elizabethprata

Disciples of false teachers, their anger, and what we can learn from this opportunity

Posted on May 6, 2019May 6, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata
holiness godliness

The fiercer the reaction, the deeper the hold satan has on his false teacher and her followers. We’ve seen the rabid ferocity of those who follow Beth Moore. When their idol is touched, her people come from out of the woodwork to pile on to the person attempting to bring light to Moore’s followers.

The same recently happened with Rachel Held Evans. My obituary contained mention of the fact that RHE had lived the life an an apostate, causing vitriol to pour from the lips of her many followers.

It’s important not to simply shae our heads adn go tut-tut, and walk away. I like to process an event and try to find a positive meaning from it. So that is what this essay is. Perhaps others may find it helpful.

These are a few of the names I was directly called:

wrong
gross
unkind
unloving
disgusting
opportunist
cruel
arrogant
horrid
disgraceful
insensitive
hypocrite
nasty
judgmental
condescending
Pharisee
poisonous
heathen
unsaved
good only for compost
evil
abomination
hellspawn (my personal favorite, lol)
b**ch

I asked the angry people tweeting me to cut and paste the allegedly objectionable portions of my essay, with an earnest promise that I’d take a look at it. Not one, not one person, acceded to my request. Very few even shared a Bible verse, to my recollection. I was called to be tolerant, but by the lengthy list above, you can see that their call for loving tolerance was simply a double standard, as they were anything but.

Anahn E. Moo® @anahnemoo made the following observation:

Every post, tweet, and article I’ve read by born-again Christians who are discussing the very likely state of RHE’s soul have been loving, gentle, mournful, and prayerful.
Every response by her worshipers have been vile and hateful, often laced with profanity and blasphemy.

This was a typical tweet from a #RHE devotee. There were literally hundreds on Saturday. Mainly they went like this, if I can summarize the general vein:

“RHE taught love & grace and tolerance, you horrid, poisonous hellspawn who speaks lies! I pray that you, judgmental, nasty Pharisee that you are, will find the grace that we all have, thanks to Rachel our prophet’s teaching”. This is a compilation of actual tweets.

Some of these people I chose to engage with, and I had success with one or two. One I blocked immediately, (the curse word lady). Two or three others I engaged with a bit then muted. The rest I shared the Gospel, attempted to be gracious, and let the hateful words slide off my back while offering either verses or pleasantries. One lady I did get a huge kick out of, her comment stood out. See below.

hellspawn

With so many tweeting and commenting, how did I know which to mute, block, or engage? That is a discussion I’ll enter into below. For now, I believe I can make an axiom out of this: the deeper the false teacher is in satan, the more vitriolic her followers’ response will be to anyone claiming she is false. Alternately, the longer satan has had a ‘spy’ in his clutches, having infiltrated a body of believers, the harder satan hangs on to her. (cf Revelation 2:20). His job is to use the false teacher to make slaves and draw away the unwary from Christ.

Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— (Galatians 2:4).

These spies infiltrate the body and then promote false teachings, to which the fleshly gravitate. They accumulate these teachers for themselves, heaping them up because these false teachers suit their lusts.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, (2 Timothy 4:3).

Neither the false teacher nor their followers will want to let go. The false teacher is enjoying popularity and money, the fleshly followers enjoy having their desires indulged.

Their ferocity is always at-the-ready:

Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. (Matthew 7:6).

Their ferociousness is always bubbling just below the surface. Upon the slightest touch, it spews immediately and with a savagery that astounds the more polite and civil members of society. This is as true in real life as it is online, I’ve experienced both.

The ‘dogs’ verse evokes a mental image of stray, skinny, mangy, hungry dogs roaming in packs, but when you try to pet them, they turn snarling with foaming lips and tear you limb from limb.

We know that the world’s systems are under satan’s thumb. (2 Corinthians 4:4). Entertainment, politics, media, secular organizations all serve satan’s agenda, not Christ’s. We have seen where Christian movie makers and actors are blacklisted or whose reputations are destroyed, simply for either speaking as ambassadors of Jesus or for making movies that reflect His precepts.

