For those of us who love God and seek to obey at all pints (but knowing we fail, so we repent and try again), the persistent and entrenched disobedience of some self-proclaimed Christian women is a puzzle to us.
But then again, we read our Bibles and see 1 John 2:4 which says, The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
And we say, those who constantly disobey, (especially by preaching in church, which is a gross abomination to Jesus), who are unteachable, who reject correction, who preach a different gospel, who deny the sufficiency of the Bible by their direct revelatory stories and puffed up visions, who abandon their career of motherhood & children at home to pursue a career, whose fruit is only thorns and is bad…must not be saved.
And then we receive pushback on every point above. So it’s still a puzzle when the Bible is so clear on certain points which are easy to understand and interpret. In the collage above are some of the more prominent women who stand behind a pulpit in a church they claim is Jesus’, and preach.
Because if they had the Holy Spirit in them, He would not allow them to continue on a consistent path of rebellion. He would correct them either by opening their eyes to the proper verses, or by some drastic measure to awaken them to their transgressions. Do you think the Holy Spirit is in a woman who, for decades, disobeys? Can a Christian have a seared conscience over their persistent and public sin? Dishonoring Jesus along the way and creating stumbling blocks for the weaker sisters?
No. He killed Ananias and Sapphira to demonstrate how serious He is about sin in the church. He sent 7 letters to the churches in Revelation to show how serious He is about His church.
Above we have- Beth Moore at St Timothy’s, Aimee Byrd at Covenant Church, Rev Nancy Frausto at Seminary of the Southwest, Sadie Robertson Huff at Auburn Community Church (only age 22!), Christine Caine at Life Church, Priscilla Shirer at Concord Church.
“women should keep silent in the churches”. 1 Corinthians 14:33-34.
Ladies, be discerning. Above all, be humble. It takes humility to say ‘I followed this or that woman for a while and invested in her, with my heart, money, time, or energy, but my investment in her was misguided. Let me learn to discern better, let me be pure in my approach to obeying Jesus, let me abandon that which makes me stumble on my walk and turn to “…whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8).
If you see a woman standing at a pulpit on a Sunday morning at church service and open her Bible and preach to the congregation, she is in rebellion. Though satan is subtle, and hides his schemes secretively many times, this one is an easy spot. If the woman preaches consistently (not just a one-time mistake), she is in rebellion and you can learn nothing from her.
If you followed her for a while, just talk to Jesus about it. Repent and ask Him to give you better discernment. He will!
The Parable of the Weeds He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” (Matthew 13:24-30)
Donald Grey Barnhouse, in his sermon “What is God Doing Today?” explained,
Now, the Lord Jesus Christ taught clearly that we are in this age to sow the seed – that is, to spread the Gospel. But we are to expect that only part of the seed will fall on good ground, that is, believing hearts. And that the rest will not produce good fruit. The fault is not with the seed, but with the hearts. Christ taught that satan would plant counterfeit believers in the midst of true believers so that it would be difficult to tell the real from the false. The true and the false, the real and the counterfeit grow together until the harvest which is the end of the age in which we live. These truths He taught in the Parable of the Sower and the Wheat and Tares. And he gave the explicit interpretation Himself, not leaving it to man’s imagination. The good and the bad are to grow together. Neither will destroy the other. God will take care of the separation.
Matthew Henry:
So prone is fallen man to sin, that if the enemy sow the tares, he may go his way, they will spring up, and do hurt; whereas, when good seed is sown, it must be tended, watered, and fenced.
EPrata photo
What is a weed? It is useful to study the properties of the object of the agricultural metaphor which the Lord in His wisdom used to explain the parable to us. As we read these properties of weeds, let’s keep in mind how these properties mirror the properties of the unbeliever. At the Penn State Extension website, we read Introduction to Weeds,
–a plant growing where it is not wanted –a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. (R.W.Emerson). [Ed note: i.e. a virtueless plant] –plants that are competitive, persistent, pernicious, and interfere negatively with human activity (Ross, et. al.) –No matter what definition is used, weeds are plants whose undesirable qualities outweigh their good points.
These qualities of weeds certainly mirror the unbeliever’s qualities. Unbelievers in the world interfere with our activity, in pernicious, persistent, and competitive ways. This is because they are sown by satan. To continue looking at weeds:
Certain characteristics are associated with and allow the survival of weeds. Weeds posses one or more of the following:
a) abundant seed production; b) rapid population establishment; c) seed dormancy; d) long-term survival of buried seed; e) adaptation for spread; f) presence of vegetative reproductive structures; and g) ability to occupy sites disturbed by human activities.
I was particularly struck by the notion that weeds engage in “rapid population establishment”. Satan does not rest. One weed soon leads to others.
Weeds are troublesome in many ways. Primarily, they reduce crop yield by competing for water, light, soil nutrients, and space.
The parable is fairly simple, as parables go. The field is not the church. The Lord said the field is the world. (Mt 13:38). If we interpret the field as the church, then we would have a conflict with Matthew 18:15-17, which says to put unrepentant sinners out of the church, i.e. uproot them. So the field is the world, and the unbelievers are sown by satan.
