There are different ways that people view God. Some people see God as a stranger. They don’t really know him. He is distant from them, and they feel separated from him. Other people view God as a stern judge, sitting up in heaven, just waiting to strike them down for a minor infraction. Others see God as an impersonal power or force.

It’s important to have the right conception of God. In many ways, our conception of God determines our experience of God.

It’s especially important for us to view God accurately when we pray. When we understand who God really is, then we can relate to him effectively.

We see God correctly through the lens of his word. Jesus Christ is the word of God, and Jesus shows us who God is. As we read the Bible and see Jesus more clearly, we learn about the reality of God. When we see God as he really is, then we can experience him.

Satan loves to pervert our view of God and make us misunderstand him in order to try to disconnect us from him. We need God’s word to demolish these lies.

Jesus wants us to see God as our Father. He said that when we pray, we should address God as “our Father.” God is the Father of everyone because he has created every person. But that doesn’t mean that everyone is his child. To become a child of God, we must believe in Jesus Christ and be born again. God is therefore the Father more specifically of everyone who believes in Jesus. Weare born again and adopted into God’s family. We have peace with God and are in a relationship with him.

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children ofGod!” (1 John 3:1).

God loves his children! He takes care of them.

To approach our good Father, we should do in faith.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

We must have faith in two things about God. First, we must believe that God exists. There is no point in praying to someone who we don’t believe exists. Second, we must believe that God rewards those who seek him diligently. Praying to a god who doesn’t care, hear, or respond to our prayers is pointless. This is not our God.

Jesus taught us to pray in faith.

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:9-13)

God is our Father. He created us. He made us his children through his Holy Spirit. He delights in giving good gifts to us. The main gift that we need from God is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who will translate all the bountiful grace of God into our lives.

Let us see God as he is – our Father. As we see him accurately, we will open the door for his blessing.

One of the most important spiritual gifts in the New Testament is the gift of prophecy.

“He who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men” (1 Corinthians 14:3)

“Desire spiritual gifts,but especially that you may prophesy” (1 Corinthians 14:1).

“For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged.” (1 Corinthians 14:31)

As the church increasingly recovers God’s plan and prepares for the return of Jesus Christ, it becomes more and more important to understand the gift of prophecy.

Prophets are among the most important leaders in the church. The New Testament says that prophets, along with apostles, are foundational for the church (Ephesians 2:20).

In the New Testament, several prophets are mentioned. A group of prophets is mentioned in Acts 13:1. One of these prophets may have been Paul before he became an apostle. Agabus and other prophets are mentioned in Acts 11:27-28. Agabus prophesied in Acts 21:10. Judas and Silas were prophets (Acts 15:32).

There were often at least 2 or 3 prophets in many New Testament church meetings (1 Corinthians 14:29). With a couple of prophets in various church meetings, there were a lot of prophets in the New Testament.

Being a prophet is based on the spiritual gift of prophecy. Spiritual gifts come from the Holy Spirit. All true ministry is based on the working of the Holy Spirit.

A prophet has a particularly strong gift of prophecy. In a sense, the gift of prophecy has defined a prophet’s life.

Although Paul commands all believers to earnestly desire the gift of prophecy (1 Corinthians 14:1), he doesn’t mean that he wants them all to become prophets. Not everyone who has the gift of prophecy is automatically a prophet.

In the New Testament, to prophesy essentially means to speak out what God is saying now. It means hearing from God and communicating his words to others.

Prophecy is based on revelation (1 Corinthians 14:30). When a person gets a revelation from God, this is a first step toward prophesying. The next step is to prophesying is speaking that revelation out by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Prophecy can be about the future (Acts 11:28), but it is not necessarily so. Prophecy can also be about the past or the present (1 Corinthians 14:24). God knows all things, past, present, and future. When a person hears from God and speaks out his words, he prophesies.

Prophecy builds the church. It edifies. It comforts and exhorts (1 Corinthians 14:3).

Those with the gift of prophecy are able to understand mysteries and knowledge (1 Corinthians 13:2). They can understand the “deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10). This is nothing for them to boast about, for they have just received this understanding as a gift from the Holy Spirit.

Those who have the gift of prophecy must combine faith with their prophetic gift. Those who have more faith will prophesy more, whereas those who have less faith will prophesy less (Romans 12:6).

When someone prophesies, others need to judge whether the prophecy is true or false (1 Corinthians 14:37). Discernment is a gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:10). Some are better at discerning than others, but everyone has a responsibility to discern prophecies. The command to discern implies that Christians and churches will encounter both true and false prophecies.

All prophecies must bejudged by the word of God. A true prophecy will never contradict the Bible.

The gift of prophecy does not mean that anyone can add to the Bible. The Bible is complete, and no other books of the Bible will ever be written (Revelation 22:18).On the other hand, we have no authority to take away from the word of God. Many parts of the New Testament reveal that the spiritual gift of prophecy is part of the church, and we have no right to delete these parts of the Bible by making them irrelevant to church today. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He has not changed, and neither has his word. It is eternal.

Jesus warned us that many false prophets would arise, particularly at the end of the age, and they would deceive many people (Matthew 24:11). We need to test prophets (1 John 4:1) so that we are not deceived.

A prophet must confess Jesus Christ.

He must operate in the Holy Spirit.

He must bear good fruit. If his character has major flaws, his ministry is highly suspect.

“Beware of false prophets,who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-16). Character and fruit are often only known within the context of a local church.

Prophecies are sometimes only discerned over time. If a prophecy about the future does not come to pass, then that prophecy is false.

If a person speaks a false prophecy to the church, he should repent and be more cautious about prophesying in the future. The church should be very cautious about receiving further ministry from such a “prophet” until he repents and matures.

In the New Testament, prophets are in control of their words. They are not beside themselves or out of control (1 Corinthians 14:32). God is not the author of confusion within the church.

Prophesying requires caution. Many people today claim to hear from God and speak prophecies, but they are false. We must not be deceived.

It can be tempting to despise prophecies because we might have heard false prophecies in the past or have had bad experiences with people who falsely claimed to be prophets. Some think that God does not speak to his people today. But Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice.

We should not despise prophecy.

“Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good.”(1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Let us not throw out the baby with the bathwater. At the same time let us not accept all prophecies as if they are all from God.

As we follow the word of God, the Holy Spirit will teach us, give us discernment, and enable us to grow in our own ability to hear from God. He will keep us safe as we trust in him. And he will cause his spiritual gifts to operate within his church so that she can be built up to fulfill her purpose.

God has a pattern for his church. He has given us this pattern through his apostles in the New Testament. In order to fulfill God’s purpose for his church, we must understand and follow this plan.

Church is not a building. The apostles never built church building. Jesus never told anyone to build a church building. Church buildings were first built 3 centuries after the apostles died.

Ekklesia is the word for church in Greek. Ekklesia is an ancient Greek word thatoriginally referred to a governing body of people over a city. God used the word ekklesia throughout the New Testament to refer to his people. God’s ekklesia is comprised of everyone he has called out of the world to represent his eternal kingdom upon the earth.

In the New Testament, the word churchis used in three ways. Churchrefers to a gathering or group of believers, whether in a house, in a city, or all over the world.

In the New Testament, there was one church all over the world. All believers in Jesus were part of the worldwide church of God.

This worldwide church was separated geographically into city churches. There was one church in each city. There was one church in Rome, a church in Corinth, a church in Ephesus, etc. There may have been hundreds or thousands of believers in a city, and all of them were part of the church in that city.

There were no denominations in the New Testament. Denominations arose later because Christians followed contradictory teachings or various leaders. Jesus prayed that all his people would be one (John 17:21). Jesus doesn’t want his people divided separated into different sects by following opposing leaders or contradictory teachings (1 Corinthians 1:10-13). We need to unite by the Holy Spirit under the authority of the word of God. As we submit to God’s word, we will automatically come into unity with each other.

In the New Testament, each city church was comprised of various house churches. For example, in Jerusalem there were many house churches. The believers broke bread in houses, which means they took communion together and had church meetings in their homes (Acts 2:46). In his letter to the church in Rome Paul greets at least 3 different house churches in (Romans 16:5,14,15).

Over the centuries people have changed their understanding of church, but God has not changed. His word is eternal. His pattern and plan for church remains the same. We must strive to attain this apostolic standard.

Everyone Should Minister

Every Christian has received a spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 12:7-11, 1 Peter 4:10). These spiritual gifts are manifestations of the grace of God. They are supernatural operations of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual gifts are not based on natural abilities, but on the Holy Spirit. 

Spiritual gifts operate within a local Biblical church. A Christian will often discover his spiritual gifts within the context of fellowship in the church, for these gifts are given to build up the body of Christ.

Since each believer has at least one spiritual gift, each one is called to minister. Ministry is not just for Sunday morning, but it’s for throughout the week. In a New Testament church community, there will be many ministry opportunities.

Not Everyone is a Church Leader

Not every Christian is called to be a church leader. Even though each Christian has a spiritual gift, some have received special grace or callings from God in order to be church leaders.

There are two common misconceptions regarding church leadership.

The first error exalts leadership too high. It says that only leaders can do ministry, and everyone else should sit and watch. This belief develops a clergy/laity distinction. It renders many believers inactive. This belief is false, for the Bible says that each believer is called to minister because each one has a spiritual gift.

The second error is the opposite, and it downplays leadership too low. It says that since everyone is supposed to minister, then everyone is automatically a church leader. However, if everyone considers himself a leader, then no one is a leader. In a situation like this, it becomes like it was in Judges, in which “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” This leads to confusion, lack of vision, weakness, and inability to move forward.

Every believer should minister, but not every believer is called to be a church leader.

“And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord andadmonish you,and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake” (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13).

We must recognize who our leaders are. When we know them, we can measure their lives and teachings by the word of God. Then we can confidently follow them.

There are responsibilities that we have to our church leaders.

“Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow”(Hebrews 13:7).

“Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive” (Hebrews 13:17).

We have an obligation to submit to church leaders. But we must first recognize whether the leader is true or false. We will know this as we discern their lives and teachings by the word of God. When we discern who is a true leader, and we understand that God has placed that person in our life, then we can fulfill our obligations to that leader.

Church leaders are not qualified not by natural things. Seminary degrees, relationships with influential people, money, power, and personality do not qualify a person to be a church leader. Instead, church leaders are qualified by spiritual gifts. They must be recognized spiritually.

In Ephesians 4:11 Paul lists 5 different spiritual leaders: apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers. These leaders have received spiritual gifts that enable them to fulfill their ministries.

These leadership gifts are given to “perfect the saints” (Ephesians 4:12). Leaders are to disciple believers so they can grow in God and operate in their own spiritual gifts and minister to the body.

The believers are being perfected so they can “do the work of the ministry” (Ephesians 4:12). Again, we see that each believer is called to minister.

Believers do the “work of the ministry” for the “edification of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). Edification means building. The body of Christ is currently being built up in the earth. The body is built by “that which every joint supplies” (Ephesians 4:16).

The body of Christ is being built “until we come to the unity of the faith, of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).

This is a grand goal of the church – to be built up together, all over the world, into the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Spiritual leadership is given by God to spur the church onward to attain this goal. Until this goal is reached, spiritual leadership is needed to mature the saints so that they can minister so the body of Christ can be built.

Jesus Was a Perfect Leader

These five ministry gifts are gifts of the Holy Spirit. They operate by spiritual power.

Jesus had all of these five gifts within himself.

Jesus is an apostle (Hebrews 3:1).

Jesus is a prophet (Acts 3:22).

Jesus is an evangelist, for wherever he went he preached the gospel (evangelized in Greek (Luke 4:18)).

Jesus is a shepherd (John 10:11).

Jesus is a teacher (John 13:13).

Out of all these spiritual riches that Jesus has within himself, he poured out these gifts upon people through the Holy Spirit.

There are other positions of church leadership within the New Testament like elders, and we will look at those positions later.

Conclusion

Church is to be defined by God. Church leadership also must be understood by the word of God. As we study the New Testament, we understand what the church is to look like and how church leadership is to function. We learn that every believer is called and gifted to minister. We learn that church leadership is to disciple the believers so they can minister to build the body. And we learn that the great goal of the church can only be achieved as this process happens.

May our minds be renewed to understand church and church leadership according to Bible.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus faced opposition. In spite of that, he was always able to reveal the grace and power of God, transforming people’s lives.

Once some religious leaders tried to trick Jesus. They had been plotting against him to arrest him and kill him, and now they thought they had a perfect opportunity to trap him.A woman had been caught in adultery and was dragged in front of Jesus (John 8:1-12). The religious leaders said that she should be stoned, and they asked Jesus what to do.

Jesus didn’t answer them right away. Instead he bent over and wrote on the ground.

After a while, Jesus gave them an answer. He said that the person who had no sin should be the first to throw a stone at the woman.

Then he wrote on the ground again.

Feeling convicted by the power of God, all the religious leaders went out, from the oldest to the youngest. They knew they had sinned. They had been adulterous too.

The woman was left alone, and no one was left to accuse her. Jesus was the only one there without sin. He had the right to throw stones, but he didn’t. He didn’t come to condemn the world, but to save the world (John 3:17). We should be merciful too.

When Jesus wrote on the ground, he gave a symbolic picture of the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. Our hearts are like spiritual ground. As Jesus wrote on the dirt, the Holy Spirit convicted hearts. The religious leaders had an opportunity to repent and turn to God. But instead of responding in humility and obedience to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, they rejected God and slunk away. 

They weren’t willing to abandon their sins. They wanted to throw stones at a woman for the same sins they committed. They were hypocrites.

They weren’t gone for long. After hardening their hearts against the Holy Spirit, they quickly regrouped and came back. They accused Jesus of being demonized. They implied that he was a bastard.

When we encounter the word of God, we can respond in either humility or arrogance. We can submit to God’s word or attack it.

Jesus told the woman to go and sin no more. She was forgiven that day, because she responded humbly to the voice of God.

Jesus took her condemnation on himself. He took her place. The same religious leaders who were about to stone the woman instead grabbed stones to throw at Christ (John 8:59).

Jesus escaped, but he wasn’t free for long. Soon he was arrested, condemned, beaten, went to the cross, and died. He died in her place, bearing her sins and shame. He died for all of us too.

Now we, like the adulterous woman, are set free.

Just like Jesus did when he wrote on the ground, Jesus convicts our hearts by the Holy Spirit. When we are convicted by the Holy Spirit, we hear the voice of God. He is telling us to do something or change something. When we respond humbly to this conviction, we are delivered.

If we ignore the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, we go away from Jesus. Our hearts become hard. The word of God will not find a soft place of rest inside us.

God is merciful. The Spirit of God will lead us into all truth. The truth will set us free.

“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

Let’s be merciful like Jesus, for the merciful will receive mercy. And let’s rejoice that just like the woman caught in adultery, we are set free from sin, shame, and condemnation by the love of Christ.

It’s important to obey God. Throughout the Bible, those who obeyed God were blessed, and those who disobeyed him faced problems.

A flood was coming to destroy the world. God told Noah to build a big boat in order to save himself, his family, and the creation. Building this massive boat was the smartest thing to to at this time, but it wasn’t easy. It took a long time. No one else was building such a boat because no one else was hearing from God. But Noah didn’t care what others were doing, he just cared about what God said.

God told Noah how to build this boat. He told him what wood to use, what size the boat should be, and where to put the window. He told him what waterproofing method to use and what day to enter the boat. Specific obedience was the key to Noah’s deliverance.

Jesus said that the condition of the world in the end times will be same as it was in the days of Noah. A flood of judgment will come on the world, and only those who hear and obey God will be safe. Everyone else will be destroyed.

God is looking for people like Noah who are willing to do radical things in order to obey his word and prepare for the future.

Obeying God is reasonable. God knows much more than we do. He has all power to accomplish whatever he wants. Why would we not obey his words?

Jesus said obedience is essential.

Luke 6:45 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ but don’t do the things that I say?”

John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

John 14:21 “He who loves me keeps my words”

John 15:10 “If you keep my commands you abide in my love”

John 15:14 “You are my friends if you do whatever I command you.”

The apostles emphasized obedience.

1 John 5:3 Obedience is loving God

1 John 2:3 Obedience is knowing God

1 John 3:22 Obedience leads to answered prayer.

We have a responsibility to obey all the teachings of Christ and his apostles in the New Testament. This is basic Christianity. Obedience is fundamental to our life as God’s children. We are not here to do whatever we want to do. We are here to do whatever God wants us to do.

In the Old Testament, people obeyed the word of God in order to be saved. Today, we are not saved by our acts of obedience, but we are saved by grace through faith. When we believe the gospel, we are born again, and we receive eternal life. Today we obey God not in order to be saved, but we obey God because we are saved.

In the Old Testament, the strength to obey God was the flesh. Today, we have the Holy Spirit inside us. Now the strength to obey God comes from the Holy Spirit. When we discover what God wants us to do in his word, as we begin to obey that word, then we will find the Holy Spirit empowering us to do what God said.

Obeying God is the best thing we can do, because God is the most awesome, satisfying, and glorious person in the universe. He knows everything. All true love, joy, and peace is found in him. The word of God is a key that will unlock and release the presence of God into our lives. When we obey God, we will experience more of him and fulfill our purpose.

Although obeying God is the best thing we could possibly do, there are many reasons for disobeying God.

Flesh. Our flesh is sinful. Our flesh has no power to obey God. If we are relying on ourselves and our own power, we will not be able to obey God. We need to put off the flesh, crucify the old man, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Satan. The devil hates obedience to God because he hates God’s presence and power. The devil tempts us to sin, do evil, and doubt God. He doesn’t want us to obey God because he doesn’t want God’s kingdom to advance. We defeat the devil’s lies by the word of God.

