepted in the past now had to be rejected. Sometimes we put up with things that we shouldn’t put up with. We are afraid that if we tear down an idol, that people will hate us or we will face bad consequences. But if we see that God hates that idol, and that he is calling us to get it out of our lives, then we will be strengthened to get rid of it knowing that God will protect us.

Gideon saw the idol with a new perspective, and then he hated it. He tore it down. 

Gideon also saw himself with a new perspective. As he began to understand who he was in God and trust in God’s power, he gathered an army. He defeated the Midianites. 

Moses

Moses was another person who got a new perspective. He had been in the wilderness for forty years looking after sheep. At the end of this time he thought he couldn’t even talk. 

God spoke to Moses from a burning bush. He asked Moses what he had in his hand. He had a shepherd’s rod. God said that rod was all he needed to break the power of Egypt. Moses was shocked. He looked at the shepherd’s rod as a mark of shame, for he was just a shepherd. That occupation seemed unimportant. But God doesn’t look the way man looks. God said that he was going to use this humble tool to break the power of the mightiest nation in the world.

God takes the weak things of the world to confound the strong (1 Cor. 1:27-29).

God had been using the wilderness to train Moses. Moses probably was sick of the wilderness, but it had been important training ground to purify him and help him hear from God. A new perspective will make sense of the wilderness in our lives too.

Conclusion

In each of these situations, the word of God came to someone who was in a difficult situation and changed that person’s perspective. The word of God brings light (Ps. 119:130). Light shines in the darkness. It shows us things that we could not see before. The word of God lifted these people up from a human perspective to God’s perspective.

In our own lives, we may have been viewing things wrongly. We may have looked at things a certain way for a long time, and wondered how we could get the victory in that situation. But God may have a different way of seeing it. Maybe we were viewing ourselves in a certain way that is not according to the word of God. We need to allow God to define us.

We need to ask God to speak to us. His word will bring light. When he gives us a new perspective, we will see things differently, and that may bring a breakthrough.

Jesus warned us that in the end of the age, there would be many false teachings (Matthew 24:4). It’s important for us to be aware of this, so that we are not deceived.

One of the most dangerous teachings in the church today is the prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel teaches that if you are faithful to God, then you will be rich and have good health. One popular prosperity preacher said, “God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money, to fulfill the destiny He has laid out for us.”

The prosperity gospel has spread throughout the church in the USA. From here it is going around the world. It is taking over the church in countries in Africa and South America. India is also being affected. 

It is important for us to measure the prosperity gospel by the Bible. Does God promise us lots of money if we are faithful to him?

When Satan tempted Jesus, he said he would give him the wealth of the world if he would bow down and worship him (Matthew 4:8-9). Satan is the god of this world. The devil controls many aspects of this world, and he can make people wealthy. Wealth according to this verse can come from Satan.

Jesus taught us to not lay up treasures on earth but treasures in heaven (Matt. 6:19-21). Earthly treasures include money. Heavenly treasures are invisible, spiritual riches that we gain as we obey God.

Jesus told us we cannot serve God and mammon (Matt. 6:24). Mammon is a demon that represents and controls wealth. When people serve mammon, a demon gives them wealth. Jesus told us that this demon and God are opposites, and we cannot serve both of them. A prosperity gospel that teaches that God will give us money is a false gospel of mammon.

Jesus told a rich man that if he wanted to be perfect to sell what he had and give it to the poor (Matt. 19:21-23). He didn’t tell him that his wealth was a sign of perfection.

Jesus said it was very hard for rich people to enter the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24). He didn’t teach that the more money you have, the closer you are to heaven.

Jesus pronounced “woe to the rich,” because they already received their comfort (Luke 6:24). 

He said a man’s life is not measured by the things that he has (Luke 12:15).

Paul said that Christians will face many challenges in this life. They will not experience lots of material comforts and pleasures. This is why Paul says if all Christians have is in this life, and if there is no eternal life, then they make themselves miserable for nothing (1 Corinthians 15:19).

When Paul defends his ministry and tries to prove that he is a true servant of God, he tells people how often he had been beaten. He was imprisoned. He was hungry, he was thirsty. He almost died in the sea. He was robbed, attacked, slandered, and weak. He didn’t boast of his money or possessions. He boasted in his weaknesses. (See 2 Corinthians 11:23-30.) Paul’s life was the opposite of the prosperity gospel.

The Bible says that Christians are appointed to suffer in this world (Philippians 1:29). They will suffer because they are living for Christ and the devil hates them. The world is full of evil and demons, and Christians are trying to live for God and bring his kingdom into this broken world. This is not going to be easy.

We are commanded to keep our lives free from the love of money (Hebrews 13:5).

The Bible says that the poor people of this world are rich in faith (James 2:5). It doesn’t say that their poverty is a sign of unbelief.

Peter warned against false teachers who would through covetousness make merchandise of Christians. He said they would be experts in greed (2 Peter 2:3, 14-15).

The church in Laodicea was rich, full of possessions, and needed nothing materially (Revelation 3:17). Yet Jesus said they were spiritually poor, blind, and naked. They had material riches, but no spiritual riches. This meant that they had nothing.

The Bible directly warns us against false prosperity teachers who “suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself” (1 Timothy 6:5) We are instructed to separate ourselves from prosperity preachers.

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have staged from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Tim. 6:6-10).

What about the Old Testament?

Prosperity preachers often misinterpret the Old Testament. Abraham, Solomon and others were wealthy in the Old Testament. These material examples in the Old Testament represent spiritual riches for us. They got land, but we get the riches of the Holy Spirit. They got milk, honey, and gold, but we get the riches of the word of God. They had to defeat giants to get actual land, but we defeat principalities and powers in order to inherit our spiritual land of heaven. The blessings we are promised in the New Testament are primarily spiritual, not material.

There are many evil results that come from the prosperity gospel. 

It leads Christians to believe that the success of their spiritual life is measured by the amount of money they have. This is false. God’s presence is greater than money. Spiritual blessings are greater than material blessings.

The prosperity gospel leads to excess. Prosperity preachers are known to buy luxurious mansions, gold toilets, jets, and fleets of luxury cars. These things are not necessary for Christians when there are poor Christians struggling in the world and true servants of God who need support. There should be a balance in the body of Christ, so that the body of Christ rises together or falls together. One part of the body should not monopolize material things at the expense of other members (2 Corinthians 8:14).

The Dangers of Overreaction

In recognizing the errors of the prosperity gospel, we don’t want to swing too far in the opposite direction. We don’t want to embrace a poverty gospel. God does not demand that all his children be poor all the time. We should not seek poverty or wealth. Rather, we should seek the will of God. When we seek God’s will, we will please God. Then we can know how to be poor and how to be rich (Philippians 4:12).

There are some verses that reveal that financial blessing will come to those who give money to the church and to God’s work.

Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38).

According to this verse, what are we supposed to give? We need to give love, goodness, mercy and forgiveness, according to Luke 6:32, 33, 36, and 37. But we also need to give money according to Luke 6:30, 34, 35. Therefore, if we give money, love, goodness, mercy, and forgiveness, we will also receive these things. This promise includes money.

“He who sows sparingly, will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6). This verse is talking about giving money to the church. It says that there is a principle of sowing and reaping that operates financially. When we give to God’s work, we will be blessed financially (2 Corinthians 9:10-11). But our primary motivation to give is not to get money, but it is to obey God. As we give, we will lay up treasures in heaven.

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 2). Three categories of blessing are mentioned in this verse: spiritual blessings for the soul, health for the body, and material blessings in our lives. God wants us to be healthy and successful in other ways beyond the spiritual. However, we must always remember that spiritual blessings are paramount, and if we don’t have spiritual blessings, we have nothing.

We must beware of the prosperity gospel. It is a false teaching that causes Christians to focus on money and measure their spiritual lives by money. It leads to other false teachings, excess, and scandal. It contradicts many verses in the Bible.

At the same time, we must also recognize that there are a few verses that reveal that if we give we will be blessed financially. We cannot ignore this. 

In all things, we need to primarily seek the will of God for our lives, so we can be spiritually blessed. In the New Testament age, we need spiritual blessings. These blessings be with us forever, and these things will bless the world now with the presence of Christ. And he is more valuable than all the gold in the world.

Religious activity is important, but it’s not as important as obedience to God. This is why God says, “obedience is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22). When we obey God, our religious activity is acceptable to him.

Jeremiah said, “I will certainly bring calamity on this people because they have not heeded My words nor My law, but rejected it. For what purpose to Me comes frankincense from Sheba, and sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet to Me” (Jeremiah 6:19-20).

Israel’s sacrifices were not acceptable because Israel was disobedient to God’s word. All the religious activity in the world cannot make up for disobedience to God.

Sacrifices and religious activity apart from obedience to the word of God is dangerous. The Bible says it is witchcraft (1 Samuel 15:23).

Jesus told the Pharisees, “in vain do you worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9). The Pharisees were serving Satan and not God (John 8:44) because their religious activity was not based on God’s word.

In the Old Testament, the Jews had to do all their sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem. They were not allowed to offer sacrifices in other places. When they offered sacrifices in other places, they came under demonic bondage. This teaches we must first obey God in order to spiritually be in the place where our sacrifices are acceptable.

In the Old Testament, God blessed his people materially when they offered sacrifices. God blessed Abraham and he became materially wealthy (Genesis 24:35). God blessed Solomon, and he became the richest king in the world (1 Kings 10:23). The Israelites were blessed when their land was productive, they had many children, defeated their enemies, and amassed a lot of money.

Christians are called to offer spiritual sacrifices to God (Hebrews 13:15-16). These sacrifices include praise, thanksgiving, doing good, sharing with believers, and supporting true servants of God. We don’t offer these sacrifices in order to be cleansed from sin because Jesus offered a perfect sacrifice for sin on the cross once for all, but we offer these sacrifices in order to please God. 

In the New Testament, we will be blessed when we sacrifice to God. But unlike the Old Testament, this is primarily a spiritual blessing and not a material blessing. The spiritual blessings of the New Testament are symbolized by the material blessings of the Old Testament. The land flowing with milk and honey symbolizes our inheritance in Christ. Milk refers to the word of God (1 Peter 2:2) and so does honey. The fruit of the land represents the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Victory over nations symbolizes victory over evil spirits (Ephesians 6:12). Gold and silver represents spiritual gifts and talents that we have from God.

Spiritual blessings are more important and powerful than material wealth. Jesus had no house of his own (Matthew 8:20), but he was full of the spiritual blessing of God and transformed the world. Peter and John had no silver and gold, but they had something better – the power of God to heal crippled people (Acts 3:6) and preach the gospel with power. 

God will bless us materially when we sacrifice to him, but the primary blessing we receive is spiritual. And this is the real blessing that we need. This spiritual blessing will impact the world.

As we obey God, we can offer him spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to him. And as we offer spiritual sacrifices to God, he will bless us. This blessing will be primarily a spiritual blessing. The spiritual blessing of the New Testament is foreshadowed by the material blessing that the children of God enjoyed in the Old Testament. If we are rich spiritually, we have all we need. And these spiritual riches are eternal. Let us pursue spiritual riches, and lay up for ourselves heavenly treasure as we offer spiritual sacrifices to God according to his word.

The Bible talks a lot about sacrifices. As Christians, we are instructed to offer spiritual sacrifices to God (1 Pet. 2:5). What are these spiritual sacrifices?

In the Old Testament, the people of God offered many sacrifices. When Solomon dedicated the temple in Jerusalem, he killed 22,000 sheep and 120,000 cows. This was a lot of killing and blood. All of these sacrifices were done in order to sanctify the temple and prepare it to be the dwelling place of God.

Many different sacrifices were offered in the Old Testament – sin offerings, trespass offerings, burnt offerings, peace offerings, grain offerings, and others. Some of these sacrifices atoned for sins. Others supported the temple and the priests. Other sacrifices helped the Israelites relate to God or have fellowship with each other.

Sacrifices cost something. In the Old Testament all firstborn animals had to be sacrificed to God. This delayed the growth of the flock, but it yielded God’s blessing on the flock.

The best animals had to be sacrificed. Sometimes it cost 3 or 4 average animals in order to get a good animal that was suitable for sacrifice. Sacrifices are expensive.

When Abraham defeated armies and got a lot of spoil, he gave a tithe of 10% of everything to God. This shows that he credited God with the victory, not himself.

Whenever Israel had a harvest, the firstfruits of that harvest had to be sacrificed to God. The first wheat from a field or the first fruits from a tree couldn’t be eaten, but they had to be sacrificed. This sacrifice of the firstfruits may have seemed like a temporary loss, but it ensured God’s blessing on the rest of the harvest.

Sacrifices honor God. They show that he is number one. When we give sacrifices of the first things and the best things to God, we show that we trust God more than we trust ourselves or our own planning. We believe that God is the true source of our increase and blessing. The supernatural increase of Israel was due to the power of God operating among them, not to their own planning. Israel surpassed the strength and wealth of other nations because they sacrificed to God.

In the New Testament, we need to offer spiritual sacrifices to God so that we can be spiritually blessed.

“You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5).

This verse shows us some important truths about spiritual sacrifices.

1. The spiritual sacrifices we offer must be acceptable to God. Cain and Abel both sacrificed to God. Abel’s sacrifice was acceptable, but Cain’s was unacceptable. Cain’s sacrifice was unacceptable because he did not sacrifice according to the word of God. He sacrificed according to his own mind. Whenever we sacrifice something to God, it must be according to God’s word.

2. Our sacrifices to God must be through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was offered on the cross as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Through faith in Christ, our sins are gone. We don’t offer sacrifices today to cleanse ourselves from sin, but to obey God, serve God, and please God. All New Testament sacrifices must be offered to God through Jesus Christ. Any sacrifice apart from Jesus is pointless.

3. In the Old Testament, sacrifices were offered at the temple in Jerusalem (Deut. 12:5-7). For us, the temple is the church (Eph. 2:20-22). The church is the place where our sacrifices to God should be offered. This means that sacrifices are something that we do with other believers. In order to know where the true temple of God is, we must measure things by the word of God. The word of God defines the church. We will discern what is the true church as we understand the definition of church according to the Bible.

4. In the Old Testament priests offered sacrifices on behalf of the people. In the New Testament, every true Christian is a priest. This means we all have a responsibility to offer sacrifices to God.

5. In the Old Testament, all sacrifices were offered at the altar. In the New Testament “we have an altar” (Heb. 13:10). This is not a physical altar. It is a spiritual altar. It is invisible. This altar is a place where we eat. We eat of Christ at this altar. Jesus said, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you.” (John 6:53). This refers to the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is a symbol of partaking of Christ. When we come together in church (temple), we partake of the Lord’s Supper (eat at the altar). We partake of Christ in heaven, and we also have fellowship with each other as we come together as a church. The Lord’s Supper is also called the “table of the Lord” (1 Cor. 10:21). This table is revealed during the church meeting as we have fellowship together in the Word of God. Jesus is among us, and we break bread together.

Identifying Spiritual Sacrifices“Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Hebrews 13:15-16).

This verse mentions specific spiritual sacrifices.

1. Praise. We are to praise God continually. There is always something to praise God about because God is always worthy of praise. We praise God in church when we sing together and talk about his goodness. Praise is a sacrifice that pleases God.

2. Thanksgiving. We thank God when we tell him we are grateful for what he did and for who he is. We thank God when we testify to others about what he has done in our lives.

