For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE
Have you ever wanted to be the proverbial fly on the wall in order to hear some conversation you weren’t privy to? I sure have. I mean can you imagine the discussion between Adam and Eve right after the Fall? “What’s this – the woman you gave me stuff?” What Lazarus said to his 2 sisters after Jesus raised him from the dead? Or what it was like when Mary first broke the news to Joseph that she was supernaturally pregnant? You might have needed a chainsaw to cut the air in that room.
I’m Reid Ferguson. And this, is Through the Word in 2020.
If you are not paying attention, what might be overlooked as an off-handed observation in John 6:23 might just get by you. Referring back to vs. 11 when Jesus prayed before breaking the loaves and fishes and feeding the 5,000 – we see that Jesus’ prayer was a prayer of thanks. The text says “and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated.” No big deal – it seems. But then John makes a point of noting in vs. 23 not just that Jesus fed the crowd – which was miraculous and you would have thought was most important – but that He fed them “after the Lord had given thanks.”
What was so striking to John about the way Jesus gave thanks in that moment, that he felt he needed to include it here? We may never know. But it must have made quite the impression on John. Otherwise, why mention it at all? Wasn’t the miracle of multiplying the bread and the fish the main point? Apparently not. And apparently, we don’t need to know it. It is enough to know that He did give thanks.
And it is just here that I am reminded that the ongoing ministry of Jesus to His saints is not something we get to observe. But it is no less important because our eyes are veiled from it.
Romans 8:34 reminds us that Christ is the one who died – in our place. And more than that, He was raised and is right now at the right hand of God. And even more than that – He is there interceding, praying, for us. And while I wish I could be a fly on the wall of God’s Throne Room to hear those prayers, like in our passage – it is enough for us to know it is going on. What must those prayers and intercession be like?
Let me remind you today Christian that your Savior, the one who came and lived and died in your place on the Cross – His work didn’t stop in the miracle of His resurrection. It continues constantly in the Heavenlies. And if no one else in all the world knows your sorrow, your fears, your needs, cares and concerns, He does. And He prays for you. He talks to the Father about you. About everything that impacts you. About every detail of your life. And that just as He prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail in the troubled days ahead – so He prays for you.
You beloved, will reach the Celestial shore. And navigate all the stormy oceans between here and there. You’ll survive all of the savage attacks of the evil one, and will rise above your indwelling sin – because, and only because He prays for you. But know this well – He DOES pray for you. And if you could hear it, it would be as important to you as every other miraculous thing He has done on your behalf.
John wants us to know that even what we can’t hear – is worth remembering is nonetheless true.
For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE
Scripture is not one dimensional. By that I mean that sometimes, what is happening in one place or to one person, is connected to other places and other people as well. We get some sense of how that works in today’s reading of Ezekiel 26-28:24 and the oracle of God against the Prince of Tyre.
We see it too in John 6:1-21 where some people thought they could just take Jesus and make Him the literal King of Israel, when there was so much more going on behind the scenes.
Those passages we’ll consider briefly today on Through the Word in 2020. And I hope you’re reading along with us, and enjoying 2 John 12-3 John 4, and Psalm 133.
I’m Reid Ferguson.
No doubt you have done some tough plowing in getting through some of Ezekiel so far. It is not an easy read. And not a little gloomy. After all, when God judges, it isn’t pretty. And Ezekiel helps us understand we ought not to take His judgments lightly.
It also reminds us that He is at work among the nations. He is not just working in individuals. He is working on a global scale and with geo-political forces. In all of these pronouncements against Tyre, Sidon, Ammon, Moab, etc., we see that they are to be devastated along with Judah.
And here is the multi-dimensional reality: One event is happening to Judah, but it is also happening to these others nations, and yet very different reasons are behind it and very different things are being accomplished.
Judah is being punished for her apostacy. The others for their complicity in Israel’s fall, and their rejoicing and hoping to profit by her devastation. Do not assume the same thing is going on in each even tho they are related and intertwined.
Of special note is the portion aimed at the Prince of Tyre. A head of state of a foreign nation. And while some of the language simply indicates that this man – whoever he was at the time, was pretty puffed up by his nation’s economic success and his own acumen – the language takes a strange turn. Suddenly we read of his being “the anointed cherub” and having been in Eden. And what is being opened up for us, though in a very slight manner, is that behind this human head of state, there was some sort of demonic influence. While we cannot unpack that fully here – the point is that you and I need to know this is often the case with political leaders, here and abroad.
When Ephesians 2:2 tells us that all of us before coming to Christ were subject to the direct influence of Satan, that isn’t poetic hyperbole. There are unseen evil powers about in the world influencing and inciting mankind to evil acts. To live unrestrained in the depths of our fallenness. And when we see the rise of the likes of an Adolf Hitler, a Pol Pot or a Stalin, we need to take note that more than just human evil is afoot.
In our own nation, it was not without demonic influence that the legalization of the slaughter of the babies in abortion came to be. And why it is so rabidly pursued by many in power.
