ResponsiveReiding

Whether you are a preacher or teacher – or not – getting the most out of your personal Bible study takes effort.

In our generation we are blessed to have more tools for understanding God’s Word at our disposal than all of the previous generations before us. God be praised!

At the same time, we can rely so much on what others have done for us, that we can grow a bit lazy at working at the text personally. And I’m not talking about learning the original languages yet or anything of the sort. I am talking about simply taking more time with the text to understand what the authors through the Holy Spirit were arguing. I remember hearing John Piper once say he had a Copernican revelation the day he discovered Paul actually made arguments in his letters. That Bible verses weren’t discreet little packages of information without regard to what surrounded them.

In 1382, the Wycliffe Bible was the first one to even sport chapter divisions. It wouldn’t be until the Geneva Bible in 1560 that we got a Bible with verses marked all the way through. These were tremendous innovations that allowed us to locate passages easily. At the same time, in parts like Paul’s letters, the tendency to stop reading those portions like letters, and more like disconnected fragments crept in.

This tendency can more readily be seen in preaching I think. Preachers began to pick a verse here or there and run with their ideas about the verse, without regard to how one got to the verse or what came after it. And, even for us common readers, we began to think that the chapter and verse divisions were themselves inspired, rather than mere tools to help us manage locating passages.

There has been a very welcome recent movement by some Bible publishers like Crossway, to produce “Reader’s” editions – where chapter and verse markers are removed. If you haven’t availed yourself of something similar, I highly recommend it. It really does change how you read.

That all said, another recent tool which has come out is the Berean Standard Bible by the folks at Bible Hub. In this interesting composite translation, the originators have also given it to us without copyright, so that I can do what I have done below.

And what have I done below?

First, I copied the BSB version of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians into a word processor, without chapter or verse divisions.

Second, I began to work through the text in a way I think the thoughts work. Those “annotations” are marked by brackets [ ]. And, you’ll see how I arranged the text as well. It is simply an example of one way, one poor reader like myself might think through how the text; how Paul’s arguments and ideas work and flow. I will no doubt revise it over and over in due time. But the idea in giving it to you here, is simply this – to get YOU to try approaching the text similarly.

The idea it not to become the world’s best exegete – but simply to work more carefully through what is on the page, in a way you may not have before. And then to use the tools of commentaries and dictionaries and other resources, to help refine and clarify your own attempts.

This is just an exercise. But here, I give and example for the sole purpose of getting you to read the text differently for yourself. I pray you find something in it helpful. Have fun.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To the saints in Ephesus, [who are also] the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with

[A] every spiritual blessing

[B] in the heavenly realms.

[1] For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence.

[2] In love He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,

to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.

[3] In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

[4] And He has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.

[5] In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be

for the praise of His glory.

[6] And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession,

to the praise of His glory.

For this reason [or: for the reasons just cited – AND…],

[7] ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

[Prayer 1] I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

[A] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.

[B] I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know

                [a] the hope of His calling,

                [b] the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,

                [c] and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe.

These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

And [when He found you] you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you used to walk when

[A] you conformed to the ways of this world

[B] and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

All of us also lived among them [the ways of the world and the devil] at one time,

[what did that look like?] fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts.

Like the rest [of all fallen human kind], we were by nature children of wrath.

But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

[A] made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!

[B] And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and

this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God,

not by works, so that no one can boast.

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

Therefore [since all we have said so far is true] remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)— remember that at that time you were

[1] separate from Christ,

[2] alienated from the commonwealth of Israel,

and

[3] strangers to the covenants of the promise,

[4] without hope

and

[5] without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been

[1] brought near through the blood of Christ.

For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two [believing Jews and Gentiles] one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees.

He did this [in order] to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace and reconciling both of them to God in one body through the cross, by which He extinguished their hostility. He came and preached peace to you [Gentiles] who were far away and peace to those [Jews] who were near.

For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

 Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,

built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.

In Him the whole building is fitted together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

And

in Him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God in His Spirit.

For this reason [Once again, because all of this is true…] I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles…(Surely you have heard about the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.) In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,

which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets.

This mystery is… that through the gospel the Gentiles are

[A] fellow heirs,

[B] fellow members of the body,

and

[C] fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.

I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace, given me through the working of His power. Though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to

[A] preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

and

[B] to illuminate for everyone the stewardship of this mystery,

which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

His purpose was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to the eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In Him and through faith in Him we may enter God’s presence with boldness and confidence.

So [Given all of this] I ask you not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. … for this reason I

[Prayer 2] bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may

[1] strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being,

[2] so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

[3] Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth of the love of Christ,

[4] and to know this love that surpasses knowledge,

[5] that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do so much more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

[NOW!]  As a prisoner in the Lord, then, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received: with all

[A] humility

and

[B] gentleness,

with

[C] patience, bearing with one another in love,

and

[D] with diligence to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

[After all] There is[but…]

[1] one body

[2] and one Spirit,

just as you were called to

[3] one hope when you were called;

[4] one Lord,

[5] one faith,

[6] one baptism;

[7] one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Now to each one of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.”

