But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power.  Have nothing to do with them.  (2 Ti.3:1-5)

Although these descriptors perfectly match our culture, the apostle Paul penned these words to his young protégé Timothy nearly 2000 years ago. The phrase ”last days” does not necessarily mean the end of times since biblically we have been in the last days or the last age since the day of Pentecost when the church was launched. In Peter’s sermon on Pentecost he quoted Joel who said, “In the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all men…” The “last days” began with that pouring out.  More likely Paul was warning that their would be times and seasons during this last age before the return of Messiah when cultures and men would be corrupt and that such corruption would seep into the church.

When I read those descriptors my first thought was that Paul was describing  unbelievers in a fallen world.  But in context he seems to be warning Timothy that there would be individuals in the church who also fit that description and it was those whom Timothy was to avoid.  The final quality of these men reveals that they will have a “form of godliness but will deny its power.”  What exactly does that mean and is it a warning for us today as it was for Timothy in the early years of the church?

The word “form” here seems to mean “an outward appearance.”   These individuals would have an outward appearance of godliness or religion but would secretly deny its substance.  These could be church leaders who simply lead portions of the church for the financial gain, status, or the praise of men that leadership role offered. Behind closed doors they would treat their role as a job, an opportunity or a “gig.”  There faith would be in themselves and they would use and discard people to accomplish their own ends and to build their personal empire.   Ultimately they would view God, judgment, and the Holy Spirit as a kind of myth that they would espouse publically but not take seriously.  Behind closed doors they would love money, comfort, and hidden immoralities.  Ultimately these men are always exposed but the exposure brings reproach on the church and sends hundreds or thousands of disillusioned believers into the streets wondering if any Christian leader  can be trusted.

This paragraph could also point to leaders of culture: education, business, politics, etc. who might publically claim to be followers of Christ and, therefore, moral  – but behind closed doors in backroom meetings are as worldly and cynical as those who make no such claims. These men use God as a prop but deny the power of the kingdom of God.

Each of these groups may believe in a God in some vague way but do not believe that God will ultimately judge the wicked or judge nations. They believe they can act without consequence and that true believers are really just suckers living in world of delusion.  Neither do they believe that there is a God in heaven who orchestrates lives and nations and that watches over the truly godly with his power and even entrusts his power – real power – to those who love him.  I believe we live in a season where both groups are profoundly represented in our society.   Not only that, but many believers who are moral believe that we are to serve God in our own strength and expect no miraculous interventions from heaven. The power of godliness for them resides only in the past.  Unfortunately, many unbelievers define Christianity by these people who carry the banner but not the reality or substance of the kingdom.

It is times like these that the power of godliness operating in the church is more critical than ever.  This power begins, of course, with faith but is also sustained by holiness. In Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira treat the Holy Spirit as inconsequential and bring deceit into the church. As a result God judges them and they die  -in church – in front of everyone.  We are told that great fear seized the church following that episode but also that great signs and wonders abounded and the church exploded with growth.  We also see the church being very countercultural and when political leaders told them that they could not teach or preach in the name of Jesus they simply prayed for boldness because they were committed to please God rather than men. We are told that after times of prayer and fasting when the church prayed for boldness to stand against the culture, God shook the earth and displayed his power through the church.

We live in a world where homosexual athletes and celebrities who have “come out of the closet” are celebrated and treated as heroes while sincerely committed Christians who play on the same fields and stand on the same stages are ridiculed and discriminated against.   We cannot slip into a form of godliness but deny the power of godliness ourselves by simply rolling over and giving in to the culture.  Holiness, faith, and a total commitment to please God and speak up for him must become the descriptors of this generation of believers or this nation will continue to slide into the abyss and at an accelerated rate.  So today be bold, be holy, count on the power of God and be blessed  in His name.

One of the things I notice as search for the web sites of writers and pastors that I appreciate is that there is always a sprinkling of sights around them accusing them of heresy and of being false prophets. This is especially true of churches and pastors who minister in the fullness of the Spirit and who preach that God still moves in miraculous ways in the 21^st century.

I am often saddened by the harshness expressed in these sights that almost reflect hatred toward those who seek more of the Spirit and who have not embraced a theology that jettisoned the power of God for the church some 2000 years ago.  Undoubtedly we are not to accept every teaching that is presented to the church without question.  John specifically instructs us to test the spirits and Jesus tells us to evaluate the prophets. So lets look at some biblical guidelines for doing that and see how our critical brethren stand up.

1. Test the spirits to see whether they are from God.

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. (1 Jn.4:1-3).

False prophets in the New Testament are accused of three things primarily.  The first is false doctrines about Christ – whether or not he is the sinless Son of God, whether or not he actually came in the flesh and actually died and whether there was a physical resurrection. A number of heresies in the 1^st century denied those truths and so N.T. writers warned of such false teachings.

2. False prophets and false teachers attempted to install legalism in the church again rather than grace.  Initially, some orthodox Jewish teachers were trying to talk the followers of Christ into resubmitting to the Law of Moses as a requirement for salvation.  They didn’t deny that Jesus was the Messiah; they simply denied that salvation was by grace and faith alone rather than by keeping strict religious codes.  Later, false prophets with a Greek influence did the same forbidding marriage and laying down dietary laws and extreme self-denial as requirements to make believers acceptable to God. (See 1 Tim.4:1-5).

