Avoid False Teachers - Philippians 3-4

Philippians 3:2-3 (ESV)

Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—

This seems like an odd thing to write to someone.   But when you understand the context of Philippians and the early church is a powerful statement to write.  There were those in the church who were teaching that you had to be circumcised along with faith in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection.  Paul calls them dogs, evildoers and those who mutilate the flesh.   When writing to the churches in Galatia he actually called for them to be accursed:

Galatians 1:6-9

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

To the church at Philippi he writes for them to look out for them.   Staying away from sinners and evil does is part of God’s way.   Note what this famous psalm states:

Psalms 1:1-2 (ESV)

Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

We are to avoid those who avoid God.   

The Love of Money Hinders Love for God - Luke 17-18

Luke 18:18-25 (ESV)

And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Wealth is a two-edged sword.  On the one hand, wealth gives us the ability to navigate life in a way that certainly is better than no wealth.  But the other hand wealth can kill us and bring us into the wrong priorities.  In the above text we see that one young man thought that he had really done what God wanted and that should entitle him to eternal life.  He had certainly shown his love for God for keeping so many of God’s commands.  But when Jesus told him to seek all he had to give to the poor, the man’s true heart shown through.  The love of money corrupts our decisions for life:

1 Timothy 6:10 (ESV)

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

God intends for us to be fully committed to Him through faith in His Son, Jesus.   This man had someting else in his heart.  He had covetousness in his heart.   He wanted to have his cake and eat it too.   But in truth, when we love God with all our heart, soul and mind, we need nothing else.  Everything else just cuts through as a sword and separates us from God.   

Mourn Over Sin, But Accept the Discipline For It! Ezekiel 19-24

Ezekiel 21:6-7 (ESV)

“As for you, son of man, groan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan before their eyes. And when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that it is coming. Every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming, and it will be fulfilled,’” declares the Lord GOD.

This entire section of Ezekiel is God speaking through the prophet to let Israel know that God was going to discipline them in an extreme manner.   They had sinned and the payment for that sin was due.  In the above passage we read that the prophet’s words to groan and moan over this sin and the news of the discipline to come.  Their hearts are to melt.   Because of this news their hearts are supposed to melt and their knees even become weak.  

However, note what God will tell the prophet later in this section.  God tells him his wife is going to die and he is NOT to weep and morn about it.   This is long but worth the comparison:

Ezekiel 24:17-23 (ESV)

Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.” So I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did as I was commanded.

And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?” Then I said to them, “The word of the LORD came to me: ‘Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men. Your turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall rot away in your iniquities and groan to one another.

On the one had they are to mourn what they did and the discipline that is to follow, but they are also to keep quiet and accept that discipline.   Weep and mourn over your sin, but also accept what God is bringing to us as a result of that sin.  

Do You Know the End of Folly? Proverbs 8-9

Proverbs 9:18 (ESV)

But he does not know that the dead are there,

that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

Solomon, in this proverb, is telling us about the person who lacks understanding and is naive.   He rejects truth so he has no understanding about certain things ... many things, in life.   In this proverb he tells us that one of the things they surely lack in knowledge, is that those, like him, who follow after folly, are actually entering the entrance to death and hell.   There is one thing to reject truth.   There is another thing to jump on a path and not care or worry about where it leads.   In this case it always leads to a dead-end.   Truth leads to life and, according to Christ, sets you free.   The lack of truth leads to deception and falsehood and death.   When we pursue the things of the world we must realize the journey leads to a dead-end ... literally.

This is not the first time in the first nine chapters of this book that Solomon talked about this truth.  Note:

Proverbs 8:35-36 (ESV)

For whoever finds me finds life

and obtains favor from the LORD,

but he who fails to find me injures himself;

all who hate me love death.”

Proverbs 7:24-27 (ESV)

And now, O sons, listen to me,

and be attentive to the words of my mouth.

Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;

do not stray into her paths,

for many a victim has she laid low,

and all her slain are a mighty throng.

