Biblical Truth
Our Scripture Reading today comes from Psalms 7 :
1 O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my friend with evil
or plundered my enemy without cause,
5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
5 Arise, O LORD, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.
8 The LORD judges the peoples;
judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God!
10 My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day.
12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
and is pregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own skull his violence descends.
17 I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High. (ESV)
THE WORD OF GOD FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD
“For Believers Only”
This confrontational statement was the title of a post on a minister's message board, a title intended to draw an evil line of separation within the Body of Christ. The opening comment was even more intentional “How can you have the signs following if you never put them into practice? The “minister” went on to quote Mark 16:17-20 leaving the reader to conclude that if they can't drink poison or handle deadly snakes they must not be saved.
The level of irresponsibility and arrogance of that post can not be measured.
And I pray that God will have mercy on the soul of this person, as the consequences of this post may well be the life of a new believer who felt challenged or someone who was not strong enough in God's Word. The more horrendous aspect of this is that this minister's Supervisor, in continued irresponsibility, has left it on the board as a gauntlet to be picked up.
Let us look and study the verses quoted from Mark but let's expand the reading to include all from Mark 16:9-20, and lets look at the complete story:
9 [[Now when he rose early on the first day of the week,
he appeared first to Mary Magdalene,
from whom he had cast out seven demons.
10 She went and told those who had been with him,
as they mourned and wept.
11 But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her,
they would not believe it.
12 After these things he appeared in another form to two of them,
as they were walking into the country.
13 And they went back and told the rest,
but they did not believe them.
14 Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table,
and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart,
because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.
15 And he said to them,
“Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,
but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
17 And these signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;
18 they will pick up serpents with their hands;
and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them;
they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them,
was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
20 And they went out and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.]] (ESV)
These verses have been used to cause division within The Church for years, and we need to understand why.
So get your Bibles and let's look deeper into God's Holy Truth. If you compare these verses to the other Gospels you will notice the other Gospels do not record these words: “they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them;”
When you read these verses in most Bibles you notice something odd, that being those pesky double brackets which I included in the text above from the ESV. If you read the footnotes in Bibles that do bracket these verses you will read the following or similar note:
“The most ancient authorities bring the book to a close at the end of verse 8. One ancient manuscript concludes the book with the shorter ending following verse 8 which reads:
[[ And all that had been commanded them they told briefly to those around Peter.
And afterward Jesus himself sent out through them,
from east to west,
the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.]]
Others include this shorter ending and then continue with verses 9-20. In most manuscripts 9-20 follow immediately after verse 8, though the passage is marked as doubtful.”
The “ministers” choice of these verses places a serious question upon the very intention of a person making such a post. One who is educated in the Bible should have compared the other Gospels and taken into consideration the existence of evidence which states that Mark did not write these verses (9-20) and date them as late as the seventh century AD.
I do not wish to enter into an extended theological debate on these verses or their authenticity, but as our church is one which teaches a more literal acceptance of God's Holy Word, we must seek answers to the questions as posed. Such as the difference in writing style, punctuation, spelling and the fact that these verses do not exist in the most ancient manuscripts. This information alone should lead one to resist the temptation to build a divisive doctrinal wall upon these verses.
So, why do divisive people wish to build walls of separation within The Body of Christ by demanding “signs of salvation”? Why do those same evil and divisive people make heretical claims about God's Holy Word? The real truth is that we hold in our possession more than sufficient evidence to prove beyond any reasonable doubt the accuracy of the book in your hands, God's Holy Word known as The Bible. So we must ask these “Bible Perverts” where has their reverence of God's Word gone? That is only assuming that they ever had any reverence for God and His Word at all.
Those people forget the Words of Christ when Satan tempted Him for a sign, “Jesus said to Satan, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When we tell others, long time Christians or new Christians, there a required signs of salvation such as those listed in Mark 16:9-20 we lie. We lie because we know, or at least should know, that God never contradicts Himself – ever. If we look to the teachings of The Apostle Paul we learn what the gifts of the Spirit are, and what “signs” we should be looking for in one who claims The Cross of Christ . We read in his letter to the Galatians, in chapter 6, verse 22-26:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control;
against such things there is no law.
24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus
have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit,
let us also walk by the Spirit.
26 Let us not become conceited,
provoking one another,
envying one another. (ESV)
We clearly see that sincere Christians are not to post demands for “signs”, but we are to be kind, loving and patient with all in The Body of Christ. We are not permitted to judge another Christians standing with The Lord, we are only to guide our Brothers and Sisters in knowledge of truth and sound doctrine. Only by working within God's plan will we ever be able to reach those of hard heart and turn them toward The Lord for His healing. Did you notice who's healing? The Lord's healing. We are not capable to do anything without Christ. Therefore, when you hear someone boast on “how many people they have saved” run. Run hard and run fast because that person does not understand or accept their position under Christ.
And when anyone on this earth asks for a sign of our salvation we must remember Christ's words to the Pharisee's recorded in Mark 8:11-13:
11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him,
seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.
12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said,
“Why does this generation seek a sign?
Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
13 And he left them, got into the boat again,
and went to the other side. (ESV)
How did Jesus handle these evil demands for a sign? What does the text tell us? Do likewise.
Turn and walk away, do not argue but pray for these people that they will repent and turn from their evil ways before it's too late.
When you hear these “Bible Perverts” demanding “signs” you only need remind them of Paul's teachings in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 which tells us clearly:
1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers,
I do not want you to be uninformed.