We’ve seen in politics, especially in the realms of pro-abortion and pro-homosexuality, people that flood the public square with satan’s agenda and how they pile on on to those who oppose it. Even death threats and physical violence has been done against people exercising their right to freely speak their conservative beliefs in the public arenas.

We’ve seen the media taken over by the liberal journalists, who go to any lengths to preserve and present satan’s reality and publish even lies through their print or broadcast mediums.

In my past experience as a journalist I’ve experienced how the liberal media works when I opposed the lies. They decide on a target. In one case they had decided on three targets for a certain smear campaign, but decided three was too unwieldy so then they focused their attention on one person alone, funneling all their hostility onto him. Next, they decide what to say against their selected target, and lies work just as well or even better than the truth. Finally, they tag-team the target with their talking points. They do not alter it and they do not vary their talking points, knowing that if a lie is repeated enough times, it will stick. They do this with a savagery and a brutality that is relentless and breathtaking.

Events such as these are instructive, I find. Even more so is when the Christian stands against satan’s lies when opposing a false teacher. How is it instructive? The false teacher’s followers are masquerading as penitent, polite, grace filled people, therefore they are hard to spot. But when their idol is touched, that thin veneer is stripped away quickly. This is helpful. With little effort we can quickly see who the mission field is. False converts are hard to spot normally, but when they come out in full force, well, there they are.

False teachers are a problem and have been since the beginning. Their followers are often like marauding hordes intent on destruction (of character, reputation of the body itself). In fact, in John 16:2 (NAS) we read,

“They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.”

They think they are doing right, protecting their false teacher so fiercely.

By the number of verses in the New Testament dealing with the fact that false teachers will exist, and that their many followers will cling to lies, we know we must be on guard and act as salt and light to their dying hearts.

Now it is the job of the Christian to determine which disciples of false teachers to engage with and which to turn away from. The Bible suggests various approaches.

For example, Jude 1:22-23 says to engage,

have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others, show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.

James says to engage,

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, (James 5:19).

Titus 3:10 says to warn a divisive man once then twice, (but then then have no more to do with him, because foolish controversies edify no one.)

In other cases we are not to engage with a follower of a false teacher or a false teacher herself. We are told to simply mark and avoid, (Romans 16:17), told to close the door to the false teacher, not even allowing him or her into our homes. (2 John 1:10).

Other times we are also told not to associate:

Take note of anyone who does not obey the instructions we have given in this letter. Do not associate with him, so that he may be ashamed. (2 Thessalonians 3:14).

By the number of verses that exhort the believer to do certain things or not to do certain things when encountering a false teacher and/or her converts, it’s obvious that care and prayer must be involved. Is this a case where I must engage? Or simply mark and avoid? Is this a case where I have mercy on those who doubt, or is it a case where the doubt is so entrenched that I must close the door to them?

The level of their anger will be a first indication of how far to go in engaging them. The list of angry words above is put in a level of order from (IMO) mild to hot. (AKA wanderers from the truth) it’s obvious that care and prayer must be involved.

Remember, the hate directed toward you is not directed toward you particularly, it’s directed toward Jesus. It is not a situation to decry, but it is in fact an opportunity. Wayward believers have just revealed themselves. What to do? Not all, but some are the mission field. The level of their anger will be a first indication of how far to go in engaging them. The list of angry words above is put in a level of order from (IMO) mild to hot.

We can engage with scripture, share the Gospel, or simply behave in ways the world does not expect (salt & light, grace & truth).

Other times we mark and avoid. Praying to the Holy Spirit will guide you as to what to do, when. Remember, His ministry is to point to Jesus and the Spirit is even more concerned than you are for Jesus’ name, your edification and growth, and the false believer’s soul (whether it demonstrates God’s justice in perdition or in His grace in heaven).

Be well and wise, soldier, and march onward.