What does “He a-scended” mean, except that He also de-scended to the lower parts of the earth? He who de-scended is the very One who a-scended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things.

And it was He who gave

[A] some to be apostles,

[B] some to be prophets,

[C] some to be evangelists,

[D] and some to be pastors and teachers,

To…

[A] equip the saints for works of ministry

and

[B] to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ. [With the result] Then [that] we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.

From Him the whole body,

fitted and held together by every supporting ligament,

grows and builds itself up in love through the work of each individual part.

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are

[A] darkened in their understanding

and

[B] alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.

Having lost all sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity, with a craving for more. But… this is not the way you came to know Christ.

Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him—in keeping with the truth that is in Jesus— to…

[A] put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

[B] to be renewed in the spirit of your minds;

and

[C] to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Therefore [this is why] each of you must…

[A] put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.

[B] “Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger, and do not give the devil a foothold.

[C] He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need.

[D] Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.

And

[E] do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

[F] Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.

[G] Be kind and tenderhearted to one another,

[H] forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.

[I] Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children,

and [having done this]

[1} walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God. But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be

[A] even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity,

[B] or of greed.

Nor should there be

[C] obscenity,

[D] foolish talk,

[E] or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving.

For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

[Regarding this reality] Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.

[2] Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.

[A] Test and prove what pleases the Lord.

[B] Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.

But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that is illuminated becomes a light itself. So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

[3] Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

[A] Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

[B] Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion.

[C] Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

[D] Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

[E] Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord,

[F] always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[G] Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

[This now is what walking in love, light and wisdom looks like lived out]

[For example] Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

[For example] Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church. For we are members of His body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, but I am speaking about Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

[For example] Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on the earth.”

[For example] Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

[For example] Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. And do this not only to please them while they are watching, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve with good will, as to the Lord and not to men, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

[For example] And masters, do the same for your slaves. Give up your use of threats, because you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.

Finally, [in order to live this way you must] be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power [How?]. [By] Put[ing] on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with

[1] the belt of truth buckled around your waist,

[2] with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed,

and

[3] with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this,

[4] take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

And

[5] take the helmet of salvation

and

[6] the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

[7] Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition.

To this end,

[8] stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.

Pray also for me,

[1] that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will boldly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains.

[2] Pray that I may proclaim it fearlessly, as I should.

Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know about me and what I am doing. I have sent him to you for this very purpose,

[A] that you may know about us,

and

[B] that he may encourage your hearts.

Peace to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

Astrology & Psychic Phenomena is a worthy read indeed. Not just for the information it contains, but because of its premise, and because of the current rise in quasi-supernaturalism which is growing in the Church through the influence of the New Apostolic Reformation.

If you are not familiar with that last appellation – the NAR is a movement which started to rise in the 1980’s within Charismatic circles. It’s foundational concept is that early in the Church, apostles and prophets as the leaders of the Church were suppressed. Now, in a new movement of God, apostles and prophets are being restored to their proper place of authority. Geivett and Pivic in their important book state: “The biggest innovation of NAR is the belief that apostles, working together with prophets, must take over governance of the church—taking the reins from the pastors, elders, and denominational leaders—so that God’s end-time plans can be fulfilled and Christ can return. Churches that do not submit to the authority of these present-day apostles and prophets will sit on the sidelines as mere spectators.” ^{Geivett, R. Douglas; Pivec, Holly. A New Apostolic Reformation?: A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement (p. 14). Lexham Press. Kindle Edition.}

Accompanying this move, indeed, inherent in it – is a rise of interest in supernaturalism of all sorts. Healings, miracles, supposed words of knowledge and prophecies are modeled, taught and proliferate at a staggering rate. There is even within the move a sanctifying of sorts of psychic phenomena and abilities. These are seen as spiritual gifts which some use for evil (like witches with the black arts) but which Christians can reappropriate for good. So there are even versions of so-called Christian Tarot cards and other devices and methods to tap into the supernatural. In essence, spiritual gifts in the Church begin to function like the Star Wars universe. There is “the Force” and we can all just tap into the pipeline and harness its power for good, even as some bad people have done for evil.

I digress. As deserving as all of this is, I need to get back to the book at hand.

There have always been branches of the Church which have been preoccupied with supernatural things. Don’t get me wrong, Christianity is a supernatural wonder. The Old Testament accounts of prophets and miracles. The incarnation. Jesus’ miracles. The new birth. Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. The giving of the Holy Spirit. These are truly supernatural realities.