Peer Pressure. People around us often disobey God. Cultures normalize disobedience to God. Society puts pressure on us to think in ways that are not according to the word of God and do things that are contrary to God. “The fear of man brings a snare” (Proverbs 29:25). We need to trust in the Lord and be willing to stand alone against the tide of people and society around us.

Christian Peer Pressure. There may be things in the word of God that many Christians around us are not following. We need to follow those things anyway. Many churches may be doing things that are not based on the Bible. We need to reject those things. We need to stand on the word of God, not being moved away from it by the ‘Christian culture’ around us that may be compromised.

Money. We need to put God first over money, because the love of money is the root of all evil. We cannot serve God and money. Don’t put money first and then add God on at the end. Put God first, and then God will provide what you need.

Procrastination. Sometimes we know what God wants us to do, but we put off obeying because we think we can obey God later. But God wants us to obey today. “Today if you hear is his voice, don’t harden your heart” (Hebrews 12:10). When the Holy Spirit prompts us to obey God, we need to follow this prompting. Tomorrow may be too late.

Too Hard. Sometimes it might seem too hard to obey God because he might ask us to do something beyond our own ability. But as we obey God, we will find him supernaturally working in our lives. This will make obedience easier. Jesus said my yoke is easy and my burden is light and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:30). His commandments are not burdensome or heavy (1 John 5:3). God’s word is the pathway of life. Our job is to obey and leave the results up to him.

Think We Know Better. Sometimes we think that we know a better way of doing something. We come up with clever ideas. But our own ideas often won’t work. We need God’s ideas. His way sometimes won’t make sense to our natural mind, but his way is always perfect.

Impatience. Sometimes obeying God takes a while. We want things to happen fast, so we do things in a different way thinking that our way will have quicker results. But we need to wait for God. He will come through. He will act according to his word in his time. And when God works, it will be the best.

Unbelief. Sometimes we don’t believe that God will actually bless us as we obey him. But whenever we obey God, we will be blessed.

Fear. Sometimes we are afraid that obedience to God will cause problems. But whenever we obey God, God will bear the consequences for our obedience, and he will get us through safely. Other people will be blessed as we obey God. Our own life will be blessed. The challenges of obedience may be great, but God is greater.

Ignorance. Sometimes we disobey God because we don’t know that God wants us to do something. No one has taught us some commands of the Bible. We might have read a verse, but it somehow didn’t register in our minds that we need to obey it. “My people perish for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). We need to read the word of God for ourselves and set out to obey it, whatever it is. The Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth.

Accusations of Legalism. Sometimes we hesitate to obey God because we think if we focus too much on obeying God we’ll become legalistic like the Pharisees. But the Pharisees did not obey God. They replaced the word of God with their own human traditions. Legalism expects people to obey man-made religious rituals, not the word of God. In addition, our works of obedience are not the way of our salvation, but obedience is a normal and healthy sign of our salvation.

Times Have Changed. Sometimes we don’t obey instructions in the New Testament because we think that times have changed and those instructions are not for our culture. However, the word of God is eternal. It transcends culture. Christ’s words are going to last forever. No matter what culture or time period we are living in, we are obligated to obey the word of God completely. God’s word stands over all cultures and time periods, and someday it will judge everyone.

We need to obey God regardless of the cost. The bride of Christ will be characterized by obedience to Jesus, her husband. It’s time for the bride to get ready. Let’s not add to nor take away from the word of God. Let’s keep pressing toward the goal. And if we encounter something in the word of God that we are currently not practicing, let us implement it. We have nothing to lose.

Jesus told his disciples to shake the dust off their feet when people didn’t receive God’s word. Shaking of the dust of their feet was a sign that that those people were going to be judged by God (Matthew 10:14-15).

However, shaking off the dust of their feet is more than a symbol of impending judgment.

Shaking off the dust points to something important for the health of Jesus’ own disciples.

When the disciples were rejected, it wasn’t easy. They were taunted, mocked, persecuted, and beaten.

We will face hard experiences in life. To move on from these experiences successfully, we need to learn to shake the dust off our feet.

Jesus didn’t want his disciples to be clouded over by difficulties.Rather than wallowing in misery because they were persecuted or rejected, Jesus wanted them to shake that dust off their feet and move forward.

We shouldn’t let the dust of hard experiences cling to us.

We don’t need to carry the dust of those difficulties into the future.

Dust makes us dirty. We need to shake that dust off. Forget the things that are behind and press forward into what lies before us.

When people reject us or persecute us, we need to forgive them. Don’t hold anger, bitterness, or unforgiveness in our hearts. This is like spiritual dirt that will hinder us. Shake this dust off.

God doesn’t want us standing on the ground of rejection. He doesn’t want us to define ourselves as bad people who have been condemned or judged by others. People may have rejected you, but this doesn’t define who you are. You are accepted in the beloved. You are standing on the rock that is Jesus Christ. Go forward into the bright future God has for you.

Shaking the dust off your feet means not standing on the pain of the past. Walk forward. Don’t drag the things of the past into the present. Shake off the dust of your feet. Walk forward into what God has for you, casting all your burdens on the Lord, because he cares for you.

Shaking off the dust of our feet is important for our spiritual health.

Sometimes we need to let people go. We should not keep banging against a brick wall. Try to share truth with people, but if they don’t accept the truth, shake the dust off and move on. There are other people are hungry to hear the word of God and desperate to get the deliverance and peace that can only come from Jesus.Move forward to those people.

Shaking off the dust of our feet also points to the fact that we should not compromise the truth in order to win people to God. Don’t allow their false teachings or ideologies to cling to you. Don’t sin in order to gain favor with the world. Don’t go along to get along. Shake the dust of the world off and keep walking with God.

God promises to go before us. He has an awesome plan. In order to fulfill that plan, we need to learn to shake the dust off our feet. Don’t be held back by the past. Move forward into the future. With God all things are possible.

Naomi and her family were Jews. There was a famine in Israel, so Naomi, her husband, and her two sons left Israel and moved to Moab to find food (Ruth 1:1).

Moab was a bad place. It was full of idolatry and compromise.

The Moabites were descendants of Lot. Lot once chose to dwell in the evil city Sodom so he could have material blessings. Lot represents Christians who compromise with the world in order to get material gain. The Moabites were a wicked nation.

Moab is not a good place for God’s people.

No matter how hard things are in Israel, Moab is not a solution. We need to stay in Israel because that’s where God is. Running somewhere else will not help us. There may be a famine in Israel, but that famine is only temporary. God will always come through for his people. He will speak to them and give them bread from heaven.

Naomi and her family moved to Moab because they were afraid they would starve to death in Israel.

But there was no sustenance in Moab.

In Moab, Naomi’s husband and her two sons died.

Moab is a place of destruction. We might go to Moab in hopes of finding life, but we will actually find death there.

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12).

When we face problems as Christians, the solution is not to compromise and run out into the world. Instead, we need to go deeper into God. As we go deeper into God, we will find help. As we stay in God’s will, we will be blessed.

Return to Bethlehem

After the death of her husband and sons, Naomi decided she had to go back to Israel.

Naomi was originally from Bethlehem. Bethlehem means a “fruitful house of bread.”

Bethlehem was not always full of bread, for there was once a famine there, and that’s why Naomi had left years ago. But God was in Bethlehem, even in the midst of the famine. “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

Naomi’s hard circumstances in Moab were bringing her back into the center of God’s will. She headed back to Bethlehem under the loving hand of God.

In this process Naomi murmured against God. She said that God had sent out his hand against her (Ruth 1:13). She became bitter. She said that God had dealt bitterly with her (Ruth 1:20). She said God had caused her to be empty, and he had afflicted her (Ruth 1:21).The reason Naomi faced these problems is because she went to Moab and left the land of Israel. She shouldn’t have blamed God for these problems. They weren’t God’s fault.

Ruth

Ruth was a Moabite girl who had married one of Naomi’s sons. That son was now dead.

Ruth didn’t want to stay in Moab. She loved the God of Israel, and she wanted to be with God’s people. She wanted to leave the idolatry and evil of Moab.Whereas Naomi had once left Israel to find natural provision in Moab, Ruth wanted to leave Moab to find spiritual provision among God’s people.

So Ruth accompanied Naomi back to Bethlehem.

When Naomi and Ruth reached Bethlehem, it was harvest time.

Redemption

There will always be a harvest among God’s people. We just need patience to wait for it. Seeds don’t produce fruit overnight. It takes many months for seeds to grow up and produce fruit. Sometimes the spiritual seeds of God’s word take even longer. Just because there appears to be a famine among God’s people doesn’t mean it will always be so. The harvest is coming. We need to be faithful to tend to the seeds that God has planted among us so that we can see the harvest. Don’t give up before the harvest comes.

Ruth went out into the field to pick up some grain that was lying on the ground. This field belonged to Boaz.

Boaz was a relative of Naomi’s dead husband, Elimelech.

Unlike Elimelech, Boaz had not run to Moab during the previous famine. He was a man of faith. He stayed in Israel. Over the years of walking with God he became a blessed and strong man.

Boaz came and met Ruth in his field. He told Ruth to drink as much water as she needed. He told her to listen to him and follow his instructions. He told her not to go into any other field but to stick close to him and his workers. He said he would keep her safe. He made sure that she was given more than enough grain for herself and Naomi. He gave her bread.

Boaz is a type of Christ. Ruth is a type of the church. We need to stick close to Jesus. As we do, he will provide all that we need. We have been adopted into his family, and he now takes care of us. As we listen to him and follow his instructions, we will be blessed.Through Boaz, the life of Ruth and Naomi became more blessed than they could ever imagine. Ruth became great-grandmother of King David and an ancestor of Jesus Christ.

Through Ruth, Naomi’s life turned around.

God is merciful. He can turn bad things around in our life for good. Even when we make terrible decisions, God can bring something good out of them.God was merciful to Naomi. He was working amazing things into her life, even when she didn’t understand.

Let us learn from this:

Don’t run out into the world,even when there appears to be a lack among God’s people. Press deeper into God and find the solution. The answers are only found in God. Compromise with the world is never the answer.

Be willing to wait for the harvest. Jesus will provide for all that we need.

Don’t blame God for problems that he didn’t cause.

Recognize that God is able to cover over mistakes and turn them around for good.

Always know that as you stay faithful to God, he will work amazing things out in your life, things that are beyond what you can even ask or think.

A Message from Bobby:

After the death of Moses, God spoke to Joshua and charged him to continualy meditate day and night over the Book of the Law (i.e. the first 5 books of the Bible) and observe all that God has commanded him. And God promised that He will never leave or forsake Joshua and He will be with him wherever he goes, making his way successful and prosperous.

Joshua 1:5-9

5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua is of the tribe of Ephraim (Numbers 13:8 & 13:16). It’s curious that he’s not of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of Moses and Aaron, the priesthood tribe. He’s not a priest and he’s not anointed as a king; yet, he was personally called and assigned by God to lead God’s people (Numbers 27:18-20). Joshua was chosen to be the successor of Moses because of his faithfulness to the Lord (Numbers 32:12). Joshua’s task was to lead God’s people into the Promised Land and to be their military and spiritual leader. God’s plan for the nation of Israel (the descendants of Abraham) was to set them apart, above all people of the earth, and to make them “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Deuteronomy 26:19; Exodus 19:6). However, God’s plan and God’s blessings on the Israelites were conditional on their obedience to His voice, His Law and His commandments. But God would not speak personally to every Israelite, but He would speak to them through the prophets, priests, and leaders He had anointed to be over the nation.

God spoke personally to Joshua, the leader of the nation of Israel. God’s promise to Joshua to be with him wherever he goes is a promise of a personal relationship with Joshua. And as we read through the following chapters of the Bible, Joshua follows God’s instructions and God guides him and speaks personally to Him time and time again. However, Joshua had to be careful to read, study and meditate on God’s written Word day and night, so that Joshua would be able to observe and do what God had commanded in His written Word, and as a result, God would bless him and God would speak personally to him, leading him to victory and great success.

Under the New Covenant, every believer is able to enter into a personal relationship with God by faith thanks to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross (John 3:16). God has poured out His Holy Spirit on us (Acts 2:38; Romans 5:5), and through the Spirit He has inscribed in our hearts and minds His laws, and He promises that everyone, every single believer, will now be able to personally know Him (Hebrews 8:10-11). Thanks to the Holy Spirit, every Christian is able to hear God’s voice personally. Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27).Every Christian is able to be led by God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised, “when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth“ (John 16:13). The Bible also declares,“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8: 14).

The Bible says that we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is our deposit, our guarantee, our earnest, our advance payment (Ephesians 1:13-14) for the heavenly inheritance, which every believer will receive one day in the kingdom of God, our heavenly Promised Land (1 Peter 1:4).

That’s why it’s important to realize that: 

What we believe matters(“by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9)),

What we think matters(“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1); “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. (Romans 8:5); “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.” (Philippians 4:8))

What we speak matters(“Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” (Ephesians 4: 29); “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45))

What we do matters(Jesus said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.” (John 14:21); and whoever hears Jesus’s sayings and does them, he is like a person building his house on the rock (Luke 6:47-49); “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Phillipians 4:9))

We read and study the Word of God daily so that we may be able to understand it fully (Ephesians 1:18) and we may be blessed more by God with all the spiritual blessings available to us in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). We pray that we may be conformed more to the image and glory of Jesus Christ. For that purpose, we need to believe first the whole written Word (not a part of it, or only the parts that make sense to us), then interpret it correctly (i.e., one verse, when interpreted correctly, should not contradict another verse), and then seek God’s help and the power of God’s Spirit so we may be able to apply His Word more fully in our daily lives. That is why, it’s vital that we do not base our beliefs and faith purely on personal experience or emotions, but we are grounded firmly on the Word of God. Because God can only bless us as long as we align ourselves with His Word.

According to the Bible, it’s possible for believers to experience the power of God’s Holy Spirit, God’s miracles and God’s supernatural power, and yet, for those believers to turn away from the truth of God’s Word. The church in Galatia had a good foundation, being taught by the apostles of Christ, and they experienced the supernatural power and presence of God’s Spirit (Galatians 3:5). Yet, they turned away from the truth (Galatians 3:1) and apostle Paul had to rebuke them sternly and warn them that he was afraid for them that their suffering for the gospel might be in vain (Galatians 3:4) and his labor of ministry among them might be in vain too (Galatians 4:11).

Therefore, what we believe, what we think, what we speak, and what we do, especially in relation to God’s written Word holds the importance of all eternity. 

Today, we have many who claim that America as a political nation has a special relationship with God. This is not new. Since the dawn of the Roman Empire, European nations and kingdoms have claimed such a special relationship for themselves and their nations. This is the belief, mostly based on the Old Testament covenant between Israel and God, that God would bless a nation militarily, economically, and financially above other nations, if that nation obeys Him. Moreover, many believe that Israel, as a political nation today, still has a special relationship with God as it once did in the Old Testament. But if such views are true, that God can have a special relationship with a political nation today, just as He did in the Old Testament with the nation of Israel, then does God speak personally today to the political and religious leaders of these nations, just as He spoke and revealed Himself to Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samuel, David, Solomon, etc.?

The Old Testament makes it clear that obedience to God’s Law is also connected with receiving revelation or vision from God.

“The Law is no more, and her prophets find no vision from the Lord.” (Lamentations 2:9)

“Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law.” (Proverbs 29:18).

After all, how can two claim to have a personal relationship, unless there’s some sort of communication going on between the two? And how can one get corrected and disciplined, unless he is able to hear God’s voice clearly? (Hebrews 12:6-8)

In fact, whenever there was no vision from the Lord, whenever the Lord did not speak personally to the leaders, according to the Old Testament, that was a sign, not of a healthy relationship with God, but rather, that something had gone terribly wrong as everyone was doing only “what was right in his own eyes” (Deuteronomy 12:8; Judges 17:6, 21:25). 

In the New Testament, we are called no longer to live for the political kingdoms of this world, but rather we are called to live as citizens of a heavenly kingdom (Philippians 3:20; Eph 2:19). Moreover, the Scripture clearly declares that our standing with the Lord is not based on our ethnicity or nationality (Rom 10:12-13), but only on our faith in Christ, because we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2: 8-9) and not through the works of the flesh, or through political allegiance. And thanks to Jesus and God’s Spirit living in us, the Bible calls all believers from every tribe, tongue and nation “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2: 9).

Please don’t get me wrong – I pray for America and I pray for our political and religious leaders. I pray that God blesses them and gives them a heart of understanding and wisdom. I pray that they obey His written Word, seek Him daily and desire to do all His will. I pray that they clearly hear from Him and He speaks personally to them and guides them so that they may know how to govern God’s people well and be a blessing to everyone. My concern and my caution is that we must first test people’s words, as the Bible instructs us to do (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21; 1 Corinthians 14:29), before we jump to follow after anyone who claims that God is with them.

In the end, let’s mention that God does not need the help of political rulers or leaders to save and protect His people. He is able to save and fight for His people, even when they do not have a country, an army or anyone who can help them. God did it when He split the Red Sea and destroyed Pharaoh and his army. God did it when He brought down the walls of Jericho and defeated the mighty giants, who were much stronger than the Israelites. God did it when He called Gideon and his 300 men to overcome the vast army of the Midianites. So, God is able to protect and deliver His people, without the help of a political nation, boundary or country.

The words of the New Testament are spirit and life. Jesus spoke these words to set us free. When we believe Jesus’ words we experience the power of the Holy Spirit to deliver us from bondage.