Unseen evil forces are at work.
But don’t forget that in the Ezekiel portion, God’s judgment on that reality will be carried out in time as well. We will not be subject to such horrors permanently. God WILL judge in due time.
And thus we are incited as never before to truly plead: “Come quickly Lord Jesus.” Let your kingdom come, so that your will may be done in this earth, even the same way it is in Heaven.
For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE
There’s a joke around our assembly, that anything the Apostle Paul can say in 10 words, I can say in 1,000. Well, jokes often find their root in some truth. Guess I’ll have to own that one.
In fact, the entire book or letter of 1st John contains only 245 words in the original. A mere post card. But don’t let its compact size fool you. There’s vital stuff in those few words. And I’ll try to unpack some of it in less than a 1,000 words today on Through the Word in 2020.
I’m Reid Ferguson.
Christians are often gullible folk. It’s one of the interesting byproducts of coming to salvation, but still damaged by the remnants of indwelling sin. Jesus warned us about the tendency when He prepared the Disciples for their first preaching tour. “Behold” – pay attention – “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” In other words, don’t be naive. But don’t be hardened and bite back either.
Once we’ve come to the saving knowledge of Christ, we begin to see people as less still under the influence of Satan, the World and the Flesh. We tend to think they’ve got similar motives to ourselves – forgetting that our motives are new, and granted by the Spirit. Those still outside of Christ cannot think and feel as we do. And we need to be careful that we don’t get sucked in by thinking they want to do what is right the way the Spirit has now inclined us to.
And so it is John warns his readers in this short letter to watch out for 3 things which can trip the gullible Christian up. Deceivers will not only attack the Church from the outside, some are right in our midst already. We need expect them, and, to be prepared to detect them. But how will we know them?
There are 3 tell-tale signs to look for.
1. They will deny that Jesus Christ is God who has come in human flesh. They might claim to be “Christians” – but they will waffle on the incarnation. They will proclaim to own and follow Jesus, while at the same time denying He is actually God. Don’t get taken in.
2. They will not be content to remain with sound Biblical teaching, but will pervert it, or bring in their own invented ideas. They won’t “abide in the teaching of Christ” as vs. 8 says. They’ll have new insights or revelations that will move you from the principles of Bible interpretation, and set your eyes on things the Word never said. They will have secret knowledge they’ll say you need too.
3. They will not be characterized by a love of God’s people. It won’t be long before their private agendas will surface. And their chief concern will not be to point you over and over back to Jesus, but to something else. As though Salvation in Christ itself is just the means to some other end – rather than being conformed to the image of Christ. They will use the Church and God’s people as the means to gain power, money, recognition and even sex. We must beware.
And so John, as a faithful minister of God’s Word, gently and concisely gives us the tools to keep us from getting caught unawares. This is how a good Shepherd works. This, in the Shadow of the Great Shepherd of our souls – who has made sure we are well provided for.
That’s just 613 words. God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.
For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE
There are a lot of folk around today claiming to tell us what God is saying, right now. The implication being that what He has said in His Word is somehow deficient for the things we face in our place and time. That God needs to give us something more up-to-date. More relevant. Perhaps keeping more in step with the flow of culture.
What seems to be missing in that line of thinking is that God Himself lives outside of time. He is not bound by our place and time. And that what He has spoken already has eternal relevance, for it speaks past the things which so easily catch our eye – to the things of transcendent importance.
Reading the Messianic promise of Psalm 132; the dark pronouncements on Israel’s sin in Ezekiel 20:1-24:14; the self-revelation of Jesus in John 5:18-29 and then the testimony of God in 1 John 5:6-21 – all work to make us relevant to what God is about – not trying to make Him relevant to us. And in righting that upside understanding, He gives us His context for life.
This is Through the Word in 2020. I’m Reid Ferguson.
The place where our minds most commonly go when we hear the word “testimony”, is to a court of law. Rightly so. When someone is on trial for any cause, witnesses are called to give testimony as to what they know first hand regarding the case before them. And their witness, their testimony must be germane to this case.
It is a curious use of words then that in 1 John 5:9, God Himself is said to give testimony. What could possibly be so important that God must bear witness to something? Indeed, it should prod us to consider God’s testimony about things the most important things to be known. That should be self-evident. So what is it that is just so important?
Simply this: Who Jesus is.
Nothing in all the cosmos is more important for an individual, for the entire human race and all of creation to know aright – than who Jesus really is. And here, we’re told that God’s testimony regarding Jesus comes to us in 3 ways: “For there are 3 that testify” (vs. 7) which vs. 9 summarizes as “the testimony of God.” The Spirit, the water and the blood. 3 things which when taken together establish once and for all the identity, the person and the work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
How so?
The Water: Jesus came in the likeness of sinful man, and as a man was baptized in identification with us. The testimony of the incarnation in the waters of baptism.
