Message of the Month

                                              10/01/09

Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron. ( I Tim. 4:1-2)

The Christian and the Bible are under attack by the enemy of our souls. Erwin Lutzer is the senior pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago. He is a renowned author and Bible teacher. Lutzer points out that, among other criteria for being included as canonical, a book had to be written by either an apostle or by someone that was an associate of an apostle. By the end of the first century all twenty-seven New Testament books in our present cannon had been written and received by the churches. Another criteria was that each book had to be consistent with the rule of faith. The Gnostic books, such as the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Philip, fail this criteria and were rejected by a later review of the cannon at the Council of Nicaea. The same is true with Brown’s belief that Jesus was married. No historical or biblical facts indicate this was true. It is amazing how a writer with an agenda can turn fiction into fact

The common purpose of each of these attacks is to deny the divinity of Jesus Christ. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. (I John 4:1-3) We have God’s word in 66 books, written over 4000 years, by 40 different authors, and they all intertwine and knit together with a common thread that leads through the ages to our Redeemer Jesus Christ.

We, as Christians, must stand strong in this day and age. A good defense depends upon strong people. The Great Wall of China was breached three times. Each time it was by bribing the guards. It was from within. We must stand firm in our faith and test the spirits that assail us in these latter days.

The canonical book of Jude instructs us on how to stand firm. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:17 ) First, we must remember God’s word. We need to read God’s word daily. From the very beginning Satan attacked God’s word. “Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Gen. 3:1 ) Satan began by twisting God’s word. He changed one word and it totally changed the meaning. He does the same today. That is why we must remember what God really says is in His word. To remember it, we must be familiar with it. Satan will always try to cast doubt on God’s word. He begins with small doubts such as: It contradicts itself. It is not inerrant. It has errors. No virgin birth. Isaiah didn’t write Isaiah. It may look like some of the accusations are true, but when we go to the original Greek and see the ways interpretation can be made, the arguments fall by the wayside. A good example of this is when Jesus sent out the twelve apostles to minister. In Matthew Chapter 10, He tells them not to wear sandals, and in Mark Chapter 6, He tells them to wear sandals. On the surface it appears to be a contradiction. When we dig into the original Greek we find that two different Greek words were used. In Mark “sandalion” was used. This means a sandal or sole pad. In Matthew the word “hupodema” was used. This means sandal or shoe. When we look at history, we find that the common or poor man wore sandals or sole pads. The rich wore a shoe that had a leather top that came over the ankle. Matthew, a wealthy man, heard Jesus tell him not to wear his shoes that demonstrate his wealth, but instead to wear sandals, and not to take two tunics either. Mark, a poorer man, heard that he could wear his sandals. There is no contradiction.

We must remember who gave us God’s word, and that it was inspired. Christ selected the 12 apostles, and He gave them a doctrine. They had to be a believer and adhere to the doctrine. After the crucifixion the criteria was that they had to be a believer and had to have witnessed the resurrection or be a close associate of one who had. When the church assembled the books of the Bible, they used the same criteria for its authors. When you see new revelation, test it. Test it by the teachings of Jesus. Test it by the apostles’ teaching. If the new revelation doesn't conform to these teachings 100%, reject it.

Not only must we remember who gave us God’s word, but we must also remember what it says. Man has always wanted to be pro-choice. He has always wanted to have many ways to come to God and to be able to choose the way he likes best. Man cannot stand Jesus saying that there is only one way. In Jude 1:18 we are told that in the last days mockers would come and would walk according to their own desires. They don’t want anyone or anything to be in authority over them to tell them how they should live. They want to be their own god. God condemns the selfish life. Satan must get rid of God's word before he can substitute his own lie. If he can't argue it away, he will try to laugh it away and try to make it seem that it is a crutch for the ignorant.