2 You know that when you were pagans
you were led astray to mute idols,
however you were led.
3 Therefore I want you to understand
that no one speaking in the Spirit of God
ever says “Jesus is accursed!”
and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are varieties of gifts,
but the same Spirit;
5 and there are varieties of service,
but the same Lord;
6 and there are varieties of activities,
but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.
7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom,
and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit,
to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
10 to another the working of miracles,
to another prophecy,
to another the ability to distinguish between spirits,
to another various kinds of tongues,
to another the interpretation of tongues.
11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit,
who apportions to each one individually as he wills. (ESV)
This should also clear up another heretical perversion which is the claim that we can choose which Spiritual Gifts we have and can use! Spiritual Gifts are given by The Holy Spirit and not chosen as if out of a vending machine.
We must understand that when you quote from The Word of God, you wield a powerful weapon . A weapon that can heal or hurt, the choice is in the hands of the one quoting.
When you quote you have to make absolutely sure you have not taken the verse out of its originally intended context! Paul teaches us in His letter to the Hebrews 4:12:
“For the word of God is living and active,
sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the division of soul and of spirit,
of joints and of marrow,
and discerning the thoughts
and intentions of the heart.” (ESV)
All because you find a verse that has the words you want to say in it does not mean that is the original context. An excellent example of this type of “hit and miss” Bible quoting would be when a “minister” attacked our position of women in church leadership positions, their contention being if they accepted Paul's teachings in 1 Corinthians 11 and 1 Timothy 2 they would then feel the necessity to “cut out” Galatians 3:28 from their Bible as it states:
3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free,
there is neither male nor female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (ESV)
The problem with their argument is that this verse from Paul's letter to the Galatians is dealing with the issue of salvation and our standing in Christ, not the issue of church leadership.
There are those who dare to claim that The Word of God has been polluted by man and can not be trusted! Can you imagine anyone who claims to be a follower of The risen Savior, Jesus, actually saying that, posting that and arguing it on a public forum? The Scripture they pervert for their evil divisiveness is Jeremiah 8:8 which says,
8:8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise,and the law of the LORD is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.” (ESV)
The fact again is that this is outside of the original context which was speaking to a nation that was about to be punished for their open disobedience to God. The whole story can be found and understood by reading Jeremiah 8:4-17. Depending on which translation you may find reference to “lying pens”, however that term is not found in the Hebrew text. The message given in this text is one of disgust at the fact that these evil Priests had The Word of God and taught to the people (verbally) what they wanted and strayed from the actual text thereby perverting God's Holy Laws. The fact is that the “lying pens” referred to in some translations are the Levitical laws, laws that man added to those of God which often conflicted with God's Law. And it was these laws that our Lord Jesus condemned, not the entire Scripture and certainly not any of the Gospels, letters or The Revelation!
“Bible Perverts” pick a verse that they believe supports their position caring nothing for the original, and thereby correct, context of the verse! In certain ways, like this, chapter and verse numbering has been used to greatly pervert God's Holy Word. The “Bible Perverts” feel that they now have license to quote God's Word out of context because the Bible has been broken up into these little sections called verses and any verse can stand alone, right? WRONG! Verses out of context are perverted by the one who “quotes” and can mislead many to a wrong faith. We need to return to God's truth and understand that even if what you say is 99.999% true it is 100% a lie.
Keep in mind that Satan himself quotes scripture, out of context of course, to persuade the believers to abandon the hopes and promises they have in Christ Jesus!
When you hear anyone, even me, quote scripture arm yourself with The Word of God and make sure that you are being taught God's Truth! Get as many different versions of the Bible as you can and check what someone says to whichever version they claim to use! And then check it with other versions!
BE NOT DECIEVED!
The wolves are dressed up in their fancy sheep costumes and they wander the land, they teach that the good path is evil and that evil is good. They pervert God's Holy Word to their own destruction and they want to take as many with them to Hell as they can. Don't let them take you astray, stay strong in God's Holy Word and don't get proud in your position lest you fall.
If you do not know the grace, mercy, love and forgiveness of our Lord Jesus Christ I beg you to contact me. Allow me to pray for you, allow me to introduce you to The Way, The Truth and The Life because no one will enter God's Kingdom without Christ Jesus. No one.
Do not wait, you do not know how much time you have left. Call upon Him now.
Let us pray,
Father God, we come to You this day offering You all honor, glory and praise because You alone are worthy! We love You Lord! We thank You for the time we have had on this earth and we ask You to use us for Your glory with what time we have left. Father if there is someone reading here who does not know you I ask that You touch their heart, comfort their spirit and open their mind to You. Father please don't let them put off seeking Your mercy and grace.
Father we ask Your forgiveness for all of the times we fail You, and you know those times are many. We ask Your forgiveness for our petty arguments that cause such hurtful divisions with The Body of Christ. We ask forgiveness for the times we fail to be patient with our brothers and sisters. We ask forgiveness for the times when we allow pride to enter into our lives and cause hurt to another. Father we ask You for an outpouring of Your Holy Spirit to take over our lives and guide us into Your righteousness. We ask these things in the precious Name of Yeshua! AMEN
I thank you and pray God's richest blessing be upon you all!
In the precious Name of God's One and Only Son Jesus,
The Savior of The World!
Amen and AMEN!
In HIS Service
Pastor Steve