The Blood: And this same Jesus died for us on the Cross. Fulfilling all of the Old testament types and shadows which pointed to a substitutionary sacrifice for sins. Jesus was numbered among us in baptism, though He came from Heaven. And in that union, died, taking the wrath of God against our sins in Himself. Shedding His own blood on our behalf.
The Spirit: The Spirit testified to this in raising Him from the dead. As Rom. 1:4 says Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.” And by which Spirit being poured out on us and indwelling us, we know beyond any shadow of a doubt who He is.
This, God finds the most important thing of all to give testimony about. And in the light of it, how everything else around us pales in comparison. So the question is – do you believe Him? For: “Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
Nothing, is more eternally and perpetually relevant than that.
For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE
Justice. It’s a word we hear a lot these days. Though usually prefaced by a word like “social” first – “social justice.”
Webster’s defines justice as “the maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments.” Of course, all of that implies there is some standard against which we can judge what is just and what is not. And every society builds its laws around its own understanding of right and wrong. Sometimes that understanding is informed by God’s Word, and sometimes not.
Not surprisingly then, God’s Word has a lot to say about justice – especially from God’s point of view. And out of our 3 readings today, John 4:46-5:17; 1 John 5:1-5 – it is Ezekiel 16-19 where justice gets some pretty interesting treatment.
I’m Reid Ferguson, and we’ll explore justice just a bit today on Through the Word in 2020.
God and God’s people had a controversy about justice.
God said, if an evil guy repents and walks with God, he’ll be treated accordingly and if a righteousness guy goes off the tracks and starts doing evil – his previous good doesn’t count. They thought God wasn’t just.
Where the Israelites erred was on 2 counts: a. They were measuring justice by how they thought things ought to work rather than the way God said it is to work. b. They set up their own standard, and didn’t like it that God got to impose His.
Now it doesn’t take a lot of looking to see that our human justice systems have their problems.
In some places, justice is for sale. And justice can be perverted for all kinds of reasons: Racial prejudice, backdoor bribes, people with status getting off easy, high paid and high powered attorneys cutting deals – you name it. But this much is sure – however justice among men may fail, God’s justice cannot.
There is a day of reckoning where there will be utter impartiality as one stands before the God who knows all and cannot be influenced by any outside power. He will judge each and every one of us – no matter how we may have escaped that justice in this life. His rules. His standards. His justice. For all.
And this is why the Gospel is so important. For God is so just, that He cannot let any sin or sinner go unaddressed. So how can there be salvation for any? As Ps. 130:3 says: “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?”
The answer? The satisfaction of God’s justice against sin, punished – really and truly. But in His system, against His willing Son, on behalf of all those who put their trust in Him. Justice carried out, and yet grace and mercy provided.
You and I my friend will one day stand before Him. We will have to give an answer for every wrong inclination, desire, act, word, deed and thought. And there will be a just judgment for all of them.
The only helpful plea in that day will be: “But Jesus already died in my place – and I am His!”
If you know that to be true and have cast yourself upon His mercy in trusting Jesus’ substitutionary death on your account – justice was carried out at Calvary. It is finished.
If not – you will have to face the eternal justice your sin deserves yourself.
This is God’s system.
Based upon His standard of perfect holiness.
It is miraculous.
And available to all who call upon the name of Jesus Christ.
For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE
Jesus meeting the woman at the well of Samaria is one of the most beloved of the Gospel accounts. And with good reason. Jesus deals gently and yet forthrightly with this woman. He confronts her sin, but not so as to condemn her, but to deliver her. In His weariness we see His humanity, and know He knows our weariness too. In His thirst He shows His humility, asking for a drink of water. And in His conversation, He makes one of the most profound Spiritual revelations we need to grasp.
We’ll talk about that a bit today on Through the Word in 2020.
While it is usually thought that Samaritans had that name because they lived in Samaria, in fact the name most likely derives from a Hebrew word meaning something like “law-keepers.” Religiously, they only held to the Torah – the 1st 5 books of the Old Testament. And considered themselves more Biblically accurate than the Jews. After the Babylonian exile, they opposed the rebuilding of the Temple. They worshiped on Mt. Gerizim where Moses pronounced blessings on Israel. Hostilities between the Jews and the Samarians ran high.
So when the woman asks Jesus about who is more accurate in worship, it is not surprising. This was part of their identity. But Jesus turns the conversation. She believed she lived among the more Biblically accurate. But at the same time, she was living a lifestyle condemned by the very Torah she was so proud to own.
But then He shifts even more. He says the Jews actually are more Biblically accurate – but in both cases, the question isn’t mere theology – it is “Spirit AND truth.”
Similar to Paul’s assertion on Mars Hill, that they worshipped an “unknown god.” They had a form of worship, but they did not truly know this God nor His purposes or plans. The Samaritans had a truncated Judaism all their own. The Jews had a more accurate religion. But any religion apart from that moving from the types and shadows – no matter how accurate – to the substance, is still without merit.