3. Doing good. Helping others, showing mercy, and sharing truth are all sacrifices as we do good to others. Doing good to others is an acceptable sacrifice when it is done through Jesus Christ, according to his word and by the power of his Spirit. We especially need to do good to our fellow Christians.

4. Sharing. Sharing is the word koinonia which means community. It is the same word that is used for sharing of possessions in Acts 2. God wants his people to share with each other. They are called to not only share spiritual things but also material things.

5. Support to true servants of God. Paul said that when the church supported him financially, their offering was “a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God” (Phil. 4:18). When we give an offering to a true servant of God, we are giving a sacrifice to God, and God will be pleased.

6. Our bodies (Romans 12:1). To be a living sacrifice, we give our life completely over to God. We are no longer living for ourselves but for God. It is notable that our bodies (plural) become a living sacrifice (singular). This shows the importance of church.

Some of the spiritual sacrifices that we are called to offer are praise, thanks, doing good, sharing, supporting true servants of God financially, and our own lives. These sacrifices do not to pay for our sins because the blood of Jesus has already taken all our sins away. Instead, these sacrifices bless God and bless others. They are how we serve God. As we offer these sacrifices, God’s name will be exalted, and his presence will become more rich among us.

There are two types of wisdom, wisdom from God and wisdom from the earth. Each type of wisdom has different characteristics. Wisdom from the earth is demonic and produces envy and strife. But the wisdom from God not only reveals the word of God, but it does so in a way that is according to God’s character. As Christians, we need to reveal the wisdom of God in God’s way. This means being peaceable, gentle, willing to answer questions, avoiding unnecessary conflict, and being impartial and without hypocrisy. 

The only way we can fulfill this instruction is by the Holy Spirit. He will help us reveal God’s wisdom in God’s way.

Here are a few Scriptures and comments from Bobby regarding the wisdom that is from above. 

James 3:17-18  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Philippians 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. 

Matthew 5:8  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Comment: We can see why the wisdom from above must first be pure – that is, coming from a pure heart of faith that does not doubt, does not doubt God’s Word nor God’s promises. This wisdom must be pure and free from error, being in accordance with God’s word. In addition, we need a pure heart when handling the word of God.

1 Timothy 1:5  Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart…

Comment: In this context purity is something that’s void of evil, but instead abounding in love.

Matthew 5:9  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Comment: Peaceable and peacemakers share the same root word for peace in Greek. It’s interesting to note that this verse follows the one with the pure in heart, similar to the way James describes wisdom from above.

John 14:27  Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 

John 16:27  These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Comment: When we believe and call on Jesus out of a pure heart, then Jesus can give us His peace so that we may have peace that world does not have and does not know. As a result, as we grow in the peace of Christ, we can become peacemakers, reconciling the world to God through the message of the gospel and by bringing Christ’s peace and wisdom to a broken world, in a desperate need of redemption. 

Titus 3:2  to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. 
Comment: The word “peaceable” actually means literally “not a brawler”. It comes from the Greek “amakhos”, which seems similar to “not being a macho”. And humility can also be translated as meekness.

Comment: Basically, yielding means to be obedient, easy to be persuaded, easy to be entreated, pacified. James uses a word with similar word to describe how we need to tame and bridle the tongue:

James 3:3 Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.

Comment: But the wisdom of above is pliable and willing to obey the truth, working for peace, while turning away from needless strife and contention. 

Galatians 5:22-23  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 

James 2:1-4  My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” 4 have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

Comment: The word translated “partiality” in verse 1 and verse 4 are actually different words in the Greek. The first one means “respecter of persons”, while the second one is related to the one in James 3. They both imply the same meaning though – not to show favoritism among believers based on outward, worldly appearance.

Romans 12:9  Let love be without hypocrisy. 

1 Peter 1:22  Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart

Hebrews 12:11  Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Comment: The verses in Hebrews and James both speak about the fruit of righteousness that brings peace. In Hebrews, this is connected with the chastening of the Lord, which seems to bring temporary sorrow so that believers “may be partakers of His holiness” (v10). Somehow, I also connect these verses to Matthew 5:

Matthew 5:10  Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Comment: In this verse in Matthew, both persecution and righteousness are mentioned. In fact, I can see a kind of progression (similar to the one in James):

Matthew 5:8  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Matthew 5: 9  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Comment: The first beatitude seems to speak of salvation, as only those who call on the Lord from a pure heart can see His salvation. The second one seems to speak of believers who have the peace of Christ in them and they are growing in that peace by becoming disciples of others and sharing the peace of Christ with the world. Thus, they are called sons of God, as they are being led by the Spirit of God and teaching others to do the same. Finally, the last verse speaks of the persecution that will come to those who seek to obey the Lord and do His will – their righteousness, their peaceful fruit of righteous living, would invite the opposition of the enemy and his desire to wage war against them. 1 Peter 5: 8 warns that the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour:

1 Peter 5: 8. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 

Comment: Yet, God will use this opposition from the enemy as an instrument for godly discipline to further establish the believers in the faith and perfect them in His holiness. 

1 Peter 5:9-10 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

Hebrews 12:11  Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Comment: We must always be made aware and be vigilant that we have a powerful enemy, who constantly wants to wage war against us. In fact, this enemy has supernatural power and we cannot defeat him by our own natural means. That’s why, we should never become complacent or proud in our spiritual walk, because until our enemy is defeated, we cannot stop being vigilant and we cannot afford lose sight of what is truly important as we seek to live for the Lord. Both James and 1 Peter warn us:

James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5  “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Comment: Yet, we have great promises that when we humble ourselves before the Lord, the devil will flee, but the Lord will establish us firmly and He will lift us up.

James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

We are called to be merciful. Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy” (Matt. 5:7). Those who are merciful will receive mercy from God, both in this life and in the coming age.

“Judgement will be merciless to the one who doesn’t show mercy” (James 2:13). If we don’t show mercy to others, we will not receive mercy from God. Mercy is vitally important to our Christian lives.

We need to understand what mercy is. 

First of all, mercy means not giving other people the judgment they deserve. People sin, and they often deserve judgment. But when we are merciful we do not criticize or judge them harshly, remembering that we ourselves have also sinned. God is merciful to us which means that he does not punish us for our sins.

But there’s more to it than this. Mercy is more than withholding judgment. Throughout the New Testament, mercy refers to showing kindness to someone who is in need. Jesus showed mercy to sick people by healing them (Matt. 9:27, 15:22, 17:15). We show mercy to others when we show kindness to them when they have a need.

Pity is a word that is connected to mercy. In our time, pity has gotten a bad connotation, and people often say, “I don’t need your pity!” as if pity is a bad thing. But in the Bible, pity is a good thing, and God wants us to show pity to others. Pity is an important aspect of mercy. Pity means seeing the need of someone and feeling compassion for them.

The story of the Good Samaritan teaches us about mercy (Luke 10:25-37). A man was was beaten and left on the side of the road. Religious people passed by him and didn’t do anything to help him. But a Samaritan passed by and helped him. He showed him mercy, healing his wounds and taking care of him. 

Jesus told this parable for two reasons. First, he was showing us how to love others. We love them by showing them mercy. Second, he was showing us who our neighbor is. Our neighbor is the person who is next to us in our daily life, the person that we come into close proximity to. It could be someone we pass on the sidewalk, someone at the store, or someone we have a brief interaction with. These people are our neighbors, and we need to show them mercy.

There are 5 parts of mercy that we see in the story of the Good Samaritan. 

1. The Good Samaritan inconvenienced himself to help someone else. He was on a journey, but he stopped to help someone. To show mercy, we may have to go out of our way and be inconvenienced.

2. The Good Samaritan saw the distress of someone. To show mercy to someone, we must first notice him or her and see that they have a need.

3. The Good Samaritan responded internally to the person’s need with a heart of compassion. Mercy involves feelings of compassion and sympathy towards others.

4. The Good Samaritan did practical action to help the person. He bound up the man’s wounds, took him to a hotel, paid for his room, and paid for his care. To show mercy to others, we have to take practical action to help them.

5. The Good Samaritan helped his enemy. The Jews looked down on Samaritans and had no interactions with them. But the Good Samaritan helped the Jewish man anyway. God calls us to extend mercy even to those who hate us or hurt us, just as he did to us.

We need to show mercy to others. We need to help them. We should recognize their needs and sympathize with them. We especially need to show mercy to our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.

It is interesting that the religious people in the story of the Good Samaritan did not show mercy. They were haughty. They ignored the person with the problem. Sometimes religion gets in the way of mercy. The Bible says that God wants mercy and not sacrifice (Matt. 9:13). God does not want us to be religious, but he wants us to be like him, and he is merciful.
Do we always need to show mercy to everyone?

Sometimes children sin, and instead of showing mercy to them, the parents punish them. Is this wrong? Jesus called the Pharisees snakes and vipers whose hearts were full of evil. Was this merciful? Rather than showing mercy to a lazy employee, a boss may fire him instead. Is this wrong?

Mercy must be balanced. We don’t need to show mercy to everyone at everytime. Sometimes parents need to punish children. God does send people into hell. Christians need to reject false teachers.

In Jesus, mercy and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other (Psalm 85:10). The accurate balance between mercy and truth can only be found in Jesus Christ. We need to be led by the Holy Spirit. As we are led by the Spirit, we will know how to balance mercy with truth.

“Be merciful as your Heavenly Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). This is a high standard for mercy that is beyond our own human ability. True mercy does not come from our flesh. Our flesh is not merciful, but it wants to take revenge. True mercy is supernatural and comes from God. The Holy Spirit helps us to be merciful.

We are merciful when we understand how God has been merciful to us. Through Jesus, God took away all of our sins. He did not punish us, but he gave us eternal life. 

Receiving mercy from God changes us. It causes us to be born again. It gives us a soft heart. If we receive God’s mercy, then we are saved. God’s mercy will mark us and change us. Merciful Christians are those who know how merciful God has been to them.

Showing mercy to others is therefore a sign that we ourselves have received mercy from God. It is a sign that we are God’s children. It is proof of our salvation. If we are merciless, then it might be questioned as to whether we have actually had a revelation of God’s mercy to us. This is why the merciful will receive mercy.

Stubbornness was a sin that hindered God’s people throughout history. Because of Israel’s stubbornness, they were hindered from fulfilling their purpose and blocked from entering the Promised Land. God said, “I have seen this people, it is a stiffnecked people” (Exodus 32:9). God called his own people stiffnecked. We don’t want to be stubborn and stiff-necked like ancient Israel.

Proverbs 29:1 says, “He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” Stubbornness has severe consequences and leads to destruction. We want to avoid that.
In the Bible, stubbornness is compared to having a stiff neck. This is a picture that comes from oxen. An ox-driver has a stick with which he prods the neck of the ox to get him to turn in a different direction. When the ox does not turn in response to poking his neck with a stick, it is said that he has a stiff neck. 

The ox goad is a symbol of the leadings or nudgings of the Holy Spirit. When God wants us to change course, he will nudge us to do so. When we refuse to move in that direction, we are stubborn and have a stiff neck. Having a stiff neck is a picture of not being willing to change and follow God. It means that we want to go in our own way and not God’s way. Stubbornness often is revealed in response to instruction or correction. Instruction from an authority is given, and it is resisted; or a rebuke is given, and it is rejected. This is stubbornness. 

In the Old Testament, Israel was often stubborn. They refused to walk in God’s way; they just wanted to walk in their own way. This was because their hearts were hard. “They made their hearts harder than flint” (Zech. 7:12). God or a prophet would tell them to do something, and they would refuse. They would make up their own way of doing things rather than following God’s way.

God said his people were like a stubborn cow (Hos. 4:16). To get a stubborn cow to go where you want it to go is very difficult. 

In the wilderness, God told Israel to go into the Promised Land. He said it was a good land and that they would be blessed there. They refused to go. They said that they would be killed, that God wouldn’t take care of them, and that they wanted to go back to Egypt. This shows their stubbornness. As a result of being stubborn and refusing to do what God said, God told them he was going to kill them. Stubbornness has consequences. They were frightened to hear this, so then they changed their minds and said they would go to the Promised Land after all. God told them not to go now, that it was too late, but they decided to go anyway. They got up early in the morning, and began going to the Promised Land. Then they were attacked by their enemies and killed (Num. 14:39-45). 

First, God told them to go, and they refused. Then God told them not to go, and they went. They did what they wanted to do, not what God wanted. They were stubborn.
Israel trusted in themselves more than they trusted in God. They filtered their instructions from God through their own minds. They wanted to do what they wanted to do, and if God told them to do something they didn’t want to do, then they wouldn’t do it.  Stubborn people exalt themselves over God.

Hebrews chapters 3 and 4 says three times, “Today, if you hear his voice, don’t harden your heart.” A hard heart produces stubbornness. It refuses to do what God wants. We need a soft heart to hear God’s word and obey it.

God told King Saul to kill the Amalekites and all that they had because they were a very wicked nation. Saul refused. He kept the Amalekite king alive along with the best of their livestock. The prophet Samuel told Saul that he had disobeyed God. Saul’s response reveals the lies of stubborn people.

1. Denial. Saul said that he did actually obey God. He denied being disobedient.
2. Self-justification. Saul said he disobeyed God for a good reason – to sacrifice something to God.
3. Blame. Saul blamed others. He blamed the people for his disobedience.

A stubborn person will deny they have a problem. When presented with irrefutable evidence, they will try to justify themselves. And then when that doesn’t work they will blame others.
Samuel told Saul that stubbornness is like idolatry. It’s like idolatry because it exalts something over God and disobeys God because something else is more important than God. 

A stubborn person resists authority. He has difficulty in following instructions. He is set on doing his own thing. He has a hard heart. When he is rebuked or corrected, he lashes out. 

Stubbornness has bad results. It leads to destruction. It causes the loss of position and ability to fulfill one’s calling. It blocks forward progress in God. It stores up wrath from God (Rom. 2:5). 

We need to eliminate stubbornness from our lives in order to fulfill God’s plan. We can do this with the help of the Holy Spirit. The best way to get rid of stubbornness is to repent. When we repent, we change course. This is the opposite of being stiffnecked, and it is God’s will for our lives. When God tells us to do something, we need to repent and do it.

We need humility and a soft heart in order to receive direction and instructions from God. We must keep our heart tender before the Lord. We must pay attention to the conviction and leading of the Holy Spirit. Don’t ignore the voice of the Holy Spirit. If you ignore him too much, you will lose the ability to hear his voice and then your conscience will become hardened. But as you stay sensitive to his leading, you will walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

As we eliminate stubbornness from our lives, we will become God’s faithful servants who obey him above ourselves. Then God can do his mighty works through us.

Forgiveness is the basis of our relationship with God. When Jesus died on the cross, he didn’t die for his own sins because he didn’t have any, but he died for our sins. All the wrath of God that should have come upon us for our sins came upon Jesus instead. Because of that we are free from our sins.

“As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). 

God’s nature is to forgive. 

“For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You” (Psalm 86:5).

God forgives us our sins for his own sake. 

“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25-26).

The fact that God forgives us for his own sake shows that our forgiveness is sure. He forgives us because his very nature is to forgive, and we are his children.

When Jesus died on the cross, he cried out, “Father forgive them.” When the first martyr, Stephen was being stoned to death, the Holy Spirit inspired him to pray that God would forgive his attackers.

Sin can hinder our relationship with God. In order to receive forgiveness for our sins, we need to confess them. If we confess our sins to God, which means to tell him what we did and agree with him that it was wrong, then we are forgiven of our sins (1 John 1:9).

