Don't be a Pharisee

By Brother R. Michel Lankford
As It Is Written:
Matthew 23:1-12 ¹ Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, ² saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; ³ therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. ⁴ "They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. ⁵ "But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. ⁶ "They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, ⁷ and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. ⁸ "But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ "Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. ¹⁰ "Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. ¹¹ "But the greatest among you shall be your servant. ¹² "Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. Matthew 23:1-12 (NASB)

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When we think of Pharisees today, we tend to think of people that are extremely strict about observing the law of God given to Moses. They were always at odds with Messiah, an instrumental in the plot to kill Jesus. Today the term is synonymous with being legalistic or overly religious. In fact, it is one of the key excuses that most traditional Christians use to rebuff and reject Whole Testament theology, is that they don't want to be like the Pharisees. The problem is that in making such a comparison, "Christians" who are anti-Torah observant are making two critical mistakes. First, they are drawing their conclusions based on modern-day interpretations of what we traditionally believe the Pharisees were instead of looking at the problem from its true historical context. This leads to the second problem. When we look at who and what the Pharisees were, and what they did, modern and postmodern Christendom might well realize many are in danger of being a lot more like the Pharisees than they think they are.

 

 

A History Flyby

As we read our Bible, we might notice that very often Yeshua, the Messiah rebukes the Pharisees, but there is not much mention of his criticizing the sect of the Sadducees. So what made the difference? What made the Pharisees worthy of special attention in the eyes of Messiah?
The historical first century Jewish writer Flavius Josephus gives us a distinct clue of the reason.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/ant-13.htm
(Flavius Josephus - book 13. 10. 6.)
You See, the sect of the Pharisees often treated human tradition handed down from one generation to the next as though it were equal to and sometimes even greater than the written text of the Scriptures. In other words, the Pharisees believed and taught that in order to be faithful to God, one not only had to keep the Torah (The written laws of God), but also a great many oral traditions handed down from one generation to the next. The problem is that what the Pharisees believed and practiced was a direct violation of Deuteronomy 4:2.
Therefore the Sadducees soundly rejected the approach of the Pharisees, and the Sadducees held to the belief that one only needed to keep the written Law of God. Messiah clearly favored the position of the Sadducees, at least concerning their doctrine.
A reasonable modern-day comparison would be that this would be a kin to the differences between a staunch holder of Roman Catholic tradition, as compared to someone who fiercely believes in the written Scriptures alone to determine our conduct.

 

 

By Contrast: the Pharisees believed:

Rambam's introduction to the Mishnah
"If there are 1000 prophets, all of them of the stature of Elijah and Elisha giving a certain interpretation, and 1001 rabbis giving the opposite interpretation, you should incline to the majority, and the law is according to the 1001 rabbis, not according to the 1000 there will prophets, only from the rabbis who are men of logic and reason."
My son! Be careful concerning the rabbinical decrees even more than the Torah... the Torah contains prohibitions... but anyone who violates a rabbinical decree is worthy of death (from the Babylonian Talmud).
... And even on the view that presets cannot nullify each other that applies only to a biblical precept with a biblical precept or, with a rabbinical precept to other rabbinical precepts, but in the case of a conflict of contradiction between a scriptural and a rabbinical precept, the rabbinical precept shall nullify the scriptural one... (from the Talmud 115a)
When we understand these things, the words of Yeshua the Messiah make a whole lot more sense:
Matthew 5:17-20 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸ "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17-20 (NASB)

 

In the light of its proper historical context, let us now consider what Messiah Himself said about the Pharisees:
1. They abandoned or diminished the law of God in favor of their own traditions (Mark 7:8-13).
2. They taught keeping strict observance of the Law, while they themselves were breaking the law (Matthew 23:2-3). it was hypocrisy. Messiah said that unless our righteousness exceeded that of the scribes and Pharisees, we would not enter the kingdom of God (Matthew 5:20). So unless they repent it, the Pharisees would not be entering into the Kingdom of God. Now that's serious.
3. They had God’s law. They understood the law, they spent their whole lives from childhood being trained in the Law of God given to Moses, but none of them kept it (John 7:19).
4. Consider: Who would be counted as Pharisees today? Could it be those who actively teach God's people to disobey his Law in favor of human tradition? It's something to ponder.
Conclusion: According to Messiah, the problem with the Pharisees was not that they were overly Torah observant. According to Yeshua, the problem was exactly the opposite. According to Messiah the problem with the Pharisees was that they WERE NOT being Torah observant, but they were merely pretending to be so. According to Messiah, the problem of the Pharisees was that they were pretending to be Torah observant, when they weren't. They used their positions and power over people's lives to add burdens and laws over them which God did not make. In doing such things, they in fact outright violated Torah (Deuteronomy 4:2; Deuteronomy 12:32). So the problem with the Pharisees was not that they were overly Torah observant, but that they were not Torah observant enough. So I would have to agree, don't be a Pharisee:
Matthew 16:6 And Jesus said to them, "Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Matthew 16:6 (NASB)