We need accuracy, truth, yes, but apart from the Spirit of God Himself, we are just accurate dead men. So even if she became more Biblically accurate in rites, rituals, etc. and accepted the whole Old Testament and Temple worship, she would still be lost. Because all of these point to Christ. And apart from Him, accuracy means nothing.
The contrast here in “Spirit and Truth” is between mere accuracy (doctrinal) and life in God – obtaining the substance.
The substance is not the Law of Moses. It is Christ Himself. It is salvation though faith in His atoning sacrifice.
And that will produce a new well of living water within, which will lead to a life not rooted in “getting it right”, dotting every theological “I” and crossing every doctrinal “T” – but beholding, trusting and serving Christ.
I pray you know the truth today – that no religion can reconcile you to God – no matter how accurate. Only Christ can do that. And that He is the One who gives you of His own Spirit, that you might walk in truth, and in concert with that truth.
All of the Bible is written so as to reveal and lead you to Him. For in Him alone is eternal life.
For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE
The Father would rather that we, as His children, not need discipline.
As Lamentations 3:33 reminds us, “He does not afflict from His heart.” He takes no pleasure in our afflictions. He stands ready to forgive. Indeed He only afflicts that we might return and enjoy the abundance of His steadfast love. The “abundance” we are prevented from having while we remain in our sin.
It isn’t that our God does not love us, but that we cannot enjoy the freedom and depth and sweetness and the unfettered love that comes with nothing remaining between us to separate.
He does not afflict willingly. He does so, when He does, only out of love. Not because He has begun to love less.
John 2:13-22; 1 John 2:18-27; and Lamentations 3-Ezekiel 1 fill our reading list today. And the mystery of God’s Divine Reluctance to afflict His children when they obstinately remain in their sin – is on full display.
I’m Reid Ferguson, and this is Through the Word in 2020.
The unique structure of Lamentations points to the unique message it contains. Penned most likely by Jeremiah as he lamented over the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians, it is full of grief. And yet, in the dead center of the book – when contemplating the horrors of what their sin had brought them to – we read this: “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
How can he say that at this moment? Because knows vs. 33: “He does not afflict from His heart.”
Like any loving parent, but in infinite perfection – our God will discipline us at times. But there is a divine reluctance to do so. And He only does it with our perfect good in His heart. Never out of spite, raw anger, or anything like what so infects and contaminates our human efforts at discipline.
Thy wounds, are good, and right O Lord No ill attends Thy dealing Who with each wound in life afflicts Yet plots my sick soul’s healing
In faithfulness and charity Thy kind hand works in blessing Allowing, crafting, crushing more Thine Image sorely pressing
A softer will I plead O Lord ‘Tis not Your work which harms me The cold and hardness of my heart Is what in pain alarms me
Break me, melt me, mold me fully Spare not each needed turning Apply the fire of perfect love Thy loving, cleansing, burning
Till pliable, and yielded up And stripped of sin’s resistance The vessel made emerges wrought Of Love’s divine persistence
O Faithful Lord and Master mine Make me to show Thy glory The work of Christ’s redeeming love Will be my endless story
Thy wounds, are good, and right O Lord No ill attends Thy dealing Who with each wound in life afflicts Yet plots my sick soul’s healing
For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE
If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.
One of the tendencies we have, is to take a Bible passage and sort of appropriate it for our own ends, without considering why it was written in the first place.
Out of our 4 passages today, Jeremiah 52-Lamentations 2; Psalm 129; 1 John 2:7-17 and John 1:43-2:12 – none is more subject to that use than is the account of Jesus at the wedding in Cana. It’s almost universally used at weddings. And usually in the context of showing how God approves of and blesses them.
Now it is true that marriage is a gift from God. He instituted it. That part of His plan for human flourishing is located in the sanctity of monogamous marriage between one man and one woman. It’s indisputable Biblically. But is that what this passage is really all about?
I’m Reid Ferguson and we’ll dive into that a bit today on Through the Word in 2020.
If we are careful readers, often, texts like this one, provide their own rationale for being written. In this case, it’s located in vs. 11. Turning the water into wine was “the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory.”
Don’t miss that last part. What what He doing in this event? Manifesting, making known His glory. The question is how? And at least 4 ways seem to come to the surface.
First, in the miracle of the wine itself, He made Himself known as all powerful. No such thing had ever been done before, or since. Gallons of simple drinking water were instantaneously and without fanfare turned into wine. Who could do such a thing? None but the Almighty God.
Second, was His willingness to be entreated, even when it seemed out of place. He was approachable. A demonstration of the appellation given to Him from Isaiah 7 – Immanuel, God WITH us. Not God afar, way off in Heaven. God among us. God, approachable in Jesus Christ. What a glorious revelation. And, it’s a graphic demonstration of James’ teaching that often, the case is, we have not, because we ask not. He is far more willing to be entreated, than we are to even ask.