“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy (Proverbs 28:13).

We need to confess our sins directly to God.
Forgiving Others

We ought to also forgive others who sin against us.

The Lord’s prayer includes the line “forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us” (Matthew 6:12). 

Jesus once told a parable about a man who owed his master a lot of money. The man couldn’t repay the master, so he fell at his feet and begged for mercy. The master was compassionate and forgave him his entire debt. Then the servant met another servant who owed him a little money. The forgiven servant refused to forgive the other servant and threw him into prison. The master heard about it. Then the master threw the first servant into prison too. The master said the servant would be tortured in prison until he paid everything back.

Jesus told this parable to teach us that we need to forgive others. 

It is not possible to repay everything we owe to God. Our offense against God is of infinite weight because God is of infinite value. The just punishment for our sins, which is commensurate with the offense, is an infinite punishment. This is the reason why hell is eternal. This is also why Jesus, the eternal Son of God, was the only one who could pay the penalty for our sins. Praise God for the infinite power of the blood of Jesus Christ that forgives us this infinite debt. 
Meaning of Forgiveness

Forgiveness means to give up a demand for punishment. It means we no longer bear a grudge against someone. We no longer want to take revenge against them. Forgiveness also means to release someone. When we forgive, we release them of the obligation they owed us because of their sin against us.

Our model for forgiveness is Jesus Christ. The New Testament says we should forgive others as Christ forgave us (Colossians 3:13). We can only do this with the help of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it is hard to forgive someone. But God will help us. The Holy Spirit is able to forgive everyone because the blood of Jesus Christ atoned for all sin. He is living inside of us, and he will help us forgive.
Forgiveness Heals our Souls

Forgiveness is healthy. The Bible tells us that forgiveness heals our inner turmoil. Bitterness often comes from unforgivness. And many evil things come out from bitterness (Hebrews 12:15). 

“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:31-32).

When we don’t forgive others, bitterness builds up inside of us. This produces hatred, anger, malice, envy, and all kinds of evil things. Many bad things grow inside of us when we refuse to forgive others. 
Danger of Unforgiveness

If we don’t forgive others, God cannot forgive us (Mark 6:14-15). Why? Unforgiveness is a sin, and it is a root of many other sins. If we hold onto the sin of unforgiveness, we also hold onto hatred, rage, and many other sins. As long as we hold tightly onto these sins and refuse to confess them and repent from them, we cannot be healed from them. This is why if we refuse to forgive others, we cannot be forgiven by God.

Someone once said that unforgiveness is like drinking down poison and expecting the other person to die. 
Forgiveness Heals our Bodies

Forgiveness heals us internally. It also heals our bodies. 

Many scientific studies have shown the benefits of forgiveness on mental and physical health. Here are some of the results of these studies:

1. Forgiveness heals our hearts. It lowers our blood pressure and our heart rate.
2. Forgiveness lowers our cortisol levels. Cortisol is the stress hormone. Unforgiveness raises the level of cortisol in our bodies which leaves us in a constant state of anxiety and tension.
3. Forgiveness boosts immunity.
4. Forgiveness decreases hostility. It makes us better able to manage anger. It decreases outbursts of rage.
5. Forgiveness leads to lower risk of alcohol or drug use. People often turn to alcohol or drugs to help them manage pain. Pain often comes from unforgiveness. With forgiveness, pain is decreased, and this decreases reliance on alcohol or drugs.
6. Forgiveness lowers the risk of depression.
7. Forgiveness reduces chronic pain.

A surgeon and professor at Yale Univerisity said, “I have collected 57 extremely well-documented so-called cancer miracles. At a certain particular moment in time they decided that the anger and the depression were probably not the best way to go, since they had such little time left. And so they went from that to being loving, caring, no longer angry, no longer depressed, and able to talk to the people they loved. These 57 people had the same pattern. They gave up—totally—their anger, and they gave up—totally—their depression, by specifically a decision to do so. And at that point the tumors started to shrink.”

This does not mean that every instance of fatal disease is caused by unforgiveness. However, some illnesses are a result of unforgiveness, and forgiveness can be an important part of physical healing.

Science is only now catching up to what God revealed in the Bible. Only in the past 30 years has the field of psychology begun studying the power of forgiveness. But Christians knew about this essential truth thousands of years ago. Let’s believe the Bible in faith. We don’t need to wait for scientists or so-called experts to tell us what we need to do. We need to obey the word of God and then we will be blessed by God. 

Forgiveness is something we do for ourselves. It heals our souls, minds, and bodies. 

Forgiveness heals relationships. Relationships are often harmed by unforgiveness and the evil fruits of unforgiveness. Let’s forgive people freely as God forgave us, so that our relationships can be healed.

Jesus said we have to forgive everyone who ever sinned against us at anytime (Mark 11:25). We don’t need to wait for them to apologize to us. Our ability to forgive doesn’t depend on the actions of others.

However, just because we must forgive everyone doesn’t mean that we have to be in a close relationship with everyone. Sometimes people refuse to change, and they continue to harm us. God does not want any of his children being abused. We can forgive everyone, but healthy boundaries are important.
Rebuking

We need to rebuke a Christian when he or she sins against us. We don’t have to rebuke unbelievers when they sin against us, but we need to rebuke our Christian brother or sister. When we rebuke someone, we make them aware of their sin against us. This gives opportunity for them to repent. It makes it possible for our relationship with them to be healed. It also shows that we care about them and expect better from them. This ultimately reveals our love. God wants his church to be holy. Rebuking other Christians helps this process.
Hindrances to Forgiveness

There can be hindrances to forgiveness. 

1. We might be waiting for an apology. But Jesus told us to forgive everyone, whether they apologize or not.

2. Pride can stop us from forgiving. When we don’t forgive someone, we can feel morally superior to them as we remember their faults. We may fear that if we forgive them we will be at the same level with them. But we need to recognize that this false pride is empty. Our value is not in condemning others, but in knowing who we are in Jesus Christ.

3. Sometimes we don’t forgive someone because we are afraid they will sin against us again. However, Jesus told us to forgive the same person if he sinned against us 490 times in one day. In addition, just because we forgive everyone doesn’t mean we have to be close to everyone. Boundaries can be essential.

4. A final reason we may not forgive is because we have a desire for revenge. We want to see the person who wronged us face the consequences for their actions. But vengeance belongs to God, the only perfect Judge.

“Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:19-21)

The word of God contains energy or power from God. The word of God is alive and powerful (Hebrews 4:12). 

The word of God “effectively works in you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). In Greek the word is “energizes.” The word of God energizes those who believe it. 

The energy contained in the word of God is supernatural. It comes from the Holy Spirit. It is beyond the natural realm and natural laws. The power of the word of God is above these things because God is above them, and he can do all things. He is not limited.

The infinite power in the word of God often remains dormant, and it is not released. We need faith. Faith releases the power of the word of God. The word of God energizes “those who believe.” God is looking for people to believe what he says.

“Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). Without faith, the word of God does not become active within us or release its divine power to transform us.

The Bible contains grand promises like “all things are possible for him who believes” (Mark 9:23), and “whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive” (Matthew 21:22). These grand promises of God’s word are experienced by us when we believe God’s word.

Faith is compared to a mustard seed that can move a mountain. Faith sometimes seems small, but it can do amazing things because it taps into the power of Almighty God. 

Faith is not about just dreaming and hoping for whatever we want. Biblical faith is based on something real in the spiritual realm – the eternal word of God. The word of God already exists, whether we believe that word or not. The word of God precedes our faith. Faith does not create the word of God, but faith recognizes the already-existing word of God. Faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17), not by thinking. Hearing the word of God must precede true faith.

However, we must go beyond hearing. Jesus told about a person who heard the word of God and didn’t do it. Jesus said he was building his house on the sand (Matthew 7:24-27). When the storms came, his life was destroyed. Without obedience to the word of God, our lives are not based on anything real in the spiritual realm, and they may fall apart. We need to build our lives on the rock of God’s word, then they will have eternal permanence. We build on the rock as we obey God’s word.

When Jesus comes back, some people will tell him that they spent a lot of time with him, knew him well, heard his word frequently, and called him Lord (Luke 13:26). Yet he will reject them. The reason they will be rejected is that they did not obey his word. Their disobedience to the word of God proved their lack of faith. And without faith, it is impossible to be saved.

James tells us to be “doers of the word, not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). People are deceived when they think that just hearing the word of God is enough. We need to not just hear the word, but we need to do it. And we will do it if we believe it. Obedience to the word of God proves our faith (James 2:18). 

If we believe that God has given us an instruction, we will act upon it. On the other hand, if we don’t believe God spoke to us, then we won’t act. It’s easy to obey God when his word is clear. But if we are not sure what God is saying, we will be less confidence in our obedience. Our wavering obedience shows our lack of faith in the word – was it really from God or not? 

Sometimes we are 100% sure God is telling us to do something, but we still don’t obey him. This reveals lack of faith in God. It proves that we don’t trust God with the consequences of our obedience. We don’t believe he is good, and we don’t trust he will take care of us. Therefore we disobey his word. Obedience proves faith, and it is the necessary complement to faith. Disobedience proves unbelief.

Once Paul was preaching. A crippled man believed what Paul was saying, and Paul saw that he had faith. Paul told him to stand up and walk. Immediately the lame man stood and walked (Acts 14:8-10). The man’s faith was proved by his obedience, and his faith released the power of the word of God to heal his crippled legs.

Jesus did not heal every sick person in every town he was in. In fact, sometimes he healed only one person. This is because he could do nothing except what he saw his Father do (John 5:19). Jesus was limited by the revelation he received from his Father. Jesus was not acting independently of his Father, saying or doing his own things. Instead, Jesus was perfectly confined to the will of his Father. This means that everything Jesus did originated in heaven. Through obedience, Jesus brought heaven’s words and works into the earth.

God has not called us to do whatever we want to do. There are many sick people in the world, but God does not expect us to go lay hands on all of them. Instead, God wants us to hear from him, believe the specific words he has for us, and then do those things. God has specific words for us to speak and works for us to do. We need to hear from God in order to understand the specific plan he has for our lives. Then we need to do the specific things he tells us to do.

When we confine ourselves to the will of God, we avoid the frustration that can arise when we have expectations that God will do things he never said he will do. The word of God is independent from us, and it is discovered as we study the Bible, pray, and are in fellowship with strong believers.

The word of God has inherent power. We need to believe the word of God in order to release this power. The eternal word of God precedes our faith and exists independently of our faith. To have real faith, we must first recognize what God is saying. Genuine faith is proved by obedience. If we believe God is saying something, then we will do it. Obedience to God proves our faith, and it unleashes God’s power which throws mountains into the sea.

In the Bible, the word of God is compared to a seed.

Jesus is the word of God who is also called the Seed. He is the seed of the woman who crushed the head of Satan (Genesis 3:15). He is also the seed of God that went into the ground and sprung up as the church (John 12:24).

Jesus said that he is the sower who went out to sow the seeds of the word of God into the world. The seeds of God’s word are to be planted in our hearts. When the seeds of God’s word are planted in us, they will bring forth the harvest that God intends.

We are born again by the incorruptible seed of the word of God (1 Peter 1:23). The word of God is a seed that will never die. Some seeds die. They become useless and will not germinate. The seed of God’s word is eternal and will never die. This means that it will give eternal life to everyone who accepts it.

It is not possible to know if a seed is alive or dead just by looking at it. The only way to find out if a seed is alive is to plant it. Sometimes we don’t know that the word of God is alive. The Bible may seem boring or dead to us. But it is alive (Hebrews 4:12). When the seed of God’s word is planted in our hearts, we prove that it is alive because it will bring forth fruit.

There are many seeds from God contained in the Bible. The Bible is a heavenly storehouse of powerful seeds from God. As we plant these seeds into our souls, we will produce a vast garden of many fruits.

Seeds produce plants and fruit according to their kind. The word of God is a seed from God that will produce something in us that is according to God.

Seeds are small. They are smaller than many other things, but they contain great potential. The seed of an oak tree contains the potential of an oak tree inside it. Mature oak trees are bigger than buildings. The seed of God’s word may appear small and insignificant, but it contains the potential of God inside it. We should not take the word of God for granted. We may have Bibles all over our houses and not really value them. But the word of God is the power of God to salvation. We need to recognize the living and powerful quality of the word of God.

Seeds are powerful. They can crack concrete. They can even crack rocks. The word of God can crack the most stubborn sins and fleshly habits in our lives.

The seed of God’s word is planted in our lives through faith. When we believe the word of God it is planted in our hearts. A seed is dormant until it is planted, and but after it is planted it unleashes life. Faith unlocks the power of the God’s word in us and releases its power.

The word of God is planted in our lives when we obey it. Obedience to God’s word is the proof of faith. “Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). When we obey God, we prove that we believe that he told us to do something and that we trust him with the consequences of our actions. Obedience proves faith.

When the word of God is planted in our souls, it gives life to us. It powerfully works in us who believe (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

Seeds grow underground, in secret. We don’t see the beginning of the growth of a seed. We don’t even fully understand how the seed is transformed into a plant. In the same way, we don’t know how God’s word grows in our hearts. It is something supernatural that is beyond our understanding. Jesus said the seed of God’s word grows up, and we don’t know how it happens (Mark 4:27). We don’t know how the word of God will grow in our lives and change us, but we can be sure that as the seed of God’s word grows, it will bring powerful transformation.

When we share the word of God with others, it’s similar. We don’t know when or how the word may grow up and sprout in their hearts. But our job is to sow the word of God, and then God will cause the word to grow up in them.

Seeds take time to germinate. They don’t burst into full plants overnight. This is why Jesus said that after we receive the word of God, we must have patience in order to bring forth fruit (Luke 8:15). The word of God will work, it will never fail, but it will take time. We should not become discouraged or give up before the seed of God’s word begins to grow in our lives.

Birds will often try to come and eat seeds before they grow. Jesus said the birds of the air come and try to eat the seeds of God’s word and steal it from our hearts before it can germinate. The birds of the air represent evil spirits (Matthew 13:4, 19). Satan will lie to us about the word of God, twisting it and contradicting it. He will try to get us to focus on ourselves and our feelings rather than on God and spiritual facts of his word. We must be prepared to resist the devil in order to see the word of God grow in our hearts.

Weeds will often grow up along with good plants and choke them. Jesus called some weeds the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches (Matt. 13:22). These things grow up in our lives and choke out the word of God. Satan often sows weeds in our hearts and minds. We must reject his lies and thoughts, and not allow his seeds to be planted in us. When we recognize evil thoughts growing in us, we need to uproot these evil seeds out of our lives and not allow them to take root and grow.

In the Old Testament, God told Israel not to plant two kinds of seed in their vineyards or fields (Deut. 22:9). This points to the fact that we are to only allow the word of God to be planted within us, and reject the seeds of Satan.

Seeds need water in order to germinate and grow. Water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit must water the seeds of God’s word in our hearts so that they can grow and bring forth fruit. We need to be filled regularly with the Holy Spirit so God’s word can be strong inside us.

The more seeds we plant, the bigger a harvest we will have. He who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, but he who sows bountifully will reap bountifully (2 Cor. 9:6). We need to plant many seeds from God into our hearts. The only limitation is ourselves. The more we plant from God in us, the more we will reap a harvest from God in our lives. We need to saturate ourselves with God.