In this tolerant, all-inclusive age, some people chafe when we say that there are two kinds of people in the world, those who are children of the Kingdom and those who are children of satan. We hate to think that there is no middle ground, or love to think that there must be ‘some good’ in people, they’re kinda, almost, mostly good. But no. If a person is not under the control and sovereignty of the Lord Jesus, they are under the control and sovereignty of satan. Wheat or tares. There are no hybrids.
The parable is telling us that we believers are sown into the world by Jesus. Let’s stop there. How wonderful! To be specifically planted by Jesus in the time and in the place He desires us to be grown is a very comforting thought. Matthew Henry wrote the comment to the verse by saying, “when good seed is sown, it must be tended, watered, and fenced,” and how wonderful it is to know we are being grown, nurtured and tended by Christ Himself.
The last part of the parable reminds us that Christ will do the separating at the end of the age. Again, this does not mean pastors aren’t to pursue biblical correction or even excommunication for unrepentant church members. It means that the world’s harvest will be accomplished by Jesus, since He has the power and discernment to see men’s hearts.(John 2:24).
The tares’ fate is to be thrown into the fire, and a woeful moment that will be for them, but for believers it will be an honor to watch Jesus right everything and avenge His name. (Revelation 6:10, 19:2).
Angels if you notice are God’s ministers of judgment. They often carry out the judgments God pronounces. They did at Sodom, also, it was an angel of the Lord that struck Herod down, and throughout Revelation angels execute the dread judgments, to name a few examples. And at the end of the age, they are the harvesters.
The five worst words in the Bible in my opinion. “…and the earth was reaped”. It demonstrates the power and might of the Lord to easily punish men. It also shows the meager and measly efforts of man to thwart Him. It is not possible. It is a terrifying verse because at some point all things will not go on as they have been. There is an end day. It will end for the tares/weeds. But it will continue in glory for the wheat!
There is an easy way to tell if a teacher you like, follow, admire, or ‘learn from’ is false. I’m going to reveal this heretofore (not so) hidden way to detect false teachers. I could go on like the liberal theologians who say ‘this is a new method for interpreting’ or ‘I have a freshly discovered method…’ but I won’t. It’s been there all along. Here it is. Are you ready for this shocking message?
The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;” (1 John 2:4).
People who say “Jesus, Jesus” but sin against him constantly by living a life contrary to His commands, or teach falsely, do not have the truth in them. In other words, they are not saved.
They are revealed to be hypocritical. As John wrote in the verse above, a person cannot have an authentic relationship with Jesus and obstinately and consistently oppose His commandments with their actions.
The inward transformation of a person results in outward transformation (compare Matt 15:11). The work of Christ in a person necessitates them acting on His behalf, out of love (1 John 3:17). Source Faithlife Study Bible
Jesus made it very easy for us. Yet so many people say “but, but, but” and make layers upon layers of excuses.
“But she talks about Jesus all the time!” Of course they do. They talk about knowing Jesus right up to the moment they face Jesus and claim to His face that they know him. But they don’t. And he says so.(Matthew 7:22-23).
“But she does so many nice things!” I know. So did the Pharisees. Outwardly they did all the right things, seemingly. But Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.” (Matthew 23:27). Inside they were dead. They did not have the truth in them.
dead inside
“But she only to men preaches a little“. Sorry, but “whoever keeps the whole Law, yet stumbles in one point, has become guilty of all.” (James 2:10). Even a small sin, or a single transgression against God’s law, means they are guilty and due his or her just penalty.
“But lifestyle doesn’t count, and her doctrine is fine!” Sorry, but Titus 2:3-5 is only one of several standards for Christian women to adhere to a certain lifestyle. “Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.” It is dishonoring to God to live otherwise. Men too. Lifestyle counts. So does character. Are they divisive? Slanderous? Combative? Unteachable? Then they are false.
“But you don’t know their heart!” Yes we do. In true Christians, “The Holy Spirit implanted in us a heart that can understand and love spiritual truth” says Tom Pennington in his sermon Recognizing False teachers. A false teacher is not saved and thus does not have the Holy Spirit indwelling his heart. You can detect what is in their heart because the Bible tells us these people are greedy, liars, deceivers, hypocrites, and more.
Jesus said, “By their fruit you shall know them”. Not ‘maybe, but you WILL know them. We cannot see their heart but what comes out of their mouth is what defiles them, and then we can see the evidence. Making a determination based on evidence (their fruit) is not ‘seeing their heart’. It’s making an intelligent and accurate assessment of their output.
Figs. Their fruit is rotten. EPrata photo
For example, didn’t the Pharisees make a show of praying, fasting, and worshiping? But we can see the evidence of their self-serving attitude in their lengthened tassels, announcements of fasting, pretentious prayers at the street corners, choosing the chief seats. Look beyond their show. See the fruit.