Becoming Bereans

Most of us are familiar with the Bereans. The majority of Bible preaching churches encourage their members to be Bereans. Unfortunately, that encouragement to be like Bereans actually loses something in translation. Here's what I mean. We know that the Bereans were more fair-minded than the people of Thessalonica. We know that they initially received Paul's words with gladness, but nonetheless they diligently searched the Scriptures (which by the way was only the Old Testament because the New Testament had not yet been written), so they searched the Old Testament daily to see if they could confirm what Paul was teaching, and we know from Acts 17, that many of them were able to confirm that the message Paul preached was accurate according to the Scriptures and they came to saving faith in Jesus Christ. We understand all these things from simply reading the plain text of Acts 17, but we are more than 2000 years and four languages removed (Hebrew, Aramaic Greek and Latin), and an entire culture removed from understanding just how impressive the Bereans truly were. I say that because that's how we got our English Bible. So, let us use modern-day parallels to give us insights so that we can understand these people better:
One of the things that I most enjoyed when I attended a traditional Christian church was the occasional baby dedication service. I mean, I am practically addicted to cute. My awnhhh...! meter goes off with every precious little baby I would see.
As I was meditating on God's precepts yesterday, a thought hit me. Let's say, that you walked into a church one Sunday morning and after a baby dedication service, you actually heard the pastor say that the babies that were just dedicated to the Lord are now saved. Let's say that the pastor declared that they were now born-again and they were guaranteed to go to heaven because their parents dedicated them to the LORD. For the record, let me be explicitly clear, I have not been in any church or congregation that ever taught such a thing, (except for the Roman Catholic/Lutheran church which teaches that infant baptism saves them), but if you heard this from a pastor of a supposedly Bible believing and Bible teaching church, would you think that he was preaching true doctrine or false doctrine? Of course, such a presentation would naturally be false doctrine. For we know that the baby dedication is a parent's commitment to raise the child in the love, admonitions and principles of Almighty God and Jesus Christ, and to train them up so that they can develop their own personal and saving relationship with Almighty God in Jesus Christ. We know from a biblical standpoint that if such a relationship between the child and the Lord does not eventually develop, then that person will be condemned, despite the fact that their parents sincerely dedicated Them to the LORD, is that not so?
In another example, we know that after a person comes to a saving knowledge of Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ, Holy Scripture requires and commands that they be baptized by immersion as a public testimony that the new convert believes in, and joins himself with what Jesus Christ accomplished through his life, death, and resurrection. With rare exceptions, the majority of Bible believers completely understand that in and of itself, baptism by immersion in water does not actually cause or bring about a person's salvation. Water baptism is generally the first act of Christian discipleship and is intended as a public testimony that the new convert has come to saving faith in God and Jesus Christ and is making a commitment to live as a new creation in Christ Jesus. For the most part, the majority of believers understand that if a pastor actually taught that water baptism is what caused or brought about a person's salvation, then this too would be heresy and false teaching.
In another example of the same principle, we know that Scripture commands and exhorts us to gather together in fellowship with other believers (Hebrews 10:25). We know in principle that gathering together is important. Iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17). Scripture commands and exhorts us that we should each consider how we can spur and encourage one another on t greater faithfulness and good works in God in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:24). So, we know that regularly congregating with other believers and encouraging one another to Love, Believe, Obey, Honor Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ, and to do good in Him is a biblical command. This is a good thing to do. It's very profitable. When it's done correctly, it's beneficial because of what other believers bring into your life, and what you bring to their lives. At the same time, will church attendance convert a person? Will church attendance guarantee to cause or bring about a person salvation? Of course not. For we know that if a person does not have a born-again experience, if the blessings of Ezekiel 36:25-27 do not actually occur within a person's being, if they do not come to believe and obey Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, then they are still lost and condemned even if they faithfully attended church out of habit throughout all of their lives. Is this not so?
And again in another example of the same principle, we know that reading and meditating on the Scriptures is commanded (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). We know that meditating on the Scriptures will bring about good success in our lives (Joshua 1:7-8; Psalm 1:1-6). Reading and meditating on God's Word regularly will protect us from self-deception or self-delusion (Psalm 119:105; Psalm 119:9; James 1:19-25). Reading meditating and practicing God's word on a regular basis can help us to persevere and overcome in various trials (Psalm 119:11; Matthew 7:24-25). At the same time,  is it our perfect regularity and obedience to the Word which causes or brings about our eternal salvation and righteousness before God? Of course not! Any preacher that would preach such a thing would naturally be guilty of false teaching and heresy. For, apart from a saving relationship with God and Jesus Christ, apart from believing and receiving what Jesus Christ accomplished through His life and death and resurrection, there is no good thing that a person can do to be saved and made righteous before the Perfect and Holy God of heaven.
So we know that baby dedications can be a good thing, but the baby must grow into their own personal faith and obedience to Christ Jesus for themselves. They must still have their own born-again experience in order to be saved. So baby dedication can be a good thing, but by itself it will not save you. Likewise, we know that baptism is good. It is commanded in the Scriptures to fulfill a specific purpose, but it too will not cause or bring about a person's salvation apart from a saving born-again experience in Jesus Christ. The same is true with church attendance, with Bible reading and with all other good things that are commanded and exhorted throughout what is commonly called the Old and New Testament, or more accurately The Whole Testament. Is this not so?
If you'll bear with me a moment, I would like to pose a few poignant questions for your consideration.
Since we know that by itself baby dedications will not save our children, then does this naturally mean that we should abolish all baby dedications from our churches? Since baby dedication day does not save our children, then does this mean that parents should never publicly commit themselves to raising their children in the love, admonitions and principles of Almighty God and Jesus Christ? Since baby dedication will not cause the baby's salvation, then does this naturally mean that parents should not publicly make such a commitment, and that they should not make a public request that the congregation assist them in this all-important endeavor? Since it does not directly cause the child's salvation, does this naturally mean that we should abolish it altogether and never practice it?
Since apart from a saving commitment to Jesus Christ, the act of baptism by immersion in water is not actually what brings about or causes a person to be saved, then does this naturally mean that we should abolish the practice of water baptism in our congregations?
Since apart from a saving born-again experience in Christ Jesus, regular church attendance is not what guarantees a person's salvation, then does this mean that every congregation, home fellowship, or church should naturally close its doors, and believers should stop congregating together, since congregating is not what saves you?
Since apart from a saving born-again experience in Christ Jesus, regular Bible reading and meditation on the Scriptures is not what guarantees a person's salvation, then does this naturally mean that churches and fellowships should now actively discourage Bible study and practice instead of promoting it?
Of course, no truly sane and healthy believer would think it wise to abolish or even discourage these good things simply because doing them in and of themselves is not what causes a person to be saved. Most healthy believers can rightly see the benefit of these things, and we understand that as long as we don't teach that these things can save a person apart from Jesus Christ, then each of these good things has its proper place and function in the life of believers. These good things would only become bad if we allow them to develop into a false doctrine that doing these good things is what caused, brought about or insured a person's salvation. Then what was good, would become bad or false teaching.
What amazes me though is that the same wise Christians who would not think of abolishing baby dedications, baptisms, church attendance, or Bible readings from their faith and practice, but instead they know how to keep these things in the right perspective, the same wise Christians think it perfectly acceptable to abolish Old Testament teaching and principles, instead of wisely applying the exact same method across the Whole Testament of Scripture. The same wise Christians who would not think of abolishing Bible meditation think nothing of abolishing the annual Passover and the feasts of the LORD (Leviticus 23), instead of applying the same wise principle to those things that they do to New Testament standards. That blows my mind.
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Understanding the Apostolic Perspective