Our souls are like a garden that God desires to plant the seeds of his word in so that we can bring forth fruit for him. We need to tend this spiritual, inner garden well, so that it can fulfill its purpose and glorify God.

The word of God is the final authority for our spiritual lives. It is an amazing and perfect book written by God through people by the Holy Spirit. Although it was written over a period of approximately 4,000 years by many different people, it all ties together and connects in a powerful way. The Holy Spirit helps us understand the Bible and connect all the parts together, so that we can understand it properly and “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).

A message from Bobby:

How do we study the Bible? We must understand it so that we can apply it. The Bible is a spiritual Book, so we need the help from the Spirit of God to lead us into its truth. But we ought to approach the Bible as the Word of God, as the ultimate authority for all spiritual truth and knowledge. That’s why, if there is anything, any thought or assumption that contradicts the Bible, we must discard it and throw it away.  

Ok, then, how do we study the Bible? How do we show critical thinking when we study the Bible? It helps having good teachers and it also helps having good fellowship, where everyone can bring a teaching from the Word. In fact, discussion often is the best way to learn the Word and discussion is highly encouraged in the Word. But, even if we have the best teachers, we must be able to check and verify that everything they say about the Word is true. Most importantly, the Bible commends those who do that – see Acts 17:10-11:

Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded (noble) than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness (of mind), and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. 

The believers in Berea were commended for being more noble (that’s a better translation) because they searched the Scriptures daily to find out if what Paul and Silas were speaking to them was true indeed. They searched, they examined the Scriptures thoroughly so that they could discern if what they were being told was true. Even Satan quoted the Bible to Jesus and twisted it so he can try to tempt him to sin, but Jesus knew his Bible well and was able to discern Satan’s lies and ultimately, did not succumb to the temptation.

So, we would like to be like the believers in Berea, and like Jesus when tempted by Satan, and know how to study and examine the Bible, so we may be sure that what we believe is true and we may stand on this truth in the time of temptation or testing.

I’d like to offer an example of how we can critically study the Word and how we can avoid inserting our own assumptions into the text. Let’s look at Mark 16:15-18

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

First, we want to study what is the context of this Biblical passage. The context is Jesus appearing to his disciples after his resurrection and commissioning them before he ascended into heaven. In fact, this passage is also referred as the Great Commission and it is believed to be applicable for every disciple of Jesus. These are some of the last words which Jesus spoke before he left, so it appears to be a very important passage. Let’s assume for a moment that the gospel according to Mark is the only book we have read in the Bible and let’s see what conclusions we may reach based solely on this passage. Let’s read verse 15 again:

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 

If we take this verse literally and take it out of the context of the rest of the Bible, we may come to think that we should go and preach the gospel to the birds, to the cattle, to the animals, to the insects, etc. But, we know from other passages of the Bible (and common sense) that this is not what Jesus meant here. The other gospels clearly show that Jesus meant not every creature literally, but meant every living human being, who can respond in repentance and in faith to the words of the gospel. In the gospel of Matthew, chapter 28:19 (16-20), we can see the Great Commission again, and there Jesus tells his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations… In other words, they are called not simply to preach the gospel but to make disciples. Fortunately, we haven’t heard of people baptizing animals in the name of Jesus, but who knows, we may see it one day. (But we can see people baptizing babies, even though we don’t see this anywhere in the Biblical text and even though babies cannot be disciples, followers of Jesus, because they cannot respond in repentance and in faith; but people do it anyway, simply based on their assumptions and traditions.) 

Ok, I know this verse about preaching to every living creature may not relate as much, but let’s look at the next verse – Mark 16:16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 

First, let me state that what this verse states is true: people who believe in Jesus and are water baptized in His name will be saved, and those who do not believe will be condemned. However, this verse does not state explicitly what happens with people, who believe in Jesus, but are not water baptized in His name. It would be our own assumption to declare that water baptism is essential to a believer’s salvation. Based on this verse, however, over the centuries, many people assumed this to be true – this is called the doctrine of Baptismal regeneration (and please feel free to Google it). Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Lutherans, Anglicans and even Mormons adhere to this belief. Perhaps, that’s why, they insist on baptizing babies, because they are afraid people will not be saved if they don’t get water baptized. Anyway, we want to know the truth of the Word and not insert our own assumptions into the text. So, what is the necessary requirement for salvation? Let’s look at Romans 10:9-10 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. And verse 13: For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

I think it’s quite clear from these verses what is the necessary requirement for salvation: confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart. If we assume that water baptism is required for salvation, then there will be an obvious contradiction with the rest of the Bible. Moreover, how could the thief on the cross be saved, to whom Jesus promised to be in Paradise the day he was crucified? The thief was never water baptized, and yet, Jesus promised him salvation. Also, was Jesus “not saved” before he was water baptized? It’s clearly a huge contradiction to believe that water baptism is required for salvation. However, if we are only saved by faith in the name of Jesus, then this will be consistent with the truth expressed in Mark 16:16, without contradicting any of the other parts of Scripture. The rest of the Scripture clarifies the meaning of this verse, similar to the way the meaning of the preceding verse 15 about preaching to every living creature needed to be clarified further.

Just to add that water baptism and baptism in the HS are part of discipleship, but they are not a requirement for salvation. We can see this from the Great Commission as presented in the other gospels. We just read In Matthew 28, “making disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

By now, you should be realizing that when we read the Bible we should not be simply taking verses out of their context, but we should check and examine how the different passages of the Bible fit together to depict the whole picture, to convey the complete meaning of what the authors are trying to tell us. That’s what critical thinking in the Spirit should lead us to do.

For example, if we focus on one Biblical passage, but our interpretation ignores the rest of the Bible and in fact contradicts other passages, then we are exposing ourselves to the danger of elevating our own assumptions over the truth of the Word of God, and that’s not a good position for one to be in. Instead, we should conclude that our interpretation must be wrong, and we should reexamine the passage in light of the entirety of the Bible. 

Let’s proceed with the next verse, Mark 16:17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

Again, if we take this verse literally, we may assume that every believer should be speaking in tongues. In fact, many Pentecostal denominations today believe that every believer should be able to speak in tongues. They say that they believe in “baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.” However, what does the Bible say? Let’s read 1 Cor. 12:27-30 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?

I think from the text it’s quite clear that Paul asks rhetorical questions. Are all believers called to be apostles? The obvious answer is: No, they are not. Are all called to be prophets, or teachers, or workers of miracles? Again, the obvious answer is: No, they are not. So, when he asks, do all believers speak in tongues, or do all have the gifts of healing, the obvious answer would again be a resounding NO. And that’s the point of the entire message – different believers will have different gifts in the body: some will speak in tongues, but not all of them. Therefore, we can conclude that in Mark 16:17, “they will speak in tongues” refers to some believers will speak in tongues, and the word “they” does not necessarily imply “all believers”. To say that it means “all believers” would be our own assumption, which will be in direct contradiction with 1 Cor 12:30, which we just read. 

Let’s continue with the next verse, Mark 16:18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Again, if we interpret this verse literally, it would mean that believers should start picking up snakes as a sign of their salvation. In fact, there are snake-handling believers today who believer exactly that. They are found today in the Appalachian region of the United States and they regularly practice snake handling as a regular, intentional practice (and in some cases as evidence of salvation). They also believe taking up snakes is something God commands them to do. However, does this interpretation of the verse hold up to the rest of the Biblical text? Nowhere do we see in the Book of Acts or the rest of the Bible “taking up serpents” as something practiced by believers. It’s not even mentioned anywhere else. There is one episode in Acts 23 when Paul is bitten by a snake and nothing happened to him, but he did not pick up the snake intentionally; he threw it away immediately and was not harmed by it. 

So, what does then this verse mean? Well, let’s first examine how the word “serpent” is being used in the Bible. Jesus called the scribes and Pharisees, “Serpents, brood of vipers” (Matthew 23:33). Satan is called a serpent throughout the entire Bible, Old and New Testament. In Matthew 10:16, Jesus tells his disciples to “be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Furthermore, in Luke 10:18-20, Jesus clearly associates scorpions and serpents with evil or demonic spirits: And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

Judging by these verses, we can safely conclude that “taking up serpents” should not be interpreted literally, but rather, symbolically, as engaging with and overcoming a demonic force. It could be referring to casting out of demons, or to engaging with evil people, who are in opposition to the gospel and believers, similar to the way the scribes and Pharisees hated and opposed Jesus. 

Finally, let’s look at “lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Again, if we take this literally, we may assume that when believers lay hands on others, the sick will 100% of the time recover. But what does the Bible actually say about laying on hands and healing? First, if you recall in 1 Corinthians 12, some believers will have the gift of healing, but not all believers. That is, again, similar to the gift of tongues, it is quite obvious that this verse in Mark does not refer to all believers, but it points to the fact that some believers will have the gift of healing, and when they lay hands on the sick and pray, the sick will get healed. When we interpret “they” as “not all of them” but “some of them”, then this makes sense and is consistent with the rest of the Bible. If this were to be interpreted as “all believers” will have the power to heal, then why was Timothy advised to use a little wine for his infirmities (1 Tim 5: 23), or why was Trophimus left sick by Paul (2 Tim 4: 20 – Paul who had healed many people and clearly had the gift of healing), or why was Epaphroditus sick “almost unto death” that made Paul extremely sorrowful (Philippians 2:25-27). These verses clearly show that even though miraculous healings were part of the early church, there were definitely not assumed as a given for every believer and for every sickness. 

The Bible does not promise 100% healing for every sickness and disease in this world, but it promises 100% forgiveness of sins and 100% salvation for those, who believe and put their trust in the name of Jesus. And one day believers are promised an eternity with God, where there’s no longer pain, sickness, disease, sorrow, or death (Rev 21:4).

One of the most influential people in the Bible was king Jeroboam. His legacy dominated Israel for centuries. Almost all Israelites followed his example. Throughout the Old Testament, king after king followed Jeroboam’s ways, leading the people of God into a ditch. Ultimately, the sin of Jeroboam caused Israel to lose their nation and go into captivity.

What was the sin of Jeroboam?

Jeroboam decided to make up his own ways of worshiping God. One of the first things he did after becoming king was to make two new altars. He put golden cows on these altars (1 Kings 12:33) and told everyone to worship God at these altars using these cows. Almost everyone did.

When we read of holy cows in the Bible, we often think of Baal. But Jeroboam’s cows had nothing to do with Baal. These cows were used to worship the true God.

Ahab, not Jeroboam, later introduced Baal worship to Israel (1 Kings 16:31). In addition, when Jehu destroyed Baal worship from Israel, he didn’t destroy Jeroboam’s cows (2 Kings 10:28-29). 

Jeroboam’s cows had nothing to do with Baal, they were being used to worship the true God – Yahweh.

The people trusted Jeroboam. He was their beloved king and leader, and they thought he knew what he was talking about. “If the king says that we can worship God using golden cows, then we must be able to. Who are we to know more than him?” 

Jeroboam’s new worship style became very popular.

The people probably didn’t read their Bibles for themselves. If they did, they would have known that God never told them to worship him using cows. But even if they did read their Bibles, they probably didn’t think it would be wrong to make up some new ways to worship. They probably thought that some of these things Moses had talked about had passed away and weren’t applicable anymore.

Jeroboam decided to make up his own holiday, replete with man-made religious traditions. This holiday became popular. Even though it was found nowhere in the Bible, the people didn’t care. It was about God, so they thought it must be ok.

Jeroboam decided to make his own priests (1 Kings 13:33). He didn’t care if they were really chosen by God or not. If they wanted to serve God, they could. “Why should anyone be stopped from serving God?” Jeroboam said that whoever wanted to become a priest could become one. A little training, and they would be ready to lead praise and worship.

The problem was, God hated this new religion. It wasn’t based on the word of God. It was based on human ideas. It was man-made. God said it would all be judged and destroyed. 

No one really really seemed to care. There were a few prophets who spoke against this wickedness, but their voices were drowned out by the crowd.

The spiritual reality behind Jeroboam’s religion was shocking. People were worshiping Satan at these altars, even though they thought they were worshiping God. God said that they were worshiping other gods there (1 Kings 14:9). He said they were worshiping demons (2 Chron. 11:15).

Worshiping God according to human ideas is vain worship, according to Jesus. It’s demonic. Jesus said, “in vain do you worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7).

The example of Jeroboam is written down in the Bible as a lesson to us (1 Cor. 10:11).

God commanded us not to add to his word. He doesn’t want us to make up our own ways of worshiping. He wants us to obey his word and do things in his way.

The word of God is the final standard by which all Christianity must be judged. We need to read the Bible for ourselves, understand what it says, and do it.

The sin of Jeroboam teaches us the importance of the word of God.
Don’t blindly follow leaders, even if they are famous. 
Don’t blindly follow religious traditions, even if they are popular and have been around for centuries. 
Don’t blindly run after the crowd. 

Follow the word of God. This is the only path to abundant life. Without the Bible, religion is dead and pointless.

Paul was one of the most important leaders of the early church. He had a great purpose and calling from God. He brought the word of God back to the church when they were deviating from it. He fought against false teachings and confounded false teachers. Paul also wrote almost 1/3 of the New Testament.

As Paul lived for God, he faced many challenges. 

God’s greatest saints throughout history have faced big challenges. From Moses to David and Daniel, God’s chosen ones have been people who have gone through the fire and come out the other side.

To succeed in our Christian lives, we must be able to overcome challenges too.

Challenges are not a sign that God hates us. The devil lies to us and tells us that we are facing problems because God doesn’t like us. This is a lie. 

The devil causes problems in our lives. He comes to steal, kill and destroy. Then he compounds these problems by getting us to blame God for the disasters he himself causes. This is wrong. God comes to rescue us, save us, and give abundant life. 

Paul faced many challenges that are listed in 2 Corinthians 4:8-12; 6:3-10, and 11:23-28. According to these verses, Paul was hard-pressed on every side. He was perplexed, persecuted, struck down, and delivered to death. He was put in prison. He faced riots. He had to go many nights without sleep. He was often hungry and thirsty. Sometimes he didn’t have any clothes to wear. He got cold. He was slandered. He was sad. He was whipped as a punishment by the Jews 5 times. He was beaten with sticks 3 times. He was stoned and left for dead. He was shipwrecked 3 times. He was left floundering in the ocean for 24 hours. He faced robbers. His friends left him. Some of the churches he founded rejected him.

Paul faced many different kinds of challenges. Somehow he was able to overcome them all. How? Through the supernatural power of God.

The challenges we face will probably not be on the level of Paul’s challenges. But if we are going to live for God, Satan will try to disturb us, and he might even try to destroy us. 

We can overcome through the Holy Spirit just like Paul did. The same Spirit that strengthened Paul is inside us.

Paul was so confident in the power of the Holy Spirit, that he took pleasure in challenges for the sake of Christ (2 Cor. 12:10). He knew that when the challenge came, the power of God would come. Paul knew that through the power of Christ’s resurrection, he could overcome anything. To Paul, problems became opportunities for supernatural power to operate.

How did Paul engage the power of God to meet his challenges?

1. Paul prayed. 

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6).

2. Paul cast his burdens on the Lord. 

Cast your burdens on the Lord, and he will sustain you (1 Pet. 5:7).

3. Paul knew that all things would work together for good (Rom. 8:28). 

No matter what the devil throws at us, God can turn it around for good. The redemptive power of Jesus is greater than all the demons in hell.

4. Paul forgot the things that were behind him (Philippians 3:13). Paul knew that he had messed up his life. He had killed people and fought against God. Paul didn’t dwell on these things, but he forgot them. 