3. Some false prophets came preaching a grace that ignored the righteousness of God. These teachers encouraged the notion of sinning all you want because God’s grace will cover whatever you do.  These teachers taught that immorality was not an issue because you were saved by what you knew rather than by how you live.  We are not saved by how we live but the new birth and the indwelling Spirit prompt us to righteous living as evidence of our salvation. Those who “sin all the more that grace may abound” simply do not have the Spirit operating within them.

Another major issue in the church has always been division.  Those who cause division are to be marked and the church is to have nothing to do with such men. (See Titus 3:10).  There are many who believe that unity in the body is based on everyone being in doctrinal lock-step with one another and that any doctrines that vary from their own are heresies.  Yet Paul is very clear that we are to “accept him whose faith is weak without passing judgment on disputable matters.” Paul goes on to discuss faith and dietary preferences (vegetarians versus those who eat meat) and keeping one day holy or all days the same (See Rom.14:1-23) Remarkably, Paul says that believers can hold different views on dietary restrictions, holy days, what you can drink, etc. and each believer is acceptable to God. He says that we are not to judge one another in such matters.  Unity and love for one another take priority over disputable matters.

Jesus warned about false prophets and said that by their fruits you will know them.  From our list we could produce a criteria for fruit inspection that should reveal true and false prophets:

1.  Do they teach the truth about Jesus?

2.  Do they teach salvation based on faith and grace rather than works or a strict orthodoxy of belief in all facets of the faith?

3.  Do they call people to righteous living?

4.  Do they have grace for others in disputable matters?

5. Do they promote unity rather than division?

6.  Do they draw people to Jesus or push people away?

7. Since they speak for God, do they reflect the Spirit and character of Christ in all they do – love, joy peace, patience, gentleness, etc.?

I have to say, that the accusers on many websites seen to fit the criteria for false prophets more than the accused.  Their statements are vitriolic rather than loving, patient, and kind. They judge and promote division more than they accept one another  – especially regarding disputable matters such as miracles, prophecy, healing, tongues, etc.  I doubt that they have followed Matthew 18:15 which clearly states that if you have a problem with a brother you must first go and speak to him in private without airing the matter publically.  They tend to undermine faith in those who believe that God still works with power on behalf of his children and they often present a legalistic approach to salvation as they insist that we must all believe every biblical doctrine in the same way in order to be acceptable to God.

I can also tell you that those who believe in the present day power and move of the Spirit see more healings, more radical life transformation, more addictions broken, and more strongholds demolished than those who deny the power of God in these matters.  Good Fruit = Good Tree (See Matt.7:17).  I want to be clear that I am not condemning churches who don’t believe in the full ministry of the Holy Spirit.  Many of these churches are full of people who love Jesus, serve the poor, stand up for the unborn, and share their faith with others.  I wish that they would experience all the Spirit has for them but these are faithful believers.  My problem is with those who seem to carry on witch hunts and publically condemn faithful men and women who serve God and understand some scriptures differently while standing firm on doctrines about Jesus, salvation by grace, and righteous living.  I want to encourage you to not automatically reject the prophets and healers of today because of the accusations and criticisms you see on the Internet.

See what these men and women teach about the essentials of our faith, abut holy living, and see what fruit their ministries bear. Pray about it and see what the Spirit deposits in your heart about these servants of God before rejecting those who simply seek more of the Spirit.  Be blessed.

I had a good friend in the Lord text me this morning about having met with a young believer recently who passionately insisted that God no longer speaks to his people apart from the Bible.  I was schooled in that theology for many years and know the warnings attached to it about the devil deceiving us if we receive any direction other than from the Word of God. The expression I always heard was that the Holy Spirit only speaks through scripture in this day and age.  Since we have the completed text of the Bible we need nothing else.

The idea is imbedded in the whole Cessationist view that God no longer works miracles as he did in the Bible and the Holy Spirit no longer bestows the power gifts of healing, prophecy, tongues, miracles, etc. as he did for the New Testament church.  The idea is that God only operated in those ways to confirm that Jesus was his Son and that those who wrote the Bible were indeed inspired. Once the New Testament was completed there was no further need for the miraculous since the record of such miracles should be sufficient. God speaking to men apart from his written word seems to land in that category of the miraculous so he must not act in those ways any longer.

Those who follow this view divide biblical history up into dispensations or eras in which God operated differently – especially the dispensations of the Old Covenant and the New. One was a covenant of Law, an earthly priesthood, the temple, animal sacrifices, and so forth.  The New Covenant is the era of grace, the gospel, the Holy Spirit, Jesus and the church without an earthly priesthood and animal sacrifices.  A mindset that divides the Bible into neat modules of time then leads one to ask how God will act differently in this age than he did before and so this theology ascribes miracles to times past but not today including God speaking to people apart for his written word.

Here is the problem I have with that view.  The attributes or the nature of God does not change in any dispensation.  Some attributes and some activities span all of history because they reflect who God is.   God expects righteousness in every generation and dispensation.  His call for sacrifice began just this side of the Garden of Eden and extends through all time by the eternal blood of the lamb and our lives (living sacrifices) and worship.  He has always operated as a covenant God and has always pursued a chosen people.  When we see God’s attributes in every dispensation recorded in scripture them we must believe that he displays those same attributes today unless there is a clear commandment to the contrary.

