By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
This discussion highlights the often negative portrayal of Job’s wife, emphasizing her grief after losing everything along with Job. Despite Mrs. Job urging her husband to abandon his faith, my essay calls for a compassionate understanding of her character. It warns against allowing adverse circumstances to weaken our faith, and I encourage women to provide support to their family during trials.
Continue reading “Job’s Wife: A Call for Compassion”By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
I reflect on the disorder of my digital files while I was reorganizing them, and in so doing re-discovered a commentary I’d forgotten I had. It is by John Phillips called Exploring Genesis. Phillips recounted different reactions to apocalypse, including Jonah, Abraham, and Jesus. In this essay I urge readers to remember the impending apocalypse and to respond as Abraham and Jesus did, with prayer and tears.
Continue reading “Facing the Apocalypse: Reactions from the Bible”By Elizabeth Prata
And Saul commanded his servants, “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him to me.” One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him.” (1 Samuel 16:17-18).
King Saul is distressed. He gets these spells of despondency and near madness due to an evil spirit plaguing him. Music quells these incidences, and in v. 16, Saul is calling for help. Saul’s servant replies that ‘he has seen’ a young man of good character. We’ll come back to ‘he has seen.’
You notice that the servant didn’t just leave it at ‘plays well’. Anyone can hire a good musician. But when you’re feeling down, who do you want nearby to comfort you, even if it is through music with not much personal interaction? You want a good man. So the servant also included David’s character qualities in this verbal resume. He said that it is seen that David is known to be valorous, strong (man of war), and discerning. That’s the Hebrew word for ‘prudent in speech’. What is meant here is “intelligent, discreet, discerning, have understanding”. When you’re King and enter into a spell of weakness, you don’t want a blabbermouth running your private business all over town. You want someone compassionate.
Finally, the servant ends with a kicker: the Lord is with David.
In the New Testament times one would likely say “He is in the Lord”, or “The Spirit is in him.”
The saints of God are recognized by their fruit. One example is Samuel, “Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and also with man.” (1 Sam 2:26; cf Luke 2:40).
Luke 6:44 reminds us that a good tree will bear good fruit. Galatians 5:22-23 reminds us that the fruit is:
“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
Matthew 5:14 says we are to be light in the world. Light is not hidden but bright and high so all can see. We believers are to have evidence in our lives that we are one of the Lord’s. That evidence needs to be seen in our words and deeds. (James 2:14). We need to have observable evidence because sanctification means we are daily being conformed to the image of Christ. We must reflect His character in more observable ways as we grow though our life.
I am not talking about personal reputation. I am not speaking of a motivation where we cultivate the approval of man. I am not speaking of that at all.
As James M. Hamilton explained in his book Work and Our Labor for the Lord,
We live obediently and humbly “as a good testimony for unbelievers (1 Corinthians 9:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:12; 1 Timothy 5:14; 6:1; Titus 2:5,9). At many points in his letters Paul instructs Christians to live in a way that reflects concern for how non-Christians perceive Christianity and its adherents. That is to say, Christians are to work in ways that commend the faith to outsiders. Believers are to be winsome and attractive, not repulsive and obnoxious. This concern for how unbelievers perceive the faith is inextricably connected to a desire for others to know, enjoy, and glorify God in Christ. This aspect of doing good work links up with the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Christians contribute to the task of making disciples of all nations by doing good work that gives the faith a good reputation.”
It’s the reputation of Christ that is at play here, not ours. If we are observably joyful, kind, faithful, self-controlled, good, patient, peaceful, loving, full of light, it will be obvious that it is Christ’s character in us, by the Spirit.
David’s character was observable and noted. Remember, whether you realize it or not, even if you work from home or work in a cubicle, people are watching you (us). They note your (our) character. The more we walk with Christ, the more our character will be His character.
What are people observing about you? Is Christ in you and evident? When someone wants to choose a person for a project or a team or a club, would they say you (me) are brave, prudent, skillful, with good presence, and the Lord with us? Like David? I hope and pray that people see the Lord in me, and not me in me, or at least less and less of me. Christ’s character is beautiful.
By Elizabeth Prata
I watch Nathan Fillion in his TV show “The Rookie”. It’s about LA’s oldest police rookie on the force, loosely based on a true story of an older man who really had switched careers mid-life and decided to become a beat cop.
In a recent episode, Fillion, playing police officer John Nolan, woke up, stretched, grimaced, and said, “Getting older means waking up every morning wondering, “Why does that hurt?”