5. Paul moved forward into the future, growing spiritually and pressing forward to fulfill God’s plan (Philippians 3:13). 

We need to press forward into all that God has for us. He has a glorious plan for his church, and for you as an individual. This plan can come to pass.

6. Paul controlled his thought life. 

We should fill our minds with positive thoughts from God. Think about good things, noble things, positive things, and things worthy of praise (Phil. 4:8). As we think about positive things, our hearts will be full of positive things, and these good things will come out. This will strengthen us and protect us from the debilitating effects of depression. The joy of the Lord is our strength.

Paul shows us how we can overcome challenges. We can overcome them the same way he did. We will do this through God’s power, not our own power. The Holy Spirit will carry us through. This means that the magnitude of the challenge need not daunt us, because God can do all things. We are drawing on an inexhaustible fountain of strength. May God help us and give us victory, no matter what we are facing.

Paul said that his life is a pattern for us (1 Tim. 1:15-16). Paul’s life is more extreme than ours, but the main points of his spiritual journey are things that every Christian will go through as we follow Jesus.

Sin and Misery
Before he became a Christian, Paul was violently anti-Christian. He was a terrorist. He led the murder of Christians (Acts 7:58). He got pleasure from seeing Christians killed (Acts 8:1). He went into house churches, arrested Christians, and dragged them into prison (Acts 8:3). Paul was probably the worst persecutor of the early church. This is one reason he said he was the chief of sinners.

We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Although we haven’t been terrorists, we have done many other wrong things. Our sins have hurt ourselves, other people, and God. Sin left us burned out and empty.

Paul “breathed out slaughter and threats” against Christians (Acts 9:1). He was full of hatred, venom, and bitterness. He was continually thinking about violence. Paul must have been a miserable person. Sin makes people miserable.

Encountering God
Once Paul was going to Damascus to arrest all the Christians there and throw them in prison. On the way Jesus revealed himself to Paul as a powerful light. Paul was struck blind. 

There is a moment in each of our lives when we encounter God. This is usually a defining moment, and after this we are not the same.

Jesus said that when Paul was persecuting Christians, he was persecuting Jesus. Jesus identifies with his people. When we are hurt, Jesus is hurt. He sees the people who are mistreating you. He will defend you, because he is just. He will defend you with infinite love, power, and wisdom. The early Christians must have prayed about Paul, and God answered their prayers in a powerful way.

Grace
On the Damascus road, Jesus didn’t strike Paul dead and send him into hell, but he showed him grace. Where sin abounded, grace much more abounded (Rom. 5:20). In the place of the worst sin, it is possible to see the most abundant grace. The grace of God is so vast that it can outweigh the worst sins, even those of Paul. If Paul’s sins can be taken away by God’s grace, how much more will our sins be taken away?

“Though your sins are like scarlet, they will become white as snow; though they are like crimson, they will become like wool” (Isa. 1:18). Our sins are taken away through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

After we become Christians, when we sin if we confess our sins they will all be forgiven (1 John 1:9). It’s a nice feeling to have a clean conscience. It feels light. This is why Jesus said that his yoke is easy and his burden is light and you will find rest for your souls (Matt. 11:30).

Discipleship
After seeing the powerful light of Christ, for three days at Damascus Paul was blind and didn’t eat or drink anything. 

After three days, Jesus told a Christian named Ananias to go meet Paul. Ananias taught Paul about water baptism. He laid hands on Paul so he could be baptized in the Holy Spirit. He introduced Paul to the church at Damascus.

In our lives there was probably a point at which we met a more mature Christian who helped us grow in the Lord. This person took the time to show us the love of God and explain God’s word to us. None of us can live the Christian life on our own. We need the support of the body of Christ.

Eyes Open
After meeting Ananias, Paul’s eyes were opened and he was able to see. It wasn’t just his natural eyes that were opened, but his spiritual eyes were also opened. Now Paul saw the world in a new way. He understood things from the lens of Christ and the love of God. He was no longer full of hate and rage, but he was full of love and mercy.

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit we will understand the world in a new way. We will see things from God’s perspective instead of our own perspective.

Fulfilling Our Purpose
Paul began fulfilling his purpose in life. Paul’s divine purpose was not to kill people. It was to declare the gospel and the kingdom of God. So Paul began preaching about Jesus in Damascus. In the same city where he had gone to arrest Christians, he was now preaching the gospel. He began helping the very people he had formerly tried to murder.

God has a plan for each one of us. Our lives will have true meaning when we to fulfill this plan. How do we discover this plan? God will tell us. God’s plan for our lives will become clear to us as we read the Bible, spend time with other Christians who are seeking to follow the Bible, and pray.

Overcoming Opposition
As Paul preached about Jesus, the Jews got mad. They thought Paul had come to Damascus to arrest the Christians, and now Paul was telling everyone Christianity was true. The Jews began trying to kill Paul. 

Paul was just trying to help them by telling them how much God loved them and that Jesus would take away their sins. But for some reason they didn’t want to hear that nice message. They became very angry with Paul for saying such things.

The Jews placed guards at the gates of Damascus to arrest Paul if he left the city. They didn’t want him to tell anyone else the good news about God. So Paul snuck out over the wall and ran away.

Sometimes when we follow God we will face unexpected challenges from people that are close to us. Many people don’t like the truth of God. Even people who think they know God often don’t like parts of God’s word. Therefore they may not like us when we decide to follow God more closely than before. They might even become our enemies. We shouldn’t become discouraged if this happens to us, because this is normal.

Paul didn’t let this opposition deter him. He became stronger and bolder in declaring the grace and truth of Christ. He continued to grow spiritually throughout his Christian life, embracing his purpose and seeking to fulfill it through the power of God. His ministry ultimately impacted the entire world.

Paul’s life is a pattern for us. It shows us the main stages of growth that we will go through in our Christian life. 

As we stay faithful to God, at the end of our lives we will be able to say like Paul did, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day” (1 Tim. 4:7-8).

Jesus’ First Parable – The Old Garment
The first parable Jesus spoke when he started his ministry was about an old piece of clothing. 

“No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old” (Luke 5:36).

Jesus said when an old shirt gets a hole in it, a patch of new cloth can’t fix it. A piece of new cloth sewn to the old shirt will shrink when it is washed. When the new patch shrinks, it will tear the old garment (which has already shrunk). This will create more holes in the shirt, and the shirt will end up worse than it was before.

As he did with all his parables, Jesus used everyday things to make a spiritual point. In this parable he was talking about spiritual nakedness.

After the Fall, Adam and Eve knew they were naked. They were naked because they had sinned and had lost the covering of the glory of God. They tried to cover their nakedness by sewing fig leaves together and making shirts for themselves (Gen. 3:17). Their fig leaf shirts withered and ended up with a lot of holes. Their own covering didn’t work.

God then killed an animal and made leather coats for them (Gen. 3:21). The death of this animal is the first instance of physical death in the Bible. Like other sacrifices, it symbolized the death of Christ on the cross. God clothed Adam and Eve with these leather coats. They were a covering from God. Not only were they more durable than fig leaf shirts, they symbolized that God had covered over Adam and Eve’s sins through the shedding of blood.

We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We need a covering that can cover our sins so we can connect to God.

Throughout history, people have tried to cover themselves with religious practices so they can connect to God. The Jews had a very elaborate system of religion. It was originally inspired by God, but it was later corrupted by the additions and subtractions of people. When Jesus came, the old Jewish religious system was “decaying and becoming old” (Heb. 8:13). It was not able to take away sins (Heb. 10:4). It was full of holes and had become dominated by corrupt leaders like the Pharisees.

Jesus didn’t come to patch up this old religious system. He didn’t offer a few tweaks to the Pharisees. Instead, he came to bring a totally new way of approaching God. He said that if you want to be reconciled to God, you have to have faith. Then your sins will be gone and you will be clothed with the free gift of righteousness. Jesus didn’t come to patch up the old religious coverings, he came to give us entirely new garment – just like God replaced the fig leaves with leather in the Garden. But this time it was his own blood that gave us eternal righteousness and life.

When we trust in Christ, the old things pass away, and all things become new. Christianity is not about reforming parts of our lives in small ways, nor is it about reforming man-made religion. It’s about our entire lives becoming new by the power of Christ. Then our sins are gone, and we can approach directly to God.

Jesus’ Second Parable – New Wine and New Wineskins
The second parable Jesus told was about wine and wineskins. Jesus said that new wine can’t be put in old wineskins because the new wine will break them. This is because new wine will bubble and expand, and an old, brittle wineskin will break when this expansion happens. Instead new wine must be put into new wineskins, because these are flexible and can expand along with the new wine.

Jesus came to bring the new wine to us. He came to give us the Holy Spirit. 

Our hearts are like wineskins which are to hold the new wine of the Holy Spirit. Jesus came to change our hearts. He came to take away the stony heart out of our flesh and give us a heart of flesh. This soft heart is able to hold the new wine. Our old, hard hearts are incompatible with the new ways of the Spirit of God. Our old sinful self cannot be repaired, we must be made completely new. When we are born again, we become vessels that can hold the new wine of the Spirit.

The new wine of Jesus not only comes to individual Christians, but it also comes into the church. In order to contain the new wine of the Spirit, a church must be according to the word of God. Then it will be a new wineskin that can contain the new wine.

The first two parables that Jesus ever told emphasize the incompatibility between Christ and man-made religion. And they show that Christ came to make us new in order that we can receive the Spirit of God.

The first miracle Jesus did was turn water into wine (John 2). This miracle is significant because it’s the first recorded miracle of Jesus in the Bible. And like the other miracles of Jesus, it has far-reaching effects and implications.

This miracle happened at a wedding. This points to the fact that Jesus came to redeem the church and prepare her for the marriage supper of the Lamb. This final wedding of all time will happen at the end of the age.

This miracle happened after three days (John 2:1). Three days represents resurrection, for Christ was raised on the third day by the glory of the Father (Hos. 6:2). Jesus was about to reveal his glory to all the people at this wedding.

At this wedding, Jesus’ mother asked him to help them get wine when they ran out. Jesus gently rebuked her, calling her “woman.” He also told her it wasn’t time yet for him to do a miracle. Jesus wanted everyone to know that they should look directly to him and not look to his mother. We don’t need to pray to Mary. We need to go directly to Jesus, because he is the only mediator between God and man.

At this wedding, there were 6 big waterpots of stone. These water pots were for religious washings (John 2:6), not for drinking. When guests came to the wedding, they washed their hands and probably feet in this water. The Jews believed that such washings would purify them spiritually. Cultures around the world try to wash away their sins with water. Hindus bathe in the Ganges, and the Jews tried to wash away their sins with these ceremonial washings.

There were 6 pots for ceremonial washings. 6 is a number that in the Bible often represents man. God never told the Jews to do these ceremonial washings. Such practices are not found in the Torah. Such washings were a man-made ritual promoted by the Pharisees (Matt. 15:2). Washing with water can’t cleanse us from sin. Only God can take away sin.

The 6 water pots were made of stone. This shows the hardness of people’s hearts. People often want to do things in their own way. They ignore God’s way. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for the hardness of their hearts which spawned such man-made religious practices: “in vain do you worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

God said that he would take the stony hearts out from people and give them soft hearts that could hear his word and submit to it (Ezek. 36:25-27). This heart-transformation happens through Jesus, not dead religion.

By the middle of the wedding, these pots were full of dirty water. Dirt from the hands and feet of all the people who had come to the feast would have been in these pots. Much of the water had probably sloshed out of these pots as everyone washed.

Jesus told them to fill these pots to the brim with water. As more water was dumped into these pots, the dirt and sediments at the bottom of would have been stirred up. This muddy water would have been very unappealing. No one would have thought of drinking this water. It was filthy.

Jesus told them to take some of this water out and give it to the leader of the feast to drink. Someone tentatively reached down and scooped some of it up. He brought it to the leader of the feast.

The leader of the feast drank it. He was astounded. It had become grape juice, probably unfermented – a miracle in that climate. Unfermented grape juice was the best “wine” in those days. (“Wine” is a broad term in the New Testament that refers to both juice and alcoholic wine.)

The leader of the feast told the bridegroom at the wedding that he had saved the best wine for last.

Jesus is the true bridegroom. He is the one who made the new wine at this wedding, and he is the one who supplies the new wine of the Holy Spirit to our hearts. God saved the best wine for last: the glories of the New Covenant far surpass the fading glory of the Old Covenant. God was going to bless humanity abundantly through Jesus.

These 6 pots of stone were now full of new wine, so they couldn’t be used for ritual washings anymore. If anyone came to the feast and wanted to wash at these pots, he would have been unable to. You can’t wash yourself in juice. All you can do is drink it.

A very religious person might have been angry with Jesus for preventing him from ceremonially washing.

The first miracle Jesus did demolished man-made religion.

Jesus destroys man-made religion because it only brings bondage. It can never cleanse us from sin. We can wash and wash in the stony pots of religion, but our sins will remain. It will just be a bunch of muddy water. Only Jesus can take away our sins and give us new life.

Jesus turned this dirty religious water into grape juice. Grape juice is healthy. It gives energy and strength. The new wine of the Holy Spirit will empower us to live for God. The Holy Spirit is poured into vessels (people) who believe in him. Jesus takes away our sins and fills us with the new wine of the Holy Spirit.

This was the first miracle of Jesus.

He turned dirty ceremonial water into wine at a wedding. This foreshadows many things about his ministry. Jesus was going to take away the sins of the people. He was going to negate man-made religious rituals. He was going to provide new life and strength to people by the Holy Spirit. And it shows that Jesus is the true bridegroom who will supply new wine of the Holy Spirit to those he invites to his wedding.

Praise Jesus that he sets us free from dead religion, takes away our sins, and freely gives us the new wine of the Holy Spirit. He calls us to prepare, so that someday soon Christ’s own wedding can happen. We will get ready as we glut ourselves on the new wine of the Spirit that he provides.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ means that Christianity is true. It means that Jesus is alive, and that he will someday rule the world. If someone can conquer death, that means that he is unstoppable. Only God can conquer death. The resurrection proves that Jesus is God, and that he will someday rule over everything.

If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then Christianity is false. If Jesus didn’t resurrect, Christians would be the most miserable people in the world because they are wasting their time with a fairy tale (1 Cor. 15:12-22). But because Jesus rose up from the dead, we can be confident in our faith.

Paul wrote in one letter that after Jesus resurrected he appeared to over 500 people at one time (1 Cor. 15:6). Then Paul said that most of those people are still alive. If anyone doubted the resurrection, he could have checked with any of those hundreds of people and discovered that indeed the resurrection of Jesus is a historical fact.

The resurrection of Jesus means several important things for us.

1. The resurrection of Christ means that our sins are gone. Jesus was perfect. He had no sin. This means that he didn’t need to die, because the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). If someone sins, they must die, but if they never sin, they don’t need to die. Jesus never sinned, and yet he died anyway. Jesus didn’t die for his own sins, because he didn’t have any, but he died for our sins. When he was on the cross, all our sins were put on him. He died under their weight. Then when Jesus rose from the dead, he conquered all of these sins. All of our sins are taken away by Jesus. They are gone. The resurrection of Jesus means we don’t need to live in guilt or condemnation, and we can be reconciled to God.