The Old Testament Law was not like this, for it was weak through the flesh. We cannot keep the Law in our own strength, but we need the Holy Spirit to enable us to obey God. If we are relying on our flesh, then the teaching of the Bible might not help us. Paul said he would not have known lust unless the Law had told him not to lust. He discovered that the Law was weak through the flesh, and that it would kill a person. The more he tried to force himself to follow the Law, the more he came into bondage to sin (Romans 7:11). “By the Law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20).

Obviously, we don’t study the Bible in order to increase our knowledge of the Law and come into bondage to sin. We study the Bible in order to unlock the power of the Holy Spirit inside us so we can be set free.

The Bible tells us many things about strife because God does not want his children to strive. As we look into these things, we need to recognize that this is not a law that we have to force ourselves to obey – “DON’T STRIVE.” Rather, these teachings will cause the Holy Spirit to arise within us and empower us to get victory. We are not facing the challenge in our own power, but in the power of God.

In order to get victory over strife, it can help to recognize where strife comes from. The Book of Proverbs reveals several different sources of strife.

Strife often comes from hatred (Proverbs 10:12). When we hate someone, we are tempted to strive with them.

We often hate people because they have sinned against us.

Love covers sin. Love is the opposite of hatred. When we love others, we will not strive with them.

We cannot truly love people in our own strength. True love only comes from God. God has poured out his love in our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). The supernatural love of God conquers hatred, and love will free us from strife.

Strife can come from pride (Proverbs 13:10). Proud people will not listen to correction nor take advice. This leads to conflict. When people refuse correction from the word of God, they they think they know more than God. This leads to conflict. The opposite of pride is humility. Humble people do not strive. Humility comes from the Holy Spirit who is the humble dove. We will become humble as God lives his life in and through us by the Holy Spirit.

Strife can come from being hot-tempered (Proverbs 15:18). Those who lose their temper easily often have lives full of strife. God does not want his people to be hot-tempered. God is not hot-tempered. He does not lose his temper easily and become mad or upset quickly. God is gracious and slow to anger. There are many times we have offended God. And yet God has been patient with us. He has not become angry with us but has patiently led us in the right way. We need to be patient with others and not lose our temper easily. This is possible when we allow Christ to live his life inside us.

Strife can come from foolish words (Proverbs 18:6). In the abundance of words there is no lack of sin (Proverbs 10:19). We need to be able to control our tongues so that we do not stir up trouble with our words. No one can tame their tongue. But God will help us control our tongue so that we don’t pour out a stream of evil.

Strife comes from perverse people (Provers 16:28). This word perverse can mean to send out missiles. Some people suddenly shoot out arrows of destruction. We all have been like this on occasion – unstable and unpredictable. When this happens, strife is sure to follow. God is stable, our flesh is not. We can only get the victory by the Holy Spirit.

Gossip creates strife (Provers 26:20). When someone talks about others behind their backs, it often produces strife. “Why did you say that about me?” “I can’t believe that he did that!” Gossip has the power to separate close friends. Gossip and slander are demonic. We need to avoid gossip. The opposite of gossip and slander is blessing. Let’s speak good things about others rather than evil things.

Anger stirs up strife (Proverbs 29:22). When people are angry, they are likely to fight. The Bible says when we are angry we should not sin. We should not lash out at others. That will not accomplish the work of God, because the anger of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God.

It is possible to eliminate the sources of strife from our lives: hatred, pride, hot temper, gossip, anger, and perversity. How? We can be free from these things not by the flesh but by the Holy Spirit.

Strife can often be resolved by confession and repentance. God’s people are called to unity, to love for each other, and to be a united testimony against the devil. For this to happen, they must not strive.

A house divided against itself cannot stand. Whether it is in a marriage, family, or church, strife creates weakness against the devil. In order to win spiritual battles, we need unity.

The mercies of God are new every morning. He is merciful to us, even when we did not deserve it. Let us be merciful to others. Our mercies toward others can be new every morning too.

God’s faithfulness is very great. He never gives up on us. We ought to not give up on others, even when they wrong us. We can overlook offenses and love people even when they are wrong.

Jesus said, “blessed are the peacemakers.” Let us not strive with others, but let us make peace. As we do, we will be blessed, and we will be called the children of God.

“The servant of the Lord must not strive” (2 Timothy 2:24).

The word strive means fight, debate, argue, or quarrel. God wants his people to avoid strife. This is especially true for servants of God. But this applies to all Christians. God commands each of his children to avoid stife (Titus 3:1-3).

According to James 4:1, strife comes from the flesh. When our flesh desires something but doesn’t get it, we can start fighting. For example, a child may want a toy, doesn’t get it, and then starts fighting for it. He may scream and throw a tantrum or hit others. An adult may want respect, not get it, and then start fighting to get respect. He may become angry, start shouting at others, or become bitter.

When we take matters into our own hands, we start fighting and striving. Strife is a sign of unbelief, because we are not trusting God to take care of us. When we trust in God for a situation, we won’t strive about it.

We don’t need to fight for our rights. God will fight for us. We can entrust ourselves to God, and he will take care of us. We don’t need to strive. Our flesh won’t deliver us; God will deliver us. Our job is to obey God. As we obey him, he will work on our behalf.

Strife is a work of the flesh (Galatians 5:20). It is a sin that is in the same category as sexual immorality (Romans 13:13). Just as Christians are commanded to avoid sexual immorality, so we must avoid strife.

Strife is a sign of carnality. When we strive, we show that we are spiritually immature and still in the flesh. God wants us to grow to become spiritually mature. When we become mature, we will stop striving. Spiritual growth happens as we obey God.

The New Testament has a lot to say about strife.

It says we should avoid people who cause divisions in the body of Christ contrary to the teaching of the apostles (Romans 16:17). When we encounter those who actively promote teachings contrary to the New Testament, we don’t need to fight with them. We can admonish them once or twice, and then reject them (Titus 3:10).

The New Testament tells us not to quarrel with those who are weak in faith (Romans 14:1). Someone may be weak in faith about what to eat, what to wear, or another issue. We should not fight with them about these issues. A person who is weak in faith should be encouraged to become strong in faith. When he becomes strong in faith, these other issues will get sorted out.

We are commanded to have nothing to do with foolish and ignorant disputes (2 Timothy 2:23). Often people strive about foolish and ignorant things. They strive about things they lack information about (or are ignorant of). If they had more accurate information, the strife would disappear.

Foolish disputes sometimes arise over very minor issues. Looking back, it can be amazing how big a mountain is made out of a small molehill. In the larger picture, a lot of strife appears very foolish. We need to discern these foolish disputes and avoid them.

We should not fight about the law (Titus 3:9). Some people will have differing interpretations of what the symbols of the law mean. For example, what does the color purple symbolize on the garment of the high priest? This is not something we need to fight about. We can pray and hopefully the Holy Spirit will lead us to an answer. But we don’t need to fight with our brothers and sisters about issues like this.

The Bible tells us to avoid strife. Strife is a sin. It is a work of the flesh and a sign of immaturity. It will not lead to anyone’s deliverance and will bring us into bondage.Sometimes conflict is unavoidable. We live in a world that is often dominated by Satan, and we must take up our cross. This will involve conflict. But any conflict we enter into must be by the Holy Spirit and not by the flesh.

God wants us to earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 3). This means the Holy Spirit must work through us. This involves prayer, dialogue, presenting the truth, and humility. Earnestly contending for the faith is very different from strife. One is a work of the Holy Spirit, the other is a work of the flesh. As we understand what the New Testament says about strife, and are guided by the Holy Spirit, we will be able to discern the difference.

Blessings and curses are important for Christians to understand. Blessings bring peace, health, prosperity, and happiness. Curses bring misery, sickness, strife, and death.

Blessings and curses are spiritual words that release spiritual power. These words cause spiritual power to operate in a person’s life. They have actual effects in the earth.

Blessings and cursings often operate through spoken words. This is one reason the Bible says the power of life and death is in the tongue.

God’s word is powerful. Through his word he blesses people and curses people. He blessed those who obeyed his word and cursed those who disobeyed (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).

When God blesses someone that person has a supernatural divine power operating in his life that causes things to go well for him.

Abraham was a man who God blessed. Because of this blessing, Abraham prospered. He won battles, gained territory, had many descendants, and gained much influence. When Abraham was old, he transmitted this blessing to his son, Isaac. Then Isaac prospered because of this blessing. When Isaac was old, both his sons Jacob and Esau wanted this blessing for themselves. They saw what this blessing had done for their father and grandfather, and they both wanted it. Jacob ultimately prevailed and received this blessing. Then Jacob transmitted this powerful blessing to his 12 sons. From there the blessing of Abraham passed on to all the children of Israel. Now the blessing of Abraham comes on all those who believe in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:14). If you are a born again child of God, you are blessed with this powerful blessing of God.

In the Old Testament, the blessing of God caused people to gain territory, get money, have many children, and win wars.

The natural blessings of the Old Testament are symbols of the spiritual blessings of the New Testament. We inherit a spiritual land by the Holy Spirit, not actual land. We get spiritual riches, not material riches. We have the presence of God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We win people to the Lord and have spiritual children. And we defeat demons and fallen angels rather than conquer people.

We can use our tongues for blessings or cursings. Our words are not meaningless, but they carry spiritual power. Jesus said that we will give an account for every idle word that we speak (Matthew 12:36). Even idle or careless words have spiritual effects.

Sometimes we curse ourselves.

“This is driving me crazy.” We don’t want to be driven crazy by something.

“This runs in my family so I will get it too.”

“I just know this is not going to work.” This is not a good way to start a project.

“I never have enough money.”

“I’m always getting into trouble.”

“I’m always sick.”

“I’d rather die than go through life like that.”

These curses can drag us down. Sometimes we curse other people.

“You always do that.”

“You never do that.”

“You’ll never amount to anything.”

“You’re stupid.”

We need to be careful to control our tongues so that we do not curse others.

Jesus commanded us not to curse people. He said that we should bless those who curse us (Luke 6:28). Paul said that we should bless those who persecute us. We should bless them and not curse them (Romans 12:14). James said we should only allow blessings to come out of our mouths, but not curses (James 3:10).

If we curse others, we disobey God.

Curses can affect Christians today. They can hinder us and drag us down.

We can be set free from curses by Jesus Christ. On the cross, Christ became a curse for us. Every curse was put on him so that we might be set free.

Jesus bought the right for us to be free from all curses. But freedom from curses is not automatic. We need to walk in freedom. Jesus took all sins on the cross to set us free from sin, but we need to go to Jesus to deliver us from the power of specific sins. In a similar way Jesus took all curses on the cross, but we need to come to him in order to be set free from the power of specific curses.

If we feel that we may be affected by a curse, God will help us identify where the curse came from. Maybe it came from a parent, from a friend, from an ancestor, or even from ourselves. When we identify the source of the curse, we should forgive that person who cursed us. Then we can pray for and bless that person. We should speak out against that curse and cancel it and all its effects over our lives.

Our tongues are powerful. Just like we receive forgiveness by speaking out a confession to God, so we can break curses by speaking out a renunciation of those curses.

The power of life and death is in the tongue. This spiritual power is often manifested in blessing and cursing. Let us speak a blessing over ourselves, over our families, and over our friends and fellowship. Let us not curse. As we bless, the spiritual light and life of God will be increasingly revealed.

Everyone has a powerful weapon – the tongue. When the Bible refers to the tongue, it’s talking about our words.

The “power of life and death is in the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). Words can kill and words can make alive.

Words carry spiritual power. God created the world by speaking. The entire universe was created by God’s words.

Jesus said that we can accomplish amazing things just by speaking.

“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.” Mark 11:23

“So the Lord said, ‘If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.'” (Luke 17:6)

It is possible to pluck up trees and throw down mountains with the power of our tongue.

Only God has the power to do these things. The miraculous power of our words operates when we hear from God and speak his words. When we speak what God wants us to say, then our words carry the power of God. Amazing miracles happen when people hear from God and speak his words. God is raising up people who will walk in this power.

The tongue can be used for positive things or negative things. Some people speak like the piercings of a sword (Proverbs 12:18). Their words are hurtful and piercing, designed to wound and hurt others. 

Wise people speak words of health (Proverbs 12:18). Their words heal others – their souls, minds, and bodies.

In the Bible, James, the brother of Jesus, gives us several symbols of the tongue in order to teach us about the power of our words.

Fire

James said the tongue is like a fire (James 3:6).

It just takes a small spark to burn down an entire forest. Trees that took centuries to grow can be destroyed by fire overnight. Houses that take a long time to build, heirlooms passed down through families over generations, and cherished valuables can all be burned down in a moment.

Our words can be like a fire. They can burn things down. Important things can be destroyed in a moment by the tongue. Slander destroys friendships and ruins reputations. Words can cause misery, depression, and suicide.

Sometimes fire in one person’s tongue can ignite another person’s tongue. One person lets his tongue loose, and then another person becomes angry and lets his tongue loose. Then the fiery words rage and destroy.

“It’s an honor for a man to cease from strife, since any fool can start a quarrel” (Proverbs 20:3).

God has not called us to fight with our tongues and burn others with our words. He doesn’t want us to use our tongues for evil and for tearing down.

World of Iniquity

James said the tongue is a world of iniquity. Our words can be a vast arena in which there is much sin. We need to learn to control our tongues so that this iniquity is not released into the world.

“In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise” (Proverbs 10:19).

Unruly Evil

James said the tongue is an unruly evil. Unruly means uncontrollable. The tongue like an untamed wild animal that is raging and trying to devour, releasing evil into the world.

Full of Deadly Poison

The tongue is full of deadly poison. Poison puts people in the hospital and can kill them. Poisonous animals like snakes and scorpions are deadly animals. When our words are out of control, then this poison is released.

As Christians, we need to control our tongues so they are used for good and not for evil.
Jesus wants us speak to others the way we would have them speak to us. This is the golden rule. We should not speak to others in the way they speak to us, repaying them evil words for their evil words. Instead, we should speak to them the way we want them to speak to us, repaying their evil with good. This is how we overcome evil.

How to Control the Tongue

No one is able to control his or her tongue by their own strength (James 3:8).

But the Bible also says we need to control our tongue. If we don’t control our words, our religion is worthless (James 1:26).

God will help us do this. He will help us control our tongues.

The key to controlling the tongue is managing our hearts. The words we speak reflect what is inside our hearts. Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45).

When our hearts are filled with good things, then good things will come out of our mouths. When our hearts are filled with evil things, then evil things will come out of our mouths.

In order to control our tongues, we must have spiritually healthy hearts.

To do this, we first need to be born again. When we believe the gospel and are born again, we get a new heart. God takes out our stony heart and gives us a heart of flesh. Until we are born again, it is impossible to control our tongues.

After being born again, we must maintain the health of our new hearts. Our hearts can still fill with anger, bitterness, resentment, sin, lust, or other evils.

To maintain a healthy heart, we need to forgive others. Don’t take revenge or carry a grudge against them. Don’t allow rage to build up. When we forgive, we cleanse our hearts.

Believe truth. The word of God is the truth, and it discerns the thoughts and intents of theheart (Hebrews 4:12). We need to speak truth to ourselves, combatting the lies and doubts of Satan that pollute our hearts. We need to speak truth to others. The word of God is clear water that can wash our hearts and clean them from lies.

We need to receive forgiveness from God. When we confess our sins, he will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When we are forgiven, our hearts will be free from sin. This is wonderful feeling.

When our hearts are clean, they will be filled with the living water of the Holy Spirit. Then God’s grace and Spirit will flow out of our hearts through our tongues, and we will speak good words to others.

“Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29).

When we speak good things, we can build up others and edify the church. This is God’s goal for us.

In order to fulfill our purpose on the earth, we must learn to control our tongues. We can only control our tongues when our hearts are clean and pure, and this is only possible with the help of God.

We may have failed in the past. We may have misused our tongues and burned things down. There may have been evil in our hearts that came out through our tongues. God is a healer. He can restore what was broken. As we turn to him, confessing our sins, he will forgive us and heal our hearts. Then we can use our tongues for good, revealing God to the world.

Goodness is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). The fruits of the Holy Spirit are supernatural, and they come from God. It only possible to have the fruits of the Holy Spirit when God is working in us.

The key to bringing forth the fruit of the Holy Spirit is abiding in Christ (John 15:5). His life must flow into us. We are like branches that draw on his life in order to produce fruit. This fruit does not come from ourselves or from our own abilities, but it comes from God.

When people are asked why they will go to heaven, they often answer that they will go to heaven because they are good people. However, Jesus said that there is no one good except God (Luke 18:19). “There is no one who does good, no, not one” (Romans 3:12). If no one is good, then no one can get to heaven on the basis of their own goodness, because they don’t have any goodness.

Paul said that no good thing dwelt in him, that is in his flesh (Romans 7:18). In his flesh he did not have the ability to be good or do good. If Paul a mighty apostle lacked goodness in himself, how much more does everyone else lack it?

The only way anyone can do good is by the power of the Holy Spirit. God alone can enable us to do good things. In ourselves it is impossible, but not with God. With God all things are possible. Goodness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, not our flesh.

God alone is good. We are commanded to taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). He is good all the time. He gives good gifts. God is an overflowing fountain of goodness. If we want to have genuine goodness in our lives, we need God.

If we have God, then the Holy Spirit is inside us. Then it becomes possible to be good and to do good.

He who does good is of God (3 John 11). Barnabas was called a good man (Acts 11:24). He was a good man because he had been born again by the Holy Spirit, and he allowed the Holy Spirit to produce goodness in his life.