Where things go awry can be seen in two main streams. First, as already mentioned, a preoccupation with the supernatural that goes beyond the teaching of Scripture. Second, is a sort of superstitious folklore which grows out of the preoccupation. So Christians can be found treating their Bibles more like good luck charms – putting them under their kid’s pillow to impart some sort of spiritual benefit. Indiscriminately anointing objects with oil. And an over fascination with angels and demons. So much so in the latter case, that whole ministries are devoted to dealing with it all. Take for instance Isaiah Saldivar and his “Demon Slayer Podcast.” On his podcast he often hosts any number of NAR leaders who seem to be taking on demons like Dr. Strange of comic book fame. It would be hilarious if so many people weren’t taken in by it and real harm being done.

Enter the book which is the subject of this post.

Andre Kole and Terry Holley are two committed Christians, who have worked professionally as illusionists, magicians and mentalists. Kole, has collaborated with David Copperfield in helping his craft some of his most famous illusions. And what they argue in their book is that no one with their particular skillset and experience, have applied themselves to examining the supposed miraculous supernatural powers of the modern day prophets and apostles.

Their critique is devastating. Pivic’s interview with Holley on this is very useful. You can find it on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/1Cgk6-QhhC8?si=deRPEXAWr9ixmT2h

What ends up happening is that by virtue of their Biblical analysis, their research on the paranormal, astrology, psychic phenomena etc., the superstitious side of Christianity starts to get dismantled.

Are there demons and evil spirits? You bet. Is the vast majority of what we see attributed to them real? Most probably not. Are angels real? Yes. Does the Bible instruct us to be consciously seeking interaction with them? No. Are the most often reported manifestations of prophecies, words of knowledge and quasi-miracles more likely the product of theatrical magicians and illusionists? Probably so.

The Holy Spirit wasn’t given to perform parlor tricks – but to point us to and conform us to – the image of Christ. And on the flip side – the devil and his minions probably aren’t interested in performing parlor tricks either. That is the domain of modern-day hucksters in the name of Christ. It is an abomination.

As Christians we recognize, experience and interact with the supernatural. But not everything that appears supernatural is. And when we are diverted from the core teaching and purpose of Scripture and Scriptural revelation – sidetracked by superstition – no matter how dressed up in Christianese – we’re in trouble.

Kole and Holley will help divest you of unhealthy assignations of the supernatural while looking to the Bible’s actual teachings on a host of what we may have been led to believe were spirits in action. Good and bad. Their’s is a grounding book. It will help you cast aside distracting nonsense. It will help you deconstruct vestiges of Christianized superstition. It is well worth the read.

With the (genuine) Apostle John “I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink.” There is tons more to say on this topic. But it will have to wait future opportunities.

In my previous post on this topic, I tried to summarize the key points I was after this way: Satan and his minions use as their primary tactic against Believers this weapon – the obscuring, distorting or obliterating the right knowledge of God – especially His character.

The strongholds Paul references are nothing more and nothing less than wrong concepts of the one true and living God. And this – is played out in the following: That there is some form of darkness in God.

This was the first attack in the Garden, and it remains primary. That God has ulterior and nefarious motives behind His dealings with us – that betray something other than His dealing with us in perfect love, power and wisdom.

Apart from this backdrop, what I fear has crept into modern, (especially) American Evangelicalism is a sort of Christianized superstition over and above a sound Biblical perspective.

While I am grateful for the work of those like Michael Heiser for instance, helping us understand that the ancient near east mindset included a rich understanding of the supernatural – a failing of his (and other’s) works is a failure to separate what is Jewish mythology and superstition from what would have been considered actual truth about these issues.

While Joe-average ancient Jew might have thought the mystical writings with endless lists of angelic and demonic spirits and their activities were factual representations – the New Testament writers do not respond accordingly. Peter, Paul, Jude, James and John aren’t giving us instructions on how to ferret out our local demons, enlist our guardian angel’s help or freeing “demonically oppressed” Believers. While Jude and Peter cite extra-Biblical literature with which their audiences might have been familiar in making certain points, those same letters are bereft of instructions on how to become “demon-slayers” (a current cottage industry in American Evangelicalism – especially of the NAR ilk) nor create branded “deliverance” ministries.

If one wants to enter into real spiritual warfare, and not the superstitious nonsense which is pervading many – one needs to look at Scripture’s actual teaching in this regard. Teaching mind you, not inferential speculation on narrative passages. Teaching like we find so excellently presented to us in places like Ephesians 6.

So let’s take a really brief walk through of Eph. 6:13-18 “Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.”

Spiritual Warfare 101 – We know the battle best, by examining the provision given.

1 – Note that the posture is defensive, not offensive. Christ has already won the ground, ours is but to defend it. “It is finished.” His redemptive cross-work is accomplished. We proclaim His already victory over the World, the flesh and the Devil.

2 – 1st and most primary provision: The belt of truth. Why? Because the chief tactic of the enemy is not impishly giving us flat tires, confronting snippy baristas, sending tornados or even possessing our neighbor’s kid – it is in obscuring, distorting or obliterating the right knowledge of God – especially His character.