In the time of the apostles in the first century, traditional rabbinical Judaism actually taught the false teaching that keeping the Law of God given to Moses and keeping the Oral Law of the rabbinical traditions of the Elders is what caused or brought about a person's salvation. They did that in much the same way that the Catholic Church now teaches that keeping Roman Catholic tradition might make God like you better and give you a better chance to get into heaven. This too is false of course, but that's what the rabbis taught about keeping the oral rabbinical tradition.
It's absolutely critical to understand that the popular rabbinical traditions of the first century Judaism were heretical. They were false teachings even by Old Testament standards.
It's crucial to realize that even in the Old Testament, righteousness before God was something that God gave you as a gift through faith (Genesis 15:6; Deuteronomy 30:6; Habakkuk 2:4; Ezekiel 36:25-27, just to name a few places). From the accurately Biblical Old Testament point of view, people only obeyed God and followed the Law after God transformed them from the inside, not before then. However, this was not what traditional Judaism taught in Christ's day, nor in the time of the apostles. What rabbinical traditional Judaism was teaching was in reality the exact opposite of what Scripture actually taught.
The Oral Torah, the Oral Law, or the Oral rabbinical tradition of the elders (all names synonymous for the exact same thing, actually taught things that were the exact opposite of what the written Scripture commanded. So when the rabbis taught that part of gaining salvation was to obey the Oral tradition, they were actually teaching people to disobey the written Scriptures. This was heresy and false doctrine.
For example, it’s part of the oral tradition of the elders that if a person disobeys their rabbi, they are deserving of death. In another portion of the Oral tradition, it says that if a person disobeys their rabbi, they will be boiled in excrement in hell. According to the rabbinic al oral teaching tradition of the elders, the oral teaching tradition of the rabbis in the elders was to be held in higher value than the written Scriptures. They even taught that if the written Law of God and the prophets taught a particular thing, but the rabbinical teaching tradition of the elders taught the exact opposite thing, one still had to obey the Oral rabbinical teachings of the elders, even if it meant disobeying the written Scriptures in the process[1]. Nowhere is this taught in Scripture of course. In fact, God's written Law explicitly forbids adding to or subtracting from what God has said. Therefore, the Oral rabbinical teaching tradition of the elders was in many places a direct violation of God's actual Law, because they changed, added or subtracted from what God said which is illegal (see Deuteronomy 4:2; Deuteronomy 12:32). Nevertheless, that's what was being taught by religious tradition in first century Judaism. It is still often taught in traditional Judaism today.

