Romans 14:13-23, about food may seem archaic, because Christians have been released from Hebrew food rules for 2000 years. But food rules have been going strong in the Catholic faith for equally as long. For Catholics who come to saving faith and become Christian, their lifetime of food rules, especially during Lent, may still have a hold on them. So let’s explore how we can help the brethren who may be struggling with the food issue, as Paul advised.
EPrata photo
We are in the height of the Catholic 40-day 2023 Lenten season, which began February 22 and will extend through April 6. Catholics are obligated to perform fasting and abstinence (as well as acts of piety and charity) as acts of penance during Lent. And not just during Lent, but “Even outside of Lent, the bishops in the U.S. still exhort the faithful to observe all Fridays as days of penance in recognition of Friday as the day of our Lord’s death and in preparation for the heavenly banquet at Sunday Mass” says this page from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops about Lenten Regulations.
The exact rules for a Catholic about fasting and abstinence vary from continent to continent.
The US Catholic Bishops explain the reason for explicit rules about food. It is because,
“Humanity’s “Fall” away from God and into sin began with eating. God had proclaimed a fast from the fruit of only one tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17), and Adam and Eve broke it. Fasting is here connected with the very mystery of life and death, of salvation and damnation.” (Source)
So, food rules figure prominently for the Catholic. in the United States. Rule #1 in the US is that during Lent, everyone age 18 and older is to abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday, all Fridays of Lent and Good Friday. Hence, many Roman Catholics eat fish on Fridays.
Eprata photo
“Everyone age 18 and up to their 59th birthday is obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. On these days, the Catholic is allowed to eat only 1 full meal. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards“, says the USCCB.
There are similar rules for a person who had been of the Eastern Orthodox persuasion, as well.
Therefore when a Roman Catholic or an Eastern Orthodox person converts to Christianity, they may well have impressed on their conscience for many years the fasting and abstinence rules. When they come to the verses that all foods are clean, it may be hard to overcome their bound conscience and accept these verses-
However, not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But food will not commend us to God. We neither lack if we do not eat, nor abound if we do eat. (Romans 8:7-8).
EPrata photo
There are no rules for the Catholic person requiring them to “give up” something for Lent, but the people are encouraged to do so, in order to be ‘mourning their sins by denying themselves something they enjoy’ and ‘to train themselves to resist temptation’.
Therefore, Christian,
For if because of food your brother is grieved, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. (Romans 14:15)
The paragraphs in 1 Corinthians 8 about food sacrificed to idols Romans 14 are explained by Warren Wiersbe:
“Christians affect each other (vv. 13–15). Note the possible ways we can affect each other. We can cause others to stumble, grieve others, or even destroy others. Paul was speaking of the way the strong Christian affected the weak Christian. Paul dealt with a similar problem in 1 Corinthians 8–9, where the question was, “Should Christians eat meat that has been offered to idols in heathen temples?” There he pointed out that knowledge and love must work together. “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Cor. 8:1, NIV). The strong Christian has spiritual knowledge, but if he does not practice love, his knowledge will hurt the weak Christian. Knowledge must be balanced by love.”
Source- Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 560). Victor Books.
So, dear reader, knowledge combined with flaunted liberty might actually hurt the weaker sister. Many false religions have food rules. Hindus may not eat beef according to their religion. Seventh Day Adventists follow a strict lacto-ovo vegetarian diet. Meat, fish, poultry, alcohol, tobacco, or caffeine are prohibited. Islam has halal, which means certain foods must be prepared a certain way before they are considered acceptable to eat. If you are in a sphere with a former Catholic or any other recent convert where their life was dominated by food rules, please be the stronger sister and resist flaunting our liberty in Christ where it comes to food.
Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles. (Romans 14:20-21).
Beth Moore speaking at a race conference at Baylor in 2022.
Just out is Beth Moore’s third memoir, “All My Knotted Up Life.” (The first two were Feathers from My Nest: A Mother’s Reflections and Things Pondered: From the Heart of a Lesser Woman.)
Moore is a great oral storyteller and she is also good writer. She has written over 25 Bible studies beginning in 1999 with A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place, three memoirs, a novel, and numerous other books. For most of her publishing life, Moore has been with Lifeway, the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. In 2021, when Moore left the publisher, it was stated,
Moore was Lifeway’s best-selling author, with a reach far beyond the SBC to conservative believers of many denominations. Her books and related materials “kept the Nashville-based publisher afloat,” according to Baptist News. At her peak, she generated more than $30 million a year in revenue.
Her current memoir, published by Tyndale, is accompanied by the ubiquitous book tour. Moore is sweeping the south with her book signings. Interest is high in her book’s contents and with that, interest is high on her in general. Her opinion on various topics is being sought. And Beth is happy to give it.