Rightly understanding the revelation of God in the Scriptures and the person and work of Christ. We must know our God and His character as He has revealed Himself. And with that, the greater body of truth His Word reveals about us, the human condition, salvation, hope, the world to come – etc.

Truth. Not supposition. Not feelings. Not intellectual constructs. Not clever reasoning. Not superstition. Truth.

3 – 2nd: A heart guarded in righteousness. Both the pursuit of living out the righteousness we are called to (Heb. 12:14 Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord), and relying on the imputed righteousness of Christ for our right standing with God (Rom. 11:21-22 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, as attested by the Law and the Prophets. And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.)

If we neither rely on Christ’s imputed righteousness alone, nor seek to be like Him in pursuing righteousness, we will be victims of the powers of darkness left and right – living in guilt, self-righteousness, and/or compromise.

4 – 3rd: Standing firmly on the Gospel and the Gospel alone. No hope except in Christ. No hope apart from Christ. All hope in Christ and Christ alone. When we sin and fall – The Gospel. When we rejoice – The Gospel. When we preach – The Gospel. When we worship – The Gospel. When we are weak and heavy laden – The Gospel. When near death’s door – The Gospel. In every trial and temptation – The Gospel.

5 – 4th: Faith. Believing what God has said is true, and ordering our lives accordingly. Believing the revelation of God in His Word and The Word Incarnate.

What is the only way to please God? Believe Him, and trust Him. For without faith, it is impossible to please Him. But faith is not nebulous, amorphous good thoughts – it is rooted in the truth we’ve already been directed to in the first place. Nothing, nothing protects us from the enemy’s weapons more or better – but this alone – faith. Believing God, and trusting Him. Funny how the truth thing keeps popping up, isn’t it?

Faith. Not cursing demons. Not rebuking satan. Not seeking out your local exorcist. Not buying a bigger Bible, affixing fish symbols to your car, wearing crosses or repeating magical prayers. Believing God’s Word soundly read and interpreted, and trusting the God revealed in it. Faith.

6 – 5th: The helmet. Thinking like a redeemed person. Considering what Christ has done for you and promised you. Keeping in mind whose you are and how you came to be His. Recalling His finished work on your behalf. Trusting in His promises to never leave or forsake you, to keep you, to dwell with you, to continually cleanse you from all your sin, to have imparted His Spirit to you, and to raise you up in the last day in His likeness.

Flood your mind over and over with Biblical truth so that you think like one who truly is – a child of the living God, delivered out of the kingdom of darkness into His marvelous light – and secure in the Redeemer. Kept by the very power of God.

7 – 6th: The sword of the Spirit, God’s Word. Mmmmm. Here’s that pesky truth thing again.

Know the Word, know the Word, know the Word. Not just what is says, what it teaches, what it emphasizes, what it reveals. Not disconnected verses but the great strands of doctrine that are woven throughout its pages – and their ultimate focus, the revealing of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

We do not fling verses out into the ether like mystical bombs, we drink in the full revelation given to us and refuse to relent anything it teaches.

8 – 7th: Prayer. Looking to God in everything, because Christ has opened the way into His presence, and He so delights to be looked to, trusted, with everything which concerns us.

Note the emphasis here – we do not shout at, castigate, rebuke or verbally spar with the devil or his minions – we don’t talk to him/them at all! We address the God of the universe. We call upon the great Sovereign. Why mess with the pool boy when you can beseech the creator of the ocean?

And how do we pray in the Spirit? We simply pray in accordance with what we know to be His aims and purposes – especially in regard to one another – to conform us to the image of Christ in constantly revealing His work and character to us.

This is spiritual warfare Beloved – knowing, believing, declaring, standing in, obeying, appealing to and trusting the truth as it is in Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

This is how we resist the devil. And the Scripture says that in doing so, he will flee from us.

From MacLaren’s sermon on Ephesians 5:15-16 “Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

Make sure you read the last paragraph.

“To-day is given us mainly that we may learn to know God better, and to love Him more, and to serve Him more joyfully. Our daily duties are given us for the same purpose. But if we go about them without thinking of God or the highest ends which life is meant to serve, then we shall certainly lose the highest ends, and an opportunity will go past us unimproved. But if, on the other hand, whilst we follow our daily business for the sake of legitimate temporal gain, we see, above that, the aspect of daily life as educating in all Christian nobleness and lofty thoughts and purposes, then we shall have given away the lower ends for the sake of attaining the higher.

“You live, suppose, to found a business, to become masters of your trade, to gain wisdom and knowledge, to establish for yourselves a position amongst your fellow-men, to cultivate your character so as to grow in wisdom and purity, apart from God. Or you live in order to win affection and move thankfully in the heaven of loving associations in your home, amongst your children. Or you live for the sake of carrying some lower but real good amongst men. Many of these ends are beautiful and noble, and necessary for the cultivation and discharge of the various duties and relationships of life; but unless they are all kept secondary, and there towers above them this other, life is wasted.