Barnes Notes says of the 1 John 2:4 verse, “Is a liar – Makes a false profession; professes to have that which he really has not. Such a profession is a falsehood, because there can be no true religion where one does not obey the law of God.“
Gill’s Exposition says, and the truth is not in him; there is no true knowledge of God and Christ in him; nor is the truth of the Gospel in his heart, however it may be in his head; nor is the truth of grace in him, for each of these lead persons to obedience.
Did you catch that reference to the heart? The truth of the gospel is not in his heart. “What is in the heart will emerge, and corrupt theology will result in a corrupt life. False teaching and perverted living are inseparable, and eventually will become manifest.” (Grace to You, “What are the Marks of a False Teacher?“)
We over-complicate things. Just go back to the Bible. A false teacher will claim to know Jesus but constantly, unrepentantly, and long term, be disobedient to His commandments.
Boats are often mentioned in the Bible. Aside from the Ark that carried Noah and his family, a once in a history boat, there is a lot of shipping going on, much traveling on boats, shipwrecks, and references to boats. There is also the symbolism of boats. Let’s dig in.
The port city of Tyre was known for his boats, shipping, and valuable products. Ezekiel 27:3, and say to Tyre, who sits at the entrance to the sea, [ports, harbors] merchant of the peoples to many coastlands, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “Tyre, you have said, ‘I am perfect in beauty.‘
1 Kings 9:26-27 also mentions not only ships, but a navy. Solomon used these ships to bring in much gold and silver. King Solomon also built a fleet of ships in Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent his servants with the fleet, sailors who knew the sea, along with the servants of Solomon.
Numbers 24:24 also mentions ships, “And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever.“
Grain boats of Egypt. Nile River. The boats used for carrying freight are built with a narrow keel, the stern and prow, as in ancient time, rising high above the water. They are usually managed by three or four men and carry what is known as the lateen sail. This is a large triangular sail. In Joseph’s day Egypt was the great granary of the world. Source: Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, p. 47
In the New Testament also there are mentions of shipping and passenger travel. Famously, Paul was shipwrecked. Acts 27:14-44 describes in some detail a difficult passage, and Paul’s ship eventually wrecked.
What kind of boats were these? Seagoing merchant ships, Galilean fishing boats, slave triremes, pirate ships, ferries (2 Samuel 19:18) …all types.
In 1986 in the Sea of Galilee a boat was discovered. The drought had caused waters on this freshwater large lake to recede and a 27′ long, flat bottomed boat was revealed. They call it the “Jesus boat” not because it has any connection to Jesus but the style of boat dates it to about Jesus’ time. It was about 7 feet wide and could hold 10 passengers if used as a ferry boat. If used as a fishing boat it could hold about five crew members and a catch of 600 pounds up to a ton of fish. It had 4 rowing stations and a mast for a sail.
remnants of ancient boat called Jesus boat.
We usually think of these kind of boats but the ancients were masters of shipbuilding. Aside from camel or donkey, ships were the only other mode of travel. They excelled at finding way to construct large vessels to get goods or people where they needed to go.
In the writings of Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79), I discovered the table (below) about ships of antiquity. This documents the rapid advances the ancients made in ship-building technology in just a few centuries. The time period in the table is from about the seventh century BC to the end of the third century BC.
Jonah’s ship was large enough so he could ‘go down to the lowest part of the ship’ and fall asleep. (Jonah 1:5).
Below is a modern reconstruction of a Roman War Ship docked near Ephesus from Holy Land Photos. It is called a penteconter. You see the box-like structure along the side, that is where the oars would poke out. The holes above are for light and ventilation for the oarsmen. These ships typically lacked a full deck. “They were versatile, long-range ships used for sea trade, piracy and warfare, capable of transporting freight or troops. A penteconter was rowed by fifty oarsmen, arranged in a row of twenty-five on each side of the ship” says Wikipedia. These ships evolved into the more famous triremes.
There is a ‘ram’ at the bow just under the surface of the water.
There were skiffs, highly maneuverable smaller boats used to transport goods, rowboats, smaller sailboats… In fact the Romans were so good at shipbuilding they became experts at building piers to dock the many ships. Some of their piers are stronger than ours built today. How?
How Roman concrete became strong: (AI overview) “Roman concrete was made from volcanic ash, lime, volcanic rock, and seawater. When seawater interacted with the concrete, it dissolved components of the volcanic ash. This allowed new minerals to grow, including aluminous tobermorite and phillipsite. These minerals reinforced the cementing matrix, making the concrete stronger. This process continues over thousands of years.”
Paul used some maritime references to the faith. Though the Hebrew people were pastoral and agricultural, showing no inclination to become seafaring, they did know what these terms meant. In 1 Timothy 1:19, Paul wrote that some have rejected the faith ‘keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith‘.
Jude warns in Jude 1:12 that false teachers are like hidden reefs which would cause the ship to be torn apart from stem to stern and sink.