Moore is capitalizing on this widespread interest by speaking up about “white privilege”, “white supremacy”, and “racism” “in the church”. Earlier she jumped on the “misogyny” bandwagon when the #MeToo movement surfaced, and previously jumped on other Christian trends and fads, speaking out on them when they were popular.
From the beginning it must be stated: Beth Moore is a false teacher. Her skill in storytelling, her rough life, and her emotional appeals notwithstanding, when she teaches the Bible, her teaching fails the Berean test. When comparing it to scripture, these things are not so. (Acts 17:11).
When I attended a Living Proof Live event in 2011 at an 18,000 seat filled arena, I spoke with women in the lobby as we waited to get in. Many of them traveled long distances to hear Beth. Some, I discovered, follow her from venue to venue. One boasted she’d seen Beth at more than 20 LPL events. I’d used the word groupie to describe them in a previous essay, and it’s how some describe themselves, but my concern is her groupies that have heaped Beth up are now a cult – and she is their idol.
Think I’m kidding? Nope. See some of the recent comments about Beth Moore. These aren’t cherry picked. There are frequent comments like this.
Beth Moore’s recent elevation by her ticked-ears followers is a concern. Moore has millions of people whom she influences between social media, interviews, LPL events, and book signings.
Therefore the following issues are important to state:
Beth Moore does not speak for the church.
No one elected Beth Moore spokesman for “the church”. Moore is making numerous allegations, sweeping assertions, and accusations about “the church”. She has not defined the church of which she speaks. Her own church? The Baptist denomination church? The church in America? The global church? The only church of which she should speak is her own. And even then, nasty public accusations are not God-honoring. (Exodus 20:16, 1 Peter 2:1, Proverbs 11:9).
Beth Moore does not speak for the church. Beth Moore does not speak for you. Or me.
1. Making categorical, unqualified and vague accusations that are sweeping in scope causes division.
For example, Moore stated at a recent conference at which she was an invited speaker:
“How do people who claim to love God and place such a high value on Scripture place such a low value on justice?” (Source)
Which people? Where? How can she make such a sweeping claim?
Also: “At that time, such things as the titanic need for criminal justice reform had not even registered with me” (Source).
“What became increasingly and startlingly clear was that our politics informed our faith, rather than our faith informing our politics,” Moore said. (ibid)
“Our”? Whose faith was being informed by politics? Hers? Yours? Her church’s? What are some examples? None are ever given, just constant nebulous assertions.
She did the same in 2018 in a “Letter to My Brothers” which talked of “skewed attitudes.” She asked that her brothers (not named, not defined) “would simply have no tolerance for misogyny and dismissiveness toward women in your spheres of influence.” She talked of being a female leader and having to “work within ‘the system'” (instead of saying ‘I joyously submitted to God’s hierarchical roles for men, women, youths and children? Her church was ‘a system’?).
Her insinuations in the Letter to My Brothers again were vague and unclear. Did she meant the men in her own church, men in the global church, or men everywhere?. Michelle Lesley wrote of the Letter to My Brothers’ unsubstantiated accusations,
How is anyone supposed to agree with or refute the facts of what Beth is saying unless she gives clear explanations and details? What Beth has done in her blog post is to throw out unsubstantiated, generalized accusations against a wide swath of nameless Christian men and churches and she expects us to take her word for it that there’s some epidemic of misogyny across the board in the church.
The Bible says about people like Moore who make unsubstantiated assertions:
Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, (Titus 3:10).
The word factious here (or divisive in other translations) means, according to Strongs-
hairetikós – a factious person, specializing in half-truths and misimpressions “to win others over” to their personal opinion (misguided zeal) – while creating harmful divisions (used only in Tit 3:10).
How aptly this verse applies to Beth Moore! One person tweeted an even more pointed comment after watching her recent woke/racism interview,
“all I saw was emotion with buzz words attached.”
Friends, avoid Beth Moore, because the Bible says-
“You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. (Exodus 23:1).
2.Beth Moore hops onto fads. She copied Joel Osteen’s mantra for a while, copied hearing from God from Henry Blackaby, contemplative prayer, blue bracelets, home altars, lectio divina, #metoo, misogyny, woke, diversity…
Moore is just like the “the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something newer.” (Acts 17:21). Chasing after the latest trend is as old as the hills. And it’s not new to Beth Moore. Whatever’s popular, she goes after with misguided zeal.
3.She variously minimizes or exaggerates herself or her living situation to fit the current atmosphere.
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. (Ephesians 4:25)
In the quote below, Moore used the language of woke, saying that she lived in white privilege,
“I was in a very privileged part of the world and a very privileged part of the church,” she conceded. Awareness of her privilege began to dawn on her just over a decade ago…” (Source).