Third, note the glory of His humility. He had complete disregard for who got the credit. The “master of the feast” would be a trusted friend, whose job it was to arrange everything for the party. He took the credit. And Jesus didn’t bat an eye. He is meek and lowly. Humble. Do not miss the glory of His humbleness.
And lastly, only the servants knew what had really happened. To them, He was revealed. He delights to make Himself known to nobodies. The prideful and the arrogant miss it when God manifests Himself. Because they are too busy looking at themselves, and how others regard them. But to those who know their poverty of soul and station – who have no eye on self – who know they are in need, He makes Himself known as the One who can and will provide the deepest need of their souls. And will meet them in the cares of everyday life as well.
What a glorious Savior.
All powerful. Approachable. Humble and graciously condescending to lowliest of men.
This first of His signs was stunning indeed. And almost all of them – missed it.
2 Corinthians 12:1-10 / “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” (John 12:21)
As we’ve been noting for the past number of weeks, Paul has been in the middle of an extended defense of his ministry.
It’s not because Paul is concerned about himself, rather that the Church at Corinth not be led astray from “a sincere devotion to Christ” – alone. 2 Corinthians 11:3 ESV / But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
The so-called super-apostles thought they were simply wooing the affections of the Church toward themselves away from Paul. And if that were the whole matter, Paul could care less.
But in wrapping up this part of his letter to the Church, he needs to address one more aspect of how the super-apostles appeal to people – and it could not be more timely for us today.
It is in fact a crescendo. He’s been leading up to this as the end of his whole discussion on the issue. It is vitally important.
He sets the stage in 2 Corinthians 12:1 ESV / I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.
There has never been a time in human history when some haven’t tried to garner influence over others by claiming that they have had some sort of supernatural experience, dream or vision which confers special status upon them and gives them spiritual authority over others.
The question isn’t whether or not people may have supernatural experiences at times – clearly that is so.
In Peter’s sermon at Pentecost he cites Joel and that in this new advent of the Holy Spirit: “Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” What that is supposed to look like we’ll try to get to some today. And, Paul is going to tell us about one of his own supernatural experiences in this very text.
But what he will argue is, that such experiences say nothing about him or anyone else in terms of whether or not they should be regarded as special or have unique authority so as to be listened to. This same problem gets brought up Colossians 2:16–19 ESV / Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
Some at Colosse created special holy days, taught what foods Christians should or should not eat and even about special relationships to angels rooted in visions they’ve had. And apparently talked about in great detail.
This, they did rather than simply clinging to the foundational Gospel truths centered in Christ!
This week, I did a simple search on YouTube with the words: “Jesus Told Me.” Among the 1,000s of hits I got were these:
“Jesus told me the age of the earth.” – This young man dreamed meeting Jesus, and Jesus says to him “Ask.” Apparently the most pressing thing he could think to ask his Creator and Savior at that moment was – “what is the age of the earth.” And Jesus says: “6,000 years old, roughly. Really, it’s 5,800 give or take, it really doesn’t matter. 6,000, it’s a good number, stick with it.”
“What Jesus told me about the Church.” Churches will not help you grow spiritually. They are only hirelings. No exceptions. Only go to Jesus, not Churches. Apparently, Jesus has reversed the New Testament teaching on the Church.
“Jesus told me Paul is a liar.” You cannot trust anything Paul said, he was a complete fake leading people away from Jesus.
“Jesus told me we are at chapter 4 of Revelation.” Never mind that Rev. 4 is a vision of Heaven and not chronological but perpetual. She goes on to say that the phrase in Luke 10:18 where Jesus said “I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven” if translated into Hebrew reads: “Barak Obama.” Jesus told me to dance Jesus told me to stop wearing makeup Jesus told me to stop drinking and partying around. Jesus told me to convert to Islam.
Kevin Zadai: “What Jesus told me about the election.” Which after you blow all the smoke away and wasted your 20 minutes amounted to: If we vote and pray, we’ll be a part of forming history.
There’s a news flash! Jesus must be hard up for more hard-hitting information!
And much in line with the Colossians passage here, Jesus told him that the angels have a schedule to visit people in the night and give them dreams.
Recently, I watched the documentary of Marvin Heemeyer who in June of 2004 – in a bulldozer he specially fabricated to take vengeance on those he thought wronged him – did 7 million $ of damage to stores, the Town Hall and other buildings before taking his own life. On the detailed audio tapes he left behind – he said over and over he was doing this because God told him to, and God verified it by all sorts of providential signs.
All sorts of people everywhere are trying to gain influence in Christ’s Church based on dreams they’ve had on just about every topic imaginable, but especially about the current election and politics. It is astounding. I cannot emphasize enough, along with Paul in this passage – the fundamental truth of Isaiah 8:20 ESV / To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
Please hear me Church – What Jesus is saying now is what He HAS said! Open your Bible. Take the time to study it and understand it properly.
This IS His voice.
So Paul begins this section by saying look – these guys talk about their dreams and visions and spiritual experiences – and I could too. BUT! 2 Corinthians 12:1 ESV / I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.