“If life is not to be wasted, they must be bartered for the higher, and we must recognise that to give all things for the sake of Christ and His love is wise merchandise and good exchange. ‘What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea! doubtless, and I count all things but loss that I may win Him and be found of Him.’ You must barter the lower if you are to secure the higher ends for which life is the appointed season….

“One day it will be asked of you and of me, ‘What did you do with the life which I gave you, that you might know Me?’ And if we have only the answer, ‘O Lord! I founded a big business in Manchester—I made a for-tune—I wrote a clever book, that was most favourably reviewed—I brought up a family’—the only thing fit to be said to us is, ‘Thou fool!’ The only wisdom is the wisdom that secures the end for which life was given.“

^{Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture: Ephesians (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 332–333 & 335.}

A quick Google search reveals that there are no less than 37 current books available at Christian booksellers on people claiming to have gone to Heaven. Each one of them claim to bring back new revelations of what Heaven is really like. In fact, this (what one Youtuber brands) “Heavenly tourism” genre has spawned its own industry. People it seems cannot get enough of stories about Heaven. As I’ve mused before, why in the world anyone would rely on these supposed visits above and beyond what Scripture already contains is beyond me. But, here we are.

The latest installment in the Heavenly Tourism line up is Gabe Poirot’s “18 Days in Heaven.” And it does not disappoint when it comes to ramping up reader’s expectations for new material to fantasize about. For sadly, that is what this is all about – fantasy. Once it goes beyond the revelation of Scripture – it is it’s own animal. But one thing it is surely not – is genuine revelation. And no one should take it as such.

When it comes to people claiming to have extra-Biblical revelation clipped to statements like “Jesus told me” or “Jesus said to me” – we are trafficking in deep and troubling waters. It is needful to demonstrate its absurdity on the face.

If this is the God of the universe speaking – then it is incumbent on all creation to hear and comply. This is no small matter. Such recountings purport to be the very word of God! Downplay it as the authors will – it is nothing less than God speaking so as to make known to us truth He has not previously revealed in His written Word, or in the person of Jesus Christ. We cannot just toss it off if it really is God. And to claim to speak for God when God has not spoken – is serious business. Eternally serious.

As is typical of this genre, there was a crisis which rendered the reporter unconscious, near dead or dead – precipitating his skyward journey. For Gabe Poirot, it was a skate-boarding accident. He suffered severe head trauma, and there appears to be no reason to doubt that part of his story. As a result, he spent 18 days in a coma. Again, that all seems valid. And then the fun stuff begins. For as Gabe says in his introduction “He [God] told me to write this for you.” We are not even into the book proper yet when we find out Gabe has a unique divine mission from God to write this book. And since God told him to write it – we must be responsible to read and accept it. Right? Wrong.

In an interview I’ve seen, Gabe says we don’t need to take anything he says as absolute truth. Kind of take it or leave it. But from this statement, we are left with a critical conflict. If God personally directed him to write it – for me – I truly do not have an option to disregard it. I am required to take in and reverence every word God speaks. Especially when it is commissioned in this way – right?

You see the quandry. You see the danger in these sorts of unguarded statements. We cannot just ignore them. We either take it as God giving a divine directive I am responsible to consider, or not. But it cannot be both divinely directed and no big deal if I ignore it. Here is the cognitive dissonance so prevalent in circles where “God told me…” is spoken with careless abandon. And it is the means whereby the capacity to make sound judgments regarding truth claims is eroded. For such an approach requires me to accept two entirely contradictory stances at the same time. When that happens, truth and our ability to evaluate it goes out the window.

We’re not too far in when we encounter statements that just plain sound – odd. Fishy. Gabe reports that while he is freshly in the hospital: “Nurses spoke of me in the past tense: “He didn’t even write a last will, did he?” (Pg. 22) Seriously? The nurses speculated on his having written (or not) a “last will”? Did they know him? Who would say something like this regarding a 21 year old accident victim? Mmmmm. I won’t judge. I’ll leave it to you.

On page. 32, Gabe recounts God’s throne room. “There were countless beings all around, elders and living creatures (cherubim) and the seven Spirits.” Apparently the “seven spirits” are separate entities, and not a means of referring to the Holy Spirit. Curious. I’ll leave you to do your own homework on that one.

As with so many others, Gabe expostulates on our individual mansions: “There are many mansions in heaven—one for every son and daughter. But they weren’t just plopped down into existence—they were handcrafted and emanating as an extension of the very heart of the greatest Carpenter of all time. He delights in building every centimeter of your home.” (p. 33)

This is such a common misconception based upon a misreading of John 14:2, I thought it hardly worth mentioning. The idea of individual mansions is errant. I would speculate that what he had heard before is simply informing his thoughts now.