2. The resurrection of Jesus means that we can have victory over sin. We don’t need to live in bondage to sin anymore (Rom. 6:14). The Holy Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead is inside of us. This is the Spirit that defeated all sin. Because the Holy Spirit has already defeated all sin, we can get victory over sin in our lives. God will empower us to defeat sin through the resurrection of Christ.

3. The resurrection of Jesus means that we have eternal life. We have this life now (John 10:28). We have been born again by the Holy Spirit. Our inner man, which is our spirit man, has been made new. Nothing can kill our souls or spirits now. Even if our bodies die, our souls will live forever with God. We don’t need to fear death. Before, we were afraid of death. We were in bondage because of this fear. But now that our souls are eternal, we don’t need to fear death. Through resurrection, Jesus sets us free from the fear of death, and he delivers us from all bondage that comes because of the fear of death (Heb. 2:14-15). 

4. The resurrection of Jesus means that we will be resurrected. At the end of the age, when Christ comes back to judge the world, we will receive glorified bodies. These bodies will match up with our eternal souls, and they will be indestructible (John 5:28-29). Some of us may be alive when Jesus returns. If we are alive at that time, our bodies will be changed into glorified bodies (1 Cor. 15:51). The resurrection of Jesus is a promise that we will be resurrected.

5. The resurrection of Jesus gives us hope that we will see our loved ones who believed in Jesus again. The death of a Christian’s physical body is just the releasing of their soul to go be with God. And someday we will be reunited with these loved ones forever. We don’t need to be sad therefore as if we have lost them forever when they die, because we will see them again (1 Thess. 4:13-14). This is because of the resurrection of Jesus.

6. The resurrection of Jesus means that Satan is defeated. Jesus died on the cross and rose again to crush Satan’s head. Every fallen angel is defeated by Christ (Col. 2:15). Every demon is defeated by Christ. We now have authority to cast out demons (Luke 10:19). We don’t need to fear the devil. He has lost the war. We are on the winning side. And someday, the kingdom of God will crush the devil’s entire dark dominion, throw it out of the earth, and Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire forever.

7. The resurrection of Jesus means that all things work together for good for those who love God (Rom. 8:28). Redemption is stronger than the biggest loss. In the worst situations, God can bring something good out of it. Nothing is too far gone for God. With God nothing is impossible. After death, things look hopeless. But resurrection proves that even death cannot win. There is something stronger than death, and that is the love of Jesus. So no matter how hopeless things appear, because of the resurrection of Jesus, victory is always possible.

The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of our faith. It proves that Christianity is true, and that Jesus is God. It shows that our faith is based on something eternal and substantial. And it releases infinite blessing into our lives. Let us think about the resurrection of Jesus, and draw on its power every day of the year, for this is the power by which we are to live our lives in this world.

It is essential for us to have a full supply of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God doesn’t want us to live the Christian life in our own strength, but in his strength. We need to be full of the Holy Spirit, especially as we approach the end of the age.

Jesus once told a parable about 10 virgins (Matt. 25). In the New Testament, virgins represent churches (2 Cor. 11:2). These 10 virgins symbolize churches that will be on the earth at the time of Jesus’ return. Half of them will be wise, and half of them will be foolish. 

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:7). Wise people submit to God and his word. Foolish people do not fear God, and therefore they do not submit to his word. It is important for us to recognize that some Christians/churches are wise, and some are foolish.

The main difference between the wise and foolish virgins is that the wise had oil, but the foolish did not. The wise who had oil could enter the marriage supper. The foolish who did not have oil were rejected and could not enter the marriage supper.

Throughout the Bible, oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God anointed Jesus so he could do amazing things and redeem us to God (Isa. 61:1). The name Christ or Messiah means Anointed One. Jesus was fully anointed with the oil of the Holy Spirit. Jesus anoints us today with the Holy Spirit, pouring out this oil upon us.

In the Old Testament, oil was used to anoint people for God’s work. All the things in the Old Testament are symbolic for us today (Heb. 8:5). The things in the Old Testament are shadows or examples that reveal to us the fullness of Christ (Heb. 10:1). Because oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, we can learn important things about the Holy Spirit by looking at the special anointing oil in the Old Testament.

The holy anointing oil of the Old Testament was made of five ingredients that are listed in Exodus 30:22-24. 

The first ingredient for this holy anointing oil was Myrrh. Myrrh is a very bitter substance. The name “myrrh” means “bitter.” Myrrh is like a preservative. In ancient days, myrrh was used to embalm dead bodies and protect them from decay. 

Myrrh in the anointing oil symbolizes that when the Holy Sprit operates in our lives he is going to convict us of sin and lead us to repentance. Our old man will be crucified with Christ, and our sinful flesh will be killed. When we are born again, we are crucified with Christ and our spirit is born. When we are baptized we symbolically bury the old man. When we come out of the water of baptism we are raised up to walk in newness life. 

As we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we will be led to take up our cross. Sometimes God will lead us into hard experiences. As we go through these experiences our flesh is crucified. This is part of the process of sanctification that happens throughout our lives.

Myrrh reminds us that we are to put off the old man and put on the new man.

The second ingredient in the holy anointing oil is Cinnamon. The word cinnamon in Hebrew means to be “erect.” This symbolizes that when the Holy Spirit fills us, we are made strong. We have a strength that comes from God. Therefore we are able to stand. We can stand upright and not be bowed down as slaves. When Satan attacks us, we can stand (Eph. 6:13). 

Standing is important. This is how we will win battles. It’s how the Israelites defeated Egypt at the Red Sea (Ex. 14:13-14).

“You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the LORD, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with you” (2 Chron. 20:17).

Cinnamon reminds us that we are called to stand strong for God in this world, and we can only do so by the strength of the Holy Spirit.
The third ingredient in the holy anointing oil is Calamus. The word calamus also means to be “erect” (just like cinnamon). But Calamus has the additional meaning of “to measure something with a rod.” 

The Holy Spirit will lead us to stand on the word of God. The word of God is the rock on which we are to base our lives. When we stand on the word of God, we will not be shaken by other forces. The word of God is also the standard by which all Christianity must be measured. If our religious practices or lifestyle lines up with the word of God, it will be accepted. If it does not measure up to the Bible, it will be rejected. 

Calamus was added to the anointing oil to symbolize that the Holy Spirit will lead us to apply the standard of God’s word to our lives. As we do this faithfully and humbly, we will be able to stand.

The fourth ingredient in the holy anointing oil is Cassia. Cassia means to “bow down.” 

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit we will bow down to God. Ps. 95:6 says we should worship, bow down, and kneel before God our maker. Phil. 2:10 says that at the name of Jesus every knee must bow. Rom. 14:11 says that every knee will bow to God.

Cassia reminds us that when we are filled with the Holy Spirit we will bow down before God. We will submit to him. We will lay down our own plans and ambitions and allow him to do with us whatever he wants. He will be the king and lord of our lives. 

In summary, the holy anointing oil was made up of the following ingredients, in the following proportions: 

1/3 (500 shekels) is the Myrrh, which speaks of death to self and the conquest of death.
1/3 (500 shekels) is Cinnamon and Calamus, which speaks of standing strong against the enemy (and also measuring things by the word of God).
1/3 (500 shekels) is Cassia, which speaks of bowing down before God and submitting to him in all things.

All of these ingredients were combined and mixed in with the final ingredient – Olive Oil. Olive oil means “brightness”. 

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we will be full of light. We are called to be the light of the world. We have within us light that shines out of darkness (2 Cor. 4:6). We have the glory of God in us, and this glory is to be released out from us and transform the world.

In the Old Testament this holy anointing oil was used to anoint all the vessels of ministry, and it was also to anoint people to serve God. This oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit that anoints us today. Today we don’t need oil like this, but we need the Holy Spirit.

In the Old Testament, the anointing oil could not be put on flesh (Ex. 30:32). This teaches us that we are not to take our own plans or ideas and just ask God to bless them. We must do things in God’s way. We need to submit to God’s plans. The fact that this oil could not be put on flesh also symbolizes that Jesus did not come to reform our flesh but to give us a new life in the Spirit. We must be born again by the Spirit to inherit the kingdom of God.

In addition, God did not allow anyone to make substitutes of this oil (Ex. 30:32). This represents that we need the pure Holy Spirit. If we do not have the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, then there is no point in creating substitutes. Sometimes Christians or churches create substitutes for the working of the Holy Spirit. These substitutes often stimulate the soul or the emotions, and they make people believe that they have encountered God. But they are not the Holy Spirit. We need the true working of the Holy Spirit, otherwise we don’t have anything of eternal value.

God wants us to be full of the Holy Spirit so that we can fulfill his plans on the earth. If we are living life in our own strength, according to our own will, we are wasting our lives. We need to live in the power of the Spirit, according to the word of God, and then our lives will have eternal impact. We will not be foolish, but wise, and we will be full of oil when our Lord returns.

The history of David and Goliath shows us many important spiritual lessons. 

During this time, the armies of Israel and the Philstines were facing off in battle. The people of God were mocked and taunted daily by the Philistines and their main warrior Goliath. Israel was intimidated and afraid.

David was tending sheep during this time. He wasn’t learning warfare from King Saul or his army. He was just in the wilderness with a few animals. But during this time God was preparing him.

David’s brothers were soldiers in Saul’s army. They probably felt important about themselves. They thought they were doing great things. David came to give some food to them. When he gave food to his brothers, they all mocked him. They made fun of him for leaving his sheep. 

David felt confused about his brothers and the other Israelites. He wondered why were they so intimidated by Goliath. Didn’t they know that they could defeat Goliath by the power of God? 

David said that he would defeat the giant.

King Saul gave David his armor and told him to wear it. This was probably the best armor Israel had. David put it on. But he quickly realized that this armor wouldn’t help defeat Goliath. It was a false covering that wouldn’t help. This armor represented doing things in Saul’s way. If David wanted victory, he would have to do things in a new way. 

David took off Saul’s armor and laid it aside. He took a sling, a shepherd’s bag, and a shepherd’s staff. These were things that he picked up during his time in the wilderness looking after sheep. These things appeared totally unrelated to war or defeating giants. But God was going to make these simple things more useful than all the weapons in Israel’s army. God takes the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the strong and mighty.

David also took 5 smooth stones out of the brook. 

The brook is a rushing stream of water. In the Bible, streams of water often represent the Holy Spirit. There is a river that flows out from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1). This river brings life to wherever it goes (Ezek. 47:1,9). This river makes glad the city of God (Psalm 46:4). Jesus said that rivers of living water (the Holy Spirit) would flow out from us (John 7:38). The flowing of the Holy Spirit brings fruit, power, miracles, and peace. It brings the presence of God. 

The 5 stones David selected from the brook were smooth stones. David needed smooth stones for his sling. The slightest rough part on the stone would cause the stone to fly out of the sling in the wrong direction. It would miss its mark. A smooth stone would leave the sling perfectly and hit the mark. 

These stones were smooth because they had been in the bottom of the brook. In the riverbed they rubbed against each other, and all the rough edges were worn off. 

Christians are compared to living stones that are being built up into a house for God (1 Pet. 2:5). When we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, we will sometimes come into the deep part of the river. This is a place we are unable to cross (Ezek. 47:5). The water is over our heads. Then our life depends on God, not on ourselves. 

In the riverbed, the stones were prepared for David’s sling because they became smooth. In order to be useful in God’s house, we must have our hard edges broken off. Then we will fit into the place that God has for us. These hard edges are broken off by friction. 

God uses friction to perfect his plans in our lives. In the river, stones rub against each other. God leads us into this. In close relationships with other believers our rough edges are exposed. We all have faults and sins. We usually try to hide these things from others. But in close relationships these things are harder to hide. This is an opportunity for repentance and for our rough places to be made smooth.

Stones on the side of the river bank don’t experience much friction. They stand alone on the riverside. This may be easier. These stones may be more attractive to the world. They will be more easily seen by people. But for killing giants, these stones will not be useful. If you want to be useful for God, you must be willing to sacrifice your independence and individuality in order to be equipped for the Master’s use. You must be willing to go into the river and get yourself dirty in the nitty-gritty of life in Christian fellowship.

It is possible to feel a lot of love and unity with someone that you don’t really know. You may see them from a distance and feel united with them. This often happens in churches or in ministries. This is a false unity because when you get close to that person you find out that their faults are very annoying. Then the superficial unity breaks. Superficial unity is too weak to overcome challenges. It lacks power.

True unity comes when people are willing to take up their cross. Self-sacrifice produces the unity that the early church experienced when they were all of one heart and one soul (Acts 4:32). This unleashes the power of God.

David is a symbol of Christ. God is preparing his hidden saints at this time to do a mighty work in the earth. They may be in the riverbed. Many of God’s chosen people are not widely heard of. Not many people know about them. But they are being trained and equipped by the Holy Spirit to slay giants.

When Israel faced Goliath, King Saul was facing many problems. Saul had disobeyed God and did things in his own way. He was tormented by demons. And yet he was the king of Israel. He was still leading God’s people. But his disobedience caused him to become very weak.

It was time for the old order in Israel to pass away. David’s victory over Goliath was part of this change. Saul was falling down, and David was being exalted. 

This change will also happen in the church. Dead religion will be replaced by the living work of the Holy Spirit. Saul’s armor will be put off, and the work of the Holy Spirit will dominate as the church prepares for the coming of Christ.

“Wait on the Lord, and he will strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord” (Ps. 27:14)

Sometimes our hearts become weak. We become fearful, discouraged, or overwhelmed. These are times we need to wait on God. 

“Those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.” (Isa. 40:31)

Waiting on God renews our strength. In Hebrew, this means to change our strength. Our strength is changed from our own strength to God’s strength. While we wait on God we are empowered. We gain spiritual energy to go forward.

Sometimes we must give up our own ideas and refuse to rush out and do things in our own power. It’s better to wait than to be hasty. 

We need to quiet our souls. “Surely I have quieted my soul… my soul is like a weaned child” (Ps. 131:2). Sometimes our souls are upset. A storm might rage within our souls. Jesus is able to speak to this storm and bring peace. “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful” (Col. 3:15). 

Jesus told us to enter into our closet and shut the door and pray to our Father in secret. Sometimes we need to withdraw from activity and spend time with God. 

Waiting is a time to read the Bible and plant the seeds of God’s word in our souls. The word of God will grow in us and impart divine strength. Waiting is a time to cleanse ourselves from things that defile. Take a break from the TV, radio, and internet. Tune into God. Fill yourself with the word of God so you can bear lasting fruit. 

Waiting demonstrates faith, and faith pleases God. If we trust God, we will wait for him. If we don’t trust in God, we won’t wait for him. Waiting can be hard, but God will give us patience to wait for him. Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Waiting gives God an opportunity to work. As we wait, God can change other people or circumstances. God needs time to arrange things to prepare for his will to happen.

Waiting on God is a spiritually active process. It’s not about being lazy. We wait with expectancy, faith, and anticipation that God will come through. This requires spiritual energy. The time of waiting may look like a time of inactivity, but many powerful things can happen during this time.

Waiting precedes miracles.

Throughout the Bible people waited for God. This had profound results, because God did what they could not do. 

Abraham waited 100 years to have a son. Abraham wasn’t perfect, but he learned to wait. Because he waited for God he became the father of our faith.

When Moses brought the children of Israel to the Red Sea, they were hemmed in. They had no place to go. Before them was the Red Sea, and behind them was Egypt’s army. All they could do is wait for God to come through. As they waited, a miracle happened, and the sea split.

“Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today” (Ex. 14:13).