When we were born again, our hearts were changed. We got new hearts. We now want to hear the word of God, do it, and bring forth fruit. This heart that responds to the word of God is called “good.” (Luke 8:15).

By the Holy Spirit, “a good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, brings forth that which is good” (Matthew 12:34-35). All this goodness in our lives is only possible by God, and it starts by being born again.God wants us to overflow goodness into this world. Draw on our good God and reveal his goodness to others. As Christians, we have a good treasure of good things in our hearts. We need to let this treasure out.

God wants us to speak out what is good (Ephesians 4:29). This is only possible by the Holy Spirit. In ourselves, we will not speak good things.

God’s eternal purpose is for his children to do good works (Ephesians 2:10). He has ordained us to do good works from the foundation of the world. We can do good works because of the amazing fountain of goodness in our lives that is God, who is inside us like a living fountain of water. He saturates us with goodness every day, all the time.

“God is able to make ALL grace abound toward you, that you, ALWAYS having ALL sufficiency in ALL things, may have an abundance for EVERY good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

This great goodness of God is his grace flowing into us by his Holy Spirit. This grace gives us ability to do good things. The more of God’s grace we appropriate through faith, the more we will experience God’s goodness, and the more we will be empowered to reveal his goodness to others.

We are commanded to do good to everyone, especially to those of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10). God does good to everyone too, causing his rain and sun to shine on the good and evil. He particularly does good to his own children, blessing us with eternal life, the Holy Spirit, his grace, and many other awesome gifts.

Follow God’s example. Do good to all people, but especially to the children of God.

God will reward us for doing good. Whatever good things we do in this life, we will receive from the Lord (Ephesians 6:8). This is an amazing promise, and it ought to motivate us to do good by the Holy Spirit. When we are in heaven, God will do good things to us throughout eternity. Let’s look forward to this stupendous reality!

Those who do good will inherit eternal life (Romans 2:6-10).

We know that we are saved by grace through faith as a gift from God, not by our own good works. However, if we are born again by the Holy Spirit, then God will enable us to do good works. We get a new heart. This heart is good. We get a new spirit, the good Holy Spirit. Then we bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and one of those fruits is goodness. With God inside us we can be good and do good, as God flows through us. This goodness is a sign of God in our lives. Goodness is evidence that God is working is us, and it’s an important sign that we are his children.

Everyone in the world is created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). We are not created in the image of monkeys, nor did we come from a biological soup, evolving over millions of years. We came from God and his word, and we are created in his image.

It’s important to know where we came from. Since every person is created in God’s image, every person has dignity and is valuable. This is why we are called to do good to everyone, especially to Christians (Galatians 6:10). We are to love our neighbors as ourselves, because they are created in God’s image.

However, just because every person is created in the image of God doesn’t mean that every person is saved. To be saved and go to heaven, we need to trust in Christ and be born again.

One false teaching popular in some churches today says that we are little gods or can become gods. This is wrong. There is only one God, and although we are created in his image, we are not him.

God’s intention in creating mankind is that they have dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26). This is so the earth can reveal the glory of God. To the extent that humans are conformed to the image of God, to that extent they can fulfill their purpose, and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God.

In the beginning, Adam and Eve perfectly reflected God’s glory and power. They manifested the dominion of the spiritual kingdom of God over the entire earth because they were without sin.

When Adam and Eve sinned, the image of God in them was marred. They no longer fully reflected the glory and presence of God into the world. They lost his spiritual life and power. Decay, sickness, demonization, and corruption entered the world. The creation was cursed, and it began bringing forth thorns and thistles. Animals began devouring each other. Death entered the world.Before the Fall there was no death in the world, but all death entered after Adam sinned (Romans 5:12).

Sin didn’t cause humans to completely lose the image of God (James 3:9), but it caused the image of God in them to become terribly marred. It weakened them so they were no longer able to fully accomplish God’s will.

Because humans lost the perfect image of God, they lost the ability to have dominion over the creation, and Satan took over the world. 

This is why Jesus Christ came.

Jesus Christ is the image of God (Hebrews 1:3, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Colossians 1:15). He is a perfect representation of his Father. He has no sin. This means that when he came to earth he radiated the full presence and power of the kingdom of God into the world. Wherever he went, he said “the kingdom of God has come near to you,” for he walked in full spiritual dominion and power over the earth.

Jesus came to earth and took on human flesh in order to heal us and restore us back to the full image of God.

God’s will for everyone who trusts in Christ is to be conformed to the image of Jesus.

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

This is a process that is currently going on in all of our lives.

As we follow Jesus, we are being “transformed” or “transfigured” into his image, from one degree of glory to a higher degree of glory. This happens as we obey God’s word and walk in the Spirit in fellowship with other believers. God’s goal in redeeming us is to bring many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10). This is possible through what Jesus Christ did on the cross. He paid for all of our sins, rose up again, and poured out the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes we don’t see much spiritual growth in our lives, and we might feel we are not making much progress. But as we continue to grow spiritually, we can be sure this transformation is happening.

As we become more conformed to the image of Jesus, and the image of God is healed in us, we become more spiritually effective for the Lord. We become more fruitful. We operate in more spiritual authority. We have greater discernment. We walk in more holiness. We receive forgiveness from Christ, and we are quicker to forgive others. We will experience more miracles and spiritual gifts.

God wants all of us to grow spiritually so that we are able fulfill our destiny.

When this process culminates, eventually God’s people will impact the entire creation.

“because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21)

God himself, and the entire creation, is waiting for us to fulfill our destiny.

This will be completed when Christ returns to the earth, and we reign with him in his eternal kingdom.

We are all a work in progress. God is healing us and conforming us to the image of his Son Jesus Christ. As this process goes on, we reflect more of the light and life of God into the world. Ultimately, it will result in the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose, to reveal the fullness of his glory to the world.

The mystery of godliness is revealed in 1 Timothy 3:16. A mystery is something hidden that is revealed by the Holy Spirit.

“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.” (1 Timothy 3:16)

The “mystery of godliness” sums up several of the main points of the gospel. It is important for us to be very familiar with the gospel, not only so we can be secure in our own salvation and our experience of God, but also so that we can communicate this awesome salvation of Jesus Christ clearly to others so they can believe this good news and be saved.

God was Manifested in the Flesh

The first part of the mystery of godliness is that God was manifested in the flesh.

Jesus took on human flesh for several reasons.One of the most important reasons God became a man was so that he could die (Hebrews 2:14). If he had remained only as God, he could not have died. But because he took on human flesh, he was able to die. It was necessary for him to die, so he could die in our place for our sins and save us.

Jesus also took on human flesh so that he can sympathize with us and help us. Because he lived as a human, he intimately knows what we’re going through (Hebrews 4:15). He is able to understand us and help us because he is closely acquainted with the human condition.

Jesus took on human flesh so that he could conquer sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3). Because Jesus overcame sin in human flesh, and his Spirit is inside us, we now have the power to overcome sin in our own flesh. We don’t need to live in bondage to sin anymore, but through the power of Christ we can get the victory over sin.Jesus manifested the power and glory of the kingdom of God in this human flesh. While living in a body, he brought the kingdom of God to the world. This means that can empower us, while we are living in this body, to experience the power and victory of the kingdom of God.

Justified in the Spirit

The second part of the mystery of godliness is that God was justified in the Spirit.

Wait a minute. Sinners need to be justified. Jesus was perfect and never sinned. Why then did he need to be justified?Jesus needed to be justified because he took our own sins in his own body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). He became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). With all our sins on him, he was forsaken by God on the cross. The wrath of God came upon him. Then he died under the weight of all of the sins of theworld- past, present, and future. He took our place in death.

He went to places we don’t have to go and saw depths that we don’t need to see.Then he rose up again.

In resurrection, Jesus threw off all our sins. He was justified from all of our sins. The resurrection proves that the payment Christ made for our sins was sufficient, and that we are now set free from sin. The resurrection proves that our sins are gone, thrown into the depths of the sea, and taken away as far as the east is from the west (an infinite distance). Praise God for the victory of Christ! We are now free!

Seen by Angels

Throughout his life, ministry, death, and resurrection, Jesus was watched intently by angels.He was seen by evil angels. Through his ministry he triumphed over the devil, defeated fallen angels, and cast our demons. On the cross he crushed Satan’s head (John 12:31). He stripped principalities and powers (Colossians 2:15). These evil angels did their worst, but they couldn’t defeat Christ. They watched helplessly as he rose up from the dead.

Jesus was also observed intently by good angels. They were eager to look into the things that Christ was doing, because they lacked full revelation of the gospel. As they saw what he accomplished, they rejoiced, being astounded by the work of God.

Preached Among the Gentiles

The gospel is for the entire world. Jesus died for everyone. The free gift of salvation is for everyone. They need to hear about it and believe it in order to be saved.

The Gentiles were non-Jews. They were outcasts. Now through Christ, they could be embraced by God and become a part of his family. Everyone who believes in Jesus becomes a spiritual descendant of Abraham (Galatians 3:29). They become heirs of all the promises given to Abraham. You and I become full heirs of God through Jesus Christ.

This gospel of the kingdom of God must be proclaimed throughout the entire world as a witness to all nations and then the end will come.

God was Believed on in the World

When people believe the gospel, they become born again and part of God’s family. The life and power of God comes into them through the Holy Spirit. As they walk in obedience to God, heaven comes down into the earth through them. These people become the firstfruits of God’s creation, now shining forth the praises of him who called them out of darkness into light. Faith is what unleashes the kingdom and glory of God into the world. Faith in the word of God continues the awesome ministry of Christ in the earth.

Received up into Glory

The final part of the mystery of godliness is that Christ was received up into glory. After his resurrection, he sat down on the right of the Father, having received again the glory that he had with the Father from the foundation of the world. All power and authority in heaven and earth was given to him.

Now Jesus is waiting. He’s waiting for his enemies to be made his footstool (Hebrews 10:13). He’s waiting for his people to appropriate the full riches of their inheritance and manifest his kingdom and power to the world. The glory that God gave to Jesus he gave to us (John 17:22). God desires his glory to be revealed to the world through his people. He’s waiting for his people to get ready for him to come back to the earth so he can reign as king over everything.

The mystery of godliness sums up all the main points of the gospel. It reveals how God took on flesh, paid for our sins, conquered sin, rose up again, and gave us eternal life. The more we know about the gospel and understand it, the more we will experience its awesome power. And the more we experience Jesus, the more we will want to share this glorious gospel with others. May the Holy Spirit reveal this mystery to us.

God created the world to reveal his glory. The revelation of the glory of God is the great goal of the entire universe.

Jesus said the ultimate goal of each Christian is to seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). When the kingdom of God is revealed, the glory of God is revealed. When we seek God’s kingdom, we are really seeking the glory of God. In this way our purpose as individuals is intertwined with God’s great goal for the universe of revealing his glory.

There is one organization that God has authorized to manifest the glory of God upon the earth in fullness: his church.

Jesus promised that he would build his church (Matthew 16:18). When the church is completed, it will reveal God’s glory.

In order to fulfill our life purpose, we should dedicate ourselves to working with Jesus in building the church in order to reveal the glory of God.

In the book of Ephesians, there are three different pictures of the church.

1. House

The first picture of the church in Ephesians is a house (Ephesians 2:20-22). A house for God is called a temple.

The house of God is currently being built all over the world. Every Christian who is seeking to obey Jesus and leave behind empty religious traditions is potentially part of this building process.Christians are living stones that are to be built up into God’s house (1 Peter 2:5).

Like any house, there is a standard for the church’s construction. The church must be built according to the word of God. God has not left the construction of his house up to us, to decide how we want it to be built. He wants his house to be built according to the instructions he’s given us in the New Testament.

When a house is built according to the instructions of the owner, then the owner will move into his house. As long as a house is incomplete or not built according to the owner’s instructions, he will not move in. God currently dwells among his people, but not in fullness. He will dwell in his church in fullness when his church is built and completed according to his standard.

In the Old Testament, Moses built a tabernacle for God to dwell in. Moses obeyed God completely in order to build the tabernacle (Exodus 40:16). When the tabernacle was built according to God’s standard, God filled the tabernacle with his glory (Exodus 40:34-35).

Solomon built a temple for God that was according to the standard of God’s word. When this temple was completed, God filled the temple with his glory (1 Kings 8:10-11).

The church isbeing built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:22). When the church is completed according to the will of God, he will fill the church with his glory.

2. Body

The second symbol of the church in the book of Ephesians is the body (Ephesians 4:15-16).

Each part of the body of Christ is connected to the head, Jesus. Each member can hear from God for themselves, and as they are rightly related to Christ, to church leadership, and to each other, they will find their position in the body and operate their spiritual gifts so the body can grow.

The body is “joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:16).

The body is being built up as each member functions.

The goal of the body of Christ is that we “all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).

These great goals of unity, “a perfect man,” and the “fullness of Christ” have not yet been attained. This means that the church still needs growth. When the church reaches maturity, then these goals will be reached, and God’s glory will be revealed.

3. Bride

The third picture of the church in the book of Ephesians is a bride.

The church is like a bride that is getting ready for her husband. Jesus is currently waiting for his church to get ready.When the church is ready for her husband, then the wedding supper will happen.

On the wedding night, the husband and the wife become one flesh.

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and thetwo shall become one flesh.This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” (Ephesians 5:31-32).

The goal of the church is to become a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27), so she can be perfectly united to Christ. This goal has not yet been attained, which means that the bride must still prepare.The bride is currently being prepared by the washing of water by the word (Eph. 5:26). As the word of God washes over the church, she isconformed to his willand cleansed from defilements.

When the bride of Christ is ready, the Spirit of God will fill the church in fullness, and the wedding supper of the lamb will commence (Revelation 19:7). This will cause awesome glory to be revealed into the world.

Conclusion

The great goal of God is that his glory cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). This goal will be achieved as the presence of God fills the church.

The church is currently being built in order to achieve this goal. This building process is currently going on in the earth, all over the world, wherever God’s people hear his voice and seek to follow his word. This process is specifically manifested in local churches that are ordered according to the word of God and filled with his Holy Spirit. The building of the church will continue until the church is full of God’s presence and radiates his presence into the world.

There is no goal that is more worthy of our time and effort, for upon this grand building project of the church hinges the end of the age.

In the Old Testament, Israel was led by a pillar of cloud and fire. This pillar of cloud and fire went before them and led them into the Promised Land. Whenever this pillar moved, they also moved, and whenever it stopped, they stopped. Following the leading of God was the key to their supernatural victories. 

“And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.  He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.” (Exodus 13:21-22)

This is a symbol for us today. God is with us, and his Holy Spirit is inside us. The pillar of cloud and fire represents the presence of God with us as he leads us into our spiritual inheritance.

God wants to lead all of his sheep. He is leading all of us to a glorious destination in the spiritual realm. The divine goal for every Christian is the glorious bride of Christ and individual Christian maturity. In order to get to this glorious destination, we need to be led by God.

There are many things that we can learn from the pillar of cloud and fire in the Old Testament.

God leads us by his Spirit. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). We are not led to be led by our flesh or by our soul, but by the Holy Spirit of God. When we are led by our own minds or abilities, we will experience limited results. When we are led by God, we will experience supernatural results. 

God leads us out of bondage into a place of blessing. The Israelites were leaving slavery and oppression and going to a place of freedom and victory. In order to get to this place of blessing they had to face giants. Our enemies are sometimes huge. God will give us supernatural grace to overcome our enemies as we follow his leading, just like he overthrew the giants in the Promised Land.

God leads us according to his sovereign will. He leads us according to his own thoughts and plans. His ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8). There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Proverbs 14:12). Sometimes the leading of God will not make sense to our own minds or to the minds of others.

We must be willing to move when God tells us to move (Exodus 40:36-37). If we try to go somewhere without the leading of God, it might end in loss (Numbers 14:39-45). If we try to stay somewhere when God is telling us to go, then we will stagnate. God not only tells us where to go, but he goes before us. The pillar of cloud and fire went first, and the people of God followed. God prepares the way for us, which means there is a way through all problems. God makes the rough places smooth. He lowers the hills and raises up the valleys. God does not ask us to go anywhere or do anything that he has not already done himself.

“Depart! Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her, be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord. For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard” (Isaiah 52:11-12).

God is calling all of us to grow spiritually and come to a higher level in him. We are called to go from one degree of glory to a higher degree (2 Corinthians 3:18). To get to this new place in God, we need to leave the old things behind. Paul said that to grow to maturity, “one thing I do – forgetting the things that are behind and reaching to the things that are ahead” (Philippians 3:13). 

Sometimes the old place that holds us back is a place of bitterness or unforgiveness. We need to be willing to leave this spiritual place of bondage – forgive others and release them. We also need to receive forgiveness from God in order to move forward. If we confess our sins, God will forgive us and cleanse us. We must not allow the devil to bring us under condemnation, because this will hold us back. Let us lay aside every weight and run with patience the race set before us (Hebrews 12:1).

We must also leave behind vain religious traditions that we have inherited from others. These things might be popular, feel good, and seem wise, but they will hinder us from reaching the fullness of our inheritance. Religious activity that is not founded on the word of God is vain worship, and it will cause problems.

When we go to a new place spiritually, Isaiah says we will not go by “haste.” This Hebrew word “haste” comes from a root word meaning weasel. As we follow God, we will not have to weasel our way into the new place, using our own ingenuity. God will make a way for us. We just need to follow him.

We won’t go by “flight.” We will not be motivated by fear. We will be motivated by God’s word, as we follow him.