He nailed it.
As I age, sleep becomes important proportionately to the amount it becomes elusive. I’ve always been a good sleeper, no issues with insomnia. Even now as I’m older I still sleep well, but now only for 5 1/2 to 6 hours straight. Then I wake up. It’s usually around 3am, and it takes me a while to return to slumberland. Which is irritating because on weekdays I get up at 4:30am.
Everything in our lives, saved or unsaved, is from the Lord. He either allows it or causes it. As a Christian, sleep is a graceful gift from the Lord. He gives us sleep, peace, and rest.
Now, being the Bible, those three words have various meanings. Sleep in the Bible is used sometimes as a euphemism for death, because death for us is not final, our ‘death’ is only sleep until we are resurrected. Sleep can also mean a spiritual torpor. (Romans 11:8). Sleep also means actual 40 winks sleep.
Peace can mean a restful interlude that includes sleep or not, but it also means peace as in cessation from war and enmity against God due to our sin. Rest can mean actual rest as in the 7th day God rested and we do too, or it can also mean a rest from the struggle against sin.
But for now, let’s look at actual 40 winks sleep and rest. There is natural sleep, bad sleep, and good sleep.
Sleep is a natural human function and a good gift from God. He knows our body is temporary, gets tired, and needs sleep to continue to function. So sleep itself is a gift and is neutral. The human side of Jesus got tired, and He slept.
Psalm 4:8, In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, LORD, have me dwell in safety.
Psalm 127:2, In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat—for He gives sleep to His beloved.
Then there is a sleep our mind uses to indulge the body or escape the conscience. Jonah the runaway prophet disobeyed God and ran in the other direction he was told to go. He scurried to Joppa and boarded a boat. He went “down below into the stern of the ship, had lain down, and fallen sound asleep.” (Jonah 1:5b).
Now this is funny to me because I am a small craft mariner. I’d lived on a 37′ sailboat for two years. In Jonah’s storm, the sailors were hurling cargo overboard – so picture the bumps and scrapes of amphorae and trunks being dragged across the deck- the waves were crashing against the boat, the wind was screaming, the sailors were yelling, the sails noisily hoisted and reefed…a lot of noisy activity all around Jonah. Yet he not only slept, but the Bible said he slept soundly. The Hebrews word lists synonyms for soundly as a heavy sleep or a dead sleep.
As a mariner, I wonder HOW he could sleep deeply when all this activity and noise was going on?! We do know his journey to Joppa was full of emotion and stress. Stress and exhaustion can make one tired. Barnes’ Notes mentions this true fact, “Perhaps he had given himself up to sleep, to dull his conscience.” Sleep IS an escape.
In Jonah’s case, the LORD had not given Jonah the sweetness of refreshing sleep, instead He had given the ship a great wind and storm. (Jonah 1:4).
Also, as Ellicott’s Commentary says, “when a resolution is once irrevocably (as we think) taken, conscience ceases to disturb with its wakeful warning, and the restlessness of remorse has not yet arrived.“
So while a deep sleep is a gift from the LORD, our flesh can also give us a deep sleep, but the two are not the same. One is a heavenly gift and the other is a fleshly indulgence. Deep sleep can arise from sloth, avoidance, laziness (Proverbs 19:15), or just lain weakness of the flesh, as we see in this next example.
The Disciples slept in Gethsemane the night of our Lord’s arrest. The Lord Jesus asked Peter, John, and James to stay awake with Him. He said he was greatly distressed, grieved to the point of death and to stay and keep watch with Him. Yet their eyes were heavy and they fell asleep. Jesus returned from his little distance away three times and each time found them slumbering.
And He *came to the disciples and *found them sleeping, and He *said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? 41 Keep watching and praying, so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”. (Matthew 26:40-41).
The disciples’ flesh won in this battle.
And then Jesus was arrested and there were no more chances to be with Him! How guilty would you feel if a dear loved one asked you to stay awake and pray with him or her but you fell asleep and then they were taken away, or died?
Jesus told them that they were willing but their flesh was weak. And so it is. We forget just how child-like we are. We forget just how weak we are. We forget just how bound by our flesh we are.
Several times in the Bible we see that God gave a deep sleep to someone for spiritual purposes. In Genesis 2:21 God gave Adam a deep sleep while he took a rib from the man. In Genesis 15:12 God again caused a deep sleep to come on Abram, when God was making the covenant with him. In 1 Samuel 26:12 the Lord caused a deep sleep to come over King Saul and his men while David crept in and took his water jug and spear.