To understand this problem using our own modern parallel as points of reference for clarity, it would be exactly as if a denomination of Christianity in our day actually taught that baby dedication, that baptism, church attendance, and Bible reading is what actually caused, brought about or insured a person's righteousness and eternal salvation. More than that, assume that a denomination also sprang up that said that not only did a person have to do those four things in order to cause or ensure their salvation, but they also could not be saved unless they joined a particular denomination, went to that particular church and fulfilled those four things in the precise ceremonial way that this denomination required. Now assume that this denomination became dominant over the centuries and that they began teaching at their own tradition was equal to or greater than the Scriptures, so that if there was a conflict between their teaching and what Scripture taught, you still had to obey them instead of obeying what Scripture teaches, and that if you disagree with or disobeyed the leaders of this dominant denomination, then you would go to hell. Now, if you understand these dynamics then you understand the problems of rabbinical Judaism (and also some of the problems of Roman Catholic tradition which essentially teaches the same thing), both of which are traditionally accepted, but it's completely false doctrine. When you understand the historical context, then Messiah's words make a lot more sense (Matthew 5:17-20; Matthew 23:24; Mark 7:6-9).
In effect, the Pharisees were teaching that in order to be saved, a person had to obey them, even if that required disobeying the written Scriptures to do it. It's crucial to understand that such a teaching tradition, although widely accepted at the time, is in direct violation of God's Law in the Scriptures, (Deuteronomy 4:2; Deuteronomy 12:32). It's imperative to understand that this is the primary reason why Jesus, the apostles, and eventually Paul, did not get along with the Pharisees and other religious leaders in their day. Some of the laws of they were requiring people to obey were in reality the direct opposite of what God's written Word required, and that's why Jesus Christ and the other apostles opposed the religious tradition.
Can you see now why Scripture goes out of its way to praise the Bereans (Acts 17:11)? For the Bereans to have the courage to diligently check out what Rabbi Paul was teaching would have been completely the opposite of what they would have been taught to do by their religious tradition, but they loved and cared enough about the truth to check things out for themselves, and they were diligent about doing so, even though everything in their upbringing in the religious tradition taught in first century Judaism told them to accept the rabbis words automatically. The Bereans were doing the right and correct thing, in spite of the fact that they were brought up to think and do the wrong thing by tradition. That's why they were praised. Please don't forget this. Scripturally speaking, there is a pattern showing that God tends to take special notice of people who do the right and correct things, especially when they were brought up and taught to think and do the wrong things. That's what overcoming the world means.
What the apostles taught in the first century was that obeying God's Law and the customs which God gave to Moses was good. They would not have commanded against doing those things anymore then faithful teachers of God's word today command someone never to dedicate their children to the Lord, or never get baptized. The apostles never taught anyone to actively violate the Laws of God, any more Than faithful teachers today would dare to teach that Christians should altogether abandon church attendance or regular Bible study. No, the apostles taught that obeying the Laws of God was good, but they also taught rightfully that obeying the Laws of God apart from Christ is not what caused, what brought about, or insured, a person's salvation.
Conclusion: Sooner or later every growing and thriving Christian must confront some important questions. Why do we do what we do? Why do most of our churches teach only topically, and almost never, verse by verse, chapter by chapter and book by book from Genesis to Revelation? Why do we do what we do as a church on an annual basis? Why do we not treat all of Scripture the same? It obviously is the same, since Jesus was with God when the Word was given, (John 1:1-12)? Can everything that I am taught to believe and do, in church truly be supported in the Scripture? If it can, what can I do to be even more perfect and what my church teaches? If what I am taught to do by tradition and by practice cannot be expressly defended in the Scriptures, then by what authority do we traditionally do what we are doing? Am I truly following God and His Word? Or, am I believing and following merely the tradition of men? At the end of the day would Almighty God recognize me as one who had the courage of the Bereans, in spite of what the religious tradition of men has taught me to do? Not going along with the crowd, and doing what God says is exactly what's required to be a believer that overcomes the world. Would you choose to be a Berean? Will you develop Berean courage?

Brother Michel Lankford

Is Obeying God's Law Really Too Difficult?