It is difficult to reconcile his reference to “endless beaches” with “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” (Rev. 21) Or the “streets” (plural) of gold rather than the singular street of Rev. 21 – transparent like glass.

Then there are any number of statements that I just cannot make heads nor tails of. When speaking of Jesus he says: “I was cut from the same cloth as Him.” Or “His wrists and nailed eternally to that cross.” Nailed eternally to that cross? It is nonsensical.

On p. 39 Gabe once again repeats a common misconception by some, alluding to Jer. 31:34 (and other places). The idea is that He does not remember our sins AGAINST us anymore. How do we know He remembers all our sins? The Scripture itself eternally records the sins of some of His dearest saints. He is importing ideas he has heard into his “experience.” Gabe actually portrays Christ as mystified that Gabe would bring up his sins since Jesus actually has no remembrance of them at all. Not just that they are dismissed, he belabors that Jesus is befuddled.

It is on page 41 that we begin to get into some really dicey stuff. First, Jesus supposedly tells Gabe to: “reveal to everyone who I really am.”

Wait! What? We do not know who Jesus really is? We do not know what the Scripture has said about Him? Gabe has something more? A new revelation – above and beyond what we can get from the Bible? We do not really know who he is but Gabe is going to tell us?

Seriously, this is utterly astounding. this statement is of such supreme importance we simply cannot just let it go by. We need to grasp this – that Gabe is a newly minted representative to reveal to us who Jesus “really” is, apart from what has already been revealed in his incarnation and in his word. This is a massive, massive declaration. It cannot be passed over lightly. And yet, with this – Gabe never goes on to tell us who Jesus really is! In fact, without even starting a new sentence he appends that Jesus tells Gabe to let us know how much he (Jesus) believes in us!

Beloved if these two things do not cross over into true blasphemy, they come as close as anything can.

I am truly dumbfounded at this point. The implications are staggering. And yet trotted out and moved beyond like they are no big deal.

And so the revelation continues. Again, this is Jesus speaking – according to Gabe Jesus says: “perspective. Jesus told me that as soon as you see Him for who He really is, you will also never accept a counterfeit version of yourself. You will believe in yourself and love yourself just as He loves you.” (p. 42)

So this, is what the world needs – to believe in ourselves and love ourselves just as he does. If this is not a false Gospel above all others I do not know what is. Beloved, this is indeed blasphemous.

Now we descend into even deeper depths of horror. According to Gabe, God dreamed of him. Let’s let him put is in his own words: “Before I was on the earth, and before even the entire universe was created, I literally saw myself existing as a thought and dream the Father had of me. He said, “I will create a son who will lead My family back to me, and he will be full of joy. He will not tolerate the way of the world around him—he will rise and speak My Word. He will be such an amazing husband to his wife and father to his children. He will glorify me through all the sports he plays and books he writes and videos he creates. I can’t wait.” The light from Father God united with the earthly seed from my father and the egg of my mother in that moment, and I began my existence on earth. I was not born just on earth. I was born from the heart of the Father. As a spirit, I came from the Father of spirits.”

Though there is so very much more throughout the book – I must stop here for the sake of time and space. But let me just unpack a few key areas of this last section.

1 – Gabe’s concepts border on the idea (borrowed from Mormonism) of spiritual pre-existence. That he came from the father of spirits and was sent into his mother’s womb. He was not born on earth he says – but first – from the heart of God.

2 – Gabe is God’s anointed one (what else could he be?) who will lead God’s family back to him. Gabe is now our leader to bring us to God. Grasp the grandiosity and profundity of this claim. He is virtually a new Messiah. We need him to lead us back to God. God needs him to lead his family back to him. Apparently, we are estranged from him apart from Gabe’s efforts for us.

3 – God can’t wait for Gabe to write all his books and plays and the videos he will make. God can’t wait.

When it is all said and done, Gabe is one, singular, totally awesome being, that we as the Church absolutely need. And lest we miss the absolute authority with which all of this comes to us – Gabe says Jesus said this on p. 45 “But Jesus said over me, “He will write for Me, and his words will bring My Father great joy. He will not need a ghostwriter, for I will be his own writer, and use his own hands to communicate My heart.”

Need we hear any more? Gabe needed no ghost writer for Jesus himself has written this through Gabe. We have in fact, new Scripture. And its title is: “18 Days in Heaven.”

Reader, have nothing to do with his wicked and deceptive book. However sincere the author may be (and I will not judge his motives) I tell you it is filled not only with untruths, but blasphemy.

As 2 Tim. 2 tells us: “avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene.”

This entire volume is irreverent babble – and ought to be avoided at all costs.

The 4th volume of the Works of John Newton (Hamilton & Adams 1824) contains this most curious heading:

FIFTY EXPOSITORY DISCOURSES,

ON THE SERIES OF

SCRIPTURAL PASSAGES

Which form the Subject of the celebrated

ORATORIO OF HANDEL.