He often came to the Prophets when they slept to deliver a vision.
Jeremiah 31:25-26, for I will refresh the weary soul and replenish all who are weak.” / At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me.
I am glad for Jeremiah for his good sleep. For once the Lord had not given him dire visions or terror warnings in his dreams, but instead Jeremiah had received a vision that was actually pleasant. Phew.
Psalm 3:5
I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.
Proverbs 3:24
When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you rest, your sleep will be sweet.
Jesus slept on the boat in the storm. The disciples were heaving water overboard as fast as it came in. The wind screamed. The sails flapped wildly. The men were yelling. So finally they woke Jesus up. What a similar but different scene with Jonah on his boat. This was an example of both Jesus’ humanity- the man Jesus was exhausted. And it is also a spiritual picture of his deep, unwavering trust in His Father. This is a sleep of trust in the good gifts of the Father.
When you lay your head down tonight, thank the Lord for making us weak and needing sleep to keep going. Thank Him for the sweetness of an unencumbered sleep. Ask Him, if you are troubled, to give you the gift of an uninterrupted night of rest.
By Elizabeth Prata
I think most Christians probably have heard the hymn Holy, Holy, holy. The refrain is
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
Your mind is humming it right now, isn’t it? 🙂
Our finite minds can’t grasp the notion of one person in three persons. So we don’t usually delve into the mystery of the Trinity. We don’t ponder it so much. It is a doctrine that just is.
“Theologian J.I. Packer noted that the Trinity is usually considered a little-thought-about piece of “theological lumber” that no one pays much attention to. But whatever your level of understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity, one thing you can know for sure: The Triune God is unchangeably committed to including you in the wonderful fellowship of the life of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.” (Source).
The concept of the Trinity is mentioned a lot in the New Testament. I was surprised when I started thinking about this and studied it, there are more verses that mention it than I thought.
Jesus is teaching. “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” (John 14:7).
Philip asks, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus replied, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own, but the Father, as He remains in Me, does His works.” (John 14:10).
As our pastor taught, this is a concept called mutual indwelling. He explained in his sermon,
“He said something similar in chapter 10, verse 38; know and understand that the father is in me and I am in the father. That’s the language of mutual indwelling. What Jesus had been teaching them all along was his unity with the father. He is so united with the father, the best way to express it is mutual indwelling. The father dwells in him and he is in the father. Now that doesn’t mean that Jesus and the Father are identical in personhood. After all, according to verse 12 here, He was going to the Father, which indicates a distinction between them. And so their oneness doesn’t mean they’re identical in all respects, but to see Jesus is to see the Father in essence.
It is a mystery how all three Persons of the Trinity are one but separately they are three individual people, with their own wills, purposes, tasks. But God is one. I am glad He is a mystery. I would not respect a God I could understand. He has deigned to stoop to our level of understanding in magnificent ways. He gave us His word. He gave us His Son. He gave us the Holy Spirit to indwell us. He raised up the prophets. He have us this world in order to see his wonderful works. He gave us providence, where we can see in hindsight how He takes care of us.
Mutual indwelling as a term describing the relationship among the persons of the Trinity is an easy to understand term. Theologians also use a more technical term, perichoresis or circumincession.
Perichoresis is “the mutual intersecting or “interpenetration” of the three Persons of the Godhead and may help clarify the concept of the Trinity. It is a term that expresses intimacy and reciprocity among the Persons of the Godhead. Perichoresis is the fellowship of three co-equal Persons perfectly embraced in love and harmony and expressing an intimacy that no one can humanly comprehend. The Father sends the Son (John 3:16), and the Spirit proceeds from the Father and was sent by the Son (John 15:26)—another example of perichoresis, with the result that God’s people are blessed,” says GotQuestions.
“Though one Person or another may be emphasized in a particular work, no one person does any work exclusive of the other two persons, for as the classic dictum states, “the external works of the Trinity are undivided.” ~John MacArthur, Biblical Doctrine.
Our comprehension of this doctrine will always be beyond our mind’s finite grasp. But by faith we know the unity of the Godhead is perfect, the works of the Trinity are ongoing, the Trinity’s essence is shared perfectly yet without blurring each person’s distinctions.
Hebrews 1:3 says- And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.