THERE IS NOTHING TO BE GAINED BY IT. Nothing.
So I had a spiritual experience. So what?
In fact, because such things have such a tendency to inflate the ego and generate ill results – God has taken extensive measures to be sure I CAN’T boast in them.
Let me make note of something here that you may not have thought of before.
No less than 35 times in the Gospels, we are told this or that happened concerning Jesus, to fulfill what had been prophesied in the Old Testament.
Matthew 2:14–15 ESV / And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Jesus by His own testimony brought nothing new. He was fulfilling all the types, shadows and prophecies of the Old.
Matthew 5:17 ESV / “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Take for instance His exchange with Nicodemus in John 3. He takes this highest of Jewish teachers to task because he should have known what Jesus was on about – if he really understood his Bible. And so Jesus’ talks about the new birth in reference to Ezekiel.
In fact, He never once talks about what Heaven was like before He left it. Never mentions ant dreams, or revelations at all. The silence is deafening. When John the Baptist sends men to ask if Jesus really is the one or if they should look for another, He in effect tells them to look around and see if the Messianic passages of Isaiah are being fulfilled?
Even in John 13:34 ESV / A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. He is essentially quoting from Lev. 19 except for the phrase “as I have loved you”: The new dimension brought on by the prophesied advent of the Holy Spirit to be sent.
Remember how even Paul took the Gospel he had received by revelation and submitted it to the other apostles in Jerusalem who confirmed he was preaching the Gospel they had already received from Jesus.
I cannot issue this warning enough to you all Beloved – do not, do not, DO NOT, receive some new revelation from anyone. Hold fast to the Word of God already preached to you and what you hold in your hand and can examine – the Bible you already have.
Every cult, every false religion, can trace its origin to someone claiming to have some new revelation and to reveal secrets they’ve been privy to.
No matter how persuasive, eloquently expressed, even supernaturally accompanied – reject it. How much more explicit could Jesus have been in Matthew 24:23–26? ESV / Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
They will come telling you how you can find Jesus better because of their revelations.
And they lie.
Now to be honest, if all I had before me this morning was this opening verse – it would be enough for us to really digest and stand on. But we must finish the portion.
Contrary to much Pop-Christianity, there is nothing to benefit others in the relaying of our secret experiences with God. Even if they are authentic! They contribute nothing to others but to incite misdirected admiration, speculation and turn eyes from Christ to yourself.
This is Paul’s example and how he proceeds in his argument.
You want to hear about spiritual or paranormal experiences? Try this one on: 2 Corinthians 12:2–4 ESV / I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.
One reason why Paul picks this particular event in his past may be because it predates his ever coming to Corinth.
It is a way of saying if such an experience was important for your spiritual growth – I should have brought it up when I first came here. But no, I’ve been silent about it.
It would have run contrary to what he said in his first letter: 1 Corinthians 2:2 ESV / For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
His supernatural experiences could add nothing to the message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In fact, they’ll detract from it.
Even God’s best gifts, if not handled rightly, can detract from Christ. As to why he speaks about it in the 3rd person, lots of theories exist. Perhaps because it was so sacred. As he says, some of what he heard isn’t lawful for a man to repeat.
Maybe it was a way of detaching himself from it – how he mentions a few verses down that because of such visions God needed to drop him down a peg so he didn’t think it made him special in any way. And then there was the Jewish tradition of not including oneself in visionary accounts.
No matter what the reason, the basic idea is clear – he had had such experiences, but they could not contribute in any way to anyone else’s growth in Christ. So they were useless, even counter productive to mention. When wrestling with similar issues in the revivals of his day Jonathan Edwards wrote: “It is by the mixture of counterfeit religion with true, not discerned and distinguished, that the devil has had his greatest advantage against the cause and kingdom of Christ…By this means [Satan] deceives great multitudes about the state of their souls; making them think they are something, when they are nothing; and so eternally undoes them; and not only so, but establishes many in a strong confidence of their eminent holiness, who are in God’s sight some of the vilest of hypocrites.”
2 Corinthians 12:5–6 ESV / On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.
i.e. I don’t want you to think any more of me than what I really am. The only thing you need to know about me is that I am weak, frail, human being who proclaims a glorious message about a glorious Christ – to which I contribute nothing. In fact, this dynamic is so crucial in God’s eyes: 2 Corinthians 12:7–9 ESV / So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
As supernatural as my visions were, so God supernaturally acted to keep me from pride over them.
I know there is much debate and speculation about his “thorn in the flesh”.
I take as his meaning that it was some sort of demonic harassment – perhaps through those who so violently opposed him everywhere. That they were demonically inspired in their rage and violence. He suffered so much from it that he earnestly and repeatedly prayed for it to be removed.
No doubt it is the kind of thing that would make him fearful and reluctant to keep preaching the way he did. All of the physical attacks, beatings and betrayals had to be daunting. Whatever it was, it hindered him. Humbled him. And God refused to remove it.