God is our “rearguard.” Sometimes God will ask us to do radical things. The results of our obedience will be taken care of by God. He will protect us from the enemy who might chase after us. He will also bless others who may be affected by our radical actions of obedience. God loves people much more than we do, and the best way we can bless others is by obeying God ourselves.

The pillar of cloud and fire never left the Israelites, which teaches us that God is always there. He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5-6). God does not leave us as orphans. He sends the Holy Spirit as the Comforter into our hearts.

God leads us into provision. He is the good shepherd. He leads us to green pastures, still waters, and he restores our souls. As we follow God, there will be supernatural supply. The Israelites had manna and water that flowed out of a rock. God will provide for all we need as we follow him. 

When we follow God, he gives us light. Jesus is the light of the world. The word of God is a light – a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). Other people do not have this supernatural light from God, and that means that they cannot travel by night. But God’s people are different. Even when everything is dark in the world, they can still move forward because they are led by the light of God. When other people get stuck, we can still move forward because God’s light shines on us.

The pillar of cloud and fire means that God protects us. The safest place in the world is in the center of God’s will. As we follow God, he will cover us under his wings and keep us safe (Psalm 91).

As we follow God, his glory will be seen over us. Other nations will see the glory of God as he does supernatural works among us. 

“The Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain” (Isaiah 4:5-6).

Throughout the earth, God is raising up true churches that will be formed by the word of God and guided by the Holy Spirit. This is the ark of safety for the end times; it is the bride of Christ that is being prepared for his coming. When darkness covers the earth, the light and glory of God will be seen upon his people, and as they follow him, his kingdom and power will be revealed.

Jesus told us to wash each other’s feet in the body of Christ. He said we should follow his example when he washed the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper (John 13:12-16).

In those days, when people ate together, they lay down and ate. This is why the Bible often talks about people “reclining” when they ate. In this position of reclining, their feet were at the same level as their heads, hands, and food. 

Their feet were often quite dirty. This is because they wore sandals, the roads were dusty, and they walked a lot. So before meals, they washed their feet.Having clean feet was important to have a pleasant meal.

Usually the lowest slave would wash people’s feet. In a Jewish home, Jewish slaves would not wash the feet of the guests, but a Gentile slave would wash them.

At the Last Supper, Jesus’ disciples were all sitting around with dirty feet and had started to eat. None of the disciples were willing to wash anyone’s feet; they didn’t even wash their own feet.

They were too busy arguing about who would be the greatest (Luke 22:24-27). Their dirty feet seemed to be a reflection of their pride.

For many people, smelly and dirty feet are naturally repulsive. And in those days, being near someone’s feet was particularly difficult because being under someone’s feet was a sign of being below them.

At the Last Supper, the disciples’ dirty feet were spoiling the fellowship. Their feet were ruining the meal and making it unpleasant.

No one was willing to rectify the problem of the dirty feet except Jesus. So he got a towel and water basin and began washing everyone’s feet.

Jesus said that we need to follow his example.We need to wash each other’s feet in the body of Christ. Jesus does not command us to wash the feet of non-Christians, but to wash the feet of Christians (John 13:14).

What does this mean for us today?

Today our feet are often already clean. Our feet don’t need to be washed before meals. We wear shoes and socks, not sandals, and we walk on pavement and ride in cars. When we eat we sit on chairs with our feet tucked unobtrusively under the table.

Sometimes Christians engage in a ritual of literally washing each others’ feet. This can be a blessing. But this ritual often does not fulfilling a real need. The feet being washed are often alreadyclean, and the feet are not a hindrance to fellowship (particularly if the feet have already been prepped for the foot washing ceremony).

Foot washing points to something more.

Washing feet points to doing a humbling and necessary act of service within the body of Christ. Someone humbles himself and does something for someone else that no one else is willing to do.

These humble acts of service within the body of Christ can take many forms. The Holy Spirit must lead us to know how to minister to the body of Christ.

Such humble acts of service require many ingredients in order to happen. Some of these ingredients are:

1. Community and relationships. We must know people if we are to wash their feet. We must meet them and spend time with them. Church is where this begins.

2. Compassion. We need to sympathize with others in order to recognize their needs.

3. Creativity. We need to be creative in knowing how to best meet a need.

4. Sacrifice. It will take effort, time, energy, and money to meet needs.

Sometimes meeting the need of one person in the body can bless the entire body. When we give more honor to the parts of the body that lack, we prevent schism in the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:22-26).

As we submit to fellowship in the body of Christ and humble ourselves, we will be cleansed, and other people will be cleansed.

As we minister to the least of Jesus’ brothers and sisters, we minister to him.

Taking the low place solves the problem that is created by the other person’s pride. While the disciples were jostling about greatness and who would sit next to him, Jesus jumped to the lowest place. He was saying, in effect, “if you want to sit next to me, then you’ll have to take this low place too.”Washing feet can be hard and unpleasant. It is humbling. We need the Holy Spirit to help us to do this.

It becomes possible to wash the disciples’ feet when we know who we truly are.

Jesus knew he came from God and was going to God, so was able to wash feet (John 13:3-4).

When we know who God says we are, then we will be willing to humble ourselves and help others. When we know that we are God’s children, that we have the Holy Spirit inside us, that we are part of Christ’s body, and that we are called to be kings and priests, then we are truly secure because our security has come from God. When we know what God says about us, we don’t need to prove anything to anyone. We rest in the word of God. This realization will enable us to wash others’ feet.

According to Jesus, washing the feet of the disciples will lead to blessedness and happiness (John 13:17). He instructs us to do this not only so we can be blessed and happy, but also so other believers can be blessed, fellowship can be restored, and the body of Christ can be built.

As Christians, our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12). People are not our enemy, the devil is. There are evil spirits in the heavenly places that are trying to hinder us from walking in the Spirit and fulfiliing our purpose in God.

“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

When Jesus Christ went to the cross and rose again, he triumphed over all evil spirits and won an eternal victory over them. Now it just remains for us to believe in this victory and walk in this victory that Jesus has already won.

One of the most powerful ways to defeat evil spirits is through the word of God. The word of God is a spiritual sword that cuts down the power of Satan. When Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, he defeated him through the word of God. We also defeat Satan through the word of God, which is living and powerful.

At the beginning of the world God prophesied that the Seed of the Woman would come who would crush the head of Satan (Genesis 3:15). The Seed of the Woman is Jesus Christ. Approximately 2,000 years ago, Jesus came to earth and crushed the head of the ancient serpent, Satan, on the cross.

Jesus told his disciples, “I give to you power to trample on serpents and on scorpions” (Luke 10:19). Serpents and scorpions represent evil spirits. Jesus has given to his people power over evil spirits, to cast them out.

Jesus said, “These signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons” (Mark 16:17). 

Every child of God has the Holy Spirit inside them. The Holy Spirit is greater than every evil spirit. We have nothing to fear, because we are empowered to cast out evil spirits.

“Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15).

Principalities and powers are fallen angels. Jesus defeated them on the cross. He disarmed them and took away their power. He even went so far as to make a public spectacle of them, putting them to open shame. They are afraid of Jesus because he defeated them. They are afraid of the people of God, because the Holy Spirit is inside us who is greater than them.

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

When we submit to God, we are under his covering and protection. When we resist the devil, he has to run away from us.

These verses show that Jesus Christ has defeated Satan and given his children power against evil spirits.

Sometimes we must wrestle against evil spirits (Ephesians 6:12). Wrestling is the Greek word palay.

Wrestling is one of the most ancient sports. The goal of the ancient sport of wrestling was to drive an opponent off a ground, or make an opponent submit on a ground. When he submits or is driven off, he loses the match. Then he must leave the ground, and the winner stands on that ground victoriously.

This ground is the place of struggle. It is the potential place of victory. We will manifest this victory not in our own strength or ability, but in the spiritual strength and ability of Almighty God. Christ has already conquered the devil, and he calls us to be more than conquerors, as we participate in his victory.Let’s take the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11) so that we might stand on the ground God has given us and take new territory for the kingdom of God.

We gird ourselves with the truth of God. We put on the righteousness of Christ. We stand on the truth of the gospel, praising God that Jesus Christ has died and risen up again. Through faith, we defeat Satan’s fiery arrows. Our minds are protected from doubts by the truth of our salvation. We speak out the word of God, wielding the powerful sword of the Spirit, crushing Satan afresh. And we pray for each other, that we can be victorious together as the body of Christ.

Praise God for the victory that we have in Jesus Christ. He is for us, and no one can stand against us. He is our safety and our victory, for he is the eternal conquering Son of God.

God’s work moves forward in the earth through people who boldly obey him. They hear from God and do what he says, regardless of the cost. The actions of such people are often misunderstood by others, but their obedience unleashes remarkable deliverance.

In Judges 6, the Israelites were oppressed by Midian. Their crops were taken, their possessions were stolen, and they had no peace.

God chose Gideon to deliver his people out of this difficult situation.

Gideon was just an ordinary man. He had a low view of himself. He called himself the least. But God called him a mighty man of valor.

God does not need great and powerful people; he needs obedient people. Deliverance comes not through those who are strong in the flesh, but through ordinary people like you and me who obey God.

God commanded Gideon to take a radical step and tear down his father’s false altar.

“Now it came to pass the same night that the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it.” (Judges 6:25)

Gideon’s father had an altar of Baal and an Asherah pole. These things were popular, and people from the community worshiped there.

This altar wasn’t Gideon’s altar, it was his father’s altar. It didn’t just affect Gideon, it affected his whole family and the entire community. It was hindering everyone.

This evil altar was opening the door to Satan to ravage God’s people. Their bondage to evil spirits was mirrored by their bondage to the Midianites. Natural oppression is often a reflection of spiritual oppression.In order to deal with oppression, we must get rid of the things in our lives that open the door to spiritual oppressors. 

Sometimes we inherit wrong ways of doing things from our fathers – “the aimless behavior received by tradition from your fathers” (1 Peter 1:18).

When we reject false things, we will be set free. It’s important to realize that the truth is objective, not subjective. The altar of Baal was not wrong for Gideon, it was wrong for everyone. God wanted this false altar thrown out not just from Gideon’s life, but from everyone’s life. Truth applies to all of God’s people, not just to us. This means that sometimes it is ok to criticize what others are doing because their actions can hinder us, them, and those we love. The truth will not just set us free, it will set others free too.

The work of a prophet is to “To root out and to pull down,to destroy and to throw down,to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:9).

God wants to build and to plant. But first, he wants things that are contrary to his word to be destroyed. If we are unwilling to root out, pull down, destroy, and throw down, we will often will be unable to build or plant. We cannot build and plant for God on a faulty foundation.

Fear hinders people from obeying God. We don’t know how others will respond to our actions if we destroy their false altars or take other radical steps of obedience.

But when we obey God we have nothing to fear. “The Lord is on my side, I will not fear what man shall do to me” (Psalm 118:6).

God told Gideon not only what to destroy, but also what to build.

“Build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.” (Judges 6:26)

Gideon wasn’t just tearing down to create a void, but he was preparing a place for God to reveal himself. If we just tear down and leave a void, then Satan will come in later and fill that void (Matthew 12:43-45). It is always important to build after tearing down.

Gideon was to build an altar and sacrifice his father’s bullock on that altar. This would be a radical sacrifice, and it would be expensive. Sacrificing the family bullock would appear to be a problem.What if the family couldn’t plow the field any more after sacrificing the bullock? What if they couldn’t thresh their wheat?

Sacrificing sometimes seems risky.

Jesus once saw a woman throw a penny in the offering box, and it was all she had. Now what would she do? How would she survive?

The widow who gave her last meal to Elijah may have wondered how she would survive when her flour and oil were gone.

Above these fears stands the truth of Christ: “Give and it will be given to you, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap” (Luke 6:38). Those who make radical sacrifices quickly discover that God will not be a debtor to any man. He will take care of all the consequences.

Sacrifice is worship. The word worship means to bow down like a dog and lick the master’s hand.

Whenever we worship God, we must worship him on his terms, not our own. We must worship according to his word.Gideon had to make an altar that was according to the proper arrangement. The altar was to be built on the rock. When we build something for God, it cannot be according to human ways, in the place of our own choosing; it must be according to Christ’s word.

God didn’t want the Asherah pole cut down and left on the side, but he wanted it to be burned in the fire and totally destroyed. The burning idol would fuel the fire that would burn up the sacrifice. Radical repentance lights the fire of the Holy Spirit and sparks revival.

Radical destruction of evil and radical sacrifice to God prepares the way for God to pour out his Spirit.

Gideon heard from God. He boldly obeyed. He tore down his father’s idol, and then he offered a radical sacrifice. His obedience began a cascade of God working among his people that ultimately delivered them from the oppression of Midian and set them free. It brought unity among God’s people and enabled them to fulfill their purpose.

When we hear from God, we have the potential to unleash his mighty work. As we obey his word, God’s presence will be revealed.

Let’s be unafraid to be radical for our God.

God says his people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). God wants us to have spiritual knowledge. Spiritual knowledge is based on God and his word, and it is different from the knowledge of the world. Spiritual knowledge keeps us safe from destruction.

Lies bring us into bondage. The truth sets us free. The word of God is the truth.

God gave clear instructions to his people.

“According to the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ordinances.” (Leviticus 18:3-4)

There is a difference between God and the world. The ways of God are contrary to the ways of the world. God told his people not to follow the examples of the pagan nations around them. These nations were doing many sinful things that God did not want his people doing. They were also worshiping false gods.

“You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things.” (Deuteronomy 12:3-4)

God told his people to destroy the pagan religions of the nations. Everything they used to worship their gods was to be destroyed so that these things would not corrupt God’s people. God prohibited his people from using these pagan rituals in worship.

“When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise. You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way… Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.” (Deuteronomy 12:29-32)

God told his people, “You shall not worship the Lord in that way.” Satanic rituals cannot be adopted, reformed, and redeemed for the worship of God. They must be rejected, because they are an abomination to God.

Everything that happened to the Israelites in the Old Testament is symbolic for us today.

“And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.’” (1 Corinthians 10:7)

The Israelites sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play when they tried to worship God using a pagan tradition – the golden cow. When the Israelites worshiped using a golden cow, they thought they were worshiping the true God (Ex 32:4-5). They called it Yahweh! But God cannot be worshiped using pagan means.

“God is a Spirit and those who worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

We must worship God according to the Holy Spirit. We must worship him according to the truth, which is the word of God. There is no other way to worship God. We must not add to the word of God nor take away from it.

When Jesus came, he encountered the Pharisees. These religious leaders had made up many ways to worship God that were not based on the Bible. When Jesus saw their new worship styles, he did not congratulate them for their creativity, instead he rebuked them for their rebellion. He said their worship was vain or empty because it was not based on the word of God. Jesus said that trying to worship God through man-made rituals is actually serving Satan rather than God.

The Pharisees didn’t like Jesus. He was too blunt and clear. 

The Pharisees didn’t want to give up their rituals. Their culture was based on these rituals, and their traditions were very popular. So rather than give up their religious rituals, they killed Jesus.

Easter is a popular holiday today.

The word Easter comes from Eostre, an ancient goddess of the dawn. This goddess Eostre is connected to Ishtar or Ashtoreth, an ancient fertility goddess. This fertility goddess was associated with the spring, the time of new life.

The date of Easter changes each year. That’s because the date of Easter is determined by two things – the date of the spring equinox and the date of the first full moon after the spring equinox.

The spring equinox is the day of year when the day and night are equal, and it marks the beginning of spring. The spring equinox is an important time for many religions and cultures. Many religious festivals around the world are associated with it. Ancient fertility rituals were done during the spring equinox to mark the time when the plants came back to life after winter, and to invoke the blessing of the gods on newly planted crops. Religious rituals were done with eggs, which represented fertility. Rabbits were also used, which also represent quick reproduction.

The ancient fertility goddess was represented by the moon. When the moon was full, this goddess was perceived as being in full strength. This is why this fertility goddess was especially worshiped during the full moon connected to the spring equinox.

Worldwide, there are many spring equinox festivals.

In south India, there is a spring equinox festival called Vishu. Vishu means “equal” in Sanskrit, telling us that on the equinox day and night are equal. It celebrates the victory of their god Krishna over a demon. Holi is a spring equinox festival that is popular in north India.

Japan, China, and many other cultures have spring equinox festivals.

In ancient Babylon, there was an ancient spring equinox festival that worshipped Tammuz and Ishtar, his mother. The rites of this ancient worship had corrupted ancient Israel, as seen in Ezekiel 8:14. God called this pagan worship an abomination.

We need God’s word. God’s word will increase our spiritual knowledge. Without God’s word, we will not be safe.

God’s word reveals that God cannot be worshiped using Satanic means. He can only be worshiped according to his word.

“But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.” (Galatians 4:9-10)

If there is anything worth celebrating, it is the victory of Jesus Christ. His death and resurrection is the foundation of our faith.Christ crushed Satan’s head. He stripped the fallen angels of their power. He gave us authority to cast out demons. He took away our sins. He gave us eternal life. He took the wrath of God. He sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts.

How does God want us to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?

The Bible tells us that God wants us to remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ through the Lord’s Supper.

“Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drinkit,in remembrance of Me.”For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:24-26)

Whenever we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we proclaim the Lord’s death. We remember his glorious victory over sin, darkness, and Satan. God wants us to do this frequently, at least every week on Sunday when we meet together as a church.

Through the Lord’s Supper, we proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Who do we proclaim this to?

First of all, we proclaim this to God. When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we show him that there are people on the earth who are giving their lives to him. We are standing in the gap between earth and heaven, asking for God’s will to be done, declaring the gospel to the world.