We can argue about many things but God has always spoken to his people apart from the written Word.  Of course, Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob preceded the written Law handed down on Sinai. But, since Elohim is relational and relationships have always been formed through personal, two-way communication, he spoke to the patriarchs and their sons.  Once the Law was given we could argue that Moses and Israel had the written record that was all they needed to live for God and keep his commandments.  But in addition, God gave Israel the Tent of Meeting where he could be sought out for personal communication. Even though Israel had the written word, he spoke apart form the written word to Moses, Joshua, all the judges, the prophets, and often priests.  He spoke to simple carpenters, virgins, and elderly widows who spent their time in the temple courts.  He spoke by his Spirit, by angels, by fleeces, by prophets, and so forth apart form the written word – the Torah.

In the New Testament we see the same pattern. God speaking to people through angels, dreams, visions, prophets, and his Spirit and these people were not all apostles or writers of the New Testament.  They were people who needed a specific word beyond what could be found in the scriptures.  In Acts 1, Peter declared that they must appoint an apostle to take the place of Judas.  Jesus had given them all the qualifications for an apostle but when the moment came they had a problem.  The word Jesus had already given them was not sufficient because they had two men qualified to be apostles but only one position. So…they asked God to speak to them apart from the Word that had already been given because only God knew the hearts of the men who were apparently both qualified.  They cast lots and Mathias was chosen.

We have the same dilemma time after time in our own lives. We love the Word, study the Word, and derive principals for godly living form that Word.  But on occasion we need more than principals – we need a clear word of direction or “leading” from the Lord. To say that we sensed God’s leading from circumstances is to admit that God gives us direction apart form his word in miraculous ways Even Cessationists pray for leading and direction in marriage, selection of pastors, missions, and so forth. Why not just look in the book?

It’s because we need a specific word for a specific circumstance and the written word cannot tell us whether to turn left or right.  If God leads apart form the Word through circumstances, or dreams, provision, or open and closed doors then he communicates apart from his Word.  Hearing his voice is not different. And we should not be surprised because God has spoken to his people in that way on nearly every page of the Bible as an example of his hunger for relationship with his children. To say he spoke from Genesis to Revelation apart from a written word but became silent as soon as the last apostle died is to deny the very nature and the patterns of God across the ages.  Even those who don’t believe God speaks hear him.  They simply don’t know that what they are hearing is from the Father. They miss so much and miss so much of the relationship.  My hope is that you hear from him today – through his written word and in many other ways.  Listen…. God is speaking.   Be blessed.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples (Jn 15:7-8)

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. (Jn.17:1-5).

Both of the above quotes come from the gospel of John as Jesus moved quickly toward the cross.  They were spoken in the upper room and both contained thoughts about glorifying the Father by fulfilling our purposes on the earth. The first simply affirms a clear expectation that followers of Jesus will produce a great deal of fruit while serving the Father in this life and in doing so will bring glory to him.  The second affirms that Jesus himself brought glory to the Father by completing the work the Father had given him to do.

In Ephesians 2, Paul echoed these thoughts when he said that we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which have been prepared in advance for us to do. This might be one definition of our “destiny in Christ.”  That destiny would simply be to complete all the work that the Father has assigned to us in this lifetime.  Remember that in John 14 Jesus declared that those who believe in him would not only do the things that he had been doing but would do even greater things because he was going to the Father.  His words suggest that every believer has a great destiny and that the works God has prepared in advance for each of us are not insignificant but are of such importance and impact that they will bring glory to the Father.

In summary Jesus said that God has ordained eternally significant things for each of us to do – things greater than Jesus did;  that we are expected to bear much fruit to the glory of the Father; and that our goal, like Jesus,  should be to complete all the work the Father has given us for that glorifies him as well.  If that is true then the question becomes how much of that work will we leave undone that was ours to do?

From the casual approach to serving God that many believers seem to take, there may be miles of warehouses standing empty in heaven that were constructed to contain all the fruit produced by those who believe – but much of the harvest never occurred. All of us, I’m sure, pass up some of the “good works prepared in advance” for us.  We miss the opportunities in the busyness of our lives or just turn them down on days that we feel weary or are distracted by the things of this world – not sinful things, just things.  But surely our hearts should long to bear as much fruit as possible for the one who died for us.

I and a few others got to pray with a great  lady yesterday who desired to receive a gift of healing.  I loved her spirit.  Even though she was retirement age she has no intention of retiring from service in the kingdom. She simply wants everything Jesus has provided for her so that she can fulfill everything God has ordained for her. The apostle Paul said that we should earnestly desire spiritual gifts because those gifts are necessary to bear the fruit in our lives that glorifies God. Spiritual gifts go beyond natural talent.  Though they may look the same at times, the results must be very different. One impacts the temporary while the other impacts the eternal.

Without the power of the Holy Spirit fueling what we do, we can produce no more for God than what unbelievers can produce for themselves or their worldly organizations.  In his own strength man can do impressive things – great buildings, great programs, great music, great drama, great marketing, great performances.  Sometimes, churches do impressive things – but in their own strength rather than in the power of the Spirit. I think Jesus had more in mind than that. When Pharaoh’s magicians could no longer match the miracles that God was doing through Moses, they finally said… “ This is the finger of God. “

I believe that should be true for the church. What we do by the power of the Spirit is not something that man should be able to do in his own strength.  The works that bring glory to God must go beyond that otherwise they simply point to the glory of man.  As believers we should never be satisfied with the ordinary but should desire every insight, every revelation, every gift, every dream, and every encounter that Jesus has purchased for us with his blood so that we might complete every work God has given us to do and do it in a way the honors the King of Heaven.  To settle for less devalues the sacrifice of Jesus.  You may want to reflect on that this Easter week.  Be blessed.