She was born in 1957. In fact checking her statement about growing up privileged, a word she did not define, according to the 1960 census the median income for her county was $3,100 and her specific city’s was $3,800. That is $38,000 today. Wealthy salary it ain’t. Unemployment was 8.6%, one of the higher unemployment numbers of all the counties in Arkansas. Only 4.3% of female white women completed four years of college at that time. That’s not privilege. It’s poverty, poorness, and/or underprivilege.
She constantly uses language to shape a narrative she wishes a particular audience to resonate with. Moore either exaggerates (the privilege example above) or minimizes it. Here are examples of how she minimizes her situation when it suits her-
We have a tiny little sliver of water not far from us that you could call a creek if you were in a particularly generous mood. It’s got some sand by it that the kids really like. Be blessed that this is not a scratch and sniff picture because the creek doesn’t always smell all that good, especially if it hasn’t rained in a while. But if your nose is slightly stuffy, it can be pretty fun.
Moore was describing the creek that runs through her estate. It’s Spring Creek, and it begins near Waller Tx and runs about 45 miles to drain into the San Jacinto River. It divides Harris and Montgomery County. Spring Creek is the only natural creek in both Harris and Montgomery County. It is known for “its sandy banks, undisturbed natural surroundings, and clean water, and it serves as home to many animals, including deer, otters, raccoons, opossums, and alligators. Many species of fish, including white bass, catfish, crappie, largemouth bass, and bluegill inhabit its waters. It is also known for its occasional Swainson’s warbler sightings and for being the easternmost sighting of the green kingfisher, as well as bald eagles, herons, egrets, and other birds.” (Wikipedia)
Along the way there are many parks and greenways which attract locals and tourists. Spring TX, home to Moore’s church, was named after the river. Hardly the dirty smelly creek she described. At all.
Here’s her description of her home she moved into several years ago:
So, three years to the day later, we’re making it out in these modest woods. These acres would not be beautiful to everybody but they’re beautiful to us. Life has been brand new out here. I won’t kid you. It’s been an adjustment. A lot less eating out. A lot more cooking. A lot more driving to work. The cars stay filthy. The raccoons won’t stay out of the trash. Fed Ex never can find us. But we don’t mind. Because it was time to make a move. For us, it was out where the dawn breaks to the crow of a rooster.
Evokes an image of the Ingalls dirt hut out on the prairie, doesn’t it? What Moore doesn’t tell you is that the Moore Trust property in Tomball TX, are not “modest woods” that “would not be beautiful to everybody.” Her property is a 46 acre forested enclave with its own road, two houses with total of 7 bedrooms and 7 1/2 baths, custom outdoor kitchens and fireplaces, a combined square footage of 6600 sf, and assessed by Harris County TX at over $2 million dollars.
She plays white privilege when it suits her. She plays regular sista when she wants to hide her then-4 houses, large home estate, and flying to her venues on a private jet, even to Australia.
4. Beth Moore is an expert at using political rhetoric to her advantage.
Political rhetoric is deliberately vague. You know the kind, the candidate speeches that roll around every election cycle that fling around words like liberty and freedom and prosperity, that each different person listening has a different idea of its meaning.
“Political language is vague because politicians are shrewd and desire to build a winning coalition of people who hold different views“, said Larry Etheredge of Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
That’s Beth Moore. Not desiring to speak unadulterated biblical truth, but to build a coalition of people who hold different views- so as to make merchandise of them (2 Peter 2:3).
Vagueness is why Moore refused to answer when I and other ladies asked her point blank if homosexuality was a sin. It’s why she has never come out in support of the Roe v. Wade overturning, or said clearly that abortion is bad. It’s why she never has to my knowledge taught a Bible lesson on 1 Timothy (you know, the book that says a woman may not preach to men or have authority over them?) It’s exactly why Moore makes vague claims and will never stop making them-
There are also certain advantages in the use of fuzzy concepts and vague boundaries, because they extend the range of options open to a speaker, offering a chance to express many grades of truth and many different attitudes towards propositions without the speaker having to be pinned down to just one position. (Lakoff, “Hedges: A study in meaning and the logic of fuzzy concepts. Eighth Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society, 183-228, 1972).
That’s Beth Moore, expressing many grades of truth.
I deliberately chose the above examples of how Beth hops onto fads, chooses vague language, and changes her own narrative to suit the situation, because the facts add up to this conclusion: she cannot be trusted in what she says.
I’ll repeat: Beth Moore cannot be trusted when she speaks. You can’t trust her words.
She is riding a high wave of widespread approval due to the sad and tragic revelations of her autobiography. I empathize with her various tragedies. But remember, many Christian people have had those tragedies and worse, but they do not slander, make sweeping accusations, become hardened and unteachable, and tacitly accept their cult status.