The God-head’s fellowship has opened up to include humans. Our fellowship with God becomes possible after we repent and by faith we are saved through grace. Then, as JI Packer says:
fellowship becomes a possibility; and it is only as the Holy Spirit enables us to speak to others, and others to us, in such a way that Christ and the Father are made known through what is said, that fellowship is made a reality. When we seek to enjoy fellowship together, we should do so in prayerful dependence on the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, whose office it is to reveal Christ to us. ~Source, God’s words : studies of key Bible themes, JI Packer
By Elizabeth Prata
Can you imagine the pit of despair the Disciples felt on Good Friday? To them it was a hellish and confusing Friday. They were confused, they scattered, Peter even denied Jesus.
Jesus’ separation from the Father while on the cross (Matthew 27:46) is the loneliest and most poignant moment any person ever felt in the history of the universe, bar none.
But the disciples’ sudden and unexpected separation on Friday from their spiritual Father they’d been following so hopefully for three years came upon them cruelly and brutally, throwing them all into states of panic, despair, and spiritual depression. Even though Jesus had told them ahead of time, and even though they had studied the scriptures, they didn’t understand. To them, it wasn’t Good Friday. It was just bad Friday and the seeming end of the long trail of hopes and highs they’d been experiencing for three years with Jesus in discipleship to Him. They did not know as we do, Friday’s here, but Sunday’s coming!
We worship Jesus every day. We worship and praise Jesus collectively in services on Sunday. We exalt Him each year on Resurrection Sunday. We know Him as Resurrected King triumphant over sin and death!
His ultimate moment will be His return, when every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess (Romans 14:11, Philippians 2:10, Isaiah 45:23).
“The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.” (Zechariah 14:9)
Everyone will know that Jesus is MESSIAH! They will finally know the Resurrected Jesus is the only name. He is all names. He is the beginning and the end!
And it started with the cross on Friday, when it was finished.
By Elizabeth Prata
I designed this picture to stare at and better ponder its truths. The mental picture of it as I was reading was so vivid before my eyes I had to draw it out.
Initially I drew just the wavy line and the cross. The cross is lifted up, the sole item on the bloody landscape. To view it, all eyes must look UP. The cross of Christ is the only thing has any meaning in the world. When I was an unsaved person I rejected this notion immediately. As a saved person, by the grace of God, I am humbled to kneel and stare at this wonderful, terrible cross.
The line represents not only the hill, for the Son of Man must be lifted up, and it was a hill He died on and a hill he will return to. (Zechariah 14:4).
The line is also the dividing line of all human history. The above and below, the hell and the heaven, the line that divides before Christ’s birth and after Christ’s incarnation and is both the starting point and the ending point of all that is and all that will be.
On the day of His death the sun was darkened. This is only right, for Jesus is the Light of the world.
It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the entire land until [u]the ninth hour, 45because the sun stopped shining; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. (Luke 23:44-45).
“Christ’s victory is the spectacle that holds the attention of the universe.” ~Tony Reinke, Competing Spectacles
Christ’s glory is the spectacle of all spectacles, and its power is most clearly seen in how it equips and motivates and animates our faithful obedience in all other areas of life.
Christ was not merely made a spectacle on the cross, the cross became a shorthand reference for everything glorious about Christ- His work as creator and sustainer of all things, his incarnation, his life, his words, his obedience, his miracles, his shunning, his beatings, his crucifixion, his wrath bearing, his resurrection from the grave, his heavenly ascension, his kingly coronation, and his eternal priesthood- all of his glory subsumed into his heavenly spectacle. ~Tony Reinke, Competing Spectacles
To be able to love Jesus and not hate Him any longer is the joy of my life.
We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)
By Elizabeth Prata
We are going through the book of Mark in our church. Our teaching pastor recently preached on Mark 5:1-20. It’s the incident of the Gadarene Demoniac. The man in the Bible had a Legion of demons in him. A Roman legion had up to 6000 soldiers. The man didn’t necessarily have 6000 demons in him, in fact it’s more likely he had around 2000, but still.
Demons are fallen angels. These are the angels who rebelled against God and followed satan. They are totally depraved, sinful, and out to do as much damage as they can on the earth to all people, but especially to God’s people.
The demons are present on earth always, but seem to have been more highly active in three great waves. They were particularly active around the time of Moses, during the Elijah-Elisha period, and when Jesus walked the earth. In the future, they will be highly active during the prophesied Tribulation period. Demons are also called ‘unclean spirits’.