David waited for God. When he was anointed king, he did not rush out and grab the kingdom away from Saul. He waited for God to exalt him. When Saul was persecuting David and trying to kill him, David was greatly distressed. A couple of times David had an opportunity to kill Saul, but he didn’t. He waited for God, who said, “vengeance is mine, I will repay” (Deut. 32:35). 

David was a man after God’s own heart. He was humble. He was merciful. He was meek. All of this contributed to his willingness to wait. As a result of waiting for God, supernatural strength and victories characterized David’s life.

The early disciples waited in the Upper Room. Days later, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them and they burst out into the world in God’s power.

Jesus knows how to wait. He waited 30 years before starting his earthly ministry. Now he’s been waiting almost 2,000 years for his bride to get ready for him. She’s taking a long time to get ready. She’s still cleaning herself up and preparing. So Jesus patiently waits. And he’s praying for her in the meantime. He knows that someday she will be ready for him and then his marriage can finally happen.

The entire creation is waiting. It’s waiting to be set free from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Rom. 8:20-21). This hasn’t happened yet, so the creation waits.

God’s children are also waiting. We’re not only waiting for God to fulfill his purposes in the earth, but we’re waiting for God to come through in different areas of our lives. As we wait on God, this is a time to be empowered. It’s a time to pray, hear from God, and be filled with his word. Waiting is a time when transformation can happen.

When we come out of our waiting room with God, we will be changed. We will have new strength. We will walk through the fire, but it won’t burn us. We will walk through water, but it won’t overcome us.

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you” (Isa. 43:1-2).

Holiness is fitting for the house of God (Ps. 93:5). It’s appropriate and necessary for God’s house to be holy. There is a vital connection between holiness and the house of God. 

God dwells in the high and holy place. He lives in the Holy of Holies – the Most Holy Place. This is the holiest place in the entire universe. This place is holy because God is holy, and he lives there. Here the angels sing “Holy Holy Holy” all the time. 

Our God is holy. The name of his Spirit is Holy – the Holy Spirit. Holiness is the primary characteristic of God.

God wants to live on this earth among people. The church is the house of God. We are a temple of living stones that God is to live among. The church is called to be the dwelling place of God on the earth, and he wants to shine out from the church. God wants a holy house to live in. We need to be holy if God is going to dwell among us and walk among us (2 Cor. 6:17-18).

“As He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,  because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.'” (1 Pet. 1:15-16). 

We are called to be as holy as God is, because we are God’s house. Being holy is a high standard. It may seem unattainable. But this is a command, and God doesn’t give us impossible commands. We can be holy because we have the Holy Spirit inside us. As we live and walk in the Holy Spirit, we rise above our flesh and the world around us. When we live according to the Holy Spirit, we become partakers of his holiness (Heb. 12:10). 

Our own righteousness is like filthy rags. Let’s throw them away. We need the righteousness of Christ. We don’t need our own holiness. We need the holiness of God.

Holiness cannot be attained through the law. The law cannot produce holiness because it depends on our own strength. Holiness can only be produced in us as a gift from God himself. As we walk in the Spirit, we are not under the law but under grace. We receive holiness as we walk in the Spirit, following the leading of God. The words of Jesus are Spirit and life. As we obey Christ in the power of the Spirit, the spiritual power of his words will be unleashed in our lives and we will be changed into his image.

Sometimes we are deceived about holiness, and we might think that holiness is unnecessary. Maybe a little compromise with sin is ok. But God is clear. God is hates sin, darkness, and uncleanness. He doesn’t want these things in his house.

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,  nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9-10).

The first request of the Lord’s prayer is “Hallowed by thy name.” This means asking God to make his name holy. Asking God’s name to be made holy might seem unusual. God’s name is already holy, so how can it be made any more holy than it already is? 

God’s name is how God is revealed or known to the world. God wants to be revealed to the world as he actually is. When we pray, “Let your name be holy,” we are praying that God would be made known to the world as he actually is. 

God’s name or reputation is often made dirty by his people. For ‘the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,’ as it is written” (Rom. 2:24).

When God’s house is defiled with sin, God’s name is blasphemed. 

Ravi Zacharias passed away several months ago. He was a bestselling Christian author and Christian minister. He had a popular radio show. He travelled around the world representing Christianity, arguing with atheists and others that God is true.

Vice-President Mike Pence, who many recognize as an evangelical Christian, spoke at his funeral. He said that Ravi Zacharias was “the greatest Christian apologist of this century.” Newsweek magazine hailed him “Christianity’s top apologist.”

It was recently revealed that Ravi had been living an unrepentant, immoral lifestyle around the world for many years, using his position as a successful Christian leader to trap people into sin.

Now, Christian leaders are recognizing Ravi as a “sexual predator,” “one of the greatest frauds of this generation,” a “uniquely charismatic manipulator,” and “Satanic.”

Can the top defender of the Christian faith actually be a Satanic individual?

Jesus said that when he returns, many will tell him of all the wonderful ministry they had done, and then he will say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you who work iniquity!” (Matt. 7:21-23).

The fact that a “Satanic sexual predator” is called the “top defender of the Christian faith” reveals that there is a serious problem in the church today! There is a lot of deception in Christianity!

“But to the wicked God says: ‘What right have you to declare My statutes, or take My covenant in your mouth, seeing you hate instruction and cast My words behind you? When you saw a thief, you consented with him, and have been a partaker with adulterers. You give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes. Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver” (Psalm 50:16-22).

God doesn’t want wicked people who refuse to repent to be teaching his word to others. He doesn’t want serial adulterers traveling around the world trying to convince other people to follow Jesus. God is holy. His Spirit is holy. God wants his name to be hallowed. He wants his house to be as holy as he is. The Holy Spirit is grieved by such things. Judgement will begin at the house of God.

We need discernment. We need to distinguish between those who are serving God and those who are not serving God. There is no benefit in being deceived. There is no point in hiding behind a mask of hypocrisy. There is no point in allowing Christian leaders to hide in their sins. It is better to get rid of lies and hypocrisy so that people can repent and move forward.

A big problem in the church today is lack of accountability. Lack of accountability often arises because church or ministry structures are unbiblical. Many churches and ministry organizations today are ordered in such a way that sin is able to hide, especially among leaders. There is also a lack of the working of the Holy Spirit in many of these places.

Biblical church ought to be a place where sin is exposed and people are brought to repentance. Paul said that if someone comes into the church, the prophetic gift should expose the secrets of his or her heart (1 Cor. 14:24). This will bring repentance. This is good. We need to grow spiritually when we come into church, not use church as a means for our own religious ambitions or putting on an empty show.

Biblical church is to be holy, and Biblical church is an aid to the holiness of the individual. For church to fulfill this function, we need to get back to the word of God. We need to recover the apostolic order.

Once Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took some incense and went into the Most Holy place. They offered incense there before God. God never told them to do this. But they didn’t care. They were doing religion in their own way! 

God struck them down dead (Lev. 10:1-2).

The problem was that Nadab and Abihu didn’t sanctify God (Lev. 10:3). They didn’t make him holy. The tried to bring him down to their level and make him conform to their own religious ideas. They weren’t willing to allow God to to lift them up to his holy standard by conforming themselves to his word. A lot of religious activity is man-made and pointless. We need to get back to the word of God and submit ourselves to Jesus Christ.

Let’s pursue holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). Let’s do things according to God’s word. As we do, we will partake of his holiness. And his name will be made holy on this earth. His house will be holy and the world will see that there is a God. Intellectual arguments are often empty and fail to win a lost world. The Holy Spirit is the one who will prove to an unbelieving world that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

God is calling his people to be prophetic. He wants us to be ready and prepared for what is coming in the world. He doesn’t want us to be just reactive but to be proactive. He wants us to understand the times we are living in so that we know what we should do (1 Chron. 12:32). To serve God effectively, we need to hear from him. Jesus said my sheep hear my voice, and they follow me (John 10:27). 

One important way that we can hear from God is through dreams. God said that he would pour out his Spirit in the last days, and people would dream dreams (Acts 2:17). Dreams are connected to visions. Visions are seen when someone is awake, but dreams are visions that are seen when someone is asleep. The Bible calls dreams night visions (Dan. 7:7). Dreams are an important way God speaks to his people.

Almost everyone has dreams. Dreams can come from three sources: from ourselves, from God, or from Satan.

Dreams come from ourselves often when we are busy. These dreams are connected to the activities we are engaged in (Ecc. 5:3). Sometimes dreams come from what we want (Isa. 29:8). 

Satan can give us nightmares. To get the victory over nightmares, we need to pray. It is possible to stop nightmares through prayer. If we are tormented by an evil spirit at night, we need to use the name of Jesus against that evil spirit and command it to go.

God can give us dreams. The Bible tells us that God will speak to his prophets through dreams (Num. 12:6). Each one of us has the ability to hear from God in dreams, because the Holy Spirit is inside us. We need discernment to recognize what dreams are from God and what dreams are not from God. The Bible warns us about false dreams (Jer. 23:32; Jude 8). All dreams must be measured by the standard of the Bible.

If God gives us a dream, we need to remember that dream in order to receive guidance from it. Often dreams from God are symbolic. We must interpret this symbolism correctly.

All the Dreams from God in the Bible

In the Bible, I counted 22 dreams that were from God. It’s helpful to understand these dreams. Looking at these dreams in the Bible will help us learn how to recognize if we get a dream from God. It will also help us understand how to interpret dreams.

1. Abimelech had a dream that he should not take Sarah to be his wife, because she was already the wife of Abraham (Gen. 20). 

God can speak to people directly through a dream. God sometimes gives dreams to unbelievers. God can send a dream to a person in order to protect someone else.

2. Jacob had a dream of a ladder going up to heaven at Bethel (Gen. 28). 

Dreams are often symbolic, and they reveal spiritual mysteries. Dreams can show us God’s plan. They can reveal God’s purpose for a person’s life. To understand symbolic dreams, we must accurately interpret them.

3. Jacob had a dream to go home (Gen. 31:10-11). God can give us important directions to us through dreams.

4. Laban dreamed that he should not bless or curse Jacob (Gen. 31:24). God used this dream to protect Jacob.

5. When Joseph was 17, he dreamed of his brothers’ grain sheaves bowing down to his sheaf. This meant that his brothers would become subject to him. 

Sometimes the interpretation of a dream is obvious. Joseph shared this dream to his brothers, and this caused them to hate him. Sometimes we should not share dreams with others because it may raise up unnecessary opposition.

6. Joseph dreamed that the sun, moon, and stars were bowing down to him. This dream meant that his entire family would become subject to him. Joseph shared this dream too, and it made him even more unpopular in his family.

Joseph received dreams from God, and he also was a gifted interpreter of dreams. He was involved in 6 dreams in the Bible. Joseph said that dream interpretation comes from God (Gen. 40:8). We can interpret a dream correctly when we hear from the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we need to tell our dream to a gifted person who can interpret the dream correctly for us.

7. In prison, the Egyptian butler had a dream about a vine with three branches that budded, had blossoms, and brought forth grapes. The butler saw himself taking the grapes, squeezing them into Pharoah’s cup, and giving the cup into Pharoah’s hand. Joseph interpreted the dream. The three branches symbolized three days, and in three days the butler would be taken from prison and restored to his position. This happened (Gen. 40).

8. In prison, the Egyptian baker had a dream. In his dream he had three white baskets on his head. The top basket had baked goods, and birds were eating these baked goods. Joseph interpreted this dream. The three baskets symbolized three days. In three days the baker would be hanged, and the birds would eat his dead body. This happened (Gen. 40).

9. Pharaoh had a dream. He saw seven fat cows coming out of the Nile. Seven skinny cows came up after them. The skinny cows ate the fat cows (Gen 41).

10. The same night Pharaoh had another dream. He saw seven fat and healthy ears of grain. Then he saw seven thin ears of grain. The thin grain ate the fat grain. Joseph came out of prison and interpreted both dreams to Pharoah. The seven fat cows and seven fat ears of grain symbolized seven years of plenty. The seven thin cows and seven thin ears symbolized seven years of famine.

As a result of these dreams, action had to be taken. Joseph was put in position managing the resources of Egypt so that they could survive this upcoming famine. As a result of Joseph’s faithfulness, Egypt was preserved. His family was preserved. His brothers became subject to him, according to his dreams when he was 17. God can give us dreams to prepare for the future.

11. A person dreamed of a loaf of barley bread tumbling into an army camp and causing a tent to fall over. Another person said this meant that Gideon would defeat this army (Judges 7:13). 

12. Solomon dreamed that God asked him whatever he wanted. Solomon asked for wisdom, and he got it (1 Kings 3:5-15).

13. Nebuchadnezzar dreamed about a large statue with a gold head, silver chest and arms, brass stomach and thighs, iron legs, and feet made partially of iron and clay. A stone struck the feet of this image and broke it. Then the entire image crumbled. The stone became a massive mountain that filled the entire earth (Dan. 2).

14. After praying and asking God for help, Daniel received the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in a dream of his own (Dan. 2:18-19). He said the image represented the political future of the world. The gold head represented Babylon. The silver chest represented Medo-Persia, which would come after Babylon. The brass stomach and thighs represented Greece which would replace Medo-Persia. The the iron legs symbolized Rome, which would replace Medo-Persia. The feet of iron and clay symbolized the nations that emerged out of the Roman Empire. The toes symbolized a political system that will be at the end of the age. The stone represents Christ and his kingdom that will smash this entire system and cover the earth with God’s glory.

15. Nebuchadnezzar dreamed that he would lose his mind. Daniel interpreted the dream, and soon Nebuchadnezzar went insane (Dan. 4).

16. Daniel had a dream of beasts coming out of the sea. This represented political systems rising from the earth. 

Daniel wrote this dream down (Dan. 7:1). It is helpful to write down dreams that we think might be from God so that we don’t forget the details.

17. Joseph had a dream that he should marry Mary, even though she was already pregnant with someone else’s (God’s) child (Matt. 1:20).

18. The Magi dreamed that they should not return to Herod after visiting Jesus (Matt. 2:12).

19. Joseph dreamed that he should go to Egypt to escape persecution (Matt. 2:13).

20. Joseph dreamed that he should return to Israel (Matt. 2:19-20).

21. Joseph dreamed that he should not go to Judea to avoid persecution (Matt. 2:22).

22. Pilate’s wife dreamed that her husband should let Jesus go because he was innocent (Matt. 27:19).

From all these examples, we can learn the importance of dreams and their interpretation. Sometimes the history of the world hinges on a dream. Sometimes dreams can save lives – multiple dreams saved the life of Jesus Christ when he was young. 

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). He’s still speaking to people today through dreams. Be alert if God may be communicating to you through dreams. If you think you may have a dream from God, measure it by the Bible. Pray for interpretation. And ask someone to help you interpret your dream if you need help. God wants to speak to you, and he might do so through a dream.

We are blessed as Christians to have a great revelation of God through his Son Jesus Christ. Many people throughout history desired such a revelation of God but never got it. They wanted to know God for themselves, but they couldn’t find him. They got confused and lost. We have a great privilege to know God, and we should not take this privilege for granted. 

In the Old Testament, the spiritual life of most Israelites was limited. They couldn’t access God directly. They had to go through other people. Priests performed religious rituals that allowed people to approach God. Prophets heard from God and spoke God’s words to people who couldn’t hear from God for themselves.