But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. And the gnats were on men and animals. The magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the Lord had said. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the water and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.  (Ex.8:18-20)

When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. (Ex.31:18, See also Dt.9:10)

But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. (Lk.11:20)

This phrase, “the finger of God” shows up only four times in scripture.  The first time it speaks of the plagues on Egypt that ultimately forced Pharaoh to release the Hebrews. The second and third times referred to God writing his commandments on tablets of stone for the Hebrews and the fourth time is found in the gospels when Jesus is speaking about casting out demons. It’s an interesting phrase so I thought we might explore it.

The first three uses of the phrase are all related to the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt to the land God had promised the descendants of Abraham.  God told them over and over again that he was delivering them from slavery, oppression, and bondage in Egypt to make them a people of his own.

It’s interesting that when Jehovah sent the ten plagues on Egypt he described that judgment in the following way.  “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn—both men and animals—and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord” (Ex. 12:12).  He says in another place, “The Israelites set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover. They marched out boldly in full view of all the Egyptians, who were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck down among them; for the Lord had brought judgment on their gods. (Num. 33:3-4).

Moses didn’t say that God had punished Egypt but, in fact, had brought judgment on their gods.  Scripture clearly teaches that idols are lifeless and powerless in themselves but they do represent demons. When men worship idols (false gods0 and offer sacrifices to them, they are worshipping demons and offering sacrifices to unclean spirits.  Note the following passages.

They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to demons, which are not God—gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your fathers did not fear. (Dt.32:16-17)

They shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a permanent statute to them throughout their generations. (Lev.17:7)

They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. (Ps.106:36-37)

No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. (1 Cor.10:20-22)

God targeted the real perpetrators of bondage over Israel and that was the demonic realm.  That realm possesses power and uses that power to possess and oppress men.  To answer the challenge of Moses, Pharaoh’s magicians through down their staffs and they became snakes.   They also turned water to blood and summoned frogs just as Moses had done. The Bible says that they had been practicing their “secret arts” or sorcery which calls upon the demonic realm to do their bidding.  It wasn’t long, however, until the magicians realized a power much greater than demons was being manifested.  But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. And the gnats were on men and animals. The magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.”

Every plague that God sent was a demonstration of his power over a specific God of Egypt. He judged these demons by making it clear that they were powerless before the God of Israel and so were unworthy of any worship or sacrifice. When the text says that the plagues were the very “finger of God” of God, I believe it reveals that God was very personally involved in the redemption of Israel.  In Genesis 2, we are told that God formed Adam from the ground. The text implies that Adam was formed by a very personal touch from God who then breathed life into his nostrils.

We are told that that the Ten Commandments were written on stone tablets by the “finger of God.”  The writing of those tablets was to establish a very personal covenant between God and the Hebrews.  It was likened to a marriage covenant which God made with his bride Israel.  God did not sent a representative to establish that covenant but because was so personal it was written by his own finger.

I believe God took the enslavement of the Hebrews in a very personal way and knowing that our struggle is not against flesh and blood executed judgment on the demons who had prompted Egypt to treat the Hebrews in such a way and who had also seduced many of the Hebrews into false worship. It’s as if God stepped in front of his angels and said, “I’ll take this one.”

Then in the gospel of Luke, Jesus says that demons were being driven out by the finger of God and that deliverance was a clear sign that the kingdom of God had been released on earth.  Deliverance is setting captives free. It is a redemptive act.  It is the same as God leading his people out of bondage to demons in Egypt. He is just leading them out of bondage to demons wherever they may be.  The words of Jesus suggests that God takes deliverance very personally.  He is present and working by his own hand to execute judgment on demons who are oppressing and seducing his people, his bride.

That tells me once again that God is all about redemption and loving relationships with his people. He is not a distant God.  He is not unmoved. He is the deliverer – the redeemer.  In the Exodus story we are told that he heard the cries of his people and moved in power. In the New Testament Jesus heard the cries of his people and he moved in power. When you partner with God to break the power of the enemy in the lives of his people, you are very close to the redeemer and you are about to see the “finger of God” at work.  Be blessed today.

“We were born to live in the realm of the supernatural – the realm of healings, prophetic utterances, angelic encounters, and the gifts of the Spirit.  It should be the most natural thing for a Christian to live a supernatural lifestyle.  If you feel dissatisfied with your Christian walk, it may be because you are missing this all-important element. Jesus didn’t only invite Peter to walk on the water (see Matt. 14-22-33).  By inviting him to risk walking on the water, Jesus was inviting Peter into the realm He lived in all the time – the realm of the supernatural.  And He welcomes us to live there as well. Jesus is looking at you just as He looked at Peter and He is saying, ‘Come.’  He is inviting you to live a supernatural lifestyle.  Can you hear him calling?” (Banning Liebscher, Walking in the Supernatural, p.237).