Newfoundland: the skiff rounds the point widely, avoiding the visible rocks and the further hidden reef under the surface. Art high tide the rocks would be covered. EPrata photo
Hebrews 2:1 reminds us that we must pay close attention lest we “drift away”. Isaiah 57:20 refers to the wicked being like the sea itself, But the wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be quiet, And its waters toss up refuse and mud.
Larry Pierce said in his article at Answers in Genesis, Just because we cannot duplicate something that was done thousands of years ago, it does not mean the ancients could not do it either!
The biblical world was full of coming and going. The ancients were experts in many things, some of which we can’t even discern how they did it! Pyramids, anyone? The ancient world is fascinating, including maritime advances.
There are lots of “types” in the Bible. A fancier name for it is Biblical Typology. Biblical Typology is…
…a special kind of symbolism. (A symbol is something which represents something else.) We can define a type as a “prophetic symbol” because all types are representations of something yet future. More specifically, a type in scripture is a person or thing in the Old Testament which foreshadows a person or thing in the New Testament. For example, the flood of Noah’s day (Genesis 6-7) is used as a type of baptism in 1 Peter 3:20-21. The word for type that Peter uses is figure.
Another example of a type is in Hebrews 9:8-9: “the first tabernacle . . . which was a figure for the time then present.” The blood sacrifices of lambs prefigured or was a type of the actual sacrifice of the Lamb of God. And so on.
Typology is based on the fact that God works in recurring patterns throughout history and says that a past event or person can prefigure or serve as a type of a future person or event.
Joseph, son of Jacob, is in many respects one of the strongest types depicting the Savior. Sold into slavery, descended into the pit (jail), Joseph interpreted the Cupbearer’s and Baker’s dreams and said to them as they were called to Pharaoh’s side, “Remember me”. Joseph was forgotten, … until the Cupbearer heard that Pharaoh needed someone to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. Joseph was called to the King’s side-
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they quickly brought him out of the pit. And when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh. (Genesis 41:14)
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 41:41-44).
When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” (Genesis 41:55)
Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth. (Genesis 41:57)
Hopefully you notice the similarities. Joseph was reviled, sold as a slave, they put an iron fetter around his neck. (Psalm 105:17-18). He was in the pit, forgotten and ignored. One day in a moment, a twinkling, he was exalted and put in second place, only the King was higher than he. He rode in the second chariot. He was given a fine garment and his iron collar replaced with a chain of gold. All were told to bow the knee to Joseph, just as they will bow the knee to Jesus (Romans 14:11, Philippians 2:10). Joseph saved all in the land, all the earth.
The almost exact language was used by Pharaoh about Joseph as Mary had stated at the Wedding at Cana.
“Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.” (Genesis 41:55 NIV)
His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:5).
Of course, typology only goes so far. Joseph gave grain (bread) to the people to save their life, but Jesus IS the bread of life. However, it’s interesting to note types as you read along to think more deeply about what God is showing us through His word. Here are some further resources for you on typology.
In the desert, cacti and thorn bushes mean business. Often, there are impenetrable thickets of rough bushes with spiky thorns that hurt even if you catch a glancing blow. Some cacti don’t even wait for a glancing blow but eject their little hairs to hurl at you as the wind of your passage awakens them. Desert thorns means business.
It wasn’t always that way. When the earth was created and the Garden of Eden planted nothing inside the Garden would hurt man as he passed. Which was good, because he was naked and not ashamed. Soft plants, beauteous flowers, stately trees, and mild animals dotted the landscape.
Then sin entered the world through one man, Adam, and because he listened to the voice of his wife, the ground became cursed. In some places today, the landscape even hurts to look at it.
EPrata photo
After the Fall, thorns sprung up everywhere. Thorns hurt, thorns are negative, thorns are because of sin.
And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; (Genesis 3:17-18)
Anytime there was a curse thereafter, thorns are frequently mentioned as part of the curse. (Nu 33:55; Jos 23:12-13; Isa 5:5-6; 7:23-25; 55:8-13; Jer 12:13; Hos 9:6). Jesus used the symbols of “thorns” in his teaching in a negative sense (Matt. 7:16; Mark 4:7, 18; Heb. 6:8).
Thorns came in with sin, and were part of the curse that was the product of sin, Gen. 3:18. Therefore Christ, being made a curse for us, and dying to remove the curse from us, felt the pain and smart of those thorns, nay, and binds them as a crown to him (Job 31:36); for his sufferings for us were his glory. Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume.
In Matthew 27:29 we read that the soldiers who were crucifying Christ had some mocking fun with Him and placed a crown of thorns over His head.
In the crown of thorns placed upon His head, it was not only a mocking activity performed by pagans, but symbolic of the Lamb caught in the thorn thicket when Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac. It is symbolic of the curse of sin that Jesus took upon Himself, so that we may escape it through Him.
EPrata photo
When you see that crown of thorns, and you think about the mockery and pain Jesus endured on our behalf, think about Him the spotless Lamb taking upon Himself the sins you and I do daily.
