In the book of Matthew Jesus said, “follow me”. Jesus was the leader. Any time we see a leader we should also realize there is much involvement by those he leads to establish him as the leader. For example, as "the leader" he dined at Matthew’s house. While at Matthew’s house there must have been involvement of Matthew, his wife, his food, his servants, his table, his plates, etc. There would not have been a meal at Matthew’s house without a Matthew and the work and provision of the others.
We would prefer to take a back seat and let the leader do all the work. It is as if he were driving the car and we are the passengers. He does the driving, spending his gas and wearing out his tires. When Jesus is leading should it not be, he is like the foreman and we are like the ditch diggers? We should be getting sweaty, and sore. He tells us where, what direction, and how deep to dig from the ditch. We like to be ministered to but sometimes grudge the ministry tasks.
The centurion came to Jesus and was known for his great faith. This shows that gentiles have their place in the Kingdom of God. They will feast with Abraham and Jacob. Our place with God depends on our faith and commitment, not upon our people-group or status.
Someone said I will follow you wherever you go. Jesus said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man does not have any place to lay his head." Jesus did not have a hole or a nest to sleep in. Lesser created beings, like birds and foxes, have “homes”, dwellings; but not the son of man. We should not over-worry about our physical sustenance. There is a cost and a giving up of some physical elements that must occur when we follow Jesus.
We say, “I will follow you first “but”. You say you will, but you must disengage yourself from entanglement of the world. Do not worry over the tangled affairs the world makes for itself. There are some elements of the world expected of us by the world that we must disengage ourselves from when we follow Jesus.
Friday, June 7, 2019
Monday, June 3, 2019
DISCERNING PROPHETS
Speaking of the false prophets Jesus says “by their fruit you will recognize them.” Then he goes on to say that some that appear good will be rejected by him. Only the ones that do the will of the Father in heaven will be accepted.
If one has an experience, and the word says something that conflicts with the experience, which do we accept? The word of God, of course. But we know that some false prophets will have worked the same sort of miracles that Jesus worked, as in the casting out of demons. How is it then that we can tell them by their fruit?
If there is a person who we see casting out demons, or healing the sick, we must reserve our judgment about them until we can know more about the fruit of the rest of their life. Does not the warning “you will know if they are my prophets if what they say comes to pass” imply a wait-and-see attitude? When a foretold event comes to pass, then we will know the one who foretold it is a prophet. The warning “try the profits to see whether they be from God” and “by their fruits you shall know them” implies a waiting. We will wait, then we will judge the fruit, whether it is good or bad.
None of this suggests we go along with what is happening assuming it is good. If someone prophesizes we do not automatically assume it is from God. If someone is “slain in the spirit” we do not automatically assume God occupied them. We wait, we observe, we compare with what we already know about God. We compare with the word. We compare with those who we know from experience have good fruit. We compare with our own good fruit. We compare with the history (tradition) of men we have known to be good.
When we hear someone speaking what is supposed to be the word of God, or healing, or casting out demons, he is either a Daniel or a Balaam, a Jeremiah or a Hananiah. From our position and the situation at the time we will have to decide, or wait and see.
If one has an experience, and the word says something that conflicts with the experience, which do we accept? The word of God, of course. But we know that some false prophets will have worked the same sort of miracles that Jesus worked, as in the casting out of demons. How is it then that we can tell them by their fruit?
If there is a person who we see casting out demons, or healing the sick, we must reserve our judgment about them until we can know more about the fruit of the rest of their life. Does not the warning “you will know if they are my prophets if what they say comes to pass” imply a wait-and-see attitude? When a foretold event comes to pass, then we will know the one who foretold it is a prophet. The warning “try the profits to see whether they be from God” and “by their fruits you shall know them” implies a waiting. We will wait, then we will judge the fruit, whether it is good or bad.
None of this suggests we go along with what is happening assuming it is good. If someone prophesizes we do not automatically assume it is from God. If someone is “slain in the spirit” we do not automatically assume God occupied them. We wait, we observe, we compare with what we already know about God. We compare with the word. We compare with those who we know from experience have good fruit. We compare with our own good fruit. We compare with the history (tradition) of men we have known to be good.
When we hear someone speaking what is supposed to be the word of God, or healing, or casting out demons, he is either a Daniel or a Balaam, a Jeremiah or a Hananiah. From our position and the situation at the time we will have to decide, or wait and see.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)