My brother Michel Lankford
July 20, 2011 (12:31 AM) 
One of the most common beliefs in modern-day Christendom is that God got rid of His Law through the death of His Son Jesus Christ, because we could not keep it. The belief is that obeying God's law is just too difficult, no one could really keep it, so Jesus then fulfilled it and got it Out of the way, so that we could be justified before God without us even having to concern ourselves with respecting God's Law at all. I tell you the truth, modern- and postmodern day Christianity; (which is largely based on a mixture of beliefs from Emperor Constantine, Babylonian theology and Roman Catholic theology with a sprinkling of twisted Scripture added for good measure), which the Protestant churches now carry forward by habit and tradition, absolutely depends on that belief system being true in order to justify what it believes, teaches, and habitually practices.
Please know that I understand and am fully aware that I am attacking a sacred idol here. I know that I'm challenging a belief system that people absolutely believe at their core to be true.
My question is no matter how near and dear to our hearts a widely held doctrine might be, is it true? Is it supported by the Whole Testament of Scripture? Is it confirmed when measured against the "Weight of Biblical Evidence Test" (which is one of the eight biblical tests that a thriving disciple must use to correctly interpret Scripture and judge truth)?
Remember, absolute truth cannot by definition contradict absolute truth. Since God's word is absolutely true, then if there appears to be a contradiction, the problem is with my understanding, and not with the Scriptures. If my conclusions contradict other rightly divided Scriptures, then my conclusions about the Scriptures must be in error, so if I love the truth, and my long-held beliefs contradict rightly divided Scripture, then I must re-examine what I believe and teach if I am to remain faithful and loyal to the truth. Whenever it is correctly read, rightly divided, faithfully interpreted and rightly applied, Scripture does not contradict itself.
If there appears to be a contradiction, then I must be reading, interpreting or applying Scripture incorrectly in some fashion. This axiom is absolutely imperative to proper Scripture interpretation. It is also the cornerstone of Whole Testament theology, which I now believe, and humbly attempt to impart to others, because I love the truth, even knowing full well that I constantly fall short of it, and that God's strength must constantly be made manifest and more evident in my weakness.
So, may Almighty God give us eyes that see, ears that will hear, hearts that will receive and believe, and wills that will obey and persevere in the truth, so that God will rejoice and delight over us as His children, and we can rightly be unashamed in the judgment that is sure to come. Amen.