The Roman soldiers unknowingly took an object of the curse and fashioned it into a crown for the one who would deliver us from that curse. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13). (source)
What a tremendous, loving, wonderful Savior we have in Jesus Christ.
Can you imagine the Wal-Mart floral department offering a bouquet of thorns? Does the Garden Center ever advertise Acacia thorn bushes? Do carpenters choose two-by-fours made of thorn wood? Except for our botanist friends, few people find thorns captivating. They are not beautiful. And they don’t seem very useful, though they do burn extremely well. The negative associations of thorns are what make their appearance in the Bible so intriguing, for God weaves these very thorns into the revelation of His grace. He gives them a star role in the unfolding drama of His judgment and unbelievable mercy.
In the original Eden you didn’t have to have cultivated planned crops, and you didn’t have any weeds. You had the natural flourishing of the earth producing all manner of food without crops, as we know them, that now produce flour and from that we make bread and there was no siach, no weeds which grow profusely now. And it also mentions in chapter 2 verse 5 that the rain contributes to that as we well know. Take a vacant piece of dirt, do nothing to it, just wait and let it rain and you will have a flourishing field full of weeds.
After Jesus’ sham trials and subsequent flogging, and before He was crucified, the Roman soldiers “twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand and knelt in front of Him and mocked Him. ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ they said” (Matthew 27:29; see also John 19:2-5). While a crown of thorns would be exceedingly painful, the crown of thorns was more about mockery than it was about pain.
Some sayings sound legitimate on their surface. They sound pious. They sound biblical. Like this one: “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”. Only problem is, that one isn’t in the bible. At all.
It is sometimes hard to tell what truly is Christian and what merely sounds Christian. Charles Spurgeon wisely said, “Discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between right and wrong; rather it is telling the difference between right and almost right.” So what sayings are right, and what sayings are almost right (AKA ‘wrong’)? Let’s look at the following sayings which have become such cliches. Some of these mottoes are:
“Let go and let God”
“He’s so heavenly minded he’s no earthly good”
“I don’t use commentaries because they’re men’s wisdom. I only use God’s Word when I study.”
We tend to pray small prayers, shy prayers, safe prayers. God wants us to pray big prayers, risky prayers, prayers that stretch our faith, expand our vision, and place us firmly in His hands. He wants us to take His word seriously and “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) Praying Big begins with remembering that we serve a very BIG God. He is bigger than our fears, our struggles, our falls, our joys, our plans, and our expectations. Praying Big encourages us to invest ourselves in prayer in a big way. Faith-full people are always big pray-ers. When we pour ourselves into prayer, God pours Himself into us. Praying Big invites us to see our lives, our challenges, our opportunities, and our world through heaven’s eyes. Prayer changes our vision, our responses, and our attitudes because in prayer God changes us.
Here’s a popular little jingle in Christendom: “Pray BIG, because we have a BIG God.” But what does this mean exactly? If we need a car, does God want us to pray for a brand new SUV instead of some small beat up clunker? If we need a new place to live, does He want us dreaming of mansions instead of just hoping for a room somewhere? If finances are tight, are we supposed to name and claim millions instead of just what we need? Is God offended by our lack of faith when we don’t dream big and pray expectantly? Well, it depends.
God wants us to be bold in our prayers, but only when our priorities are aligned with His. ~Anna DiehlGee. That sounds good too.
Or does it mean as so many in the ‘name it claim it’ camp casually teach, like Joel Osteen, that we need to be more ambitious in what we’re asking God for and more confident in what we’re looking for in our lives and to do this we need to pray ‘God-sized prayers’?
No. That definitely sounds bad.
This confusion is why we need to examine what we say and be mindful of our cliches.
The root verse for this ubiquitous phrase we’ve come to hear so frequently is usually supported by an interpretation of Hebrews 4:16,
“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.”
Gill’s Exposition explains the boldness and confidence indicated in the Hebrews verse:
“…a drawing nigh to God in that ordinance with spiritual sacrifices to offer unto him: and this may be done “boldly”; or “with freedom of speech”; speaking out plainly all that is in the heart, using an holy courage and intrepidity of mind, free from servile fear, and a bashful spirit; all which requires an heart sprinkled from an evil conscience, faith, in the person, blood, and righteousness of Christ, a view of God, as a God of peace, grace, and mercy, and a holy confidence of being heard by him; and such a spirit and behaviour at the throne of grace are very consistent with reverence of the divine Majesty
Let’s contrast confidence to approach the throne after the cross as opposed to the Temple days before the cross. In the days before the veil was torn it meant that you had to go through an incredibly time-consuming and intricate set of rituals to enter the holy of holies where the presence of God was. The High Priest must atone for his sins in order to be considered pure enough even to enter. If you made a misstep, you would be struck dead.
Think of Uzzah, who put his hand on the Ark of the Covenant, and was stuck dead instantly, because his hand is sin while the dirt of the ground is just dirt, not sin.