————————————

This is a heartfelt PS. I wrote this essay because I process things by writing. I’m autistic. I’m not introspective. I find it easier to write it out of me and then see what is on the page.

I also wanted to make this an opportunity for encouraging anyone with some verses and facts, and a perspective that’s hopefully positive. I’m not writing this because I think said everything perfectly, I didn’t. There were a few cases where I regret my comment. I don’t write this because feel I have it all figured out. I don’t. Even though I’ve been through this before, the ferocity still surprised me. It left me unsettled.

I am writing this to encourage, help, or at least offer a coda to it all. For those who emailed, commented, or tweeted encouragement, thank you. I appreciate each and every one of you.

————————————————-

Poetry: “Mortifying Misunderstanding”

Posted on May 5, 2019 by elizabethprata

Poetry by Kay Cude. Kay Cude is a Texas poet. Used with permission.

flying

Obituary, theology

Rachel Held Evans, author, blogger, has died

Posted on May 4, 2019May 4, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

rhe
Rachel Held Evans, age 37, has died.

Columnist, author, mother of two, Evans had been in a medically induced coma since April 19, 2019. According to updates provided by her husband of 16 years, Dan, during treatment for an infection Rachel began exhibiting unexpected symptoms. Doctors found that her brain was experiencing constant seizures. The coma was induced in order to calm the seizures. On April 30th Dan wrote that the neurology team at the 3rd hospital they admitted Rachel to were now attempting to wean Rachel off of the coma medication without the seizures restarting, as there were complications that could occur if she was kept in a coma for too long. On May 2, 2019, Rachel experienced a sudden swelling of the brain that was not survivable. Rachel never regained consciousness.

Evans died early Saturday morning, May 4, 2019.

Evans was influential not only in the Christian world but in the secular world, too, for her liberal views of Christianity. Her openness about her personal doubt in the faith, her acceptance of homosexuality, her feminism, her promotion of gender egalitarianism, her waffling stance on abortion, and rage against an evangelical machine resonated with many.

Since her first book, “Evolving in Monkey Town: How a Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions”, was published in 2010, Rachel had begun accumulating a massive following on her website, Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram; about a quarter of a million followers as of this month.

Her next book two years later was even more popular, making it to the NY Times’ Best Seller list. Titled, “A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband Master”, Rachel had decided to follow every Old Testament command for living as a wife/woman and wrote about it. Two other books followed, in 2015 and in 2018, as well as speaking engagements and broadcast interviews. Her recently established GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses rapidly exceeded the targeted amount of $70,000, raising $111,810 in just 11 days and rose even more after her death was announced. Rachel was popular.

Rachel’s supporters were many but so were her detractors. Espousing a liberalism that many (including me) understood to be beyond the bounds of God’s actual word, many feared for Rachel’s soul as much as we feared her influence.

Open Letters were written, rebukes were proffered, counseling was given. Sadly, as it appears to occur with most people who drift from the Word of God, she only entrenched herself further into aberrant views, drifting away from the Rock.

Her supporters are vociferous about Rachel’s goodness and her necessary and righteous theology. As this tragedy was agonizingly drawn out for her family over these last two weeks it adds to the upheaval as usually occurs when a public figure lingers tantalizingly in the twilight between life and death.

Oftentimes we are not given an opportunity to pray so well and so long for a person’s soul. Death comes suddenly in many cases, unexpectedly. For Rachel, many who were praying, including me, were praying for a physical and a spiritual awakening. Having looked so long into the deepness of the dark abyss, these two weeks were a time to publicly ponder eternity with or without a Holy God, much to many people’s discomfort.

The death of someone who lived the life of an apostate is sobering, never joyful to anyone who knows the truth of judgment for those outside the Lord. Though there are many who teach falsely in the world, some who anger me, some who puzzle me, there are some, like Rachel, that the Lord inexplicably put on my heart as if she was a close family member wandering from the fold. I cried real tears when I wrote my Open Letter to her 6 years ago, I cried real tears in Mid-April when I learned she was in dire medical condition, and I cried sorrowful grief-ridden tears over her death when I learned of it this morning.