Is it Scripture?
Before we begin exploring our question in earnest, we must establish some basic facts. Which books of Scripture were written first? Was it the books of Genesis to Malachi or the books of Matthew to Revelation? Of course, we know this to be true historically. The books of Genesis to Malachi were written long before the New Testament books of Matthew through Revelation. We know this to be true historically and factually. Therefore, the New Testament must be read through the filter of the Old Testament, not the other way around, because the so-called Old Testament was God's revealed Word first. It was the dictionary and the mindset that people were using to judge what the apostles were originally teaching in the day that they were teaching.
Remember, the faithful Gentile is grafted into the Olive tree of Israel. Nowhere in God's word was the faithful Israel to be grafted into the sinful world. So the foundation holds us up, we do not hold up the foundation (Romans 11:13-24).
Remember and do not forget that whenever the apostles referred to Scripture in the apostolic writings, they were referring exclusively to the books of Genesis to Malachi, so the New Testament must be filtered and interpreted through those eyes in order to get a complete and balanced picture of the truth from the writer's point of view. (Deuteronomy 8:3; Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
So is the Bible Scripture? That question is a matter of faith. There are some people who absolutely believe as I do, that the Holy Bible is God's written Word, that it is anointed and breathed out by the Holy Spirit of God and given to over 40 writers who copied down what God wanted them to write. There are others who will refuse to believe this no matter how much evidence one was to provide. This is what most biblically observing believers who base their faith on the Scriptures believe. Our faith is not blind faith. Despite the fact that there have been countless concerted efforts and attempts throughout the centuries to actively disprove God's word, it cannot be done successfully. Over and over again God's word has been confirmed archaeologically. The things which the Bible said were there exactly where God's word said they are. God's word has repeatedly been confirmed archaeologically, mathematically, astronomically and even biochemically but despite all these repeated confirmations through science, there are those who will absolutely refuse to believe in God and they desperately want to reject His Word. The reality is that God's word has never been empirically disproved by any science known to man.
The only thing that is ever in dispute between the believing scientist, and the atheistic scientist is not the facts. The scientist who is a believer in Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ believes and even understands the same empirical facts which the atheistic scientist possesses. They both look at the same fossils, the same bones, the same astronomical charts, and the same biochemical data. A great many of the actual facts are almost never in dispute. The great divide that occurs between scientists who believe in God and the atheistic scientists, who refuse to believe God, is in the interpretation and conclusions that each one draws from the same set of facts.
Each of us would like to believe that we are sincerely impartial, unbiased students whose only interest is arriving at the truth. Ideally that is how we would function. All of us would love to rightly be able to say that our only pursuit is the discovery of unvarnished truth, and that we vigorously examine and analyze all our evidence on its own merit. All of us would like to believe that we draw our conclusions exclusively on where the evidence leads. Unfortunately this is not the truth. The conclusions that scientists draw from their various experiments are very often colored by what they already previously believed and accepted to be fact before their experiments began. That’s why the atheistic scientist and a God-fearing scientist can in each look at the exact same set of facts and draws a completely different conclusion from their studies.
The exact same principle holds true when one considers the differences between the Whole Testament believers and the traditional Constantinian model of Christianity that most in modern-day Christendom observe. If one truly believes that the entire Bible from the book of Genesis to Revelation is God's written Word, that all of Scripture is completely relevant and applicable to the believer's life today, the student will study and draw conclusions that are colored by that belief.
If on the other hand, a student starts off their study with the belief that the Old Testament has been done away with, and therefore is not directly applicable to the believer's life today, then that student will quite naturally look at the exact same Scripture and draw a completely different conclusion based on what they read into the text because of what they already believe. It's an inconvenient truth, but it is the truth. Like it or not, our conclusions and beliefs about what Scripture actually says is often greatly colored by what we already believed to be true when our study began. What we draw out from studying the Scripture is greatly influenced by what we already believe and read into the Scriptures in the first place.
With rare exceptions, both groups believe that Yahweh, the God of Isaac, Abraham, and Jacob, is the One True God, who made heaven and earth, Who promised and later sent His Son Jesus to be the Messiah. Most believers believe that Yeshua who is the Messiah physically died on the cross for our sins, and he became the atoning sacrifice who died in our place. With rare exceptions, most believers who claim Christianity as their faith believe that Almighty God physically and bodily resurrected Jesus Christ the Messiah from the dead. Virtually every Christian believes that Jesus ascended into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of the MAJESTY, and now functions as the Eternal High Priest who intercedes on behalf of the saints. If you were to ask the majority of Christians, most of them would tell you that they believe that the Bible is the written word of God and that it is true. If you ask them, most of them would tell you that they believe the entire Bible is true. Many might even go so far as to tell you that they believe in obeying all of Scripture wherever possible. The only major divisions between those who hold to the Whole Testament theology, versus those who cling to the traditional Christianity built on the Constantinian model is that each group views, interprets, and applies, the exact same facts which they both believe to be true very differently.
In addition, the Constantinian model of traditional Christianity adds or subtracts many things into their traditions and practices which run directly contrary to what Scripture requires. They do all of this while claiming to be biblically obedient, which makes them in error or false to their own claims by definition. That is the key bone of contention.