Her house is the way to Sheol,

going down to the chambers of death.

Proverbs 6:12-15 (ESV)

A worthless person, a wicked man,

goes about with crooked speech,

winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,

points with his finger,

with perverted heart devises evil,

continually sowing discord;

therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;

in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

Proverbs 5:22-23 (ESV)

The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,

and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.

He dies for lack of discipline,

and because of his great folly he is led astray.

You get the point!

Times of Suffering - Psalms 78-80

Psalms 79:1-4 (ESV)

A PSALM OF ASAPH.

O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;

they have defiled your holy temple;

they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.

They have given the bodies of your servants

to the birds of the heavens for food,

the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.

They have poured out their blood like water

all around Jerusalem,

and there was no one to bury them.

We have become a taunt to our neighbors,

mocked and derided by those around us.

The next verse after the above four verses in Psalm 79, ask the following:

Psalms 79:5 (ESV)

How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever?

Will your jealousy burn like fire?

Who has not been where the writer Asaph is in the song?   When we are going through a tough time we always wonder how long it will last.  We have heartache and hurt because of how we are being treated and we cry out to God, “How long?”

Psalm 79 is a song for crying out.   Throughout the entire song we have this plea for God to intervene and to deliver the nation from their tormentors.   This is the key and the lesson from the song.  In times of trouble God is our only source for relief.  However, we often tend to turn toward friends, activity, substance, possessions, psychology, philosophy and/or denial.   It is in these times of trouble we often learn the most about God and His steadfast love and care for us.   Asaph ends this song with one verse of praise:

Psalms 79:13 (ESV)

But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,

will give thanks to you forever;

from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

This is what suffering is to do.  In the end, it turns us to God in praise and worship.   

Ask For a Double Portion of His Power - 2 Kings 1-5

2 Kings 2:19-22 (ESV)

Now the men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.” He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, “Thus says the LORD, I have healed this water; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.

When Elijah was ready to depart and taken to heaven by God, he asked his protege, Elisha, what he would request.    Elisha asked for a double portion of the Spirit of God.   The above story shows us what that looks like.  Throughout this section we see Elisha doing many miracles.  More than we read about Elijah. God answered Elisha’s request for a double portion of the Spirit.   In the above story we read about the bitter waters of the first town he comes to after receiving this blessing from God.  Apparently the waters were bitter and caused sickness and even miscarriages among the women.  God uses this moment to affirm to Elisha that He did give him a double portion of Elijah’s power.   

We ought not be fearful to ask for this power in our lives.  Not for healing waters, but to defeat sin.  Not to show our own greatness but to have strength in suffering.  Not to do more miracles but to be empowered to share the gospel.   We ought not be fearful to ask God to give us the power of the Holy Spirit.   We are actually promised that power:

Acts 1:8 (ESV)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Romans 15:13 (ESV)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

1 Thessalonians 1:5 (ESV)

because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

Ask for a double portion of God’s power!! 

Keep It Holy - Leviticus 10-12

Leviticus 12:1-5 (ESV)

Purification After Childbirth

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.

In our society and time period of life it is difficult to understand the above passage concerning childbearing.   We have sanitized hospitals and birthing centers and take all kinds of caution when a child is born.  

In the days that Leviticus was written, however, giving birth was certainly a joy to fathers and mothers, but there was also extreme risk of infection and imminent death.   The instructions in the above passage are written to do two things:   1) Protect the mother from diseases caused by complications and/or infection.   2) Keep worship holy and the worship center pure.   Both were paramount to the nation.   

This entire section of Leviticus (chapters 10-12) are about keeping the camp (remember, they were in the wilderness this entire time) pure and holy.   The reason for the certain foods they could eat and could not eat had to do with safety as much as ceremony.   

It is important to know that God was giving them instructions for their own safety.  But all of God’s instruction are for our safety, security and stability.    Probably the best way to summarize this entire section is found in just reading Psalm 1:

Psalms 1 (ESV)

Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

but his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.