Teacher

and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also
(2 Timothy 2:2 – ESV)

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers…(James 3:1). Just because you have the ability to teach (impart and communicate information in an understandable way) does not mean you automatically have correct doctrine. You may know how to teach, but WHAT are you teaching? Just because you can teach in some certain areas doesn’t qualify you to teach the Bible. It certainly helps to be able to teach, but WHAT is taught is the primary necessity. A great communicator of heresy is still deadly, and even more so than someone who teaches falsity but isn’t captivating, memorable, or engaging.

This is why one of the primary skills a good biblical teacher needs is the ability to discern. If that is a problem, then you have a problem. Perhaps you ought to teach, once you have gone back and learned the curriculum. You shouldn’t be looking to teach new things, and some of the old things you know so well and have taught so long are not truth. You may know how to guide studies but you might lead down the wrong path.

It is not simply that you can teach, and how well you teach, it is about what you teach. For the most part, you only teach what you know. You impart knowledge and help discipline to develop skill and wisdom, but if you are going in the wrong direction you do more harm than good. If you want to teach, you had better learn.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Faith

And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith.
(1 John 5:4 – ESV)

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The reason why God’s commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3) is because of the power we have received from God upon being born again, attested to by our faith. We can continue to keep the righteousness of God and His commands to us in view, in focus, and stay on target, because even when then world would try and drag us back, the power of God brings us through. That is the power of the faith that God gives us to overcome the world. Faith is more about being a martyr than it is moving a mountain. The mountains moved might be when they have fallen on top of you, yet they hold no eternal weight to truly crush you. They have been moved, they are light as a feather compared to the weight of glory (Romans 8:17-18).

Faith is not the power to zap problems out of existence; it is the power to trust in God even when they are trying to zap you out of existence. Faith is not “I now have enough so I don’t have to go through those things again”; it is “look, even though I have gone through these things my faith in God is intact, and even stronger”. It is not, “I won’t be beat down again”, it is, “Pressed but not crushed, struck down but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). Overcoming doesn’t mean overpowering the natural, it means being able to survive spiritually despite being overwhelmed in the natural. We overcome even when we die (Romans 8:35-39). We overcome the devil and the world by Jesus, loving Him more than life itself, and sometimes having to die to prove it (Revelation 12:11). We have overcome Satan’s accusations because we count on the blood of Christ as our righteousness.

This isn’t about living some successful, victorious, abundant, physically rich and healthy life, it is about things that money cannot buy, and the devil cannot steal. The abundant life that Jesus says Satan is trying to steal, kill, and destroy, he can’t, because it is spiritual abundance (John 10:10). Our faith is what teaches us that (1 John 5:4). The victory that overcomes the world even our faith doesn’t mean our faith gets us out of the problems it means we remain faithful even while we are in them! We have been granted the faith and the power to endure suffering not to remove it. It isn’t the more faith you have the less suffering and trials you will have but the more faith you have the more faithful you will be during them! We keep on conquering what the world would try and have us do, turn our backs on God, and instead, our faith turns us back to God, crying Abba Father (Romans 8:15)!

When the rest of the world would fear, Jesus says fear not, because even though you will have trials, troubles, and tribulation in this world He has overcome it (John 16:33). THAT is how we identify with Christ, even while we are being shot at with flaming arrows from the enemy. Overcoming is not, “I can avoid all falls”, but “nothing can keep me down”. Not, “I will never have any bruises”, but “I will continue to fight on”. Not, “There will be no more pain”, but “I can see the redeeming power of Christ through it”.

I don’t want you to feel guilty for feeling good, and if things are good rejoice. But when things aren’t so good, rejoice, because they will be eventually, and that for eternity (James 1:2 / Philippians 4:4). That is the eye of faith. Faith isn’t, “I can take control in Jesus’ name, and I can do what I will”, it is “I give God control in Jesus’ name, and He can do what He will”. Amen.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

Zealous Zombies

…when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
(Matthew 23:15 – ESV)

Just because we are a Christian and think we have a right heart about something does not mean that we cannot be deceived. Zeal and sincere belief are not enough to guarantee our right standing before God. Think about radical Muslims today who are all too willing to become martyrs, are they going to paradise like they believe? Aren’t they sincere? What about Mormons, or Jehovah’s Witnesses? What about “good” people? Romans 10:2 talks of the Jews (we could put others in this category) and their “zeal for God, but not according to knowledge”.

A zeal for witnessing does not mean you automatically have correct doctrine. Our text bears on this point, graphically illustrating the truth that zeal in seeking converts does not prove that one’s beliefs are correct or that one is saved. “But I am a Christian”, you say. Well, what about the fact that some will unknowingly serve “another Jesus” (2 Corinthians 11:4)? It is possible for sincere people, even people who are among the fellowship of true Christians, to be deceived into following “another Jesus”.

Repentance, not sacrifice, is what God wants; read Isaiah chapter 1. Reformation of character, not revival of charisma is the call of God. Too often we are equating spiritual revival with emotional displays, without seeing (permanently as opposed to temporarily) transformed lives. The fruit of the Spirit is the tell tale sign, not emotionalism, and not even gifts. Actually, the fruit of the Spirit often may involve a lack of personal passion (i.e. showing patience, self-control). Emotional feeling cannot be the measure of a deepening relationship with God; the Bible declares the measure to be the fruit. You can’t display all those in a one-hour service each week. These are things measured over time in the test tube of life, and manifest in the day-to-day walk, irrespective of any emotional component.

Emotion is to be expected, even invited, but it is not the measure of faith. We can be glad for those people who may be feeling a touch from God. You may have seen someone be “slain in the Spirit”, or “go down under the power”, or whatever, and people call this “revival”. Even if they mean it, or it is “real”, that is not the sum total of what revival is. It does them no good to fall down today if they fall away tomorrow. Revival is measured by the transformation of human lives and the transformation of the immediate culture as a result of those transformed lives.

In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul went to great lengths to contrast what was going on at Corinth with regard to spiritual gifts, etc., with how it should have been proceeding. In other words, Paul was reprimanding, if you will, the church at Corinth (and us today), explaining to them that spiritual experience without love is worthless. The gifts will eventually die off, but love will always remain. Love, then, is the virtue to be strived for. To seek after gifts without love and humility is to pervert God’s order. The signs and wonders were only a part of the package, and really, they were just the stamp and address. The inside of the package, Christ Himself, was the thing to be opened up and had, the thing (person) to be sought. It is what is inside the package that matters.

It seems that today, however, there is a need for signs and wonders to manifest or the witness is “weak”. What happened to the power of the Word? Even in apostolic times, signs and wonders were not always present, and many would argue that they were never the norm, even in the first century. If we concentrate on the need for signs, are we really putting things in proper order?

But for us to seek after these signs means that we are doing exactly that: seeking the sign from God and not God himself. It’s as if God was the sign itself, and indeed, we may make a god out of signs and wonders. Some meetings seem like a séance, a summoning or invoking of a spiritual presence, and when the feeling comes, whatever it is, it is called “God”.

You are forgiven; it is a lot to be emotional about. Seeking signs to affirm God’s presence only distorts this notion however; God is there, we guarantee you that. The signs only need be upon His sovereign will, not our ability to muster them up. The Holy Spirit comes as He wills, and we can want this to happen, but shouldn’t seek supernatural signs just for their own sake.

People are seemingly always talking about inviting, or getting into the presence of God, as if this is what the aim really is. Consider this: the Jews saw miracles, signs and wonders we can only dream about, and yet they turned to other gods. You can have all the passion in the world but still be dead spiritually. Many of the unregenerate masses practicing false religion attest to that fact.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©