PREACHED IN THE YEARS 1784 AND 1785,

IN THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. MARY WOOLNOTH, LOMBARD-STREET.

Did you get that? 50 sermons using Handel’s Messiah and the passages Handel was using, as the jumping off point for his sermons. I do not know a single modern preacher who would even conceive of such a plan let alone try to execute it. But such was the singular giftedness and genius of Newton. To be sure, the sermons are rich in Biblical exposition and application. But it is an unusual starting point.

That said, sermon 3 is rooted in the passage cited above as included in the oratorio – Haggai 2:6-7; and it contains the following which I post for your edification. And, with the hope you might be encouraged to read more of Newton. Amazing Grace is but the tiny tip of a gigantic iceberg of spiritual insight, encouragement, wisdom and blessing.

Now one more word: Why cite this? Because I think it has great implications for how we might consider and more deeply analyze the worship music being composed and consumed in our churches today?

Just a day or two ago I watched (as I have any number of times) YouTube videos of people reacting to Gary Brooker’s live performance (Denmark 2006) of Procol Harum’s “Whiter Shade of Pale.”

The song itself (as most will affirm) is deeply moving. The music alone evokes strong emotional responses. It does in me. Many are brought to tears. But that is not due at all to the song’s message. As Keith Reid has stated (the chief lyricist) he was not actually trying to communicate a message per se, but only trying to produce a mood. An atmosphere into which anyone could see or pour their own meaning.

In an interview with Farout Magazine Reid is quoted as saying: “‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ was just another bunch of lyrics…I was trying to conjure a mood as much as tell a straightforward, girl-leaves-boy story. With the ceiling flying away and room humming harder, I wanted to paint an image of a scene.”

Now we have to ask ourselves if the “worship” music we are engaging in today might not be cut from some of the same cloth – looking to evoke feelings and moods more than actually focusing the soul on the great truths of Scripture so as to be moved by those as they open up Christ and His glory to us?

As Newton will note – we can be moved by the music, which is only meant to be “an ornament of the words.” But such music (I’ll let him conclude as he does) while evoking an experience, has no power to change the soul. Soul moving concepts gilded or framed by the music is what we really need. And even at that, people can walk away unchanged. There is no substitute for The Word energized by The Spirit.

Here is how Newton expresses it.

“If you put a telescope into the hands of a child, he will probably admire the outside, especially if it be finely ornamented. But the use of it, in giving a more distinct view of distant objects, is what the child has no conception of. The music of the Messiah is but an ornament of the words, which have a very weighty sense. This sense no music can explain, and when rightly understood, will have such an effect as no music can produce. That the music of the Messiah has a great effect in its own kind, I can easily believe. The ancients, to describe the power of the music of Orpheus, pretend, that when he played upon his harp, the wild beasts thronged around him to listen, and seemed to forget their natural fierceness. Such expressions are figurative, and designed to intimate, that by his address and instructions, he civilized men of fierce and savage dispositions. But if we were to allow the account to be true in the literal sense, I should still suppose that the wild beasts were affected by his music only while they heard it, and that it did not actually change their natures, and render lions and tigers gentle as lambs, from that time forward. Thus I can allow, that they who heard the Messiah might be greatly impressed during the performance; but when it was ended, I suppose they would retain the very same dispositions they had before it began. And many, I fear, were no more affected by this sublime declaration of the Lord’s design to shake the heavens and the earth, than they would have been, if the same music had been set to the words of a common ballad.”

2 Cor. 10:3-5 / “For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We tear down arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

It was 1986 when Frank Peretti’s “This Present Darkness” hit the stands – and the impact of the book is truly staggering. The great thing about the book is that it threw a new spotlight on the reality that Christians truly are engaged in a very real struggle against the powers of darkness. That there are indeed demonic forces afoot which seek the demise of humanity as made in God’s image, and – especially seek to defeat and defile those redeemed by the blood of Christ.

The negative aspects of Peretti’s book are several.

1 – It got people imagining that we actually battle demons the way Dr. Strange in the Marvel Universe battles evil entities. A sort of one-on-one, hand-to-hand combat. I do not believe you can find that paradigm in the Bible. Neither Peter nor Paul nor any other Biblical writer encourages us to engage that way. It certainly is not the thrust of Paul’s words cited above. But sadly, many people ran with the idea and started seeing demons behind every bush and seeking to engage them on some sort of a personal level.

2 – It got people thinking more in terms of the evil entities, than on what they actually do. So some people I’ve interacted with began to imagine the imagery Peretti used was actual; that demons were (for lack of a better term) physically weakened by prayer or angelic hosts strengthened. Again, we have nothing in Scripture that quite directs us to enter into spiritual warfare with those kinds of pictures in mind.