So, while it is true that absolutely no one will be saved and counted as righteous before God by way of obeying God's Law, since we all break God's law and are guilty of sin, then is it also true that God's law is simply too difficult to keep? While that is a very popular idea, widely held in traditional Christianity, such a belief is simply not agreeable to the Scriptures. As it is written:
Deuteronomy 30:11-14 "For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. 12 "It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' 13 "Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' 14 "But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14 NASB; cf. Deuteronomy 30:9-16).
I know what many of you out there will say. "Well, that's in the Old Testament." (Or more accurately, the 1st writings of the Whole Testament). To that observation I say you are correct, how very observant of you. At the same time I also must ask do you understand what such a truth implies? Beloved, please allow Almighty God to train you to think biblically, not traditionally.
If Almighty God did not allow His people to claim that obeying His Commands was too difficult for Them before Jesus died and paid the atonement for our sins, then how much less would the Almighty accept such an excuse after the cross?! If God did not accept the convenient excuse that obeying His Law was too difficult for us before He unleashed the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh at the fulfillment of Pentecost, then is there any conceivable way that he would accept such a claim after He empowers us with the Holy Spirit? If Almighty God did not allow his people to claim that obeying Him was too hard before the fulfillment of Ezekiel 36:25-27 was fully manifested, then how much less would He accept such an excuse after the fulfillment of that promise through Messiah and the coming of the Holy Spirit?
No beloved, if I sin by violating, transgressing or living outside of God's Laws (1 John 3:4), that is not evidence that obeying the Laws of God is too hard. No, instead, it is evidence that I am still too hard, and I am not yet malleable and pliable enough in God's hands. Beloved, if I sin by violating, transgressing or living outside of God's Laws, that is a sign of exactly what Messiah said it was. Whenever I sin and violate God's Laws, I am demonstrating in living color that in that area at least, I'm still a slave to my sin, and not truly completely set free, (John 8:31-36).
If I continue to sin and violate God's Holy Laws, Then it should stand as evidence to me that in that area of my life, God's love is still not perfected within me yet. If it was, I would have no problem agreeing with and obeying God’s Laws, and I would not even consider it to be burdensome
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3 NASB) Beloved, that's in the New Testament.
Closing Prayer: Almighty God Yahweh, Lord Jesus (Yeshua), and precious Lord Holy Spirit, blessed be Your name forevermore. Have mercy upon me, and save me, because as much as I hate it, I am a sinner.
As much as I love You, as much as I need You, and desire to please You, I still sin and come short of Your glory, on an all too frequent basis. I transgress against your good, perfect and Holy Laws, and I am therefore guilty of sin, because I miss the mark of Your highest standard.
The problem does not rest with Your Laws, because they are good and perfect (Psalm 19:7-14; Romans 7:7-16). The problem rests with me. It's not on Your end, it's on my side of the equation. I acknowledge this truth to You, because by Your grace, I believe Your Word which tells me that obeying Your Commandments is not too hard. I used to believe that it is too hard because that's what I was told, and it seemed agreeable and comfortable to me, so I did not challenge it by searching this out for myself as I should have.
The only reason that Your Laws and Commands seem difficult to me, when You say they are not is because I am weakened and enslaved by bondage and sin. I am in bondage and need to be set free from the lies and from the worthless and unprofitable things which I was taught to believe by my ancestors (Jeremiah 16:19).
I am in bondage and need to be set free from the habit of obeying the traditions of men, instead of obeying the Commands of God (Mark 7:9; Acts 5:29).
I am in bondage and need to be set free from the slavery of obeying my own sinful passions and desires (Galatians 5:19-25). All too frequently I do what I desire, instead of doing what I know Your Word tells me that You desire. All too often, I make my decisions based on how I think and feel, instead of obeying You, so that shows that I'm still in bondage to my own selfishness.
All too often I find that I settle for what I believe God will accept, instead of continually pushing myself toward greater and greater perfection as I should, (Leviticus 19:2; Deuteronomy 18:13; Matthew 5:48; 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; James 1:19-27).
As painful as it is sometimes, I thank You for Your Perfect Word. As unpleasant as it feels to my flesh, I thank You that Your Law and Word is doing exactly what it's supposed to do, (Hebrews 4:12-13). It is revealing my own heart to me. It shows me where my heart truly is when I compare it to Your Righteous Standards. When I try to obey Your Word, and I find that I can't, or when I find that I even lack the want to, then it reveals the truth to me that in each of those areas, in reality, I'm still in bondage, and not truly free. If I am not regularly confronted by Your Words and its requirements, if I don't encounter the real condition of my heart and weaknesses when I try to obey Your Words and fail, then I would become complacent, I would assume I was fine, even though in reality I would be in bondage, and I would be carried away by the deceitfulness of my own sin (Hebrews 3:13). That's why your children should obey Your Laws. Obeying your laws cannot save us, but it does show us in living color where we are still in bondage (and in some cases where we are progressing out of bondage), but we still need Your Salvation to be fully worked out and made manifest in those areas. It is also a rehearsal that prepares us to live in Your Eternal Kingdom, and under the authority of Your Kingship. Messiah buys our citizenship. No one and nothing else can do that, but obeying Your Laws and precepts gives us a rehearsal for how we will be living in Your Kingdom.
Thank You for giving me grace to respect Your training ground. Help me to more fully submit to You and cooperate with You on an ongoing basis, so that You can complete this work, and mature me into a full-grown son of God, and a productive citizen of Your Kingdom. Help me to abide in and faithfully apply Your Word so that I will be truly counted as one of Your disciples, so that I will honestly know the truth, and will be set free from every bondage that hinders me from glorifying You. Have mercy upon me, and save me through what Yeshua already did. Help me to ever more faithfully walk in the freedom and salvation that You so graciously provide, but help me never to use my freedom in such a way that I use it as an occasion to transgress Your Law (Galatians 5:13), which is sin (1 John 3:4).
Lord Yeshua, have mercy upon me, a sinner, and transform me into a son that brings exceeding joy and gladness to Your heart. Amen.