I prayed that Rachel Held Evans, at some point, had repented. I know not of her final state, but here is a warning to her followers, as one pastor who wrote (not directly of Rachel’s death but in general):

The world’s favorite Christian is an apostate Christian; but that love is a suicidal love (Matthew 5:13-16).

May these two weeks have been a sobering time for people who cling to a theology that is of Rachel Held Evans and not of God, and had heeded the warnings of myself and many others who took a moment to warn in love. May that be the good that comes out of this tragedy.

theology

Liberal theology “is less about God revealing his desires, but more about man revealing his”

Posted on May 4, 2019May 4, 2019 by elizabethprata

I’ve been accused of disliking a liberal person who claims Christ solely because I have a “conservative theology.”

I’ve been thinking about this term ‘conservative theology’ more deeply this week. Usually when a charge like that is made they mean a person who believes the Bible more closely or more literally than they do.

The people making the claim usually possess a more liberal theology, which is to say, having put a wedge between the Word and their heart so as to allow room for man’s ideas. Real examples of a more liberal theology, in my opinion, would be to allow for abortion in certain man-prescribed cases. Or to allow for homosexuality, if it is not ‘acted upon’. A liberal theology might be to downplay the sin of flirting with a woman with adultery on the mind, but not to actually do the deed.

But all those are still sins.

The fact is, God is the ultimate conservative. If you believe His word, you’re conservative. If you don’t, you’re not liberal, you’re an unbeliever.

If one believes His Word, there is no room for liberalism. Why? So many verses warn of wandering away from His precepts, drifting away. We are told to stick close. The closer we stay to God’s word and live His precepts, the better off we are. Leave no room for a wedge to open in your heart or mind. I repeat what you’ll read below, from Michael J. Kruger, “Put simply, liberal Christianity is not Christianity.”

Stick close to His word. This is conservative theology, or rather, “theology”.

With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! (Psalm 119:10)

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (Hebrews 2:1)

My soul is consumed with longing
for your rules at all times.
You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
who wander from your commandments.
(Psalm 119:20-22)

Like the Gospel which needs no adjectives like Social or Prosperity, or the word sinner that needs no additional explanation, like grieving or abashed, theology needs no further clarification such as conservative or liberal. It’s just theology. It’s God’s word.

Liberal theology deceives, in that it is full of half truths.

panorama road

A liberal theology rests on a false assumption that propositional truth cannot be known. See #4 and 5 in Kevin DeYoung’s essay Seven Characteristics of Liberal Theology. Once propositional truth is done away with, man’s sinful mind creates all sorts of reasons why this or that isn’t really a sin. It’s what we sinners do.

New Series: The 10 Commandments of Progressive Christianity

In 1923, J. Gresham Machen, then professor at Princeton Seminary, wrote the book, Christianity and Liberalism. The book was a response to the rise of liberalism in the mainline denominations of his own day. In short, Machen argued that the liberal understanding of Christianity was, in fact, not just a variant version of the faith, nor did it represent simply a different denominational perspective, but was an entirely different religion altogether.

Put simply, liberal Christianity is not Christianity.

Here are Kruger’s 10 Commandments of Progressive Christianity, each are a separate blog essay. You can find his links to each one by clicking the main link above.

1. Jesus is a model for living more than an object of worship.
2. Affirming people’s potential is more important than reminding them of their brokenness.
3. The work of reconciliation should be valued over making judgments.
4. Gracious behavior is more important than right belief.
5. Inviting questions is more valuable than supplying answers.
6. Encouraging the personal search is more important than group uniformity.
7. Meeting actual needs is more important than maintaining institutions.
8. Peacemaking is more important than power.
9. We should care more about love and less about sex.
10. Life in this world is more important than the afterlife (eternity is God’s work anyway).

As for me, I’m a Christian, not a “Conservative Christian.” I’m a believer, not a “conservative believer.” I adhere to the Gospel, not a “Conservative Gospel.” I reject those appellations, and simply cling to the word as I understand it and insofar as the Holy Spirit has given me understanding and illumination.