We also proclaim Christ’s death to ourselves during the Lord’s Supper. We need to remember the death and resurrection of Christ regularly, for it is the foundation of our spiritual life. We remind ourselves that we are saved, that we are children of God, we have eternal life, we have the Holy Spirit inside us, and that our sins are taken away – all because of what Jesus did, and not what we did.

We proclaim Christ’s victory to other believers during the Lord’s Supper. We encourage them to be strong in their faith. Maybe they are discouraged. When we meet with them and share the word of God and the Lord’s Supper, they can be strengthened. During the Lord’s Supper we rejoice that the dividing walls between people have been broken down through the sacrifice of Christ, and we can be one with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Finally, we declare the victory of Christ to the principalities and powers during the Lord’s Supper. We declare to all fallen angels and demons that they are defeated. Satan’s head has been crushed. We are not part of Satan’s kingdom; we are part of the kingdom of God. There is spiritual power in the Lord’s Supper.

God wants us to consistently celebrate and remember the death and resurrection of Christ through the Lord’s Supper, week after week. (The early church celebrated the Lord’s Supper every day.) As we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we tap into the divine power we need to live victorious Christian lives. There is great benefit in meeting regularly with the church and maintaining this regular spiritual habit.

Someday Jesus will return to the world and judge the world in righteousness. He’s going to establish his kingdom. He will glorify his people. The spiritual knowledge of the glory of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. All Satanism will be destroyed. Until then, we will keep proclaiming the death of Jesus through the Lord’s Supper.

Let us celebrate the victory of God as he instructs us in the Bible. Let us not add to his word nor take away from it. We may have lacked knowledge in the past about some of these things, but now we have gained knowledge. God is merciful. But he expects us to act in light of his word. These truths will set us free. As we walk according to this spiritual knowledge from God, we will be blessed.

The tabernacle contains important spiritual symbolism for Christians. It reveals truths about heaven and spiritual realities. It gives us a framework to understand our spiritual life and destiny.

Within the tabernacle there are many mysteries.

Expanding on the message from last week, here are a few more details about the important spiritual meaning of the tabernacle.

Brass Altar

The Brass Altar was the first thing a person encountered when entering the tabernacle. The Brass Altar was the largest thing in the tabernacle. The Brass Altar represents the sacrifice of Christ for our sins. The size of the Brass Altar shows the prominence the gospel should have in our lives.

A fire burned constantly on the Brass Altar (Leviticus 6:13). This continual fire shows that the gospel is always powerful and effective. Jesus is always ready to receive people when they believe the gospel. We should always keep the gospel at the forefront of our spiritual lives. The gospel is the foundation for our life in God. We should always be ready to share the gospel with others.

Regular sacrifices were made at the Brass Altar in the morning and in the evening. If anyone sinned, they could sacrifice at the altar at almost any time to atone for their sins. This shows that if we ever sin, we can confess our sins and immediately receive forgiveness from God because of the sacrifice of Christ (1 John 1:9). His blood is always effective to take away our sins.

Brass Basin

The Brass Basin was the second thing a person encountered in the tabernacle. The Brass Basin was made of the lookingglasses of women, which were made out of brass (Exodus 38:8).

The Brass Basin represents water baptism, when our sins are symbolically washed away. In order for our sins to be cleansed, we must repent. We repent when we look into the mirror of God’s word and see who we are in the bright light of God’s holiness (James 1:22-25). As we see things in our lives that are not according to God, we can repent of these things.

Table of Bread

The Table of Bread was within the Holy Place of the tabernacle. On the Table of Bread fresh bread was put out every week. The Table of Bread represents Christ. He is the bread of life (John 6:33, 35, 48, 51).The fact that the bread was put out each week shows the imporance of the weekly church meeting. The early church met together every Sunday, and this is why we meet together every Sunday. Commitment to this regular church meeting is important for our spiritual growth. This Table also represents the Lord’s Supper, in which we symbolically partake of the body and blood of Christ.

The bread on the Table was unleavened. This represents that the word of God is pure, and it is to be ministered without sin. There were 12 loaves of bread on this table. 12 is the number of the apostles. We need the full apostolic word of God in order to grow into maturity.

In the Old Testament, only the priests could eat of this bread. Today, we are all priests. We all need to eat the spiritual bread of Christ so we can grow spiritually.

Frankincense was placed on top of this bread. Incense represents prayer (Psalm 141:2). We need to pray when we read the word in order to understand it. We to pray so we can obey the word of God. We need to pray so we can share the word of God effectively with others.

Golden Lampstand

The Golden Lampstand was also within the Holy Place. The Golden Lampstand represents a local church (Revelation 1:20). It was made of solid gold. Gold is a symbol of the presence of God.The Golden Lampstand was made of 1 talent of solid gold, which weighed approximately 100 pounds. This hunk of gold is worth approximately 2.5 million dollars today. This shows that the church is very valuable. Jesus gave his life for the church. He calls us his precious people.

The lampstand was all one piece. This shows unity. Jesus prayed that all his people would be one (John 17:21).

The lampstand has one center stand and 6 branches. This shows that Christ is the vine, and we are the branches.

The lampstand was beaten into its final shape. This shows that for the church to fulfill its purpose, we must be willing to go through tribulation and challenge. As we do this together, we will come into unity with each other. We will also be shaped into God’s pattern for the church.

The lampstand takes oil and converts it into light through a wick. The wick represents our humanity. The wick was trimmed daily to remove extraneous parts pieces and reduce smoking. This shows that we need to be trimmed and pruned in order to bring forth more fruit for God. We need dead things cut out of our lives so we can burn more brightly.The wick takes oil and converts it into light through the application of fire. Oil represents the Holy Spirit. The church causes people to be able to convert the oil of the Holy Spirit into light. Jesus said that “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). To be lights in this world, we need to be saturated with the Holy Spirit.

The lampstand has 7 lamps of fire. 7 is the number of God. The church is to give out a full revelation of God and his glory into the earth. Someday the church will be “glorious, without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27). When this happens, the church will fulfill her purpose which is to reveal the glory of God to the world.

The Table of Bread and the Lampstand are at a similar point in the Tabernacle; they are opposite each other in the Holy Place. This shows there is to be unity between Christ and his church. The church will be able to fulfill her purpose to the extent that she obeys the word of God. She needs to eat of all 12 loaves of bread in order to become glorious. She needs to obey the fullness of the apostolic word, neither adding to it nor taking away from it. She must fully submit to Christ, giving up her own ideas and following God’s ideas. At the end of the age, this unity between Christ and the church will be consummated at the marriage supper of the lamb. The marriage supper will happen as the church prepares herself (Revelation 19:7) by fully submitting to Christ.

Golden Altar of Incense

At the end of the Holy Place is the Golden Altar of Incense. This is the place of prayer, as incense symbolizes prayer (Psalm 141:2). At the end of the age, as the church matures, she will be able to offer up powerful prayers to God that will change the world.

This event is revealed in Revelation.

Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offeritwith the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altarwhich was before the throne.And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand.Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threwitto the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. (Revelation 8:3-6)

At the end of the age, as God’s people join together in prayer, God’s powerful plans for the end of the age will come to pass, and the world will be transformed.

The Ark and the Mercy Seat

Within the Holy of Holies was the Ark and the Mercy Seat. This is the place of the full presence of God.

The Mercy Seat covers over the ark. The Mercy Seat is ilasterion(Hebrews 9:5), a Greek word that means propitiation (Romans 3:25).

Jesus is our propitiation. He is the one who takes away our sins. The place of propitiation is the place of God’s presence. This is the place where God dwells and where he talks to us. God speaks to us from the Mercy Seat (Numbers 7:89).

The Mercy Seat was a solid slab of gold with solid gold cherubim coming out of its two sides. It is the heaviest thing in the tabernacle. It is the most valuable thing. Its weight is not listed in the Bible. This shows that the value of God’s sacrifice, mercy, and propitiation is without limit. This place of infinite mercy is the place where we meet with directly God.

Conclusion

There are many important truths contained in the Tabernacle. May God help us understand these things by his Spirit. We want to understand them, not just so we can increase in knowledge, but so we can understand where we are going spiritually. The tabernacle helps us understand spiritual realities so we can implement these things into our lives. It gives us a vision of moving forward, both as individuals and also as a church.

The tabernacle is one of the most important topics in the Bible. Several chapters in the Old Testament describe the tabernacle and the things inside the tabernacle (Exodus 25-40).

The tabernacle is important for Christians because itcontains symbols that represents truths aboutJesus Christ. The Old Testament is full of symbols about Christ (Hebrews 10:1). Everythingthat happened to the Israelites in the Old Testament happened them to symbolize spiritual truths for Christians (1 Corinthians 10:11).

The tabernacle contains a “copy of heavenly things” (Hebrews 8:5). 

The tabernacle contains “copies of the things in the heavens” (Hebrews 9:23).

The tabernacle itself is a copy of heaven (Hebrews 9:24).

God gave us the pattern of the tabernacle in order to reveal heaven and the spiritual realities of heaven.

When we study the symbols of the tabernacle, we can learn important things about heaven as well as about own spiritual life and growth.

The Bible reveals that there are three heavens. The third heaven is the place of God’s throne. Paul was caught up into the third heaven and saw amazing visions (2 Corinthians 12:2).To represent these three heavens, God designed three parts of the tabernacle: the Outer Court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies is the place where God dwelt. The Holy of Holies represents the third heaven which is the place of God’s throne.

The entire tabernacle itself is a copy of heaven, the true dwelling place of God.Everything in the tabernacle represents spiritual realities. In order to understand these realities, we must interpret the symbolism of the tabernacle. We can accurately interpret Bible symbols through the word of God and the Holy Spirit.
The Tabernacle was entered on the eastern side.

Brass Altar

The Brass Altar is the first thing a person encountered when he entered the Tabernacle (Exodus 27:1-8). At the Brass Altar, in the Outer Court, sacrifices for sin were made.The Brass Altar represents the sacrifice of Christ on the cross for our sins. Jesus was the true lamb of God slain to take away our sins. When we trust in Christ, we are cleansed from our sins and are made new. Through faith in his sacrifice we become born again. Becoming born again is the first step we must take if we want to know God.

Brass Basin

The Brass Basin is the second thing that a person encountered in the tabernacle (Exodus 30:18-21). This basin was full of water. People washed at the Brass Basin in the Outer Court after sacrificing at the Brass Altar.

The Brass Basin represents water baptism. After we are born again, we should be baptized in water. Water baptism represents our sins being washed away. This is the next step we need to take to grow spiritually after being born again.

Screen

After this there was a Screen (Exodus 26:36-37). This Screen separated between the Outer Court and the Holy Place.
Passing through this screen represents being baptized in the Holy Spirit. After being baptized in the Holy Spirit, we can see and move into deeper spiritual realities. After being born again, we should be both baptized in water and baptized in the Holy Spirit in order to continue our growth in God.

Table of Bread

The Table of Bread was inside the Holy Place (Exodus 25:23-30). Fresh loaves of bread were always sitting on this table. God’s servants ate this bread.

The Table of Bread represents Christ and his word. Jesus is the bread of life. He is the word of God. We don’t live by natural bread, but by the spiritual bread of God’s word (Matthew 4:4). When we partake of the word of God, then we grow spiritually. This table also represents the Lord’s Supper, which is to be a time of special intimacy with the Lord as we partake symbolically of Christ’s body and blood.

Golden Lampstand

The Golden Lampstand is within the Holy Place (Exodus 25:31-40). This Lampstand gave light inside the Tabernacle.

The Golden Lampstand represents a church (Revelation 1:20). If we want to grow in the Lord, we must be part of a Biblical church. We need fellowship with other Christians. It is impossible to fulfill our potential in God apart from a Biblical church. Jesus said if a lamp is lit, it is not to be put under a bed or under a bushel, but on a lampstand (Matthew 5:15). In order to shine effectively for God, we need the fellowship and blessing that comes from being part of a Biblical church.

Altar of Incense

The Golden Altar of Incense is within the Holy Place, right before the Holy of Holies (Exodus 30:1-10). Priests offered incense on this altar before the presence of God.Incense represents prayer (Revelation 5:8). The Altar of Incense represents the prevailing prayers of God’s people. When God’s people come together under his authority and agree together in his name, yielding their lives to him, they can ask for anything and it will be done (Matthew 18:19). At the end of the age, the prayers of God’s people will become particularly powerful. These prayers will effect cataclysmic changes upon the earth (Revelation 8:3-6). The church will pray these powerful prayers as she grows into maturity.

Veil

There was a Veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies (Exodus 26:31-33). Only one priest could go through this veil once a year into the Holy of Holies and meet directly with God.

When Christ went to the cross, this veil was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). This represents that Jesus made a way for us to be completely reconciled to God. He made a way for us to enter into God’s presence directly because of his blood. Through him we have direct access to Almighty God, and the veil is gone.

Ark of Covenant

The Ark of the Covenant was a golden box within the Holy of Holies (Exodus 25:10-16). This box contained the two stone tablets of the 10 Commandments.The Ark of the Covenant represents the holiness, justice, and truth of God. Our God is holy. He is perfect. He cannot tolerate sin or uncleanness. Angels cry out that God is Holy all the time around his throne. If we want to dwell with God, we need to partake of his holiness. This is possible by the blood of Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Mercy Seat

The Mercy Seat rested on top of the Ark of the Covenant. God’s presence dwelt on top of the Mercy Seat.

The Mercy Seat represents the mercy and kindness of God shown to us through Jesus Christ. His mercy covers over his justice. His kindness is extended to us through Christ and enables us to relate to our perfect and holy God.

Within the Holy of Holies, the truth and mercy of God meet together, as the Mercy Seat sits on top of the Ark of the Covenant. There, God’s righteousness and his peace are joined. God dwells at this conjunction of perfect truth and perfect mercy.

Cherubim

Two golden Cherubim were on the sides of the Mercy Seat (Exodus 25:17-22). Between these cherubim the glory of God dwelt.

The cherubim represent the glory that surrounds God. They symbolize the powerful angels around his throne. They also symbolize maturity for the church and the individual Christian.

Conclusion

The Tabernacle is an important summation of the entire Christian life. It is a copy of heaven. It reveals spiritual realities. It also reveals the goal of the mature Christian and the entire body of Christ, which is to dwell continually in the full presence of God and be “transformed into his image” (2 Corinthians 3:18). The tabernacle is a well-spring of amazing spiritual information, which might take an eternity to fully understand.

“Stand fast in the liberty with which Christ has set us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1).

Paul was writing to a church. He didn’t want Christians coming under bondage.

All of us were once in bondage. We were slaves of sin and blind to God. When we trusted in Christ we were born again and set free from this bondage. 

God wants us to continue in this freedom.

In order to continue in this freedom, we must stand firm. If we don’t stand firm, we will become slaves. It is possible for Christians to become slaves.

Paul was writing to the Galatians. These Christians were going into the bondage of false teaching. They were following practices from the Old Testament like circumcision and dietary regulations. Today false teachings bring many Christians into bondage. To be free from the bondage of false teachings, we need to know the word of God. 

There are many types of bondage we can come under.

God wants us to be free from Satan. 

He wants us to be free from bondage to sin. “Sin will not have dominion over you” (Romans 6:14). 

God wants us to be free from limitations: “with God all things are possible.” 

God wants us to be free from the need to conform to the world. We don’t need to keep up with the Joneses, we need to keep up with the Spirit of God. 

God wants us to be free from Mammon. We don’t need to be slaves to money, worrying about money all the time. Jesus said he would provide what we need as we seek first his kingdom. 

The children of Israel were slaves in Egypt. They built Pharoah’s buildings and were miserable. Whips cracked over them and they were weighed down with burdens from their masters. One day God showed up and broke the power of their masters. They were free!

Moses brought them out of Egypt by the power of God. There was great potential before them and a glorious land waiting for them to enter. But they were unable to see this potential. They couldn’t trust God. They wanted to go back to Egypt and become slaves again! Then they died as they wandered around the wilderness. This is what happens when God’s people come into bondage again.

Jesus was anointed by God to set the captives free and open the prison doors (Isaiah 61:1). We were all once prisoners in Satan’s prison, but Christ crushed Satan’s head and brought us out. Satan’s whip could no longer crack over our heads, and his burdens no longer needed to bruise our backs.

“He whom the Son sets free is free indeed” (John 8:38). True liberty can only come from Jesus Christ.

We were set free by the Holy Spirit.

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17). 

The Holy Spirit made us new on the inside and brought us out from the bondage to sin.

When the church comes together under the authority of Christ, Jesus is there. This powerful presence of Jesus can set people free. Sometimes the presence of the Lord is in a place to bring deliverance (Luke 5:17).

To the extent that we are filled with the Holy Spirit, to that extent we will experience liberty. We need to continue in this liberty from the Holy Spirit.

The word of God sets us free.

“You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32). 

All lies are from Satan, the father of lies. When we believe lies, they bring us into bondage. The truth is the word of God. The word of God is living and powerful, and it can set us free from lies.

We need to look into the perfect law of liberty in order to be set free (James 1:25). The perfect law of liberty is Christ and his teachings. When we follow Christ and his teachings, we are set free. We are set free by obeying God’s word, not just by hearing it.Jesus has already set us free. He doesn’t want us to go back and become “entangled in a yoke of bondage.”

When we get entangled in something, we get stuck. It’s like the thorns and thistles that choke the word of God that Jesus warned us about. It’s possible to be entangled in spiritual vines and ropes. It’s possible to be caught in a Satanic trap. God doesn’t want his people to be entangled. He wants us free.

