Going To The Authority

I have some ephemera of my own (see yesterday’s post.) This book is one I ran across while simply thinking about downsizing (haven’t done much of that at all.)

The first date I saw on the publishers page was 1971. When I read that, I thought it would have been a book my Mom would buy for me – to encourage growing my faith. But, that referred to a Bible copyright. This book was published in 2001 and is still available. I do not know how it came to me, no inscription inside. Most likely source was a gift from my Secret Prayer Pal at church. Those are wonderful ladies who have impacted my life for close to twenty years.

There’s nothing quite like being involved in a church that is active, growing, diverse, and doctrinally sound. How do you know a church has sound doctrine, try learning from Jesus and Greek words.

And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. (Matthew 7:28-29 KJV)

The word translated as “doctrine” in this first New Testament use is the Greek (Strong’s G1322) διδαχή didachē – instruction. It’s from the root (Strong’s G1321) διδάσκω - didaskō – to teach. Thus, “doctrine” to me means teaching. What the Bible teaches us is a full set of instructions. We need to do learn these teachings, sharing them in full as Paul:

For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. (Acts 20:27 KJV)

For this reason I expect my readers to pick up a Bible and see if I’ve misused any of the scriptures I’ve quoted. They are to be read in context to receive God’s counsel, and that covers thousands of years. Over those years, men have created traditions that have replaced some of God’s counsel.
Jesus gives us examples of this in Matthew’s fifteenth chapter. He answered a question with a question:

But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? (Matthew 15:3 KJV)

Christ ends His teaching – His doctrine – with:

But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. (Matthew 15:9 KJV)

Thus we need to read His words to follow the full counsel of God to follow biblical doctrine. We need to read the Bible to understand what and why Christians do while following biblical doctrine. While there are many examples for each of the activities, here are examples:

We meet together regularly:

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25 KJV)

We sing during worship: 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16 KJV)

Offerings are taken:

Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. (1 Corinthians 16:2 KJV)

We invite and listen to missionary speakers:

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. (Acts 17:1-3 KJV)

We have traditions of men, but they certainly aren’t commandments: the times of our meetings; more than one service on Sunday; a mid-week service, special music, musical instruments. We offer bus service, nursery, ladies meetings, scheduled prayer meetings, and more.

What we should not do - and hopefully have not done, or will not do - is add or subtract from the teachings, the instructions, the doctrine given by Jesus, our savior.

Jesus gave only two commandments, confirming all the laws and prophets fit within those two:

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:36-40 KJV)

All of the above were thoughts generated by one book filled with stories of women and their faith, their tragedies and their encouragement, their estrangements and their reunions – all the things we experience in life, and survive with God. We’d like for you to share the doctrine – the instruction, the teachings – given by our Lord.

Submission

I cropped this graphic from a photo taken before their wedding. Recently, looking through some of their family ephemera, they ran across the photo and shared it. Four children and a couple of jobs later, they looked back and so did we. I’ve known them since before they met. I enjoyed watching him grow in faith through high school.

He lived his faith. He led Bible studies for other students. He attended and graduated from Bible college. He dedicated his life to service our Lord, and has done so as student, Youth Pastor, and now serving as Pastor of a Baptist church.

I knew another young man, in the same group of young men at our church whose common goal was to serve the Lord. He, too, attended and graduated from Bible college, served as an evangelist, Youth Minister, pastored a church, married and had two children – but walked away from his church to become what Paul described:

which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: (1 Timothy 1:19b KJV)

What was put away was:

Holding faith, and a good conscience;  (1 Timothy 1:19 KJV)

Both wives trust scripture as to how to live with their husbands. We share respect for these verses:

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. (Ephesians 5:22-24 KJV)

In the first example, the husband and wife continue to serve the Lord together. In the second example, the marriage did not survive substance abuse, physical abuse, and lack of a job to provide for their children. Too long she followed the verse her husband drilled into her that she was to submit to him, his desires, and his life, although her husband had overlooked the verse before Ephesians 5:22:

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. (Ephesians 5:21 KJV)

And the one following verse 24:

That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. (Ephesians 5:26-28 KJV)

There is a serious problem in picking and choosing verses to be used to accomplish our own desires. The Bible has very few stand-on-their-own verses, and even those raise questions and require additional definition. All scripture is to be studied in relation to God, not to each other.

No woman is required by any Bible verses to submit to a man who cannot submit himself to God. There is nothing biblical about a man who will strike his wife in front of their children. There is, in fact, verses that speak to anyone who damages a child’s faith:

Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. (Luke 17:1-2 KJV)

There is a verse, too, about a man who will not provide for his family:

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. (2 Thessalonians 3:10 KJV)

Yes – I have quoted verses here without their surrounding context, and I encourage you to read them in the Bible to verify they have not been used to change their meaning. That’s the true purpose here, to encourage Bible reading.

“Me? Obey Him?’ is an excellent question that is answered in the Bible. It depends on the “Him.” For a wife following Christ married to a husband following Christ, my answer is an unabashed affirmative.

For a wife following Christ married to a husband who has abandoned his faith and conscience, my answer is an unabashed “NO!”