Beth Moore is a false teacher deceiving and being deceived. While she has her reward now, judgment awaits for her many sins. I plead with women reading this, do not give an inch to the false teachers or you will become part of the evil they do:
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned. (2 Peter 2:1-2).
The fading glory of a flower The grass, scorched under the sun and withering before our eyes Nest, filled with tweets but now empty
The temporal nature of riches Sliding, slipping through our hands
The downy clouds skimming across the sky scudding dark, releasing rain dissipating into vapor untouchable and gone
Try halting the orange sun as it rises, Nothing can hold it.
The things of earth to which we ascribe glory will fade…
EPrata photo
God’s glory will never fade!
Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth. (Psalm 57:11)
His glory outshines the sun! We have no need of a sun, when the Son in in His glory!
And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. (Revelation 21:23)
He does not only shine in glory, he is the Lord of glory!
which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2:8)
Who is He, this King of glory? Yahweh of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah. (Psalm 24:10)
Ponder the glory. Not the glorious sunrise, as pretty as it is, nor the glory of a flower covered field, as gorgeous as that is too. But the real glory, His glory, shining like the sun
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’
Did you ever wonder about this stone thing? I have. First, before the stone, about the name.
Yahweh changed the name of many people in the Bible. Simon bar Jonas was given the name Peter in Matthew 16:18 by Jesus, meaning rock. Saul became Paul. God renamed Jacob who became Israel. He renamed Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah. Ashpenaz was Chief of Officers of the court, or the master of the eunuchs, for Nebuchadnezzar. He renamed Azariah to Abednego, Daniel to Belteshazzar, Hananiah to Shadrach, and Mishael to Meshach. Ben-Oni also renamed Benjamin by his father Jacob.
The point here is that the one who has authority over another is the one who can rename. In the Bible examples above, the dad, the king, a court officer, Jesus, and God all had the authority to rename a person. In our day, the parents name the child, or we go through a process in the courts that allow or disallow a name change. A higher authority changes the name. In the Bible at the end of the end, God, our authority, will change our name.
The White Stone:
Ovid was a Roman poet who lived from 43 BC – 17/18 AD. He describes a process of casting a vote in a court proceeding. Black stones and white stones would be put into an urn. When all stones were cast, they’d be counted. Black stones meant guilty, white for innocent. More white than black stones meant the person was innocent. In this way, the white stone became a symbol of innocence. Ovid wrote-
15:53 A custom was of old, and still remains, 15:54. Which life, or death by suffrages ordains: 15:55. White stones, and black within an urn are cast; 15:56. The first absolve, but Fate is in the last. 15:57. The judges to the common urn bequeath 15:58. Their votes, and drop the sable signs of death; 15:59. The box receives all black, but, pour’d from thence, 15:60. The stones came candid forth; the hue of innocence. From Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
There are many other reasons why the white stone was used (once, it was even a sort of credit card with an authorizing name engraved on it). A white stone was also involved in a custom of hospitality-
From Manners and customs of Bible Lands by Fred H. Wight:
Friends as guests. In the East a friend is always welcome to receive hospitality. The Romans of New Testament times had a token of hospitality between two friends, which consisted of a tile of wood or stone, which was divided in half. Each person wrote his name on one of the two pieces, and then exchanged that piece with the other person. These were often kept and handed down from father to son. To produce the counterpart of one of these pieces would guarantee the hospitality of a real friend. The Book of Revelation no doubt refers to this custom in one of the promises to overcomers: “And will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written” (Revelation 2:17).
So, there are many reasons why a white stone will be given, therefore I can’t be dogmatic about the interpretation of why Jesus will give us one in the New Earth, but it’s all so interesting. We don’t know now but we will know when the time comes. For now let us end with Barnes’ Notes. We accept the white stone with new name,
as a pledge that he is accepted of God, and that the rewards of heaven shall be his; the world does not understand it, or attaches no value to it. And in the stone a new name written – A name indicating a new relation, new hopes and triumphs.
Spring is bursting all out around here. I know that in the rest of the country people are suffering from rain, ice, snow, and wind. But for now, things are calm in the south. The daffodils are popping up, forsythia is blooming, crepe myrtle is budding. The pear trees are coming along with their delicate blooms. Feb-March is my favorite here in Georgia. It’s warm but not hot. Outdoors is coming to life, including the trees filled with returning birds. No bugs yet. Ahhh, perfect. I hope you’re enjoying whatever season you’re in!