Why do you think God wrote the biographies of so many men and women in scripture who had supernatural encounters with God, angels, the demonic, etc.?  Think about it. The great majority of those who were walking in fellowship with God experienced dreams and visions, miraculous provision, miraculous deliverance from armies, fire, lions, and enemies of every sort.  They experienced divine favor, divine encounters, prophetic words, unnatural boldness, supernatural strength, and angelic encounters.  Just scan the Old and New Testaments and you will find these things in nearly every life that was attuned to God from Genesis to Revelation.

Children read those things and imagine themselves taking on Goliath, routing armies, healing blind men, blowing trumpets while the walls of a great city crumble, walking on water, and stilling the mouths of lions.  It is not until we encounter adults that we discover that God put all those stories in scripture to show us what he would never do through us or for us but only to show us a multitude of exceptions to the rule rather than the rule.  It seems that God put all those accounts of supernatural encounters in scripture to show us what we could never experience by faith rather than to show us the kinds of things that faith could draw from heaven in our own lives. It seems that God had men pen thousands of scriptures telling us how he used to interact with his people rather than telling how he wants to interact with us today.

I served in churches for 25 years that taught that God did all those things once upon a time, but doesn’t do them anymore.  I’ve never met a person who had simply read the Bible, including the New Testament, who came to the conclusion that God used to do all that cool stuff but stopped doing it 2000 years ago.  They simply assumed that since God did all that cool stuff throughout the pages of the Bible he must still do those things.  We have to be taught that God doesn’t move in the supernatural because we would never conclude that from the natural reading of scripture.

However, I learned that God doesn’t move in the miraculous in our day so well that when I saw the supernatural works of God I didn’t recognize them. If I did see something out of the ordinary I discounted it or found a naturalistic explanation for it. If you think about that borders on blasphemy of the Spirit that Jesus spoke of when the Pharisees witnessed an undeniable miracle but then attributed the miracle to the work of Satan.

When we declare that God used to move in mighty and powerful ways on the earth on behalf of his people but that he no longer does so, the whole story begins to sound like a myth or a fairly tale – once upon a time a great and powerful king used to.  No wonder people doubt the inspiration of scripture. However, those who grow up seeing and experiencing the supernatural moves of God have no problem believing biblical accounts.  Satan has little fear of a God who no longer acts on behalf of his people through miracles and certainly has no fear of a church that only functions in the natural rather than living in the supernatural.  “Christ” comes from the Greek word that means the “anointed one of God.”  Jesus said that the Spirit of the sovereign Lord was upon him because he had anointed him to preach good news.  To be anointed means to carry the Spirit of God and the supernatural power of God as well.  Someone once pointed out that Satan released a spirit of anti-Christ not a spirit of anti-Jesus.  He released a spirit of anti-anointing in a sense.  Not anointing, no power; no power, no danger to the supernatural forces of darkness.

However, if you have the Holy Spirit living in you, you are anointed to live and move in the supernatural just as Christ did.  You are invited to walk on water, still the storms, heal the sick and send demons fleeing. I am convinced that God gave us all the accounts of supernatural encounters in scripture because that is to be the rule for those who follow God, not the exception.  To seek after a supernatural lifestyle is not a pursuit of sensationalism but rather the pursuit of the normal Christian life.  It is high time that the church got after it.  Be blessed today and ask Jesus to work in you and through you in supernatural ways.  It is where he wants you to live.

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.  But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!     As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! (Gal. 1:6-9).

Occasionally in his New Testament letters, the apostle Paul went “completely Billy Jack” on certain groups who were trying to influence the church. If you aren’t a baby boomer who watched a lot of movies in the 60’s you may have to do some research on that expression.  In his letter to the church at Galatia, Paul runs quickly through a curt greeting and then assaults a group who had come to Galatia soon after Paul had departed.  This was a group who had come to present a “different gospel” from the one Paul had presented.  It was, in fact, so different that Paul judged it to be no gospel at all and declared a curse over those who had brought the teaching.  The curse was for them to be eternally damned. He was so serious about it that he spoke the curse twice.

What in the world would get Paul stirred up so much that if he had been present I’m certain he would have gotten physical with these “teachers?”   In a nutshell, Paul preached a gospel of grace through which salvation comes by faith not by the stringent keeping of laws and rituals through which a man earns his salvation.  Those who came after Paul were Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah but that keeping the Law of Moses faithfully was still a condition of salvation.  Their formula would have been “Jesus + good works + faithful obedience to the Law of Moses = salvation.  Pauls’ formula simply read “Jesus + faith = salvation.”  To add more to the gospel condemns man to a slavery under law.  That’s why Paul felt so strongly about it.  As a former Pharisee he knew how spiritually debilitating living under a religious system could be.

For those of us who have never lived under the Law, that might not seem like such a big deal.  After all, aren’t we as Christians supposed to do good works and keep the commandments of Christ anyway?  Yes, but we do those things as a response to the grace of God that gifted salvation to us rather than as a means to earn our salvation. The difference is worlds apart.

Under any system of religious law we are left to earn our salvation on the basis of faithfulness and good works as defined by the religion.  The problem is that you never really know where you stand.  Somehow I lost my catalogue that tells he how many salvation points are required to get into heaven, how much each good work is worth and how much is subtracted from my total score on the basis of sins and bad attitudes. I also have no way of assessing how much faith is enough faith, how much love is enough love, or how much godly sorrow is required before it counts.  Do Wednesday nights count more than Sunday mornings and do I get bonus points if I drove to church on slick roads? I’m also left to wonder if there are penalties and interest that accrue if sins go unrepented for significant periods of time.