A yoke is something heavy and firm put on the back of an ox so it can plow a field. Satan wants us to be slaves in his field. He wants us to keep sinning over and over again. The devil wants us to keep thinking about the past and getting miserable about it. He doesn’t want us going forward into the future with God. He wants us to doubt God. He wants us to desire the world and the things in the world. He lies to us so he can put a yoke on our backs and get us entangled. With a yoke on our backs, we are not free to serve God. We will not be happy.

God wants every yoke to be broken off the back of his people. He wants us completely free from all bondage. 

““Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6).

Christ died to set us free. Our inheritance is liberty.Sometimes Christians may get yokes of the enemy put on their backs. We may not be as free as we should be. 
Jesus is the only solution. He set us free once, and he can do it again. 

“The yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil” (Isaiah 10:27). 

The anointing of God breaks yokes. We need to come into the presence of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit will shatter the yokes of the devil.

Jesus says if we are weary and heavy laden, we can come to him. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. We will find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:29-30). Christ’s yoke is the only yoke we want on our backs. This yoke is easy because Christ is in the yoke with us.

God does not want us to be in bondage. Jesus came to set us free. Jesus set us free when we first trusted in him and became born again. He wants us to continue in that freedom. To do this, we must stand firm.

If we have come into bondage, there is only one solution: Christ. We need to come to him, and ask him to break the yokes of bondage. He will do it again. He will set us free by his word and Spirit.

“You are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13).

Jesus said his people are like salt.

Salt has many important uses.

1. Salt preserves food. Salt prevents decay. Salt is used to preserve meat like ham and vegetables like cucumbers.

Christians are like salt because they help preserve the world from sin and therefore from judgment. Sodom was preserved from judgment as long as there were righteous people inside the city. Noah was righteous and therefore he kept the creation alive in a big boat. Christians can slow down the sin, decay, and rot of society, thereby protecting it from the judgment of God.

2. Salt makes food taste good. Salt has a distinct flavor. Salt brings out the flavor of food by breaking down cell walls so the food’s inherent flavor can be released.Christians are like salt because they give the world a better flavor. TheyintroduceGod to the world, bringing redemption. Christians can break down barriers through the love of God. They can soften hard hearts and release good things in others by the Holy Spirit.

3. Salt is an essential nutrient. Many important body processes depend on salt in order to function.

Christians are like salt because do essential things. Christians show love – they feed the hungry, care for the sick, help the weak, and share truth about God. It is essential that people hear the gospel, and Christians are the only ones who will share the gospel with unbelievers.

4. Salt attracts water. To stay hydrated we need both salt and water. Without salt our bodies cannot retain water.

Water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.Christians are like salt because they attract the Holy Spirit into places and among groups of people.

5. Salt can be healing. Gargling salt water can soothe a sore throat.

Christians bring healing to others. They can share the gospel so sinners can be reconciled to God. They can speak a healing word to those who are discouraged. They can lay hands on the sick so they can recover.

6. Salt was particularly valuable in ancient times. It was used as a currency in some cultures. The word salarycomes from the base word sal, which is saltin Latin.

Christians are valuable to God. God says that we are his special treasure. Christians are the valuable witnesses by which the world will come to know God.

Have Salt In Yourselves

“Everyone will be seasoned by fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt” (Mark 9:49).

Fire symbolizes troubles. According to Jesus, everyone in the world will go through troubles.

Christians are commanded to be living sacrifices on the altar of God (Romans 12:1).

In the Old Testament, every sacrifice to God was to be offered with salt (Leviticus 2:13). Salt ensured the sacrifice was free from decay so when it burned on the altar, it gave off a sweet smell. But without salt, the meat might rot. If a rotten piece of meat was burned on the altar, it would give off a stink.

Salt represents the presence of God. With the presence of God in our lives, when we go through the fiery problems of this world, we will give off a good smell to God. We can be joyful (James 1)in themidst of trouble. We will have patience. We will become more humble. We will be sanctified. All of these good things will result in our lives when we go through fiery problems with the presence of God.

Without the presence of God, when we go through problems we will give off a stink. Problems will stress us out, and we might murmur or complain. We might become impatient or angry. We may lash out at others. We might doubt God’s word. All of these bad results are like the stink of rotten meat being burned in fire.

We need to have salt in ourselves, so when we go through fiery trials, we will have good fruits in our lives and not evil fruits.

Salt Produces Peace Among Christians

Jesus commands us to have “salt within ourselves so we can be at peace with each other” (Mark 9:50).

When Christians are full of the presence of God, they will be at peace with each other. They will have true fellowship. Sin and decay enter into us when the presence of God is lacking, and this destroys fellowship.

In the Old Testament, salt was a sign of a sure covenant that would not pass away. Salt represents permanence. When Christians have salt in themselves, they preserve their relationships with others in the body of Christ.

Salty Talk

“Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer everyone” (Colossians 4:6).

When our speech has salt in it, we will avoid sin and corruption. Our words will be palatable, because they are gracious. The Holy Spirit often makes conversations more interesting and flavorful. We must be willing to be different than the world. We must be willing to say and do different things than everyone else.

Salt brings out the flavor in food. When we talk to others, we can try to bring the good things out of them. We can focus our conversation on what God is doing in their lives, if they have a desire for God, if they are interested in the Bible, or on other things that are positive in their lives.

When we speak graciously, then we will know how to answer others. When we speak roughly, out of the flesh, then we often lose our ability to have wise answers. But when we speak in a calm way that is led by the Spirit, then we will know how to speak and how to answer questions more wisely.The way we talk to people affects our ability to know the answers to their spiritual questions.

Rejected Salt

“If the salt has lost its saltiness, with what will it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled under foot of men” (Matthew 5:13).

In ancient times, salt was not refined as it is today. This means that it could potentially lose its flavor through contamination or exposure to moisture.

It is possible for Christians to lose their saltiness. The presence of God lessens in their lives. They lose their distinction from the world. They no longer have a positive spiritual effect on their surroundings. They become corrupted by sin.

When this happens, Christians no longer fulfill their purpose. They bring shame on the name of Christ. Unbelievers mock them. When Christian leaders sin, the world laughs at them. This is like being trampled under the feet of men.

Conclusion

God says his people are like salt. They are to bring the presence of God into the world and protect the world from decay.

God’s people are to have salt in themselves. They are to be full of the presence of God, so that when they go through trials, their lives emit good things rather than evil things.

Among unbelievers, Christians are to behave in a salty way. Their speech and behavior is to reflect the values of heaven.

Let us live as the salt of the earth and not be insipid. We can do this by the Holy Spirit. As we do, we will fulfill our divine purpose.

Walking in the Spirit is the normal Christian life. When we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). We will experience victory over sin. And we will experience the abundant life that Jesus promised us (John 10:10).

How do we actually walk in the Spirit?

The first step to walking in the Spirit is being born again. We are born again when we believe in Jesus Christ. When we accept that he took away our sins on the cross, died in our place, and through him we have eternal life; then we will repent and give our lives over to him. We will be born again and the Holy Spirit comes inside us.

Jesus said that everyone who is born again is like the wind – you hear it’s sound but can’t tell where it’s coming from and where it’s going (John 3:8). Living in the Spirit is unpredictable. Those who live in the Spirit are guided by the wind of heaven. They are not guided by the ways of the world. Walking in the Spirit is something the world cannot understand. If we want to live like this, according to God, walking in the Spirit, then we must be born again.

The second important step to walking in the Spirit is being baptized in the Holy Spirit. The disciples were already born again before the Day of Pentecost, because they believed in Jesus. But they were not yet filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). On the Day of Pentecost, they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, and they were transformed into powerful witnesses for God (Acts 1:5-8). God wants each of his children to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, so they can experience more of his presence and power in their lives. When we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit operate through us more fully, and we can be led and empowered by the Holy Spirit more clearly.

After being baptized in the Holy Spirit, there are times in our lives when we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit afresh. Throughout Acts, the same disciples who were baptized in the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost were filled again with the Holy Spirit later. This filling gave them supernatural power to work miracles and press onward for God’s kingdom (Acts 4:31). Every Christian is commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit again and again (Ephesians 5:18).

Obedience to God is the ground from which walking in the Spirit is possible. We need to obey the Bible, and we also need to obey the specific instructions God has for us. When we obey God’s word, then we abide in Christ, and his life flows into us. We are in the spiritual place where God can use us. God pours out his Holy Spirit on those who obey his words (Acts 5:32).

There are two forces in us, the flesh and the Spirit. Through the Spirit, we are to dominate the flesh and live a life for God.

Jesus said we need to take up our cross daily and follow him. This means that we need to obey his word.When we obey God, our flesh is crucified. The only solution for the flesh is crucifixion. Then we need to put off the flesh. We must put off the old man and put on the new man.

Do not make provision for the flesh to satisfy its lusts (Romans 13:14). If we are tempted by alcohol or other things, we need to cut these things out of our lives. We don’t want a provision for our lusts sitting in the corner of our lives that we can access whenever we want to. We need to throw that stuff away.

Paul said he disciplined his body and made it his slave (1 Corinthians 9:27). To discipline means to box or beat. These are strong words. This doesn’t mean Paul literally beat himself, but it means that he ruthlessly dominated his flesh by the Holy Spirit, even when his flesh was like a squealing pig that wanted to run to eat pig slop and roll around in the mud.

To walk in the Spirit, we need to pray. When we pray, we commune with God. We receive strength and instructions from heaven. Jesus sometimes prayed all night (Luke 6:12). He needed to receive guidance from his Father so he could walk in the Spirit and do what his Father wanted. If Jesus needed to pray in order to walk in the Spirit, how much more do we need to pray if we want to walk in the Spirit?

To walk in the Spirit we need to be part of a Biblical church. We need to consistently fellowship with the saints of God. Something happens in the atmosphere of fellowship, when Jesus is in our midst, that will quicken us spiritually and help us get in tune with God. If we cut ourselves off from regular fellowship with God’s people, we will not be able to live in the Spirit. We will slide into the flesh, into the ways of the world, and we will become darknened, sad, and depressed.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites could only enter the Promised Land together. They moved together through the wilderness, and defeated vast armies together. There was power in their unity. Alone, they would die in the wilderness. But together, they could accomplish awesome things.

In the New Testament, the church was strong and powerful when the believers were together with one accord in one place. That unity was the basis of their corporate walk in the Spirit together. God is raising up a people in the end times who will hear his voice and walk in his Spirit. They will not walk according to the ways of the world or according to their own minds, but according to the inspiration of heaven. These people will receive input from God and speak and act according to divine revelation. This body of Christ is going to transform the world.

“The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’sfeet,And He will make me walk on my high hills” (Habakkuk 3:19).

God has called us to walk in the heavenly places, in the Spirit. We are called to live above the world, impacting the earth with the power and light of heaven. God will make our spiritual feet able to walk in these high places.

In order to experience the abundant life that Jesus promised us (John 10:10), we need to walk in the Spirit. When we walk in the Spirit, we will live a supernatural life full of the presence of God.

There are two forces at work within each Christian – the flesh and the Spirit. The flesh is the part of us that tends toward sin. The flesh is called the old man. The flesh is who we are in the natural state apart from God.

The Spirit is the Holy Spirit inside of us who made us new when we were born again. This is the new man. This is the part of us that longs for God, seeks to follow him, and empowers us to obey his word.

The flesh and the Spirit are contrary to each other (Galatians 5:16-18). There is an internal war going on within each of us. The flesh wants to do one thing, and the Spirit wants to do the other thing. The flesh wants to obey Satan, and the Spirit wants us to obey God.

God wants us to live and walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh. When we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

The fleshly Christian is immature. He is a spiritual baby. He needs the milk of the word so that he can grow into maturity and become a spiritual person.

Paul speaks to fleshly Christians in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3. He rebukes them for their sinful behavior, and then he tells them that they are walking as mere men. 

God has not called us to walk as mere men. He wants us to live and walk above the ways of the world, and not in the flesh like everyone else. We are to live in the Spirit, according to God. We are to be supernatural people. 

When we live in the flesh, we live in our own strength, apart from God’s presence and power. We live as mere human beings. Living in the flesh is living according to human reasoning, natural abilities, and natural resources. This kind of life is limited.

Living in the Spirit means living an abundant life. It means following God and doing things in God’s power. When we live in the Spirit, supernatural things will happen in our lives. There will be divine appointments. God will connect us to people and situations that will work something powerful in our lives. Miracles will happen. Our lives will take on a higher meaning. 

God knows everything about everyone and everything. When we walk in the Spirit, we tap into God’s infinite wisdom. This will cause us to be led beyond our own human limitations. 

God can do anything. Nothing is impossible for him. When we walk in the Spirit, things that are impossible for us will become possible because God is working in our lives.

Walking in the flesh means living in human limitation. Walking in the Spirit means living life in the power of God.

When we walk in the Spirit, we become a heavenly nation of people living and walking on the earth.

“By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days… through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again.” (Hebrews 11:29-35).

Amazing things happened in the Old Testament. But now we are living in the time of the New Testament. We have the Holy Spirit inside us. There are even greater possibilities for us.

Jesus shows us how to live and walk in the Spirit. Jesus lived in the Spirit. He did whatever he saw his Father do (John 5:19). He was constantly in tune with his Father. Everything Jesus said and did started in heaven, and when he spoke or moved he brought heaven into the earth. 

We are commanded to walk as Jesus walked (1 John 2:6).

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” (John 14:12)

It’s possible for Christians to do the same things Jesus did, and to do even greater things than what he did. These things will happen when we walk in the Spirit, hearing from God and following his leading.

The Bible says that if we hear God’s voice, we should not harden our hearts. We need to obey God and do what he says. When we obey God, we will enter into his rest. 

When we hear the word of God, it is as though a door is opened. When we obey God’s word, we go through this door. Then we enter into God’s rest. When we enter into God’s rest, we stop doing whatever we want to do, and we do the works that God has prepared for us to do from the foundation of the world (Hebrews 4:7-10).

To walk in the Spirit means to live a normal Christian life. May God help us to grow into spiritual maturity so that this life becomes normal for us.

The fruit of the Spirit is an important topic for Christians. 

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self control (Galatians 5:22-23). 

It is important for us to know how to bear the fruit of the Spirit so that we can have a healthy life and fulfill our purpose as Christians.

We get some insights into how to bear the fruit of the Spirit from Psalm 1.

“Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:1-3)

Psalm 1 talks about the blessed man. This word blessed can also mean happy. The blessed or happy man is a person who prioritizes God. When we follow God’s instructions, we will be blessed. When we don’t follow the word of God, we will be unhappy. True happiness comes from obeying God.

First, Psalms 1 tells us if we want to be blessed, we must turn away from sin. Sin leads to death. Sin does not make us happy. Psalm 1 tells us that sin can be a progression in our lives. It starts with walking in wrong ways. Then it causes a person to stand in the wrong place. It culminates with making him sit in an evil place.

Psalm 1 says sin starts with ungodliness. Then sin encourages a person to actively do evil, and finally it gets a person to scoff at good things.

God wants us to cut off sin before it takes over our lives and makes us miserable. God wants us to repent, which means to turn from sin.

Psalm 1 says if we want to be blessed, we must meditate on the word of God. This means to think about the word of God. We are instructed to think about God’s word day and night. 

This is possible when we delight in God’s word. When we like doing something we will do it. If we don’t want to, we probably won’t. If we enjoy reading the Bible, then we will read it and think about it. Delighting in the Bible is the key to spending time in the Bible. Reading the word of God should be a delight, not a religious duty. If it’s not a delight, pray that God would make it a delight for you. The Holy Spirit will answer that prayer. 

We need to meditate on the word of God because God’s word is the seed that will produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We cannot bear fruit apart from the word of God. The word of God contains power from God in order to bring forth fruit. Jesus said those who bring forth fruit are those who have the word of God planted inside their hearts (Matthew 13:23). The word of God is planted inside us when we believe it and obey it.

Psalm 1 says the blessed person is like a tree. Trees are stable. They are not easily knocked down or trampled. Trees are strong. 

We can become strong through God’s word. God’s word is an eternal seed that gives us eternal life. It makes us strong like a tree.

Psalm 1 says the blessed person is like a tree planted by the rivers of water. Water in the Bible represents the Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit inside us when we are born again. Then we are baptized with the Spirit. Hopefully we are filled with the Spirit again and again throughout our Christian lives. For our spiritual lives to be strong, we must draw regularly from the water of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said the Holy Spirit inside us is like an internal fountain of water (John 4:14). He said the Holy Spirit is like internal rivers of water (John 7:38). There is a way to live by the Holy Spirit that continually draws on the life of the Spirit of God inside us.This water of the Holy Spirit not only flows inside us, but it also flows inside the church. A supernatural river of the Holy Spirit flows in the city of God and makes God’s people happy (Psalm 46:4). This spiritual river is manifested when God’s people gather together in the name of Jesus, according to God’s word. When they do, Jesus is among them.

When we draw on the water of the Holy Spirit, we are abiding in Christ. When we abide in Christ, we will bear much fruit, for apart from Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5). 

The fruit of the Spirit is supernatural and can only come from God. It doesn’t come from ourselves.Psalm 1 says there is a season for bearing fruit. Each of the 9 fruits of the Spirit has its own season. Sometimes there is a season in which patience is needed. The Holy Spirit will produce patience in us at that time. Sometimes there is a season of our lives in which we need joy or love. The Holy Spirit will help us produce those fruits during those seasons. By the help of God, we will bear fruit that is appropriate to each situation we are in.
Bearing fruit is vitally important for the Christian life, and we can learn a lot about it from Psalm 1. 
Jesus has ordained us to bear fruit (John 15:16). He 

said we need to bear fruit in order to glorify God. When we bear the fruit of the Spirit we show that we are his disciples (John 15:8). The opposite of the fruit of the Spirit is the works of the flesh. This includes all sorts of sins (Galatians 5:19-21).