Those objections stated – it is still good for Believers to understand we are indeed in a spiritual battle, and good too to have some sense of how to wage that battle. Hence, a brief look at the text heading this post.

Note first that the “strongholds” Paul cites, have to do with arguments and presumptions set up against the knowledge of God. It is vital that we grasp this concept – since it is the underlying principle in all true spiritual warfare.

Let me try to summarize that idea as best I can: Satan and his minions use as their primary tactic against Believers this weapon – the obscuring, distorting or obliterating the right knowledge of God – especially His character.

The strongholds Paul references here are nothing more and nothing less than wrong concepts of the one true and living God. And this – is played out in the following: That there is some form of darkness in God.

This was the first attack in the Garden, and it remains primary. That God has ulterior and nefarious motives behind His dealings with us – that betray something other than His dealing with us in perfect love, power and wisdom.

That His love is not perfect.

That His wisdom is wanting.

That in His providences He either is uncaring at times, unwise in what He allows, unloving in what He ordains, and either has little or refuses to use His power perfectly on our behalf.

In other words – the battle is to fight for abiding in His love.

Alexander Maclaren adds this: “Note, too, how this same principle of the fruitfulness of the light gives instruction as to the true place of effort in the Christian life. The main effort ought to be to get more of the light into ourselves. ‘Abide in Me, and I in you.’ And so, and only so, will fruit come.
And such an effort has to take in hand all the circumference of our being, and to fix thoughts that wander, and to still wishes that clamour, and to empty hearts that are full of earthly loves, and to clear a space in minds that are crammed with thoughts about the transient and the near, in order that the mind may keep in steadfast contemplation of Jesus, and the heart may be bound to Him by cords of love that are not capable of being snapped, and scarcely of being stretched, and the will may in patience stand saying, ‘Speak, Lord! for Thy servant heareth’; and the whole tremulous nature may be rooted and built up in and on Him. Ah, brother! if we understand all that goes to the fulfilment of that one sweet and merciful injunction, ‘Abide in Me,’ we shall recognize that there is the field on which Christian effort is mainly to be occupied. ^{Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture: Ephesians (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 290–291.}

This Beloved, is how Jesus was able to defeat Satan at every turn – He never doubted His Father’s love and wisdom in all His providential appointments. He could trust His ordaining hand in every minute aspect of it. The people He encountered, the challenges He met, the struggles He faced, the circumstances He was in, the end which was designed and the path to get there.

So it is as He addresses the Disciples the night of His betrayal He can say: ““Look, an hour is coming and has already come when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and you will leave Me all alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.” (John 16:32). And, in a stunning display of this absolute trust in the Father’s love gasps out while on the cross and enduring the Father’s wrath on our behalf – “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 22:46)

We make much of saying the Father turned His back on Him – but Jesus’ is undaunted even then. He commits Himself to the Father in the very eye of the storm of His holy judgment upon human sin.

Here is the spiritual battle for you and me Christian – to war against every thought that makes us doubt His love toward us, the indefectibility of His holy character, of His power on our behalf, His wisdom in all of life’s providences and His absolute care for us and the impossibility of any of His promises to us failing.

We must fight every day to bring our thoughts captive to the revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ.

This, is spiritual warfare. And this is how we defeat the powers of darkness – even in the heavenlies. this is victory. This is what Christ has purchased for us.

I am currently reading (along with some other things) the sermons of Alexander Maclaren on Ephesians. Maclaren was a powerful 19th Century expositor and close friend of Spurgeon. The two stood together in the “Downgrade Controversy.”

He tends to be more exegetically focused than Spurgeon and his expositions are exceedingly rich. There are 32 volumes of his expositions to be had – covering 64 of the 66 books of our Bibles. Oh for more time!

I would gladly post his entire sermon on this passage, but so that you get a taste for his balance and clarity – offer just this sweet excerpt. Listen to how he handles the interplay of goodness, righteousness and truth as the fruit of The Light (Jesus) in the life of the Believer.

Enjoy!

“Now, all these three types of excellence—kindliness, righteousness, truthfulness—are apt to be separated. For the first of them—amiability, kindliness, gentle-ness-is apt to become too soft, to lose its grip of righteousness, and it needs the tonic of the addition of those other graces, just as you need lime in water if it is to make bone. Righteousness, on the other hand, is apt to become stern, and needs the softening of goodness to make it human and attractive. The rock is grim when it is bare; it wants verdure to drape it if it is to be lovely. Truth needs kindliness and righteousness, and they need truth. For there are men who pride themselves on ‘speaking out,’ and take rudeness and want of regard for other people’s sensitive feelings to be sincerity. And, on the other hand, it is possible that amiability may be sweeter than truth is, and that righteousness may be hypocritical and insincere. So Paul says, ‘Let this white light be resolved in the prism of your characters into the threefold rays of kindliness, righteousness, truthfulness.’”

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture: Ephesians (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 292–293.