The movie “Jesus Revolution” is out. I wish that Christian films weren’t either bad, or well produced but heretical. I know we can’t have everything, but I wish there was SOME Christian media I could watch without cringing over the production quality or the doctrine. In Jesus Revolution, we have concerns over the doctrine presented, and by the way, there’s some revisionist history too. G3 reviews the movement so you can compare to the movie IF you see it-
False teaching will distress [those who fear the Lord], not because it contradicts their views but because it impugns [God]. — Michael Reeves
Yup!
In this article from TableTalk, we learn about nitpicking. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a nitpicker as “a pedantic critic; one who searches for and over-emphasizes trivial errors.” Here, Keith Mathison asks if we nitpick the Sunday service on the way home…
Missionaries…what salt they are and were in the world! Here, we learn of The Judsons: Six Years, No Converts. Jason Duesing muses on how the missionary couple rested in the promises of God during the years of hard plowing.
Many seemingly innocuous activities, like horoscopes, are in fact, dangerous. Here, an ex astrologer shows why-
Most believers are called to marriage. Some (like me) are called to singleness. I know I’m supposed to be single. Most young women feel sure they are called to marriage. But what about the in-between, when you’re yearning to be married but not married yet? What about dating?
Well, Tim Challies has reviewed a brief but pointed book that covers that very question. It’s called “Water for my Camels” and it’s reviewed positively. Author Paul Grimmond says, “Navigating the space between singleness and marriage when the Bible doesn’t talk about dating.” I know, ladies, the waiting can be hard.
LIFESTYLE-
Here are 26 Command hook hacks. I love hacks. I love Command hooks. It all worked out!
I love looking at homes. AirBNB is one website that is like Open House any time. It lets me to look at homes, and how people arrange their furniture and how they decorate. Country Life UK is a British Magazine offering real estate and estate lifestyle essays of a financial strata a billion levels above me. Want to buy a castle? AN Abbey? An ancient home, like this one, a place that has an actual ‘reception hall’? An exquisite home near Canterbury that dates back to the 14th century is now for sale for £2.75 million . Go peek. Drool. Enjoy.
Mine were almond flour pancakes. EPrata photo
I had pancakes for dinner the other night. Here is Jessica at Good Cheap Eats with way better recipes than the one I used for pancakes for dinner!
In my Bible reading the other day I read the following:
Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? (Psalm 90:11).
God has fear due Him? Let’s unpack this.
One of God’s expressions of displeasure is wrath. It is the ultimate expression of his displeasure, some would say. I feel it is my duty to present to you honestly and forthrightly, all of God. That means, that even though I am a ministry aimed at women, I do not hide the more “unpalatable” attributes of God in favor of the lovey ones. (As if God could in any way be unpalatable). His anger, His wrath, His displeasure over sin is part of who He is. We should not hide from that. God is all in all, He is every attribute that is holy, wrapped up into one God in Three Persons. In fact, the more the evangelical world focuses on “God is love,” the more I feel compelled to remind that He is also wrath.
You cannot swing a cat in the Psalms without running into His wrath, His anger, or His displeasure. I read Psalm 90. verse 11 states,
Who understands the power of Your anger And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You? (Psalm 90:11).
The ‘fear that is due you’ caught me. Here it means the awe-inspired reverence due our God because of who He is.
Matthew Henry’s Whole Commentary on the Bible says,
"They are taught by all this to stand in awe of the wrath of God (v. 11): Who knows the power of thy anger? 1. None can perfectly comprehend it. The psalmist speaks as one afraid of God’s anger, and amazed at the greatness of the power of it; who knows how far the power of God’s anger can reach and how deeply it can wound? The angels that sinned knew experimentally the power of God’s anger; damned sinners in hell know it; but which of us can fully comprehend or describe it?"
"Few do seriously consider it as they ought. Who knows it, so as to improve the knowledge of it? Those who make a mock at sin, and make light of Christ, surely do not know the power of God’s anger. For, according to thy fear, so is thy wrath; God’s wrath is equal to the apprehensions which the most thoughtful serious people have of it; let men have ever so great a dread upon them of the wrath of God, it is not greater than there is cause for and than the nature of the thing deserves."
"God has not in his word represented his wrath as more terrible than really it is; nay, what is felt in the other world is infinitely worse than what is feared in this world. Who among us can dwell with that devouring fire? Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 876)".
Verse 11.Who knoweth the power of thine anger? Moses saw men dying all around him: he lived among funerals, and was overwhelmed at the terrible results of the divine displeasure. He felt that none could measure the might of the Lord’s wrath. Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.
Holy Scripture when it depicts God’s wrath against sin never uses an hyperbole; it would be impossible to exaggerate it. Whatever feelings of pious awe and holy trembling may move the tender heart, it is never too much moved; …What the power of God’s anger is in hell, and what it would be on earth, were it not in mercy restrained, no man living can rightly conceive.