Liberal Christanity is no Christianity.

assurance, theology

“All you need to do to get to heaven is to die”

Posted on May 3, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I’m listening through RC Sproul’s current Daily Video series on the topic of Assurance. In his lecture on “Four Kinds of People”, Sproul made the point that most people think all they need to do to go to heaven is to die.

That statement is boiled down from all the false notions of how the unsaved/falsely saved people comprehend heaven.

They believe, he said, that if one has lived a good life, then they will go to heaven. This false notion is affirmed by the silent removal of all mention of sin at their funeral. Listening to eulogies, one can easily believe the person lived a perfect and good life.

So, when you die, you go to heaven.

Anyone who has lived on earth for any period of time knows that there are benchmarks to achieve when you’re progressing along in any sphere, whether it’s hobbies, employment, education, or life in general. Even a kindergartener moving to first grade knows that you have to pass tests and acquire enough knowledge. There are standards to attain. You need to attain educational standards before entering the next grade level. Colleges have standards for entry. You can’t drive a car unless you pass a test. The Army has standards for enrollment. Your employment depends on achieving a standard, whether it’s anything from a rigorous medical certificate to passing a drug test. Acting requires auditions. Sports requires tryouts.

On this earth, a person practically can’t do anything anywhere without achieving an externally set series of standards.

Except heaven?

Because we all go there? So anyone can get in, anytime, for any reason? There’s no standard for entry?

It makes no logical sense.

Just like everywhere else on earth, where man has set a standard, of course there is a standard for entry into heaven. God made it. And since God made this entry requirement, it is perfect and good.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

To enter heaven, you must do the will of God.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven”. (Matthew 7:21).

So, what is the will of God?

God … desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4).

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel. (Mark 1:15).

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

God’s will is for people to repent of their sins and believe on His Son, the resurrected Christ.

Jesus is the standard, the one and only standard for entry to heaven.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6).

It is true that all people die. But life does not end there. There is a test. Will you pass?

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

The test is to determine whether, at death, if Christ is in you.

When we die, there is a Judgment Day. (Hebrews 9:27). The one and only test will be whether Jesus knows us. Is Christ in you? If yes, you look forward to that glorious Day. If no, then you will come face to face with the Judge who will declare that you failed to meet the test, having failed to repent and believe in Him. He will cast you into hell to be punished for your sins, forever.

This is a pass-fail test. If you meet the standard, you’re in. If not, you will be barred from entry. There is no re-do. There is no auditing the class. There is no re-take. There is no bell curve. You won’t be graded on a scale. There is one and only one benchmark to meet, and it must be completed in this life before the last breath exits your lungs.

Repent of your sins and believe in Jesus.

assurance, theology

We all need the Gospel, especially the falsely assured

Posted on May 2, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Isaiah 5:20- -“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”

It sure seems like lots of people are acting like this today, doesn’t it? And I’m speaking of Christians!

As Barnes Notes says of the Isaiah verse, “Woe unto them that call evil good … – This is the fourth class of sins denounced. The sin which is reprobated here is that of “perverting and confounding” things, especially the distinctions of morality and religion. They prefer erroneous and fake doctrines to the true; they prefer an evil to an upright course of conduct.”

1 Timothy 4:1 – “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.”

In the verse above, in various translations, we read that The Spirit says it expressly, explicitly, directly, clearly in well defined words, that’s what it means. And He is now saying it present tense. ~John MacArthur

Present tense means that the Spirit is still saying that people will abandon the faith and follow doctrines of demons.

The first sign Jesus gave in response to the disciples’ question about the last days in Matthew 24 was religious deception. This theme is carried throughout the other verses in Old Testament and New where we read even in Amos 8:11 that He will send a famine on the land, a famine for the Word. That prophecy was fulfilled when the time came when no prophet spoke the words from the Lord. It is also coming again, when doctrines of demons tickle the ears but fail to fill the soul.