In short, a person can never be sure of his or her salvation if we must earn it or merit it somehow. Islam is a great illustration.  Because it is a religion of works and judgment, a Muslim can never know with certainty whether he will be given access to paradise or not – unless he or she dies in defense of Islam.  Suicide bombers then have the only real assurance of salvation but even then entry is not guaranteed but only highly probable.  But the uncertainty is enough to drive many to blow themselves up along with the infidels in order to get a good shot at salvation.

Whenever Satan wants to derail faithful believers in the kingdom of heaven, he simply introduces an element of legalism into the faith.  He introduces a different gospel.  Ask any pastor who does much counseling in his congregation and he will tell you how many believers stumble through life under the weight of guilt from past sins. He will tell you how many still operate under the unspoken assumption that God’s love is conditional and based on their own goodness or religious performance.  They carry a profound sense of unworthiness that steals their faith in the promises of God.  They don’t feel worthy to ask God for big things and if they do they have no real expectation of having their prayers answered because they are too insignificant or sinful for God to say yes to them.

Multitudes of Christians live with the assumption that continued salvation and the promises of God all depend on them – their goodness, their perfection, and their performance. That is a form of legalism that cripples the church.  Notice how that kind of religious system affected the Pharisees.  If you assume that people earn their way to heaven and you know that not everyone gets in, then you must make assumptions about percentages.  Does the 50^th percentile get a passing grade or must you be in the 70^th or 90^th percentile? If only so many get in, then you are not only invested in doing better but you must also be invested in others doing worse.  The result is that you must tout your own righteousness while pointing out every other person’s failings.  In fact, you might even be invested in helping them fail. Jesus often confronted the Pharisees about their self-righteousness, their willingness to throw stones at others, and their willingness to pile religious demands on the multitudes while not lifting a finger to help them meet those demands. Rules and ritual become the test of faith because only those can be measured.

As believers, we don’t have to have a well-developed religious system like the Pharisees to fall prey to legalism.  Satan will simply point out a few attitudes or weaknesses or past sins that he will highlight as the very things that make us unworthy and unacceptable to our Father.  He gets us to focus on our self and our sin rather than the all-encompassing sacrifice of Jesus so that we feel the pressure to be perfect, to deny our own sin, or to blame others for our shortcomings because we are participating in some kind of vague score keeping.  If we don’t blame others we still always feel unqualified to share our faith, walk in the power of the Spirit, lead in our churches, or ask God to do great things using us.

As I have said before, God isn’t hung up on our imperfections, we are and Satan delights in whispering a gospel to us different from the one we first received.  We were saved by grace and continue by grace.  We serve, we make mistakes, we get up, we dust ourselves off and keep going by grace.  God’s mercies are new every morning and so we are able to put yesterday’s mistakes under the blood of Christ every evening and rise the next morning fresh in the Lord.  We are able to rise ready to serve him and love him in better ways today than we did yesterday – not in order to be saved but because we are saved.

Paul said that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free – freedom to live each day new in the Lord and freedom to know that perfection is not a requirement for salvation.  The faith that we have is enough for today and God will give us more for tomorrow.  Our part?  Refuse to accept a different gospel from the enemy or people who don’t know any better because a different gospel is no gospel at all.  Feel free to be imperfect today in Jesus and love him all the more because you can.  Be blessed in Him.

In his classic book, Mere Christianity, the British author C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia) tells the story of an “old, hard-bitten officer” in the Royal Air Force who stood up at a lecture Lewis was giving about Christian doctrines and said, ”I’ve no use for all that stuff.  But mind you I’m a religious man too.  I know there’s a God. I’ve felt him; out alone in the desert at night; the tremendous mystery.  And that’s why I just don’t believe your little dogmas and formulas about him. To anyone who’s met the real thing they all seem so petty, so pedantic, and unreal!” Here was a man who had experienced God in a profound way and who felt that studying the word and understanding doctrines about God was unnecessary and, perhaps, boring.  Whenever he wanted to connect with God he could just go to the desert.  That was enough.

If you have read this blog very long you know that I believe God wants us to experience him – not just read about him.  But there is a danger in basing your understanding of God primarily on experiences rather than the word and diligent study.  It takes both. I like Lewis’ analogy to explain the need for both experience and study.

“If a man has once looked at the Atlantic from a beach, and then goes and looks at a map of the Atlantic, he also will be turning from something real to something less real: turning from real waves to a bit of colored paper.  But here comes the point. The map is admittedly only colored paper, but there are two things you have to remember about it.  In the first place, it is based on what hundreds and thousands of people have found out by sailing the real Atlantic.  In that way it has behind it masses of experience just as real as the one you could have from the beach; only, while yours would be a single isolated glimpse, the map fits all those experiences together.  In the second place, it you want to go anywhere, the map is absolutely necessary. As long as you are content with walks on the beach, your own glimpses are far more fun than looking at a map.  But the map is going to be more use than walks on the beach if you want to get to America.  Now, theology is like the map.  Merely learning and thinking about the Christian doctrines, if you stop there, is less real and less exciting than the sort of thing my friend got in the desert. Doctrines are not God: they are only a kind of map. But that map is based on the experiences of hundreds of people who really were in touch with God…And secondly, if you want to get any further, you must use the map. You see what happened to that man in the desert may have been real, and was certainly exciting, but nothing comes of it.  It leads nowhere.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 135-136)

Lewis goes on to make the point that if all you ever do is look at the map without going to sea, then the map is useless.  However, if you go to sea without the map, you are in dangerous waters indeed.  I think that is especially true for the deep waters of experiencing God.  Many believers have simply studied the map (the Bible) for years without going out on the waters of risk and the miraculous.  Others however have plunged into the exciting waters of miracles and experiences with God without a map.