Modern thinkers rail at Milton and Dante, Bunyan and Baxter, for their terrible imagery; but the truth is that no vision of poet, or denunciation of holy seer, can ever reach to the dread height of this great argument, much less go beyond it.
The wrath to come has its horrors rather diminished than enhanced in description by the dark lines of human fancy; it baffles words, it leaves imagination far behind. Beware ye that forget God lest he tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver. God is terrible out of his holy places. Remember Sodom and Gomorrah! Remember Korah and his company! Mark well the graves of lust in the wilderness!
Nay, rather bethink ye of the place where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched. Who is able to stand against this justly angry God? Who will dare to rush upon the bosses of his buckler, or tempt the edge of his sword? Be it ours to submit ourselves as dying sinners to this eternal God, who can, even at this moment, command us to the dust, and thence to hell.–-end Spurgeon
The false teacher will want to redirect your thinking from these sad but essential truths. Payment for sin must occur. Jesus took God’s wrath bodily on the cross for the sins of all who would believe. Those who refuse to repent of their sins will pay for it themselves. This is something we must keep in mind every day- the untenable position of the ungodly. For who can stand when God’s wrath is unleashed?
A balanced view of God is necessary for proper worship. We who are saved have escaped that wrath by the grace of God and through no merit of our own. Yet millions are still under that dark cloud of hellish expectation. What will it take to remove that cloud and replace it with the beams of holy light? The GOSPEL.
Sharing the truths of His wrath and moving toward the glorious majesties of His character in mercy, grace, and love will do it. But don’t forego the first part! For who can stand when God’s wrath is finally unleashed in full? The dregs, O the dregs,
Psalm 75:8, For a cup is in the hand of Yahweh, and the wine foams; It is full of His mixture, and He pours from this; Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs.
The other day I was scrolling around online, and I passingly saw a quote from John MacArthur. “God is holy. We are not.” It was a simple phrase, common, a regularly spoken thing. I see that kind of sentiment frequently and it never affected me like it did at that moment. It wasn’t even scripture, just a spiritual/doctrinal concept.
But my spirit was immediately overcome. I teared up, I bent over in my chair, I whispered aloud, “Praise the Lord”. I kept praying for a while, tearing up at the sweetness of such a simple but true concept.
Where’d THAT come from? I wondered…
It had to have been the Holy Spirit in me knitting Himself to the Lord of Lords in truth. It was a mini-event. To use a trite phrase, “a God thing”. But it was a potent reminder. When we go about our daily lives in public, whether online or in real life, we never know which scriptures or which scriptural concepts will be flung into a heart and pierced with eternal truth. Especially to the lost.
If you don’t know how Spurgeon was saved…he had been wrestling with the issue of his sin and longing for redemption for a few years. But to no avail. It wasn’t until he stumbled into a small church during a snowstorm, knowing he would not make it to his intended church destination. The pastor of that church couldn’t make it either so a layman took the pulpit. Hardly knowing what to say, he simply repeated the verse several times, mispronouncing along the way, and added a bit of his own commentary in his own halting, simple manner. But the words grabbed Spurgeon with a vise-like grip and would not let go. Here was the verse-
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:22 KJV).
After that, the layman substituting for the regular pastor just kept saying, Look! Look! A simple verse, a simple man, but it did the work and the heart of the soon to be Prince of Preachers was pierced.
If you don’t know of the conversion of John Bunyan…
John Bunyan…”The thing that gave Bunyan any notoriety in the days of his ungodliness,” writes his biographer, Dr. Hamilton, “and which made him afterwards to appear to himself such a monster of iniquity, was the energy which he put into all his doings. He had a zeal for idle play and an enthusiasm in mischief which were the perverse manifestations of a forceful character.” (source)
Bunyan was notorious in his raucous doings among the town. He was well known for being a rake. In fact, he was a hardened sinner – yet deeply disturbed by his own sin. He experienced a prolonged conviction of sin and tried in his own strength at various times to remove this burden from himself by reforming his character. Of course, this did not work. His sinful nature always re-emerged, to Bunyan’s despair.
One day Bunyan passed some women sitting in the doorway in the sun, talking of Godly things, the graces the Lord had afforded them, satan’s wiles and resisting temptation. Bunyan later wrote,
And methought they spake as if joy did make them speak; they spake with such pleasantness of Scripture language, and with such appearance of grace in all they said, that they were to me as if they had found a new world, as if they were people that dwelt alone, and were not to be reckoned among their neighbours (Num. 23.9). (Source)
There were actually about ten things over time that entered Bunyan’s bosom and rested there, until the appointed day they should come together and knit a glorious salvation into his soul, but the women’s plain talk was one of them, a significant point of entry on his path toward eternal glory. Regular women, salted conversation.