“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Timothy 4:3)

Apostasy is a process. Hebrews 2:1 says “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” No one falls away from the faith all at once. It’s incremental.

Therefore the antidote to apostasy is to pay attention. Pay attention to what? The Gospel. Pay attention to Who? Jesus. Always test one’s self to see if we are in the faith. (2 Corinthians 13:5). If we do not pay careful attention, making constant small course corrections, the tiny drift eventually becomes a wide sea, and the person is adrift on a stormy ocean of spiritualism but is far from a peaceful shore.

Believers cannot lose their salvation, the Holy Spirit is in us, a deposit as the guarantee. (2 Corinthians 1:22). What kind of guarantee would it be if we could possess a guarantee then it turns out to be void? (Isaiah 55:11).

I’ve been enjoying RC Sproul’s daily lectures on the topic of Assurance. His most recent lecture (Wednesday, May 1, 2019) was on the 4 kinds of people:

Folks who know they aren’t saved
Folks who know they are saved
Folks who believe they’re saved but struggle with doubt
Folks who assure themselves they’re saved, but aren’t.

It’s an interesting lecture. Sproul said that those people in the 4th category, fully assured they are saved but aren’t, may have a lot more doubt inside themselves than they are showing.

People who you believe are saved need the Gospel too. We all do. People you know who say they are saved but you havent’ seen any fruit, perhaps aren’t, and they might need the Gospel as well. People you know who seem saved, who talk the talk and even walk the walk, if they begin drifting, do not be afraid to share the Gospel and evangelize them. They, too, need Jesus, the Anchor, the Light, the One who saves. Actually, every person on the planet needs the Gospel. What a joy it is to know the Good News. We might not know who is saved or are unsure of our own salvation, but we know the Answer. Jesus’s Gospel.

encouragement, theology

Can We really Do All Things Through Christ?

Posted on May 1, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata*

What Christian isn’t familiar with one of the New Testament’s most famous comfort verses?

“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

It is good to be reminded that it’s His strength and not our strength which propels us along in sanctification. It is good to be reminded that He is our all, and that all is possible.

However too many people misunderstand and misuse the verse. It does not mean I can attain whatever desire I have through Jesus. And it doesn’t mean Jesus plops all things or all strength down into us fully formed and ripe for use.

Let’s back up a little and take a look at what came before that verse. There is more to it than what many Christians of today take the verse to mean.

Paul said several times that he learned contentment. Learned it. He had to work at contentment, and learn the skill of practicing contentment over his long road of personal tribulation.

The two verses which precede the all things of verse 13 are:

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.” [emphasis mine].

What Paul was learning is the power of Christ as the daily means of sanctification as he strove to holiness, and ultimately, contentment in all circumstances.

Paul had to consciously strive toward contentment through constant practice of cultivating it through reliance on God’s provision and promise. And he is not talking of self-sufficiency here, but of a diminishment of worldly desires as he strove to do all things God would have Him do in the name of Jesus.

Paul had many trials and difficulties. Paul isn’t saying that Jesus plopped down a supernatural contentment to his heart as he took a deep breath and relied on Him to do all things through Him. Not at all. As a matter of fact, Paul admits to dissatisfaction covetousness brings, in Romans 7:8. Through all his varied circumstances, Paul is saying, he had the opportunity to practice being content in the circumstances he found himself in, because those circumstances are divorced from earthly measures of contentment and joy. He had to learn it. This indicates an active participation on the part of the Christian.

Whenever Paul was low or high, had plenty or hunger, abundance or need, didn’t matter, because Christ was strengthening him in love, growth, joy and the other treasures we hold dear. If we divorce our joy or contentment from worldly things, what remains is Christ! Through Christ, all things are possible! Paul learned that. It took him a while and he had to work at it. But what glory for the Savior when we learn it.

So be careful what you are really saying when you say “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Are you working at learning how to do all things, apart from our flesh and distinct from the baggage of worldly wants? No matter your circumstances?