It forced him to rely on nothing other than God’s grace alone to continue. An so he can conclude: 2 Corinthians 12:10 ESV / For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Look at this litany, and in it, don’t miss his meaning. He finds himself beset by: a. Weaknesses – Most likely physical sickness and disability – but any perceived personal defect or shortcoming. b. Insults – Reviling and mistreatment by others, especially misunderstanding. Whatever opened him to being thought ill of, hence engendering insults. c. Hardships – Difficult external circumstances. d. Persecutions – Actual dangerous, intimidating and vicious opposition. e. Calamities – The distress brought on by major loss and misfortune, especially when prolonged.
Now he is no masochist. He isn’t content with such things because he likes them. No, he is content with them because he knows how they rob him of pride and self-reliance, so that the Gospel and the Gospel alone takes center stage. So that Christ and Him crucified is not detracted from by drawing any admiration or attention to – himself.
Nothing could have been absolutely more antithetical to the super-apostles than this point of view.
They sought attention. He deflected it – so the spotlight was always upon Jesus Christ.
Now I want to bring this portion to a close by means of the great application that seems to emerge from the entire discussion here, and from the Bible as whole on this topic.
And everything we’ve considered thus far and need to consider is this: Anything or anyone that takes our eyes off of Christ and on to anyone or anything else is soul-destroying.
Let me note three things in this regard. 1. The Warning of Jesus This warning could not have been sounded any more powerfully than it was by Jesus Himself as we saw in Matt. 24. He told us such things will proliferate the longer His return delays.
And some of them will be so convincing, so persuasive that even many who profess to be Christ’s will be deceived. Only those truly born again will pick up on it. And the pressure to acknowledge or sanction the individuals will be enormous and perhaps costly. If you don’t buy into their dreams and visions, you’ll be looked at as anti-spiritual.
1. The Warning of Jesus 2. The Example and Teaching of Paul Spiritual gifts don’t make you spiritual, and spiritual experiences don’t make you special.
We should have learned that lesson from 1 Cor. Never was a Church more gifted and less Christlike than that one.
Look at Solomon and his visitations. He ended in disgrace.
Balaam’s donkey had a spiritual experience too. So what?
Judas lived with Jesus for 3 + years. Eating, walking, listening, and being sent on healing and preaching missions.
And ended up as the ultimate betrayer.
He experienced Jesus healing lepers; giving sight to the blind; walking on water; feeding the 5,000 from a few loaves and fishes; casting out demons and even raising the dead. And in the end – all of his collective experiences meant nothing to his soul. They didn’t change him one iota.
No one’s dreams or visions can contribute to my soul’s growth in Christ more than the Word, and the Spirit’s illumination of it and influence to walk according to it.
Do you remember Jesus meeting up with the 2 on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection? Look carefully at what Jesus does with them there: Luke 24:25–45 ESV / And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
He takes them – the resurrected Jesus takes them back to The Word! Why? Because experiences come and go. They fade. The memory of them morphs over time. But the Word of God abides forever.
1. The Warning of Jesus
2. The Example and Teaching of Paul 3. Our responsibility to properly steward our spiritual experiences
Again, from Paul’s example and teaching, we catch this: What IF you or I are given some sort of dream or vision?
Rule #1 – Keep it to yourself.
A remarkable feature of the rest of the book of Acts and of the rest of Scripture – apart from the Revelation – is that there is not a single such dream ever communicated to the church at large for their use in terms of spiritual growth. Never.
When Paul receives the vision to go to Macedonia, or on the ship on his way to Rome, or Peter & his vision to go to Cornelius’ house – those are all directly connected to Gospel ministry – never as mystical curiosity. When Jude wrote because he was concerned that some might be loosening their grip on the faith delivered once and for all to the saints, he notes that those who are contributing to that problem are those who “rely on their dreams”. The result being:
Jude 12–13 ESV / These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
When Peter, James and John saw the vision on the mount of transfiguration – Jesus told them not to even mention it to others until after He was risen. They took that seriously.
Mark probably came to know it from Peter later on. Note 2 things:
a. Mark, from Peter, relates that Peter was so terrified in that encounter, he didn’t know what to say and so stupidly said “Let us make tents for you and Moses and Elijah.” It is not a shining moment for Peter. b. When Peter does say something about it, it is about 30 years later. And then tells his readers they should look not to his account, but to the more sure word of prophecy! It might be safely said that no one had a more supernatural experience than Lazarus. 4 days dead and in the grave. And yet not one syllable about what he experienced. No one. As far as we know he never ventured beyond Bethany, never went on the speaking circuit and never wrote a book about it. How unlike today! Why? Because his dying and being raised from the dead held no importance in itself. The importance was in who raised him.
If Christ draws you more intimately to Himself by some supernatural experience, then please, for Jesus’ sake, treat such intimacy as sacred and don’t profane it by telling others. Especially not in detail and interpreting or misinterpreting what it might mean. To do so violates that intimacy, and due to our fallenness, by default makes people attach specialness or importance to us which does not belong to us.