When God came down on Mount Sinai to reveal the Law, the mountain shook and quaked, and fire burned. All the people were afraid. They told Moses to go up into the mountain (Deut. 5:22-31). They didn’t want to approach God themselves. They wanted someone else to relate to God on their behalf. They wanted a mediator. They needed someone else to tell them what God was saying (Ezek. 8:1; 14:1; 20:1).

There were other limitations in the Old Covenant. People couldn’t worship God anywhere in the world. They could only worship at Jerusalem. In addition, they didn’t have the indwelling Holy Spirit, so they had to serve God in their own strength.

In the New Covenant, many of these restrictions have been removed (Heb. 8:7-13). In the New Covenant, God has written his laws in our hearts and minds. He has given us his indwelling Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us. Now we all have a direct relationship with God through the blood of his Son Jesus.

All of us are able to hear God speak. Jesus said that my sheep hear my voice (John 10:27). We can all be taught directly by God (1 John 2:27). We are all priests (1 Pet. 2:5, Rev. 1:6). We can all desire to prophesy, because we all have the Holy Spirit inside us. We don’t go to worship God at a temple, but we are the temple of God (Eph. 2:20-22).
The Old Testament Law was “weak” and “unprofitable” (Heb. 7:18). It was weak because people could not fulfill the law in their own power. It was unprofitable because it didn’t allow people to become righteous or mature spiritually. This is why the Old Testament law has become obsolete (Heb. 8:13).

Sometimes we try to live as Christians in an Old Covenant sense. We try to fulfill the Law in our own power. This causes us to become mired in sin, because by the law is the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20). We cannot get victory over sin through the law. The law is weak because of the weakness of our own flesh. We need something supernatural to lift us out of our flesh. This is the Holy Spirit.

In the New Covenant, we are no longer under the law but under grace (Rom. 6:14). Grace is not a license to sin, but it’s enabling power to walk according to God. Grace operates by the Holy Spirit. Walking in the Spirit means following the leading of the Spirit. It means obeying Christ and and living in the power of the Spirit. When we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Gal. 5:16). 

In the New Covenant, we don’t need people to mediate between us and God. All of us can experience God directly for ourselves. This means we all have something from God. We all have spiritual gifts that are important for the growth of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:9). 

Leadership in the New Covenant is important, but it’s different than leadership in the Old Covenant. Whereas Old Covenant leadership was for the purpose of revealing God constantly to people who were unable to hear from God for themselves, New Covenant leadership is for the equipping or discipling of the saints so that every believer can have a strong relationship with God and do the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:11-13). As each member ministers, the body of Christ will grow (Eph. 4:16).

In the Old Covenant, God’s people gathered together around one man. He was often elevated on a stage. He would stand behind a pulpit. He would teach all the people, mediating between them and God (Nehemiah 8:1-8).

New Covenant gatherings of God’s people are different. New Covenant meetings are called ekklesia, in which every child of God has a right to participate. Like the Last Supper of Christ, New Covenant meetings are to be times of intimate fellowship where the word of God is shared, discussion happens, questions are answered, needs are met, and disciples are made. The early church meetings often included a meal (Acts 20:7). They were participative (1 Cor. 14:26). They happened in homes (Rom. 16:5, 1 Cor. 16:19, Col. 4:5, Acts 8:3).

We have the great privilege of living in the New Covenant. We can experience God directly for ourselves. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit. God has freely revealed himself to us through his Son Jesus so that we can reveal him and his glory to the world. Let’s not live as the Israelites did in the Old Covenant, under the law and separated from God’s personal presence and power in our lives. Individually, let’s go to God ourselves. Let’s pray and hear from him. Let’s read his word and obey it. Let’s walk in the Spirit. And as a church, let us refocus on what it means to have meetings under the New Covenant – participative meetings, healthy fellowship, close relationships, and everyone working together to edify the body of Christ.

We have the great privilege of knowing God in an amazing way because of the gospel of Jesus. Let’s fulfill our responsibilities as recipients of the New Covenant, which is based on better promises by which we draw near to God.

The gift of prophecy is one of the most important spiritual gifts. Christians are commanded to desire the gift of prophecy (1 Cor. 14:1, 39). Do you desire to prophesy? Do you know it is possible for you to prophesy because the Holy Spirit is inside you? Paul wants all believers to prophesy (1 Cor. 14:5).

Prophecy means speaking by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:20-21). Instead of speaking out of one’s mind, experience, or what one knows, prophesying means speaking as the Holy Spirit gives revelation. Prophesying is beyond the limitation of human ability. It is something supernatural that reveals insights from God. It is possible for each Christian to hear from God. This is to be normal. Because we can hear from God, we can speak God’s words.

The gift of prophecy is a good thing. It is a gift from God. As the church grows into her role as the bride of Christ, the gift of prophecy will become more and more important.
Prophesying doesn’t mean writing Scripture. Many people prophesied in both the Old and New Testaments but they all didn’t write Scripture. When we are commanded to desire to prophesy (1 Cor. 14:1), we are not desiring to write Scripture. The Bible is complete, and nothing more can be added to it. The Bible is a perfect revelation of God to us, and no one has authority to add to it or take away from it.

The Bible says that we need prophecies until Jesus comes (1 Cor. 13:8). At that time we will see God face to face, and we will no longer need prophesying because we will be flooded with the light of God. Until then, prophesying is important because it gives us glimpses of God while we live in this world. The gift of prophecy will continue to be an important part of the church until the church is glorious and united together (Eph. 4:11-13). 

There is a difference between someone who is a prophet and someone who has the gift of prophecy. A prophet has a particularly strong gift of prophecy who operates regularly in this gift. The gift of prophecy is so strong in the life of a prophet that his life has begun to be defined by this gift. Because of this he can provide important leadership to the church.

The New Testament reveals some important facts about prophets. Prophets are one of the primary leadership positions of the church (Eph. 4:11). Prophets, along with apostles, comprise the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20). Prophets follow apostles in order of importance as church leadership positions (1 Cor. 12:28).

There are several prophets mentioned in the New Testament. Agabus was a prophet. He prophesied of a famine that would affect the Jerusalem church, and because of this prophecy, help was sent to the Jerusalem church. Agabus also prophesied about Paul being arrested (Acts 21:10). There were several prophets in the church in Antioch (Acts 13:1). Judas and Silas were prophets (Acts 15:32). Philip had four daughters who had a strong prophetic gift (Acts 21:9).

Prophecy often involves telling the future, but it is more than that. Prophecy means speaking the word of God by immediate revelation. God knows everything. There is nothing hidden from him. When we hear from him, we can know things that are beyond our own ability to know. The spiritual knowledge that comes through prophecy is powerful. Prophecy can expose secrets (1 Cor. 14:24-25). When hidden things in hearts are exposed, people can be very surprised and their lives can be transformed. The gift of prophecy also involves understanding mysteries and knowledge (1 Cor. 13:2).

Prophecy was very common in the early church. It was one of the primary ways the church was built up. 

1 Corinthians 14 reveals how prophecy should function in the church. Prophecy edifies others and builds up the church. It exhorts and comforts (1 Cor. 14:3). 2 or 3 prophets can speak in a church meeting, and they must speak one at a time. While a person is prophesying, others must discern whether what they are saying is true (1 Cor. 14:29). If a revelation comes to another prophet while one is speaking, the first person should be quiet and allow the other to speak (1 Cor. 14:30). Prophesying is not out of control, but those who prophesy are in control of themselves (1 Cor. 14:32).

Prophesying is similar to the gift of tongues. Both of these gifts enable a person to speak by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Tongues is inspired speech in a language the speaker does not understand, but prophecy is inspired speech in a language the speaker and the hearer both understand. This is why prophecy is more valuable for the church.
Christians should not despise prophecies. Sometimes when we are exposed to false prophecies, we are tempted to reject all prophecies. However, we should not despise all prophecies, but we should test prophecies because some prophecies will be false and some will be true (1 Thess. 5:20-21).

A true prophecy will line up with the word of God. No true prophecy will contradict the Bible. 

A prophet must confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh (1 John 4:1-2). This means he will admit that Jesus came in a physical body. It also means that his prophecy will be based on the word of God and the teachings of Jesus. 

If a prophecy doesn’t come to pass, we can know it is not from God (Deut. 18:21-22).

The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10). When the gift of prophecy operates, Jesus witnesses to God’s people. He speaks to them. Prophecy is a sign that Jesus is present among us. We need to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church. He wants to speak through us by the gift of prophecy so that we are warned of future events, encouraged by his words to us today, and secrets are revealed. 

The church needs the gift of prophecy in order to fulfill its potential. Let us desire this gift.

According to the New Testament, each Christian has received a spiritual gift (1 Pet. 4:10, 1 Cor. 12:7). These spiritual gifts are important for the church to grow, and we need to operate our spiritual gifts in order to bless others. One of the most important spiritual gifts in the New Testament is the gift of prophecy. Prophecy means speaking the word of God by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21).

The Bible is full of prophecies, from beginning to end. The first prophecy in the Bible is in Genesis 3, and it’s about Christ who would come and crush the head of Satan (Gen. 3:15). The last book of the Bible, Revelation, is full of prophecies about future events. In between these two books there are many other prophecies. Prophecy is important for the church, because it builds the church up (1 Cor. 14:1-4).

Prophecies are becoming more and more common. Many Christians have had the experience of either giving or receiving a prophecy. Many of these prophecies have brought blessing into people’s lives.

While prophecies can be a big help, it is important to be careful. Jesus warned that many false prophets would arise and deceive many (Matt. 24:11). We don’t want to be deceived. People are deceived by false prophets when they believe false prophecies.

One of the best ways to discern whether a prophecy is true or false is by whether it comes to pass or not (Deut. 18:21-22). If a prophecy does not happen, we can be sure it did not come from God.

Throughout history, the church has been infected by false prophecies. As the saying goes, those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

In 1843 a man named William Miller prophesied that Christ would return prior to March 1844. When this didn’t happen, he postponed the date of Christ’s return to April 18, 1844. This didn’t happen either. One of Miller’s followers then prophesied that Christ would come in October of 1844. This failed too. Postponing the date wasn’t working out. Miller’s followers, who numbered in the thousands, were extremely disheartened, and one of them wrote that he had to be helped to his bedroom, where he lay down “sick with disappointment.”

All was not lost for Miller’s false prophecy, however. Soon it was reinterpreted by Ellen G. White. She said that Christ did come in 1844 – he came into the Holy of Holies in heaven. The movement was revived, and the Seventh Day Adventist Church was born. This church now numbers around 25 million adherents worldwide, and is the 5th largest Christian group in the world. It’s built on a false prophecy, and a false reinterpretation of a false prophecy. Christ did not go into the Holy of Holies in 1844, he went there after he rose up from the dead. And believers since the birth of the church 2000 years ago have been going boldly into the heavenly Holy of Holies through Christ’s blood (Heb. 10:19). They didn’t have to wait until 1844.

We can learn a few important lessons from this event. When prophecies fail, people often don’t want to repent. They often postpone their prophecies to the future. When these postponements fail, the prophecies are often reinterpreted. These reinterpretations are often connected to false teachings. And all of this deception can become very popular.

Recently, many different people prophesied that Donald Trump would have a second term in office and be President four more years. At least 25 different nationally known ministers made this prophecy. Not a single one prophesied that Joe Biden would become President. It is obvious that this prophecy was false, for Trump is not now President.

Those who speak a public false prophecy publicly should repent publicly. They should take a break from prophesying and refocus on actually hearing from God, learning how to distinguish their own thoughts from the voice of God. And they should be more humble in the future, and say “I think God may be saying this, but I’m not sure.”

God is merciful. Just because someone speaks a false prophecy doesn’t mean that he or she is a false prophet. If someone repents, God can take away their sin. 

Sadly, very few of the people who prophesied about Trump having a second term have repented publicly. Some have postponed their prophecies, pushing them off in the future. And others are busy reinterpreting their prophecy. This follows a deceptive pattern. We need to be very cautious about the ministries of people who don’t publicly repent of their public false prophecies.

False prophecies are dangerous. They mislead God’s people. They are lies from Satan who is the father of all lies (John 8:44). They can bring people into bondage. False prophecies give unbelievers a reason to mock Christians. Such prophecies also sow doubt among true believers as they may wonder if anyone can really hear from God.

Some Christians, when they see false prophecies, throw up their hands and conclude that there is no real prophecy today. This is not true. The New Testament is clear that the church needs prophecy (1 Cor. 14:1). Prophecy will be an important part of the church until Christ returns.

Interestingly, many churches that reject the gift of prophecy simultaneously embrace false prophecies. For example, the Left Behind series of books is full of questionable prophecies but is popular among churches that reject the gift of prophecy.

Jeremiah said that the “prophets prophesy falsely, and my people love to have it so” (Jer. 5:30). The people of God often love false prophets. The false prophets tickle their ears and tell them what they want to hear. True prophets like Jeremiah speak the unvarnished word of God. This is why true prophets like Jeremiah are often thrown down muddy wells, but false prophets are exalted.

Jeremiah once prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar would rule over Israel (Jer. 27). Jeremiah made a wooden yoke and put it on his neck to symbolize the domination of Nebuchadnezzar over Israel. The Israelites didn’t want to hear this prophecy. Why should this pagan king rule over God’s people? They got mad at Jeremiah. False prophets came against him and threatened him.

A false prophet named Hananiah came to Jeremiah and prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar would soon stop ruling over Israel (Jer. 28:3). Hananiah broke the yoke off of Jeremiah’s neck in front of everyone to prove his point (Jer. 28:10). The Israelites loved Hananiah’s false prophecy. It’s what they wanted to hear. He was popular guy, supported by important and powerful people. But God hated Hananiah’s false prophecy. Soon God sent Jeremiah to tell Hananiah that he would die within a year. A few months later, Hananiah was dead.

Once, king Ahab wanted to go to war and take a city. Four hundred false prophets told him to go to war and God would cause him to win the battle and conquer the city. This was a false prophecy spawned by demons. In the midst of this deception, there was one man who actually heard from God. His name was Micaiah. He prophesied that Ahab would not conquer the city but would lose the battle and die. Ahab and the people were angry at Micaiah. A false prophet smacked Micaiah’s face. King Ahab threw Micaiah into prison and tormented him. Ahab ignored the word of God, went into battle, and died. In Israel in those days, the proportion of false prophets to true prophets appeared to be 400 to 1.

It’s easy to be a false prophet. It’s much harder to a true prophet. Throughout history, God’s people have rejected his word. They didn’t want to hear what he’s really saying. They wanted to pretend that he’s saying something he’s not saying. This is why they often like false prophets better than true prophets.

Isaiah, another true prophet, recognized this problem. “This is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of the Lord, who say to the seers, “Do not see!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things; speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits!” (Isa 30:9-10).

Isaiah said that the people of God did not want to hear what God was actually saying. They wanted to hear smooth words that sounded nice and made them feel good. They wanted to hear lies.

Just like there were false prophecies in ancient Israel, there are false prophecies today. Jesus warned us about this. We need to sharpen our discernment in the coming days, because more and more false prophets will rise up.

It’s important for Christians to rise above the political fray and seek first the kingdom of God. God’s kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, and it is coming by spiritual power. This is where our allegiance should be and where our energies should be expended.

Next week we will explore more about what the New Testament says about prophecy, and learn about how we can begin to experience this awesome spiritual gift. In the coming days we need to hear clearly from God. The church will need the true gift of prophecy possibly now more than ever. As we learn about prophecy, let us keep in mind that we must be humble in order to avoid deception.