When we bear the fruit of the Spirit, we show that we are walking in the Spirit. 
When we do the works of the flesh, we reveal that we are walking in the flesh.

The Bible says that the flesh and Spirit are two contrary forces that are at war within each believer. Sometimes the flesh prevents us from doing what we want to do (Galatians 5:16-17).The only way for a Christian to be free from the works of the flesh is to walk in the Spirit. We need to be led by the Spirit. To be led by the Spirit means not only to be guided by the Holy Spirit, but also empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Christianity is to be a supernatural life that is lived by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not to be lived in our own strength. When we tap into the power of the Holy Spirit and obey the word of God, we will experience God’s power to enable us to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. When we bear this fruit, God will be glorified, others will be blessed, and we will find true happiness.

Emotions are an important part of our lives. It is important for Christians to understand emotions through the word of God.

Emotions can be powerful. They are so powerful that they can dominate our lives. 

One of the strongest emotions is fear. Fear can influence our actions, forcing us to do things we don’t want to do. Fear can control our bodies, affecting our heart and other body systems. But we have not received a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). 

Hatred and rage are strong emotions that can control people. 

Depression a strong emotion that can be debilitating.

Emotions are influenced by many factors. When we are tired or hungry, we might get into a bad mood. When we are sick or in pain, we might feel depressed. Emotions can be affected by the weather or by the changing seasons. Hormones influence emotions. Circumstances affect emotions. When things are going well, we feel good. When things go badly, we feel bad.

If we are controlled by our emotions, then we are ultimately controlled by these factors that influence our emotions.

Feelings and emotions can be misleading. They come from the heart, and according to the Bible the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Emotions are often based on lies. Often fear comes from a lie from Satan. Sorrow often arises because of incomplete information. Anger can arise because of making a false assumption about someone.

In our Christian lives, there are problems with relying on feelings or emotions. Feelings go up and down. If our Christian life is based on emotions, then our Christian life will also be up and down. If our spirituality is based on emotions, then it is ultimately be based on those things that influence our emotions, like circumstances, hormones, other people, etc. God must be the foundation of our Christian life.

Emotions are not an accurate way to measure our spiritual life. Determining the validity of faith by emotions will lead to doubts. We might doubt if we’re truly born again because of our emotions, or we might doubt the promises of God because we don’t feel that they are true.

If we are relying on emotions in our Christian lives, then our obedience might be determined by feelings. We might do something because we feel like it, or not do something if we don’t feel like it. We might wait to obey God until we feel a sort of “inspiration.” Relying on feelings in our walk with God can lead to deception, when we might think that our feelings are the leading of the Holy Spirit.

The validity of our faith is proven by the word of God, not by our feelings. The word of God reveals spiritual reality, and our faith is to be based on the spiritual facts of God’s word. 

Emotions are not inherently bad. God has emotions. Throughout the Bible God shows anger, jealousy, love, kindness, compassion, and sorrow. Jesus also showed emotions when he walked the earth. He showed sympathy. He experienced sorrow, joy, and many other emotions.

Throughout the Bible God’s people often showed strong emotions. In Psalms, David showed a range of human emotions. Nehemiah once got so mad with people for disobeying God that he starting hitting them and pulling out their hair (Nehemiah 13:25). Paul said he had continual sorrow because of Jews who refused to repent and believe in Jesus (Romans 9:2). How could Paul be sad all the time, but he command us to rejoice all the time (1 Thessalonians 5)? It’s possible to be joyful and sorrowful at the same time because we can have the joy of the Lord at the core of our being, even when we are sad about something.

Emotions can be right or wrong. The morality of emotions is determined by the word of God. When our emotional response is in line with the Bible, then it is healthy. When our emotional response is not in line with the Bible, then it is unhealthy. For example, if someone is sad because their friend forsook sin and started going to church, then this is not a good emotional response. If someone is happy when a person starts drinking alcohol to excess and being immoral, then this is a wrong emotional response. Our emotions need to be regulated by the word of God.

The Bible says it is possible to control our emotions. We can control our likes and dislikes, loving good things and hating evil things (Amos 5:15). One of the most frequent commands in the Bible is “Do not fear.” Fear is an emotion, and we are commanded to control it. Jesus commanded us to not be emotionally disturbed when we hear about wars or rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6). We are commanded to not be anxious about anything (Philippians 4:6), and anxiety is an emotion. We are commanded to be slow to anger (James 1:19). We are instructed to bear the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, and other good emotions (Galatians 5:22-23). We are instructed to show sympathy to others, weeping with those who weep and rejoicing with those who rejoice (Romans 12:15).

We are to regulate our emotions according to the word of God. 

We can learn about controlling our emotions by the word of God by using an analogy from shipping. (Thank you Arun for the analogy.) 

Big ships have a navigational system that sounds alarms when the ship is close to danger. This navigational system comes from the factory in a default setting. This alarm system must be set according to a chart that describes the ship’s surroundings. When the alarm system is set according to the chart, the alarms on the ship will ring at the appropriate times. 

Emotions are like this. Before we were born again, our emotions sounded according to the rest of the world. They were in the “default” setting. Our emotions need to be set, or “charted” by the word of God. When our emotions are set by the word of God, they will be manifested appropriately at appropriate times. 

If the ship’s alarm system is not set properly, then its alarms will sound randomly. This constant ringing of alarms can lead to alarm fatigue, when crew becomes so tired of the alarms that they ignore them. 

Sometimes when our emotions are misaligned, they manifest frequently at random times, leading to emotional exhaustion. Jesus can heal us from this. As we renew our minds with the word of God, our emotions will be healed. As we wash over our minds with the master chart of the word of God, our emotions will also be “charted” to manifest at the appropriate times.

Each person is comprised of three parts, spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). When we are born again, our dead human spirit comes alive and is joined with the Holy Spirit. We are called to live according to the Spirit and walk in the Spirit. Emotions come from the soul. As we live in the Spirit, our spirit will dominate our soul. God will dominate our emotions. Our souls, moved upon by the Holy Spirit, will then bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. When our emotions are in line with the Spirit, we will bear an emotional response that is a blessing and is according to God.

God wants his people to be passionate about things that truly matter. God himself is an emotional being. As our emotions are regulated by the word of God and guided by the Holy Spirit, they will become an asset to our spiritual life and to God’s work.

There is powerful energy within God that flows to his people to enable them to live the Christian life. The Christian life is not meant to be lived in our own strength, but in the power of God.

Energy is the ability to do work. There are many types of energy in the world, including heat, light, motion, electrical and chemical energy. According to the US government, energy makes modern civilization possible.

The divine energy of Almighty God is the greatest form of energy in the entire universe, dwarfing the power of the sun and the largest stars. This is because God is the most powerful being in the universe.

When Jesus worked miracles, people said that powers were energizing in him (Matthew 14:2). Divine energy flowed through Jesus, working miracles.

In the Bible, the Greek word for energy is often used to describe the power of God. The verses that we will discuss this morning use this Greek word that literally means energy.

God energizes Christians to do his will (Philippians 2:13). God’s energy is the most powerful energy in the universe. This is the power to live the Christian life. Normal Christianity is about living in the supernatural energy of God. It is not about living in our own strength. It is about being connected to the most powerful Person in the universe – God himself.

All of Christianity is supernatural. It comes from God.

The Holy Spirit energizes us to do above and beyond all we can ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). This dynamite power resides within every Christian. It is unlimited power. This is why Jesus said that we could do greater works than he did (John 14:12). Jesus raised the dead, cast out demons, exposed secrets, and healed the sick. Jesus said we can do these things too because the same Holy Spirit that empowered Jesus is inside of us.

All miracles come from God. The most powerful miracle in the world is when someone becomes born again and their dead spirit is raised to life. Only God can do this. If God is able to make a spiritually dead person alive, then God can easily raise a dead body to life. Sometimes dead people come back to life in the hospital. But no one but God can raise a spiritually dead person back to life.

Just because an energy exists doesn’t mean that it’s doing work. Energy can be stored, and it can be released. There is potential energy or kinetic energy. God wants the power of the Holy Spirit inside us to be released and become active and powerful in the world.

The Holy Spirit energizes spiritual gifts within God’s people (1 Corinthians 12:6). There are many different types of spiritual gifts, including tongues, prophecy, helps, and administration. There is no distinction between natural gifts and spiritual gifts. It is not as though miracles are supernatural, done in the power of God, but helps are natural, done in our own strength. All spiritual gifts are supernatural, energized by the Holy Spirit. We need the supernatural energy of God to operate any spiritual gift.

Every Christian has at least one spiritual gift (1 Peter 4:10). Spiritual gifts are given for the building up of the body of Christ. These gifts operate as we are connected to the body of Christ and are guided by true ministers. As we participate in the life of the church community, particularly in Sunday church, the spiritual gifts inside us will be energized and start to operate.

The Holy Spirit enables us to work for God (Colossians 1:29). He enables ministry to happen (Galatians 2:8). All Christians have a ministry. All are called to minister by God. We cannot serve God in our own power, we need to serve him in the supernatural energy that he provides.

The word of God energizes us (1 Thessalonians 2:13). The word of God is supernatural, charged with divine energy and life (Hebrews 4:12). As we believe the word of God and obey it, the power of God will flow through our lives.

If we do not tap into the divine energizing power of the Holy Spirit, then we will wither spiritually. We will become like a plant that is not getting enough sun, and so it turns yellow and wilts. Christianity is about life and a relationship with God, it’s not about religion. Religion creates bondage. Religion is trying to live the Christian life in our own strength, and following the religious traditions of people rather than obeying the word of God. Jesus came to demolish dead religion and bring us face to face with God. He came to pour out God into our hearts.

There are supernatural energies operating in the world that are contrary to God. 

The energy of Satan is working inside of unbelievers (Ephesians 2:2). We need to be careful as to how unbelievers can affect us, because they can drag us down because Satan is operating inside them. We need to share the truth with them if we really care about them. If we don’t care about them, then we’ll stay quiet and allow Satan to destroy them. 

There is an energy called the mystery of lawlessness that operates within the church (2 Thessalonians 2:7). This energy encourages Christians to ignore the word of God and obey religious traditions. Satan works counterfeit miracles and spiritual gifts. This happens when Christians stop obeying the Bible and start following their own religious ideas. We need discernment. The Holy Spirit operates according to the word of God. Evil spirits operate according to man-made religious rituals. We must measure all Christianity by the word of God.

There is an energy operating within each one of us called the flesh (Romans 7:5). This energy is contrary to the energy of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:17). To get the victory over the flesh, we need to crucify the flesh and put it off. We do this through faith in Christ. We must put off the old man and put on the new man. We need to learn to walk in the Spirit, which means be empowered by divine energy from God, and not walk in the flesh.

It takes supernatural energy from God to counteract the evil energies operating within the world. To overcome these evil energies, we need the energy of God.

Sometimes tests come, and we face challenges. These tests can expose whether we are living in the flesh or in the Spirit. We can only overcome some tests by the divine energy of the Holy Spirit.

There are several ways we can tap into the divine energy and power of God. We need to believe the word of God and obey it. Obedience to God releases the Holy Spirit in our lives (Acts 5:32). When we take up our cross and suffer for Jesus, we experience God’s power, for when we are weak, then we are strong (2 Corinthians 12:10). We tap into divine energy when we exercise our spiritual gifts and experience the operations of spiritual gifts through others in the body of Christ. We need to pray. And we need to be filled again and again with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).

Divine energy is based on the power of the resurrection. When Christ was raised from the dead, divine energy raised him. Now, God has released this same divine energy into us (Ephesians 1:19-20). We are members of Christ’s body. The power that raised up Christ from the dead is inside us. Let us live our lives in God’s power, so that God can be glorified.

In the Bible, Peter gives us a list of 8 vital Christian qualities.

“Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:6-8)

Faith

Virtue

Knowledge

Self-Control

Perseverance

Godliness

Brotherly Kindness

Love

These 8 qualities are all connected. They build on each other. Each of these qualities address a potential lack in the previous quality and refines it, bringing it into balance. 

As we go through this important list, you’ll see what I mean. 

Faith

The first Christian quality is faith. 

Faith is the beginning of our walk with God. Through faith in the gospel we are born again, the Holy Spirit comes inside of us, we are united with Christ, and we receive eternal life.

Our Christian lives not only begin with faith, but they continue by faith. 

“The just will live by faith” (Romans 1:17). We are called to live our Christian lives looking at the invisible things of God and his word, and not the visible things of this world. We are called to live by faith, not by sight.

Faith is vitally important. But faith by itself is not enough.

Virtue

We must add virtue to our faith. 

This word virtue has the old English meaning: “valor, manliness, courage to act, or boldness.” We need to add the courage to act to our faith. We must be able to put our faith into practice. 

James 2:17 says “faith without works is dead.” If we have faith but not the willingness to put our faith into practice, then our faith is weak and even potentially dead. We need to add the courage to act to our faith so that we can do the works that will prove that our faith is alive.

There is no point in saying you believe God is telling you to do something but then not doing it. If you refuse to act on what you say you believe, then your inaction proves you don’t really believe it. Disobedience in the word of God disproves faith. This is why we must add the courage or willingness to act to our faith, so that our faith can be implemented and become complete.

Virtue (the courageous willingness to act) is important. 

But virtue by itself is not enough.

Knowledge 

We need to add knowledge to our virtue. 

We might have strength, boldness and willingness to act (virtue), but without knowledge we won’t know what to do. Without knowledge, our actions will be meaningless or even harmful. 

Take Samson for example. He had lots of courage, but he lacked knowledge. Therefore some of his actions were harmful. When we try to do things without spiritual knowledge, then our actions will not accomplish God’s purpose.

True knowledge comes from the word of God.

Ephesians 5:17 says “Be not unwise but understand what the will of God is.” 

The Bible reveals the will of God. We need renew our minds by the word of God so that we have knowledge about what God wants us to do. When we combine knowledge with the courage to act, then our courage is able to fulfill its purpose.

But knowledge by itself is not enough.

Self-Control

We need to add self-control to our knowledge.

Self-control is the ability to walk according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh. Without self-control, even if we know what to do, we can’t do it. 

“For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” (Romans 7:15) 

The flesh and the Spirit are opposing forces within us. Without self-control, we will live in the flesh and be unable to obey God. Then all the knowledge in the world won’t help us. Self-control enables us put off the flesh and live according to our spiritual knowledge. 

Solomon was the wisest person in the world, with knowledge given to him as a gift from God. But he lacked self-control. Without self-control, much of his knowledge was ultimately useless, because he fell into sin with many women and committed idolatry with false gods. 

Without self-control, we cannot implement our knowledge. But when we have self-control, we can implement our knowledge of God’s word. 

Self control is a fruit of the Spirit, and it comes from God. It is vitally important.

But we need more than self-control.

Perseverance

We need to add perseverance to our self-control.

Perseverance is the ability to keep doing something in spite of opposition. Self-control is not something that we do just once. We don’t just get the victory once over the flesh and live happily ever after in the Spirit. We must exercise self-control regularly and learn the habit of living and walking in the Spirit every day. This is perseverance. Perseverance perfects our self-control, because perseverance makes self-control a regular feature of our lives.

Perseverance is vital. But it needs something more.

Godliness

We must add godliness to our perseverance.

Godliness means focusing on God. It means acknowledging God, worshiping God, and thanking God. When we are persevering through challenges, God is the one who will get us through. We can’t get through in our own strength. God is our source of joy and strength. Focusing on God while we persevere will keep us going forward in God’s strength.

“The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

When we try to persevere without God, our perseverance can turn into drudgery. We might become depressed or discouraged. Bitterness and anger can come into our perseverance and tinge it with darkness.

Think of David. He had to persevere for a long time in order to escape Saul’s wrath and become king. He was able to persevere because he added godliness to his perseverance, and he kept focusing on God as he endured trouble. The Psalms tell us about how David added godliness to his perseverance and was thereby able to get through.

Godliness is important. But godliness needs another quality to become complete. 

Brotherly Kindness

We need to add brotherly kindness to our godliness. Brotherly kindness is Phileo love. This is the affectionate love of feelings. 

True godliness is not just concerned about God, but it is also concerned about other people. It focuses on helping others, loving them, and being kind and affectionate towards them. Phileo love particularly focuses on our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

If we just focus on God and don’t care about others, then we aren’t really focusing on God. True godliness cares about others. Brotherly kindness makes our godliness complete.

Phileo love also needs something to make it better.

Love

We need to add agape love to our brotherly kindness. 

Agape love is the highest form of love. Phileo love becomes perfected when it is controlled by agape love.

Agape love puts God first. Agape love is based on the word of God, and it seeks to follow God’s commands (1 John 5:3).

Without agape love, our feelings and affections will not be bounded by God’s word. Our feelings may be led by our mind or even by our flesh, and they won’t be according to God. But when our feelings are controlled by agape love, which means they are submitted to God’s word, then they come into divine order.

Agape love is the final quality in this list because there is nothing to add to agape love. Agape love is the first and greatest commandment. If we have agape love, then we have God. 

“The end of the commandment is love from a pure heart” (1 Timothy 1:5).

Conclusion

This is a beautiful chain of Christian qualities. It starts with faith and it ends with love. Each one of these qualities connects to the previous quality and refines it. It balances the one that went before it and completes it. 

We need to give all diligence (which means to work hard) to implement these qualities into our lives. As we do this, the Holy Spirit will help us. As we implement these qualities, we will become increasingly spiritually fruitful.

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.