In the New Testament, we read of the demons and their activity more times than one may remember. It is a big topic, especially in the Gospel of Mark. A demon became agitated when Jesus taught in the synagogue, and the man the demon was inhabiting shouted, “saying, “What business do you have with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are: the Holy One of God!“( Mark 1:24).
The Gadarene legion of demons in the man called out “Jesus, Son of the Most High God.” (Mark 5:7). This title was used by both Jews and Gentiles to distinguish the one true God from the false gods. The titles the demons used to speak to Jesus, Most High God and Holy One of God are acknowledgements from the fallen, unholy angels that they know exactly who Jesus is. Even if the crowds didn’t or even the disciples.
The demons used the highest name for Jesus, they know who He is and how holy He is.
After that incident, Now when evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. 33And the whole city had gathered at the door. 34And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew who He was. (Mark 1:32-34).
‘all those who were demon-possessed’… ‘cast out many demons’. Hmm, sounds like a plague of demons were abounding. In Mark 3:14-15 there is an important verse, don’t gloss over it when you’re reading:
And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, 15and to have authority to cast out the demons.
Jesus appointed them to preach AND to show they had authority over the demons.
That is a key thought. They had authority. So did Paul. (Acts 16:16-18, Acts 19:11-12). This was to authenticate their message. Remember the demon-possessed slave girl? She had a spirit of divination, and she annoyed Paul for many days. He busted that spirit out of her. He “said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.” (Acts 16:16-18).
Do you remember that Jesus appointed 72 to go forth and preach and heal etc? They came back jubilant. Now the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name!” (Luke 10:17).
The apostles, including Paul, and the 72, had been given authority by Jesus – “The Holy One of God” – to exorcise demons. And they did. Demons were busting out all over the place by those who were given that authority.
Charlatans abound in every era and in every religion. There were false prophets, false healers, and false exorcists. These exorcists roved from town to town, plying their trade. Casting out demons is mentioned in Matthew 12:27; and Mark 9:38.
Copycat exorcists, hoping to profit from the excitement created by Paul’s ministry, sprung up around Ephesus. The book of Acts records that some groups successfully invoked the names of Jesus and Paul in their exorcisms, possibly receiving financial rewards (though this is not mentioned in Acts). Source Lexham Bible Dictionary.
But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had the evil spirits, saying, “I order you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches!” Acts 19:13).
Demon deliverance was a thing. Even some who were not believers seem to have been successful at times in getting a demon out. Luke 7:21-23 shows some people pleading with Jesus to allow them into heaven, because they did miracles and works and cast out demons.
Pharaoh’s magicians were able to counterfeit some miracles- up to a point. And in Matthew 24:24 we are warned- For false christs and false prophets will arise and will provide great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Satan and his fallen demons are active and powerful.
Then the scene narrows in to one particular instance- Now we come to a funny scene.
It seems that there was a Chief Priest named Sceva who had 7 sons. Acutely aware that Paul was earning much notice with the people, these 7 brothers tried to copycat, at least where demons were concerned. These Jewish demon busters tried to get a demon out of a man. The demon inside didn’t budge but then asked the Jewish itinerant exorcists,
But the evil spirit responded and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know of Paul, but who are you?” (Acts 19:15).
Then the demon possessed man leaped on the 7 brothers and beat them up until they left the house howling, bloody, and naked.
The Sons of Sceva tried to cast the demon out but instead the demon cast the Sons of Sceva out!
You might be thinking, ‘one against seven? The odds are in favor of the brothers, aren’t they?’ No. Demons are mighty. They are angels after all, fallen and unholy, but still powerful. An angel is going to stand on the sun (Revelation 19:17). Four angels are going to stand on the 4 corners of the earth and hold back the 4 winds. (Revelation 7:1). The Gadarene demoniac was so strong he broke chains and no one could contain him.
A Christian cannot be demon-possessed. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit. We are given armor of God to protect us, (Ephesians 6:11–17) and we are supposed to resist the devil and he will flee from us. (James 4:7).
So, how are unbelievers successful in casting out demons if they do not have the authority from Jesus nor even belief in Him? Catholics are famous in secular literature for their supposed expertise in exorcisms.