Augustine: a rotting, foul, fetid sinner, by his own characterization, Augustine was definitely one who by man’s eyes would seem beyond redemption. But his mother Monica prayed. And prayed. And prayed.
Augustine was tormented by his sin and inability to change the direction of his life. He had gotten to a point in his depravity it bothered even him, but more so, how he constantly lied to his mother. One day he heard a child in a garden singing simple words- Augustine later wrote,
I was saying these things and weeping in the most bitter contrition of my heart, when, lo, I heard the voice as of a boy or girl, I know not which, coming from a neighbouring house, chanting, and oft repeating, Take up and read; take up and read. Immediately my countenance was changed, and I began most earnestly to consider whether it was usual for children in any kind of game to sing such words; nor could I remember ever to have heard the like. So, restraining the torrent of my tears, I rose up, interpreting it no other way than as a command to me from Heaven to open the book, and to read the first chapter I should light upon —
Romans 13:13-14, Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying; but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof
Gulp. The exact verse he needed to see himself reflected in scripture describing his flavor of sin in which he was drowning. Augustine was pierced through. He later wrote of his mother’s prayers, “whereby when I was cleansed, the streams of my mother’s eyes should be dried, with which for me she daily watered the ground under her face.”
Simple words, some, from a child. Scriptures, plainly stated. Godly conversation seasoned with salt and grace. We don’t have to be experts in nuance and knowledgeable of the Greek and Hebrew. Simple words carried by the winds of the Holy Spirit to minds and hearts will cause change in perspective unto conversion as much as a complex sermon from a seminary professor. The point is, do not be afraid to speak Godly verses, concepts, conversations. The hearers will be blessed.
Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for building up what is needed, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29
False teachers creep into the church almost unnoticed. They hide their true faith, which is faith in themselves, propelled by satan and satanic desires. In other words, they oppose God in every way. They aren’t believers, but God knows this and has already marked them out for condemnation.
They think that if they adopt the right outer garments, speak the right things, adopt the right behavior and perform the right postures, they will blend in. Some do, for a while. But sin always reveals itself eventually. Either their false doctrine or their sinful lifestyle will expose them to the discerning believer. The inner becomes outer.
They think they blend in, but God has stationed discerning faithful at his watchtowers of His churches. We can spot them. This is what they look like to us. Their faces betray the twisted inner self of their nasty soul.
AI generated
Nathaniel Jolly has written an essay for G3 Ministries about the danger false teachers pose. I urge you to go to the link below and read the piece in its entirety. He goes through the book of Jude and explains the five metaphors Jude uses to illustrate the danger of false teachers. And they are dangerous.
These false teachers are hidden reefs, clouds without water, autumn trees without fruit, waves of sea foam, wandering stars.
Their aim is to corrupt your soul. If you are not a genuine believer yet, their goal is to draw you away. If you are a genuine believer, you cannot lose your salvation, but you can lose time in producing fruit for the glory of the Lord. You can be swayed from the center line of the doctrines, and minimized in your effectiveness for His church during the time you followed such and such false teacher.
Therefore, false teachers pose a very real danger to you and your local church. Many safety officers advise being situationally aware:
situation awareness conscious knowledge of the immediate environment and the events that are occurring in it. Situation awareness involves perception of the elements in the environment, comprehension of what they mean and how they relate to one another, and projection of their future states. In ergonomics, for example, it refers to the operator’s awareness of the current status and the anticipated future status of a system,” According to the American Psychological Association.
In all the definitions I read, the ultimate goal of good situational awareness is so that the person can make good decisions. You gather intel from all the situations around you on a constant basis, being aware of locations, events, atmospheres. After collecting those elements, make your decision. It’s sometimes not even a conscious process, but it always an ongoing one. Or should be. In the case of the Christian in church, first we test all things, (1 Thessalonians 5:21), so that we can make good decisions. We collect information on teachings, hymns, concepts, of whatever comes across our path in church or out that has the name of Jesus attached to it. Then we make our decisions whether to follow that teacher, sing that hymn, watch that show. We decide whether to raise an alarm with elders, share with the spouse, or protect the kids.
As always when I speak of discernment, be vigilant. Be sober. (1 Peter 5:8). And read Nathaniel’s article! 🙂
John Owen wrote the following. Today is Sunday, the Lord’s Day. Please take a moment to contemplate the wonder of our being able to commune with the Father, in fellowship, love, and knowledge. Before we were saved, no such opportunity existed. No Light was in us. No possibility of peace. Yet, God loved us so He sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sin. Jesus died on the cross, was laid in the tomb, but no tomb could hold him and His Holy One did not see decay! He rose again, ascended to His Father, now our Father. We could not have designed a more perfect method for gathering a redeemed people to Him. God is sovereign, loving, and holy. He is pure and perfect. Worship Him today in truth and light.