Phil Johnson preached on it recently, and this little note is a summary of what I took away from his sermon. I found his sermon exposition to be tremendously enlightening and inspiring. For a full explanation of what that verse means, I encourage you to take a listen and /or look at the transcript.

How to Find Contentment in a World of Discontent

Pastor Johnson ends his sermon this way:

“By the way, verse 13 contrasts wonderfully with Jesus’ statement in John 15:5: “Apart from me you can do nothing.” But “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” If the boundaries for “all things” that you seek to accomplish are set by the express commands of God and the righteous example of Christ, then there truly is no limit to what you can do through His power. That is the secret to true contentment. It’s not really a complex mystery. But the reason it is so difficult to learn is that it entails the mortification of our worldly lusts, our carnal ambitions, our selfish pride, and our ungodly attitudes.

quote content poor

*This first appeared on The End Time in January 2013.

theology

When the Bible repeats a name…

Posted on April 30, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

When the Hebrews wanted to express intimacy within a close relationship with someone, they repeated their name twice. Doing so was an expression of a close, personal bond. Knowing this ancient manner of speaking brings all the more sweetness to the following biblical examples:

On Mount Moriah when Abraham had been instructed to sacrifice his son Isaac, and Abraham was about to plunge the knife into Isaac, the Angel of the LORD (Preincarnate Christ) stopped Abraham, saying,

“Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” (Genesis 22:11).

When God called to Moses from within the burning bush, He said,

“Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” (Exodus 3:4b).

God encouraged Jacob to go to Egypt in Genesis 46:2, He called to him:

And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.”

God called to Samuel in the night, “Samuel, Samuel” in 1 Sam. 3:10.

God called to Saul (Paul) on the road to Damascus, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4)

We must not forget the most intimate relationship in the universe that sparked the most desolate lament upon separation- from Jesus on the cross, crying out “My God, My God.” (Matthew 27:46).

You might note that some of these intimate, loving calls from the LORD happened before the person He was calling knew Him. Samuel had just begun his training in the temple. Saul/Paul certainly didn’t know God. But we do read in 1 John 4:19 that “We love because he first loved us“. He initiates the love, He establishes the relationship.

Therefore, the question of life is not whether we know Jesus, but does He know us?

My two points, the notion of the repeated name calling and the the scriptural truth that He knows us first is tied together in one verse that has devastating meaning. Matthew 7:21-24.

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

Let’s unpack this.

The people standing before the judgment throne of God thought they knew Jesus. They are abruptly and shockingly told they never had the relationship they thought they had. They were ignorant of the one-way nature of it. Or they were self-deceived. Or they never examined themselves to see if they were in the faith. (2 Corinthians 13:5). Perhaps they bumped along in what they thought was a walk with Jesus but no one ever lovingly confronted them with the fact that fruit is absent. Or maybe they were never lovingly disciplined by their elders at church on church non-attendance.

Jesus looks them in the eye and dismisses them from His presence. “I never knew you,” He will say.

Oh! WOE!

He says that all their religious work was for naught. Everything that they did in His name is completely and totally rejected. The teaching they did in His name, and their mighty works, and casting out of demons, everything else, all for nothing. Empty. Void.

‘And then He will declare to them’…the word declare here is homologeó which means to publicly declare. A deeper meaning of this compound word in the Greek is to “speak to a conclusion.” It’s very final, this word. He will proclaim, or declare, with finality, the non-existent relationship.

Here is MacArthur’s explanation:

And here Christ openly proclaims that He does not know them. That same word, homologia him will I confess before My Father.” The same word is used. If you’re not willingly openly proclaiming Christ here, then He will not openly proclaim you there. Instead He says, “I never knew you.”

Worst of all, He calls them evildoers, workers of lawlessness, ye that work iniquity, lawbreakers, or simply evil people (depending on the translation.) In all cases, the news is very, very bad. Where they say “Lord, Lord”, their expression of intimacy, He utterly rejects any knowledge of or hope for a relationship by voiding their life.