In those days, coming boldly before the throne with confidence was not possible. However, once the veil was torn, signifying that THE atonement had been completed, we can all approach now. We don’t have to wait for a certain day, we don’t need a representative to go for us, we can all approach and He is listening. We know He is listening because He is our intercessor. (Romans 8:34)
So understanding the reason for our confidence (or boldness as some versions say) it brings the focus back on Jesus. Now to look at the size of prayers we’re told to make.
We have somehow equated boldness in behavior to largeness of prayer. We’ve swapped confidence in approach for magnitude in request. If there are “big” prayers by definition they are saying that there are “small” prayers too, and worse, assigning a size to prayers tacitly insinuates that the small prayers are no good.
Philippians 4:6 teaches, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Thanksgiving Prayer, 1942.Photo by Marjory Collins. Farm Security Administration (Library of Congress)
It doesn’t say “by prayer let your BIG requests known to God” but instead it says do not be anxious about anything and make requests [of any size] known to God.
My God is big enough to care about everything, not just the big things. Are we to dispense with “small” prayers because He could get busy and overwhelmed? What a ghastly thought! He is perfect in patience. Because we don’t want to take up His time? Time in heaven does not exist, and He is the author of time on earth!
So…is praying for our food a small prayer? The Lord told us to pray in this way. In Matthew 6:11 He said to pray for our daily bread.
Praying for our children? Is this a small prayer? Children are a heritage from the Lord, according to Psalm 127:3. Should David not have prayed for his sick son? (2 Samuel 12:16). Should Hannah not have prayed to be given a son? (1 Samuel 1:13). Should Job have not continually interceded for his children? (Job 1:1-5). Yet Job was called blameless and upright.
What about the persistent widow? What hers a ‘big’ or a small petition? She was lauded for persisting in her plea for justice. What about the admonition to always pray, and to pray ceaselessly? (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Ephesians 6:18 says “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests” ‘All kinds”, the verse doesn’t say not to bother God with small petitions. It also does not say that the bigger you pray the bigger your faith is.
I think it’s dangerous to start sizing up prayers, it’s especially foolish to base a size of a prayer on the size of our God, because we can’t know how big He really is.
Just meditating on the fact that we can pray to an interceding Jesus is an amazing thing to ponder and be grateful for. God isn’t impressed by the size of our prayers. Just as Jesus wasn’t impressed by the length of the prayers of the Pharisee but by the condition of the prayer’s heart.
I love learning about the major people in the Bible. I have a biography of Moses I plan to read. I read one on Paul. It’s fun to look all the verses that mention the top three apostles, Peter, John, James and learn of their backgrounds and personalities. It’s good to remind myself that these are real people, not characters in a book.
I’ve also developed a series of “Little Known Bible Characters”. The series is linked below. The ones who are mentioned a few times and which the Bible gives some details of their lives. I became curious about people such as Trophimus, Eutychus, Iddo, Esther’s Harbonah the Eunuch. There is enough in the record to be able to glean something of their lives and their service to God in providential ways.
But comes now a short essay I read from a favorite author of mine, JR Miller. He was an American who lived from 1840-1912. He was “was a popular Christian author, Editorial Superintendent of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, and pastor of several churches in Pennsylvania and Illinois” says Wikipedia.
JR Miller
We have the major people in the Bible, we have the minor people in the Bible, and we have the (seemingly) insignificant people in the Bible. JR Miller has something to say about this last group, that I thought was wonderfully comforting. Here is Pastor Miller-
Mordecai gave Hathach a copy of the decree issued in Susa that called for the death of all Jews, and he asked Hathach to show it to Esther. He also asked Hathach to explain it to her and to urge her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people. So Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message.
Then Esther told Hathach to go back and relay this message to Mordecai …” Esther 4:8-10
We are apt to overlook the minor actors in Scripture stories — in our absorbed interest in the prominent ones. Yet ofttimes these lesser people are just as important in their own place, and their service is just as essential to the final success of the whole — as the greater ones.
–The little girl in the story of Naaman the leper, is scarcely seen among the splendors of the Syrian court; but without her part, we would never have had the story at all.
–The young lad with the basket, is hardly thought of when we read the account of the miracle; but they were his loaves with which the Master fed all those hungry thousands that day on the green grass.
The smallest links in a chain — are ofttimes quite as important as the greatest links.
Hathach was one of these obscure characters. But his part was by no means unimportant. Without his being a trustworthy messenger, Mordecai’s communication with Esther would have been impossible — and the whole nation would have perished!
If we cannot do brave things like Esther, nor give wise counsels like Mordecai — we may at least be useful, as Hathach was, in faithful service. And perhaps our lowly part may someday prove to have been as essential — as the great deeds which all men praise. We may at least help some others in doing the great things that they are set to do in this world. –END JR Miller
You may feel like the smallest ant in a great civilization. You may be thinking, ‘What am I to contribute? How will the Lord use me? My spheres are so small, my resources so few…’ But God. He uses those who love Him in many ways. Naaman’s servant girl had the fewest resources of all, but she had the greatest knowledge, of the One True God. The boy with the basket had barely anything, and he isn’t even named. But his generosity and kindness speaks through the millennia.