OF COMMUNION WITH GOD THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY GHOST, EACH PERSON DISTINCTLY, IN LOVE, GRACE, AND CONSOLATION; OR, THE SAINTS’ FELLOWSHIP WITH THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY GHOST UNFOLDED.
BY John Owen 1657
Since sin entered the world, no man has had communion with God because of his sinful nature. He is light; we are darkness; and what communion has light with darkness? (2Cor. 6:14). He is life; we are dead. He is love; we are enmity. What agreement can there be between us? Men in such a condition have neither Christ, nor hope, nor God in the world, Eph. 2:12. “Being alienated from the life of God through their ignorance,” chap. 4:18. Now, two cannot walk together unless they are agreed, Amos 3:3. So, while this distance between God and man exists, they cannot walk together in fellowship or communion. Our first interest in God was so lost by sin, that no recovery remained in ourselves. We deprived ourselves of all power to return to him. And God had not revealed that there was any way to regain access to him. Nor did he reveal that sinners could approach him in peace for any reason. Nothing that God made, and no attribute that he revealed, provided the least hint of such a possibility.
The manifestation of God’s grace and pardoning mercy is the only door we have to such communion. It is committed only to the one who atoned. He is the one in whom it is evidenced. He is the one by whom grace and mercy was purchased. He is the one through whom it is dispensed, and from whom it is revealed from the heart of the Father.
But in Christ we now have boldness and confident access to God, Eph. 3:12. The saints of old were not familiar with this. This distance from God is removed by Jesus Christ alone. He has consecrated a new and living way for us “through the veil, that is, his flesh,” Heb. 10:20. The old way is sealed. “Through him we have access by one Spirit to the Father,” Eph. 2:18.”
John Owen. Source of illustration- Wikipedia
From Wikipedia:
John Owen Born 1616, Stadhampton, Oxfordshire, England Died August 1683 (aged 66–67) Ealing, Middlesex Occupation(s): Theologian, pastor, academic administrator Notable work: Communion with God, The Mortification of Sin, The Divine Power of the Gospel, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ Spouse: Mary Rooke Era: 17th century Tradition or movement: Nonconformist Puritan Reformed Theology
Changing the name of something helps to diminish attachment to it. Devalue it. Making a euphemism for it helps to conceal an unpleasant truth behind a nicer sounding phrase. Example: The Euthanasia Society became Society for the Right to Die. The Euthanasia Council became Concern for Dying and the act, a “mercy killing”. Death penalty has become capital punishment. A pre-born baby has become a fetus. An abortion has become terminating a pregnancy. A person is not anti-abortion, they are pro-choice.
These softening terms are purposely slipped into our vernacular. Many people don’t even notice our language is being manipulated. The phrase “all social engineering is preceded by verbal engineering,” recognizes that the mind is the first battlefield. This is Satan’s territory, the mind. As the late Rev. Adrian Rogers said so well,
“Ephesians 6:12 tells us that there is a war going on, and it’s of a spiritual nature. Satan’s desire is to conquer and control your thought life and then make it a citadel from which he can war against God.“
The battle first begins in the mind, and its weapons are words.
In Matthew 5:22, Jesus said, “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.“
Here, Jesus is emphasizing that murder begins before the act, it begins when people view others as less than human. Euphemistic language helps this transition of devaluation of the sanctity of life. When we begin seeing a baby as tissue, a comatose person as a vegetable, thus begins the devaluing. Murder begins when people view others as less than human.
Today’s point is that I urge us all to be on guard mentally when we read or hear of terms that try to diminish the sanctity of life. The act of abortion murder is actually a lengthy process, and it begins in the mind, with the words you choose to use to describe human life that God gave us.
A baby is a baby from the moment of conception. Luke 1:41 says “And it happened that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.“
The biblical position on abortion is here: Samson, Jeremiah, John The Baptist, Jesus, Paul were called to service from the womb.
The local pregnancy center is having its annual fundraiser. This year the speaker is Voddie Baucham. Our church sponsored 10 tables and the seats have been filled by now with interested congregants who wish to attend, thereby offering moral, spiritual, and financial support to the idea that babies have a right to live. We have had people in our church adopt. We have people supporting foster children. We have many educators who dedicate their lives to the teaching and support of children. We have many newly marrieds who have been recipients of God’s gift of children. We believe that children are not a “choice” – they are a blessing from God.
We do not know until it happens, what God has called each child to. Some were prophets. Some were kings. Some were missionaries. Some were fishermen. Some ran businesses, sewed, or hosted. Each and every ‘clump of cells’ in a woman’s womb is somebody. Each one deserves a chance at life.