Their final moments standing before Jesus will be of shock, rejection, and pain. As the Judgment concludes, He says,

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.‘ (Matthew 25:41).

This is serious, serious stuff. I do call out false teachers, people who think they are doing the Lord’s work, but are not. Why? This verse is haunting. It makes me cry every time I work with it. Can you imagine this scene? I have to, because it’s in the Bible. But do I want to? No. But this is the verse I think of every time I engage with a false teacher or their disciples. This. Every time.

It is agreeable that the Lord calls to His people by an endearment like the repeated name. We have a loving and perfect Savior who is also our Friend, Groom, Brother and so much more. For those who are truly saved, they will hear the welcoming words of Jesus. Maybe He will say, “Elizabeth, Elizabeth, well done good and faithful servant.” How sweet those words would be.

jesus love

encouragement, theology

“I have confidence”

Posted on April 29, 2019 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

When I was little I used to love the movie The Sound of Music. This slightly fictionalized version of the real life travails of the Von Trapp family first came out in 1965.

At the beginning of the movie were two scenes I loved. One was where the nuns are singing about a “Problem like Maria”. Maria was a candidate for the novitiate at Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg. According to the movie version, Maria’s free spirit never settled down at the Abbey, and she had become a problem (in a mild way) such as being late for Mass, singing when she was supposed to be silent, and the like. When an opportunity to tutor the Von Trapp family children became available, the elder nuns thought Maria might be better suited for life outside the Abbey as governess to the Von Trapp children.

confidence 1

Leaving the comfort of the cloistered and familiar Abbey, Maria faces an unknown future. The movie depicts her walking along toward her destination, with her satchel in one hand and her guitar in another. Singing happily in order to bolster herself, she sings, “I Have Confidence.” Here is part of the lyrics:

I have confidence in sunshine,
I have confidence in rain.
I have confidence that spring will come again!
Besides what you see I have confidence in me.

It is a happy song, sung in a pretty setting. As Maria bounces along the byway she sings about having confidence in sunshine, in rain, in springtime, and in herself.

I loved it. I thought, I can have confidence, too! All I need to do is whip up some confidence from within! If I tell myself so, then my confidence will appear from nowhere and everything unknown or hard or scary can be faced!

That was my reasoning as a child, watching this movie.

I am no longer a child.

I wonder, where does confidence come from?

Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of reward. (Hebrews 10:35)

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible explains the verse:

Cast not away therefore your confidence – Greek “your boldness;” referring to their confident hope in God. They were not to cast this away, and to become timid, disheartened, and discouraged. They were to bear up manfully under all their trials, and to maintain a steadfast adherence to God and to his cause. The command is not to “cast this away.” Nothing could take it from them if they trusted in God, and it could be lost only by their own neglect or imprudence

“Our” confidence comes from our hope in Jesus. We trust His promises, we trust His plan, we trust that what He is doing is for our good and His glory.

The Hebrews at the time were experiencing persecution. Their homes and lands were being plundered and confiscated. They were being publicly exposed to reproach. They’d had a hard struggle with afflictions. So the writer of Hebrews reminds them that they had suffered those things, yet had retained a joy and a confidence in Him that surpassed the earthly trials. He urged them to continue having confidence in Jesus.

Additionally, we read in chapter 4 of Hebrews,

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16).

The throne of grace is the place from which the fountain of our confidence stems. We turn to Jesus for everything. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. Even have confidence. Oh, we might generate a temporary euphoria in our own talents or abilities, but soon enough, that confidence evaporates. Indeed, Maria’s confidence disappears when she comes face to face with the grandeur of mansion in which she is about to reside. She suddenly feels very small.

confidence 2

confidence 3

However if one’s confidence is in Jesus, one never need feel small. One never need to feel insecure. We are a large part of His plan, and His fountain of grace never ceases. We can confidently approach and confidently drink there very time we feel low, scared, unsteady, or uncertain.

In other words, whatever you’re facing, a new job, medical issues, relationship woes, loss, or tragedy, He’s got this. Rest confidently in Him.

poetry, theology