We must remember God’s word. We must remember who gave it to us, what it says, and we must also remember why they said it. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith.( Jude 1:20a ) God’s word was given for building up and strengthening the saints in the faith. From the very beginning messengers from Satan attempted to bring division within the church. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. (Acts 20:29-30) Even before the ink was dry on some of the letters of instruction written by the apostles, men rose up from within the church to show a better way. Someone always has a deeper knowledge of the faith, or a better understanding, or a higher quality of religion. They attempt to, and often do, deceive the church. It is sad that so many Christians do not know enough of God’s word to discern the truth from error. They can’t discern showmanship from the Spirit. Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. ( Lev. 10:1) There was false fire in the tabernacle during Aaron’s time. There so often is false fire in the church today. God’s word was given so we could have a measuring stick to test the teachings that we are bombarded with.

First, we must remember God’s word. Second, we must mature in our Christian lives. If a baby doesn’t grow, he will spend his life stumbling over everything that comes along. We are the same spiritually. If we don’t grow into maturity, we will stumble over every teaching that comes along. You can’t stand still. It’s like my trailer. It sat still for a couple of years and the whole frame rotted. A house left alone falls apart. As Jude puts it, we must build ourselves up in the most holy faith. But how do we build our holy faith?

God will reward those that diligently seek Him. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:17) Those words have become our Bible. I have never met a strong Christian who ignores the Bible. If we own every version of the Bible, but we don’t read and study them we are no better off than those in the darkest part of the world that have never seen a Bible. The Bible is God’s Home Depot. It has all the material needed to build a strong spiritual house and a strong walk with God.

The Bible is the material for building, and the Holy Spirit is the power for building. We must spend more time on our knees in prayer. This doesn’t mean we need to spend hours on our knees. We can have the power to build our lives if we practice prayers that are short, simple, and specific. This should be done all day long. As we think of something as we drive to work, pray for it. If we think of something at the drinking fountain, pray for it. We will soon find that we are in constant touch with God. But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. (Jude 1:20) Jude tells us to also go beyond constant short prayers. At time we need to pray in the Spirit. What is this? Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself make intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26) There are times when we just don’t know how to pray for a situation. In these times we need to pray in the Spirit, or using the gift of tongues. Yes, the gifts are for today and are so necessary for the Christian.

Building your Christian life requires first, reading the Word of God; second, praying; and third, keeping in the love of God. Keep yourselves in the love of God. (Jude 1:21) But how do we keep ourselves in the love of God? If you keep My commandments you shall abide in my love, just as I have kept My fathers commandments and abide in His love. (John 15:10) This part of building your spiritual life is often the most difficult part of the process. As we spend time in God’s word and in prayer, the Holy Spirit will begin to show us areas of our life that need to be changed. These may only be small areas that we may see as insignificant. We need to take heed and change them. We will soon see changes in the bigger areas. It’s kind of like the statement if we take care of the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves. If we remember God’s word and build our spiritual life, we will develop a solid foundation to grow upon. One of the greatest needs in the church today is the teaching of good Biblical doctrine. We need solid doctrine to stand in the face of false fire.

Unto Him who is able to keep you from falling. (Jude 1:24) Jesus Christ is able to keep you from falling. He is our anchor, our guide, and our test. He is our Savior with nothing added and nothing taken away. It’s not Jesus Christ and our good behavior, or our diet, or our church. It is Jesus Christ and Him crucified that is our complete salvation. Today there are spots and wrinkles in the church. There is no perfect church. If there was I couldn’t belong to it because I am not without blemish. However, there will come a day when Jesus Christ will present us to the Father with exceeding joy. He will present us before the throne without spot or wrinkle because of His shed blood. In Revelation chapters two and three Christ tells us that if we overcome we will not be hurt by the second death. He will give us hidden manna and a white stone with a new name written on it which no man knows. He will give us the morning star, and we shall rule the nations. He will clothe us in white and confess us before His father and the angels. He will make us a pillar in the temple of God. We will sit with Him on His father’s throne as He has sat down with his Father.

It is worth it, people. It is glory just to walk with Him now. Even if there were no heaven to gain nor hell to lose, it would be worth every minute of it. If you haven’t pressed into the fullness of His glory, I urge you to read and remember God’s word and to build your spiritual life. You have nothing to lose but sorrow, pain, and grief. You have peace and security to gain.