It shifts the spotlight from Christ to our experience.
Measure it by the Word. Enjoy it. And be quiet about it. It is as unseemly to talk about it as it is to share intimate details of your marital life.
Do you want people to know you better, think better of you, or think more of Christ?
Then point them back to the Word. Where you KNOW they can encounter Him, with or without a supernatural experience.
Why is all of this so absolutely essential? Why is Paul so adamant? John 5:22–23 ESV / For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Because Colossians 2:9 ESV / For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV / And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. No supernatural experience makes us any more special or spiritual, than the miracle of Balaam’s donkey speaking made it more human. Our transformation into Christ’s image – God’s ultimate goal and supreme blessing for us – cannot be located in anyone else’s vision, dream or experience.
It is in beholding Christ!
2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV / For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Would you know God? Would you know the deep things of Christ? It is all in Him!
Hebrews 1:1–4 ESV / Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
How can a second-hand hearing of someone else’s experience add to that? How can telling you MY experience add to that?
Of course it can’t. It can only shift the spotlight from Him. And that is the most soul-destroying thing which can be done – to turn anyone’s eyes away from Christ – and on to their dream, vision or experience.
Jesus alone perfectly reveals the Father. It is Christ who left His glory to take on the likeness of human flesh. It is Jesus who walked in perfect obedience to the Father. It is He who suffered and died for our sins. It is Jesus who rose from the dead after atoning for our sins and now sits at the right hand of the Father. It is Jesus who intercedes for us continually before the throne. Jesus who is our Advocate when we sin. Jesus who with the Father sent the Holy Spirit. Jesus who will raise us from the dead when He returns. Jesus who will judge the living and the dead. And Jesus who is Himself our great reward. And you want me to think something about you because you had some dream or vision or revelation? Blasphemy!
Tell me about Him as He is on the pages of the Bible and leave your dreams and visions out of it. Jesus alone can deal with our sin. Jesus alone is the means to know God more deeply, accurately, intimately and perfectly. The only thing I’ll boast about says Paul is that I am a weak, sinful, no-account who brings absolutely nothing to the table but the Gospel I preach. As was true in his first letter so now – and it is why he is so vehement against these super-apostles who are drawing crowds by talking about their dreams and visions: 1 Corinthians 2:2 ESV / For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Let this be the final word this morning: Philippians 2:5–11 ESV / Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Let us get ourselves and our experiences out of the way, so that men and women can see Jesus.
If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.
There are certain passages of Scripture which have been referred to so often, they find themselves embedded even into the culture. One thinks of John 3:16. And rightly so. The wonder of God loving fallen humanity so that He would give His only Son as a sacrifice for human sin – so that all who would believe in Him would not be lost forever, but be given eternal life instead.
The only thing which dampens the searing glory of such words is the contempt for them bread of familiarity.
A few months ago my wife and I visited Niagara Falls again. We live little more than an hour away. And while the spectacle of it hit me afresh, I looked around to see the massive crowds that had come from all over the world to marvel at what is so familiar to me. So familiar, that I seldom go out of my way to see it – even though it is one of the most amazing sights on the planet.
And out of readings today in 1 John 2:1-6; Jeremiah 49:23-51:64 and John 1:29-42 stands this stunning record: John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
I’m Reid Ferguson. Let me invite you join me in beholding Him afresh for a few moments today on Through the Word in 2020.
God’s Lamb – God’s sacrifice for our sin – Jesus. The One whose blood can wash away every stain of our guilt and shame. The One who came of His own accord. Who left the glories of Heaven to live and die that we might know forgiveness, cleansing and eternal life. What a spectacle.
It is a special consideration to enhance the love of God in giving Christ, that in giving him he gave the richest jewel in his cabinet; a mercy of the greatest worth, and most inestimable value, Heaven itself is not so valuable and precious as Christ is: He is the better half of heaven; and so the saints account him, Psal. 73:25. “Whom have I in heaven but thee?” Ten thousand thousand worlds, saith one,* as many worlds as angels can number, and then as a new world of angels can multiply, would not all be the bulk of a balance, to weigh Christ’s excellency, love, and sweetness. O what a fair One! what an only One! what an excellent, lovely, ravishing One, is Christ! Put the beauty of ten thousand paradises, like the garden of Eden, into one; put all trees, all flowers, all smells, all colours, all tastes, all joys, all sweetness, all loveliness in one; O what a fair and excellent thing would that be? And yet it should be less to that fair and dearest well-beloved Christ, than one drop of rain to the whole seas, rivers, lakes, and fountains of ten thousand earths. Christ is heaven’s wonder, and earth’s wonder.
Now, for God to bestow the mercy of mercies, the most precious thing in heaven or earth, upon poor sinners; and, as great, as lovely, as excellent as his Son was, yet not to account him too good to bestow upon us, what manner of love is this!
ResponsiveReiding 