I was frustrated and disappointed this past year while attending a conference on healing that was hosted by a church I highly respect.  One of the speakers was teaching a session on healing and in a sentence or two made fun of people who thought you needed to anoint someone with oil before healing.  His attitude seemed to be that his experiences with God had taken him beyond all that.  Well, I believe people can be healed without anointing.  Most of us have seen that happen.  On the other hand, anointing with oil is a clear biblical teaching that should not be dismissed out of hand or treated as if only the immature would still use such archaic approaches to healing.  If it’s on the map there is a reason and we should not begin to assume we know more than the mapmaker.  John tells us that we must always test the spirits to see if they are from God. The first test is whether their directions line up with what’s on the map.

We are moving into a season where the Holy Spirit will not be the only spirit producing miracles and amazing spiritual experiences even in our churches.  If we have not studied the “map” diligently, we may be led off the map into dangerous waters.  Some of the old sailing maps would simply have a warning along the edge of unexplored territories that simply said, “There be monsters here.”  I’m not saying that God will not manifest in ways he has never done before. I think he may expand our understanding of the map so that it feels like new, unexplored territory.  But it will still be consistent with his ways, his character, and his Word.  An experienced sailor who has studied and trusted the “map” for years will know when new directions make absolutely no sense. At least he will sail with caution while keeping his eye on true north.

My encouragement today for those of us who love to experience God is that we also need to become serious students of the Word.  The psalmist declared, “I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Ps.119:104-105).  Understanding gained from diligent study keeps us from taking wrong paths and ending up in waters where “there be monsters.” The light or understanding we gain from God’s word gives us light for the path ahead but also instructs us in our walk for immediate circumstances. His light not only keeps us on track but also keeps us from stumbling while on that track.

Without experiencing God we will not truly know him but without the map we won’t be sure that we have truly found him.  If you sail for America but end up in Calcutta, you have not had a successful journey regardless of the adventures you had along the way.  It was exciting, but you are still lost. As we begin this new year, most of us have probably determined to read more scripture.  That’s good.  But let me encourage you not just to read but to study and to meditate on what you are reading. Reading through the Bible in a year is praiseworthy, however, many of us read through materials in school just before a test but still failed the test.  Reading over something is not the same as study. To study is to read, consider, process, share the concepts with others and then test what we have learned.  Please add that to experiencing God this year and we will not only sail but arrive at our intended destination.  Be blessed!

Prophets Without Honor

When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked.  “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. (Matt/13:53-57)

There is nothing more discouraging than trying to share your faith or your understanding of scripture with people who have known you in the past and discovering that you have little to no credibility with them. Sometimes it’s people who knew you before you encountered Christ.  Sometimes it is family members.  I’m not saying that you can never lead old friends, acquaintances, and family members to the Lord.  You can and many do, but on occasion you get no audience.

Jesus experienced the same thing.  In Matthew 13, Jesus revisited his hometown – Nazareth.  He began teaching in the synagogue and, at first, people were amazed and impressed. Matthew says, “They were amazed. Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?’ they asked.”  But their amazement soon turned to resentment and rejection.  These were people who had known Jesus and his family before he left to begin a public ministry and declare that he was the Messiah.  Some of them remembered the scandal of Mary’s pregnancy.  Others remembered him working on their homes or building basic furniture for them.  They remembered Mary and Joseph and their children coming to synagogue and being taught. They may have even remembered Jesus playing practical jokes on friends or always having a runny nose as a kid.

Apparently they had heard great stories about miracles he was performing and witnessed his anointed teaching themselves.  But anointed teaching often challenges dearly held perspectives and “settled theology.” Remember the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew 5-7.  Jesus said in several places, “You have heard that is was said…but I say unto you.”  Many of the Jews had grown comfortable with their understanding of God and their view of the world.  The teachings of Jesus implied that there was something lacking in their view of God and how to have a relationship with him.  I’m certain that they at first began to feel uncomfortable with his teachings and then angry as his teaching challenged them.

The first response of the flesh and a religious spirit when anyone suggests that a person’s approach to God or their understanding of his word has been lacking is to take offense and to accuse the teacher of self-righteousness and a “holier than thou” attitude.  That is exactly what happened to Jesus. Suddenly his teaching raised questions about the adequacy of their faith their understanding of the Torah.  It wasn’t long before some began whispering, “Who does he think he is?”  In their own minds, they rushed to discredit his teaching and even his miracles by discrediting him.  They simply recast him in the role of the boy who grew up in a home on the wrong side of the tracks in an ordinary working class family.  In that moment, they refused to see him as he was in the synagogue – the Anointed One of God – but would only see him as the person he used to be.  Few miracles were done that day because of their unbelief. We are also told that even his own brothers refused to believe who he was until after the resurrection.