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (2 Timothy 3:5 KJV)

Please read the verses preceding 3:5. There are several descriptions, but they all are to be shunned. Just as those listed here:

If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. (1 Timothy 6:3-5 KJV)

Do not submit to those whose actions and words are anti-Christ.

If You Received This Letter . . .

Don’t try to translate the graphic. Yes, the letters are Greek, but the words aren’t. Originally written in the Greek language, we have them today in English. Here they are with the verses that precede them, opening John’s first letter:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. (1 John 1:1-4 KJV)

John wrote more books in the Bible than any other of Jesus’ disciples, though Paul the Apostle wrote even more. Both of them met Jesus face to face, John for three years, Paul for just a few moments.

Have you ever received a letter that opened with more information? When I was working, writing a business letter was formal. Still is in a lot of situations, but e-mails are quicker, shorter and seldom explain why they were written. Never read one that wanted my joy to be full.

John was inspired by God to give the background, explain why this letter carries the truth behind what he had heard, seen for himself, even touched with his own hands, that has to do with the Word. He used that word in the opening of his gospel:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (John 1:1-5 KJV)

How would you describe Jesus? Can you imagine walking with Him for three years? Hearing the teachings while watching people vilify and eventually kill Him? If what you had spent three years doing simply vanished, would you continue telling His story and writing others about His life – and what they should do about it?

That became John’s life, telling everyone he met – and writing to people he would not meet – what he had seen while walking with Jesus, what he was inspired by God to write, and finally the vision – the Revelation – he was given to pass on to the rest of us.

Five books – John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John and Revelation. They covered a great portion of the first century after Jesus’ birth, and focus on what John believed with all his heart. He wrote one of the most quoted verses in all the Bible, Jesus’ response to Nicodemus’ questions:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV)

Because of the manner in which God loved His creation, He offered another creation to see that none should perish. By simply believing, eternal life is available.

The author of Hebrews understood that importance and wrote:

How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? (Hebrews 2:3-4 KJV)

If we ignore that great plan of salvation, spoken by Jesus, heard by those around Him, confirmed by signs, wonders, miracles, and by the Holy spirit in God’s will – how shall we escape? What is the alternative to believing?

John has that answer in the verses following the 16th. Here’s what Nicodemus heard, and that has not been refuted by prophecy since then:

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:17-18 KJV)

God sends no one to hell, a place He created for those who rebelled against Him. Being in hell is simply the natural consequence of not believing God exists. No one forced my acceptance, nor my rejection, of the existence of a being capable of creating the universe – and having the ability to change or even end it.

What caused you to make your decision? Did it have to do with other religions, science, fear, love? With the irrefutable knowledge that death is in the future of everyone born into this world, are you comfortable with your decision?

For The Next Generation

I received these two cards a week apart at our church. They are funeral cards, giving the birth and death dates of two ladies I’ve known for twenty years. They each died on a Sunday, a week apart. For both of them, friends and families met a week apart to celebrate their life and their legacy of loving and service our Lord.

When I think of their lives – and so many other people whose cards I’ve read – I think of:

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. (James 2:17-18 KJV)

These ladies did not go around waving flags about their works, but their faith was shown in the works they did at church, regular attendance, active in youth activities, physical labor, and most of all – teaching people younger than they were. For decades. They shared their faith through their words and their works.

Paul did the same with Timothy. I’m grateful that his letters to Timothy were included in our Bible, and I do feel they are just as inspired by God as the other books of scripture. It is to Timothy that Paul gives the source and the reason for scripture:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 KJV)

God inspired the scriptures for our profitable examples so that we could perfectly do good works.

That is not impossible, no matter what you think. We don’t achieve that perfection – God through scripture and our response to it furnishes good works.

One of the best works is sharing His message with others. II Timothy is chronologically Paul’s last letter. Here we see how a man whose life was so changed by his belief in Christ that he was able to face his death by teaching a man to carry on the work that Christ gave him.

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. (2 Timothy 4:1-2 KJV)

Paul requires, before God, that Timothy continues to do what Paul has done since meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus. In the previous chapter, I like:

But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; (2 Timothy 3:14 KJV)

“Continue” indicates to me that Paul knew what Timothy had been doing, and wanted him to continue. In the verses before that, Paul tells Timothy why:

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (2 Timothy 3:1-5 KJV)

Are you aware of any who would meet these descriptions? More than a few? Paul tells Timothy to turn away from them – and that’s good advice for us. I’ve also heard from people who fit into the next chapter – the ones who will not continue in the scriptures:

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:3-4 KJV)

Many times in the recent past I’ve heard Christianity referred to as a myth about a white-aired old man who lives in the sky. I do pray for those who spread that word. For me, I’d rather take Paul’s advice for Timothy:

But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. (2 Timothy 4:5 KJV)

What does an evangelist do? Shares the scriptures. Shares his personal witness. Shares what God inspired people to write. In addition, I would charge the readers to read the Bible with an open mind, and I would  hope with a prayerful heart. Start with II Timothy – and as you find questions, read further.

I pray this generation will share with the next, just as the two ladies I mentioned, whose memory I hold dear and believe with all my heart I will see again. Ask me about that if you wish.