Friend, keep living a life in obedience to God and your life itself is the service. Speak of Him where you can. Raise those children, as Eliza Spurgeon did, who was Charles’ mother and whose son became the Prince of Preachers. Even if your son or daughter is also ‘invisible’ to the world at large, no one is invisible to God. He sees all. He has placed you where you are on purpose, according to His will.
On February 28 to March 1st, 2025, there will be a global live streaming event called Gather25. It is the new version of the ten-year-old IF:Gathering, founded by Jennie Allen. In the past, the gathering has been a local annual conference to which attendees pay to attend in person and listen to messages by speakers. The usual conference arrangement.
This year, the conference will be mostly virtual. It will be beamed live globally, according to the scant information at Gather25.com ‘s website, “For 25 hours, Gather25 is inviting believers across the world to pray, repent, worship, and discover how the love of Jesus is transforming the world through everyday people.”
from Gather25.com website
It is led by Jennie Allen, in America, of course, and “Teachers, Worship Leaders, Storytellers, and Prayer Guides” from around the world, such as Malaysia, Nigeria, Australia, Mexico and other locations. Some of the names leading and teaching and praying are familiar to us here in the US, such as Christine Caine, Sadie Robertson Huff, Rick Warren, Priscilla Shirer, Louie Giglio, Kari Jobe, David Platt, Jenn Johnson, Ann Voskamp, and Francis Chan. Others from abroad may not be familiar to us, such as Dr. Peter Tan-chi, Taya, Sinach, Patrick Fung, and so on.
From the website: “Through live-streaming technology, the Global Church will connect together for prayer, worship, repentance and commissioning. Each continent will host a portion of the 25 hours. There will be stories told of what God is doing on each continent. There will be powerful times of worship. And there will be a worldwide “sending out” of the workers to the harvest“.
Back in 2014 when the first gathering was held, there were no public announcements or advertisements, it was mostly word-of-mouth that people learned of its existence. Blogs and social media were the primary venues for alerting interested people. Further, the speaker list those first few years was a secret, you could not know who was speaking, thus a discerning person could not vet the person who may or may not be delivering truth. Despite the secrecy, tickets for that first in-person conference sold out in 42 minutes. Since then, IF:Gathering has proved immensely popular and has only grown.
From Gather25.com website
But even before the first actual conference in 2014, seven years prior, Jennie was going about her day, or night, she’s unclear on which, she “heard a voice from the sky”. Allegedly this ‘voice’ told her to “gather and equip your generation.” She was astounded by this and was flummoxed as to how to go about it because she was a stay-at-home-mom without resources, but from the beginning of when she heard the voice, according to her, she’d wait to see how ‘God’ would equip her.
If that anecdote Allen told at her first event in 2014 wasn’t enough to turn off a Christian woman, Allen’s premise for the ‘ministry’ is this: “IF God is real, then what?“
How can a ministry purporting to teach about God to women begin with supposing He may not be real?
From Gather25.com website. Notice it says ‘from every denomination, for anybody who follows Jesus…including a ‘denomination’ that is heretical? Mormons? Catholics? Orthodox? Dangerous! We should not be blindly affirming people outside of the faith as in the faith. Mt 7:21-23 applies!
Gather25’s stated “mission is to mobilize our world’s 2.5 billion Jesus followers to share the Gospel with the 5.5 billion people who do not know Him“. This is a good thing, right? Energizing people with prayer, focusing on repentance, commissioning them as Matthew 28 tells us to? Well, hold on. All that glitters is not gold. Just as with Allen obeying a voice from the sky and basing her organization on doubting God’s existence, most of the American teachers and leaders listed as part of Gather25 are false teachers. It has always been so even with the in-person IF:Gathering. It is a percolating vat of false-false-false teachers, doctrine, and music. And likely all or most the rest of them from other continents are false too.
And like in any horror movie, while you’re not looking, the evil monster grew tentacles and comes at you from different directions. IF:Gatheringgrew numerous ministry arms of ministry such as IF:Local, IF:Equip, IF Table, IF:TV, IF:Lead, and IF:Pray. Allen said the central hub of “making disciples” is a major part of all of these.
I have concerns about a woman-led, no male oversight, para-church ministry making disciples. That is the church’s job, to preach unto repentance, be baptized into a local body with male leaders, who observe your growth, decide when you are ready for ministry, then repeat, multiplying men (and women) for local ministry. Granted, some are set apart to leave the local church for missions or evangelizing, but not without having been home-grown, as they say. The Bible does not show any design or structure for making disciples that’s distinct from the local church.
The IRS tax forms for IF:Gathering state their mission- “To gather a new generation of women, equip them with the tools to know God more deeply and live out their purposes and unleash a movement to promote healing and reconciliation around the world.”
What IS global ‘healing’ and ‘reconciliation around the world’?
According to IF:Gathering’s first mission statement, we read this from their IRS tax return: We hope to prepare women around the world to know God more deeply and to live out their purposes by sharing comments and feelings about daily passages posted online.