Demons are real. Satan is real. However, Satan is a master trickster and the father of lies (John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 11:14). A demon’s ability to lure gullible human beings into its traps often exceeds our ability to detect the traps (2 Corinthians 2:11; 1 Peter 5:8). If it would serve its purpose to hide within a human body, a demon might do that. Or, if it would serve its purpose to pretend to come out on command, it might do that, too. Satan could very well participate with an unsaved exorcist in order to inflate the exorcist’s pride and boost confidence in his power over evil. Source GotQuestions
I find the topic of demons fascinating. I believe there are demons around today and inhabit unsaved people. We are not so scientifically advanced as to disbelieve the reality of satan and his minions operating on the earth, second heaven, and third heaven. But though it is a legitimate topic of study in Systematic Theology, (see links below), I think that focusing too much on demons will take our eyes off Jesus. Keeping our eyes on him through His word and prayer is the best practice. We will meet the holy angels one day, and we will see the judgment of the unholy angels. What a day that will be.
Further Resources
“Spiritism” sermon by Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Synopsis- ” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones looks across Scripture to help the listener understand the general activity, as well as the particular operations of evil and malevolent spiritual forces in the world. This sermon on demonology helpfully classifies the outworking of occult activity in its ancient and modern forms.”
The Doctrine of Satan and Demons: Wayne Grudem (outline)
The following is an outline from Wayne Grudem for chapter 20 of his book, Systematic Theology, dealing with Satan and Demons. There are three teachings on this chapter located elsewhere on this website.
Angels and Demons– Ligonier Ministry (23 minute video). “If we claim to believe what the Bible teaches, then we must take the existence of angels and demons seriously. In this message, R.C. Sproul turns to the teaching of Scripture on the role of these spirits and the reality of Satan.”
By Elizabeth Prata
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. (Luke 21:33).
We think of the earth as something solid, firm, lasting forever. Some believe it has been here for billions of years and will remain for billions more. In truth, the earth is passing away as we speak, and it is no more firm than the bubbles children at a festival were trying to burst.
The fragility of life is seen in the gossamer web spoken of in Jonathan Edwards’ Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God sermon:
“Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider’s web would have to stop a falling rock.”
The fragility of our lives, of our deeds, of the very earth is no more solid than the walls of Jericho which fell without warning, (Joshua 6:20) and the Tower of Siloam, which fell without warning. (Luke 13:4). So it will be for the Great Wall of China, which seems so strong and sturdy,
Even now, it is crumbling-
The earth is fragile, cracked and quaking even as we speak-
The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again. (Isaiah 24:20)
Our lives, our deeds, the very earth is fragile. The breath we draw is fleeting. No more substantial than the silk of a gossamer web, no more sturdy than a butterfly wing, no more lasting than a bubble ascending to some height, only to vanish in its evanescence and be no more.
Jesus lasts forever. He is the eternal, the substantial, the durably secure shelter in which we cling.
The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” (Deuteronomy 32:4)
Hide thy fragile self in Him, the Rock of Ages!
By Elizabeth Prata
Yesterday I wrote about a Q&A I’d had from a reader and promised to post the other questions and answers today. Here is yesterday’s part 1- Decoding False Teachers: Types of Wolves in Christianity- Reader Questions & Answers part 1
I love when I receive questions. It encourages me because the queries show me that there are women out there who care about discernment, about Jesus, and about the purity of their walk with Him. That’s all discernment is: a process of training one’s self to have an ever more pure walk with Jesus. To learn who and what to go toward and who and what to stay away from in order to attain a more clear view of Him.
Here are the other two questions and my answers. I certainly do not have a monopoly on answers or final knowledge of the Bible. How would you have replied? What is your stance on some of these things?
Can a wolf be saved? Is there a hope for them in terms of genuine repentance, and saving faith?
I’ve often wondered this. Quite a bit, actually. Not knowing the answer and only surmising as to some notions as you’ll see below, I still do pray for the false teachers the Lord burdens my heart with.
Now, God CAN save anyone. He saved Saul the persecutor and turned him into the most productive evangelist and missionary in the history of the world. Jesus pronounced woes and invectives upon the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes (so did John the Baptist). But Sadducee Joseph of Arimathea and Pharisee Nicodemus were more than likely genuine believers by the end.
However … my personal feeling of the actual false teachers, the ones embedded in Christianity and profess to love Jesus, is no, they will not be saved. Here are my reasons:
First- Jude 1:4 seems to indicate that at least some of these false teachers were deliberately raised up for God’s reasons, and were always marked for condemnation. After all, “There must be heresies among you so that those who are approved might be made manifest” (1 Corinthians 11:19). 2 Peter 2:1 seems to indicate the same. 1 Timothy 4:1-2 says these hypocrites have a seared conscience.