There are a several lessons to be learned from this account.

1. Sometimes, we are not the one who should be talking to certain friends or family members about our faith or life changes they need to make – sinful lifestyles they need to abandon.  For whatever reason we are so familiar to them that our words carry little weight.  That is especially true when adult children try to speak into their parents’ lives. When the gospel is declared or when we call people to repentance the word carries authority – no matter how gently we say it.  Many parents can never give up their role of authority over children – even grown children – so they can’t receive anything from one of their children that has authority attached to it.  Close friends and siblings are often the same.  In those cases we need to simply ask God to influence them through other people.  Love them.  Pray for them.  Realize you may not be the one to speak to them about their lives.

2.  Sometimes we believe that if God would just do a miracle for our unbelieving friends or family members, they would immediately come to faith and give their lives to Jesus.  Sometimes a miracle and the kindness of God expressed through that miracle does create faith, but not always.  The Pharisees witnessed numerous astounding miracles but never came to faith.  The people of Nazareth heard of many of his miracles and saw a few, but took offense at Jesus rather than believing on him.  I love miracles and believe we should ask God for them everyday.  I’m just saying that miracles do not always open the door to faith. God knows what the key is to every person’s heart and we need to pray for that revelation when trying to reach any person for Jesus.

3.  We need to watch our own hearts when people come to us with a teaching, an insight or even a rebuke that doesn’t line up with what we have always believed.  Sometimes, when people challenge my theology or my motives, I can feel offense begin to rise up in me and something wants to dismiss immediately anything they have to say.  But God calls us to maintain a humble spirit, to be teachable, and to always seek truth.  Proverbs tells us that a wise man receives correction and is thankful for it.

How can we do less and how can we judge whom God will use to sharpen our understanding of his word and his ways or to call us to a heart correction?  Many in Nazareth missed the Son of God because they judged God’s messenger.  I’m certainly not saying to receive every new teaching or even every rebuke.  But consider them, pray about them, and be humble enough to receive those things from people you disapproved of in the past, from those who don’t have your education or income, or even those who seen a bit eccentric.  Remember John the Baptist – camel skin clothes, long hair, and a diet of locusts and honey.  Eccentric!  Be blessed today and be open to hearing from God from all kinds of people in your present or even from your past.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor.10:3-6)

This is the fourth and last segment on Weapons of War which has been a brief look at Paul’s words about divine weapons in 2 Corinthians.  Learning what these divine weapons are and how to use them is crucial in overcoming the enemy, ministering God’s healing grace to wounded people, and setting people free in the name of Jesus.  There are actually many “weapons” or tools that God activates through his people that create faith, heal broken hearts, declare things that God will not do until his people announce them, rebuild shattered identities, and free people from the oppression of the enemy.  That oppression can take the form of fear, condemnation, illness, demonization, curses, addictions, etc.  God has a solution for each of those and most often provides that solution in partnership with his people.

Gifts of the Spirit are at the heart of these divine weapons.  Gifts of faith, mercy, prophecy, healings, wisdom, tongues, words of knowledge, worship, intercession, etc. can all be used to break the power of the enemy in a person’s life.  Some reveal truth and set people free from lies that the enemy planted decades ago.  Some break the power of demons and send them away so that the individual is no longer oppressed or harassed. Some reveal the love of God to a person’s heart and heal wounds that have festered for decades.  Others exercise the authority of heaven on the earth and set things in motion that will eventually bring salvation to the lost and revival to nations. We don’t have time to list them all or discuss them all here.  That would take an entire book.

However, if you hunger for such weapons or such spiritual gifts, then Paul says to earnestly desire those gifts.  Jesus says to ask, seek, and knock.  Peter quotes Amos who told us to go after such things by seeking the Holy Spirit and his baptism.  If you want to these things from God then let me encourage you to do the following.

1. Pray – Ask God for the gifts and understanding of how to use the gifts.  Jesus sent the Spirit so ask him for more of the Spirit.  Ask Jesus to baptize you in his Spirit as he sees fit.

2.  Pursue – Do not just ask for these gifts or anointings, go after them.  Spend time with people who minister in the gift or the weapon you desire.  Ask them to mentor you.  Read books.  Go to conferences. Get equipped with teaching, modeling, and impartations of the gifts from those who operate in them.  If you want the gift of intercessory prayer, hang around intercessors. If you want healing gifts, hang around those who see healing when they pray.  If you want prophetic gifts, find some prophets.

3.  Practice – When you begin to understand how gifts operate or how to ask God for certain things, then begin to practice using your gift.  This is where most people fail.  They believe that a spiritual gift should just operate in its fullness as soon as you receive it.  When people pray for healing, ask for tongues, attempt deliverance and don’t see great things happen they often give up and assume God is not giving them the gift. Spiritual gifts are like other skills and talents.  They must be practiced and developed.  You must be willing to play a lot of rounds of poor gold before you can begin to play great rounds of golf.  Practice.  Risk.  Seek more mentoring as you go.

4.  Persevere – Stick to it as long as the desire is in your heart.  Pray for it as long as the desire is in your heart.  Ask God to show you if there is anything in your life that is blocking the exercise of that gift.  If you find any kinks in the hose, straighten them out.

Go after the gifts.  Learn to use them as divine weapons.  Be blessed and bless others.