Feelings.
Jennie heard the ‘voice’ one day 7 years prior to her first IRS tax return for her by-then incorporated company. She is listed a President/CEO from the years 2013-2020, working 40 hours per week. From 2021 to the present, she is listed as Founder, still affirming to the IRS she works 40 hours per week. Jennie has 4 children. When she first heard the voice and began her journey toward incorporation in 2013 and the first gathering in 2014, her children were under the age of 5. She was raising four young children AND working 40 hours/week as President and CEO of a growing company?
This should not be. The biblical standards for women are that their primary orientation should be toward the home, in the home, and focused on raising her children, not siphoning women from their own churches to promote ‘reconciliation around the world’.
I have written warnings about Allen and her IF:Gathering numerous times. Her premise is false, her organization competes with and siphons women away from the local church, it presents false doctrine by false teachers, and affirms a working mother lifestyle to which the Bible disagrees. The only thing Jennie Allen ‘gathers’ is false doctrine and making false disciples.
Recently Amy Spreeman and Michelle Lesley focused on the new Gathering25 in an episode on their podcast A Word Fitly Spoken, which I commend to you. Their research and warnings about this new version of IF are biblically based and well done, as always.
Shakespeare famously said “all that glitters is not gold”. We must be discerning. Just because an organization says the right words such as commissioning, repentance, prayer, Jesus, et cetera, does not mean they know the Jesus to whom the pray, teach about, or commission into ministry. And by the way, it is up to the local church to commission. How can a speaker in Africa commission some woman in Idaho for biblical ministry?! How does a leader in Australia know if some lady in Britain is ready to serve Jesus?
I remember 11 years ago Beth Moore led a “commissioning” at the Unwrap the Bible conference. I looked askance at that ‘commissioning’, too.
Please be discerning as to who you allow into your home, mind, and heart. I’d suggest to avoid this Gathering25, and focus on gathering at your own local church and serve there, and in your home, as Jesus designed it to be.
I saw this on Twitter/X. I loved Amy Spreeman’s reply to it.
The history of this holiday is murky. It is supposedly honoring to a long-ago martyr called Saint Valentine of Rome who was a priest martyred in 269. The Anglican Communion, Lutheran Church, and the Catholic Church officially celebrate the holiday.
But Valentine’s day was not a huge deal until Chaucer referenced it in a poem about “Valentine’s Day” in the Medieval times of the 1300s. Exchanging cards expressing love on the day wasn’t popular until the middle of the 1800s, when manufacturing production increased due to the Industrial Revolution, postal rates became affordable, and stamps were invented. The ‘modern age’ of Valentines cards began. No one is quite sure of the drift toward the holiday being centered around romance and love. But here we are, drowning in the color red, Hallmark cards, romantic expectations, and some notion of love.
This is today’s point. Love. I’d said ‘some notion of love.’ The Bible shows us what God expects of love. God IS love. He has set forth in His word instructions for who to love, and how to love. He ordained marriage as a pairing with love for Him as the foundation, and love for each other on earth so long as you both shall live once united in matrimony. Love among and between the brethren is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
The photo of the cards I opened with is significant. It is obvious the world does not know what love is. The word ‘love’ is by now so watered down it’s equated with casual colleagues from work, even love from a pets’ point of view!
The Bible speaks much of the concept of love. Yes, it’s an emotion. But it is also a concept into which we dive, choosing it at all points in life and not simply feeling it temporally.
The unsaved do not know love. They do not know how to love. Yes, they love, but not according to God’s standards. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). The unsaved can show care and concern. But they do not love in holiness or righteousness.
Furthermore, the stumbling, unsaved kind of love is perplexing. I remember being an adult and wondering what love was. I had not grown up in a loving family. I was briefly married, but he became an adulterer and left the marriage for the other woman. At that point in my life I truly wondered what love was. Where it was. How to obtain it. Love was so absent, so warped, so confusing, I didn’t know if I even wanted it anymore.
The 1984 Foreigner song “I wanna know what love is” was popular on the radio. I listened to it every time it came on, mouthing the same words what the singer was asking-
I’ve gotta take a little time A little time to think things over. I better read between the lines In case I need it when I’m older. This mountain, I must climb Feels like a world upon my shoulders. Through the clouds, I see love shine. Keeps me warm as life grows colder. In my life, there’s been heartache and pain, I don’t know if I can face it again. Can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far To change this lonely life. I wanna know what love is. I want you to show me.
But WHO? Who can show me? That was the question. I didn’t know…until God in His timing showed me. We can only know what love truly is when we understand Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. When we understand the Gospel. That is knowledge we can never gain on our own, but God has to show us.
I learned about love 20 years later when Jesus came into my life and awakened my soul. Twenty years is a long time on earth but not a long time in eternity. I am glad He came at all, choosing to save me from my ignorant life of pagan love and showing me what love is. It’s not a Valentine card. It’s the Gospel.
the-end-time.org 