At some point, Jesus turns the rebels over to their sin. (Romans 1:21). Of course, we do not know the point if and when it occurs in various individuals.
Secondly, as to the seared conscience and also remembering Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, these false teachers, if they actually had the Holy Spirit in them, they would not persist in their evil teaching ways. The Holy Spirit always points us toward truth. It might take weeks, months, or in some rare cases a year or so, but someone cannot and does not persist for 40 years as a false teacher and then suddenly repent.
Romans 1:25 says they know God, but they exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
I’ve never seen a long-term, false professing Christian teacher repenting, and I’ve never heard of it. It is more likely that they are seared in conscience, hardened in heart, and being used by God as a judgment. Here is Paul Washer on false teachers. clip is 5 min, here is the beginning of it-
Washer transcript: “False teachers are God’s judgment on people who don’t want God, but in the name of religion plan on getting everything their carnal heart desires. That’s why a Joel Osteen is raised up. Those people who sit under him are not victims of him. He is the judgment of God upon them because they want exactly what he wants and it’s not God.”
God allows false teachers so that it may be manifest those who are true. There must be heresies among you so that those who are approved might be made manifest. (1 Corinthians 11:19).
Can a person truly be a wolf if they believe in and teach sound doctrine?
Let’s look at the word “believe”. The demons believed in Jesus. In fact in Mark it was demons who assigned to Jesus the highest praise name of all- the Holy One of God. Judas believed sound doctrine. The issue is, they did not submit to it. They are rebels. So we need to be careful using the term ‘believe in Jesus’.
Let’s look at the word “doctrine”: All false teachers mix truth with the false. They all twist doctrine in some way, some more skillfully and hidden and others more easily detected (Example, Beth Moore- skillfully twisting her doctrine to make it seem sound, Todd Bentley- false doctrine easily detected). So it depends on what is meant by ‘sound doctrine’. Also, new converts might believe Louie Giglio is sound or a Beth Moore but as they grow they realize their doctrine is not sound. So while soundness is soundness, our perception of it is a continuum.
No doubt, false teachers may be difficult to recognize in the moment. If we don’t have access to their personal lives, or their doctrinal compromises haven’t yet been manifest publicly in their behavior, we may find it difficult to know whether they are true. But time will tell. They will be known by their fruit — not the fruit of ministry quantity and numbers, but quality and endurance — and ultimately the quality of their own lives. ~Dave Mathis, The Surprising Truth about False Teachers
Rick Warren appeared to teach sound doctrine. So did David Platt. For a while. Billy Graham appeared to teach soundly for a long time but secretly held heretical beliefs. Ravi Zacharias appeared to teach sound doctrine, in fact was noted for it, but was living a grossly immoral secret life. Look at lifestyle as part of any assessment of a teacher of the Bible.
Apollos was a diligent student of scripture and knowledgeable, and he taught, but he did not have the full story of the new covenant, only John’s Baptism. Did his lack mean he was false? No, because his teachableness and humility when approached by Priscilla and Aquila were also indicators of his status as true teacher. He did not reject the fuller knowledge, in fact, he hastily absorbed it and went on in humility to become a noted true teacher of the Gospel.
Beth Moore knows the full story of the Bible but chooses NOT to teach it even when urged, reminded, alerted, and corrected. Romans 1:25 applies to her.
All in all, false teachers are bad. They should not be tolerated, even a little bit.
And in the Scripture they are never tolerated. They’re never tolerated as sort of partially right and needing to be helped along to the fullness of the truth, they are totally denounced, condemned to eternal damnation. ~John MacArthur, Portrait of False Teachers part 1
Conclusion
The best thing to do is to train in discernment and to:
–stay in the word frequently if not daily
–appeal to the Holy Spirit daily for help in interpreting it rightly
–pray for growth in discernment
The Lord will give these good gifts to His children, because they are aligned with HIS will.
Further Resources
Portrait of False Teachers part 1, MacArthur sermon
Lessons I’ve learned from False Teachers, Tim Challies, essay
How to Identify False Teachers if you Don’t Know the Truth, For the Gospel, Costi Hinn essay
False teachers, Just Thinking Podcast
Decoding False Teachers: Types of Wolves in Christianity- Reader Questions & Answers part 1 The End Time
the-end-time.org 