Why Modern-Day Grace Teaching Doesn't Work

By brother R. Michel Lankford
A few years ago I felt God leading me to write a teaching series called "Wrath of God, Grace of God." What I originally thought was going to be a very simple teaching ended up being a five-part series. The whole premise of this teaching series was this. We cannot genuinely understand or appreciate God's awesome grace, until we first understand and truly appreciate God's righteous standards and the guaranteed punishment and penalties for violating God's righteous standards. Until we understand what God really requires, what standards God will use to judge every single human being, until we understand that we are truly guilty of violating the standards, and until we understand what the absolute guaranteed penalties are for violating the standards, then we do not truly understand our desperate need for Grace. What's more, if we do not authentically understand our DESPERATE NEED for Grace, then we certainly will not appreciate the high price that Jesus Christ paid to ransom us out of our destruction and into the Grace of God. We can't appreciate the cure that God offers, if we don't first believe and understand that we have the disease, and we won't take the treatment protocol that the Great Physician requires to cure our disease, if we don't truly understand and believe that staying in our disease is absolutely fatal. This beloved is the crux of the problem with modern day "Grace teaching and preaching." For more than a generation now, the modern-day evangelical approach has been to teach about the grace of God and ignore God's wrath almost completely. What you end up with is that you are offering to give a very high-priced cure free of charge, but you are offering it to people who don't believe they are sick, and who don't take the consequences of their sickness seriously, so they won't appreciate and remain with their cure.
Yesterday, a friend of mine gave me an audio sermon called, "Hell's Best Kept Secret." The evangelist who preached it is named Ray Comfort. He preached and confirmed to my heart every premise I have written in, "Wrath of God, Grace of God."So the Holy Spirit then has clearly been leading us both in the exact same direction. In his sermon, Brother Ray Comfort reveals information that I did not even have when I wrote my papers. He says that in the course of his travels, he has gained access to church growth and development records, and he has seen trends which clearly demonstrate that 80% to 90% of people who make professions of faith in Jesus Christ today will not remain in their faith for Christ. Think about this. Churches are actually reporting and documenting an 80% to 90% failure rate at making and keeping disciples!! Something clearly is Not working, and we need to face up to it and do something about it, if we truly care about the immortal being of people. Imagine, according to present tends, only 10 to 20% of people continue walking with God after they make professions of faith. If you love people and you care about their immortal being, that is an extremely scary reality. Normally, I don't post anything in this blog except for discipleship teachings and Bible studies. I don't usually promote other books and other teachings, but in this case I am making an exception. I highly recommend you listen to this teaching. Also, if you would like a copy of the teaching series that I wrote called, "Wrath of God, Grace of God," (parts 1-5), simply e-mail me and I will make that available to you as well. God bless.
Brother Michel Lankford
Ray Comfort Teaching: Hell's Best Kept Secret
http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=434&commentView=itemComments
I truly believe that every pastor, every teacher and indeed, every believer who has any concern for the destination of people's immortal being, should hear this sermon.

All Who Are Weary, Come

Christ's 29th Command
By Brother R. Michel Lankford

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30, NASB95)

A dear and precious brother and friend, brought this YouTube video to my attention, and it illustrates very well how Scripture can be misused to create perverted theology if we allow it. It makes a very important point. I request your attention:
 

This is the perfect example of HOW NOT TO USE YOUR Bible. Brought to you courtesy of YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20Q32xIyoeo&feature=channel_video_title

 

How to Apply the Bible INCORRECTLY

 

One of the easiest ways to incorrectly apply Scripture is

to take bits and pieces that you like and put them together. If one completely abandons and ignores the context in which Scripture is actually placed, then honestly one can adapt Scripture to say anything they want. This is a practice that I wholeheartedly DO NOT RECOMMEND, such a practice is destructive to both preacher and their listeners, but people still do it. Today's focal passage is one that often gets abused in this way. People especially love Matthew 11:28: "Come to me all who labor in our heavy laden and I will give you rest." Look at some of the FALSE statements that have been made using this verse as justification. I'm not going to name names, but how many of you have actually heard statements like these preached in your lifetime? See if any of these sound familiar when considering Matthew 11:28 without its context:
'It doesn't matter who you are, what you believe or how you're living, just come to Jesus, and He will give you rest.' Really? Is that what Scripture correctly says?

OR,

'I know how some of you are out There. Your sick and tired of your family. You're sick and tired of your job, your wife, your kids and your in-laws. Some of you are so angry and uptight you practically come home and bite the dog. Just come to Jesus and He will give you rest.
Those are just two examples, but whenever this passage is misrepresented, it is usually misrepresented in much the same way. Normally the minister will highlight a scenario where a person is weary, exhausted, frustrated and angry about their situation in life, and then using or rather misusing Matthew 11:28 as their justification, they will very often issue a blanket invitation that no matter how a person is living, all they need to do is just come to Jesus and He will fix everything. So what happens when this person goes to the front of the church, makes a commitment to Jesus Christ, they experience the joy and forgiveness for a short while, but their life is still very hard. Their bad habits still dominate them. Their relationships are not improving very quickly. Their boss is still a pain. What happens to a person's faith at that point? Well, speaking in the most general terms, what usually happens is that the person becomes heartsick because their hope and expectation was deferred. They were taught to believe and expect for a particular result because of what the preacher said, that result didn't happen (because that is not really what God actually promised in the first place), but now there are seeds of doubt and unbelief planted in a new believer's heart which make it harder for them to believe and obey God the next time.
Beloved, that is the biggest problem with incorrect preaching. It creates beliefs and expectations which God did not actually promise, and when God does not fulfill those incorrect expectations, hope is deferred, and people's faith suffers damage. That's not good.

 

 

Remembering the Context

In as much as this is one of the most important promises in all of Scripture, It's easy to take some of these powerful Scriptures which we like and indeed need so much, and to use them as though they were stand-alone versus. The problem is that when we do this we can very often take things out of context and sometimes we can even neglect the meaning of what was actually said. So, let's refresh our memory as to what led up to this command:
In Matthew 10:1-15, Messiah is giving ministry instructions to His small group of 12 followers. First, by the Holy Spirit, Matthew describes exactly who these followers were (Matthew 10:1-5). Messiah then goes on to give instructions concerning how this small group is to carry out ministry. Please remember that these specific instructions were given prior to Messiah's death and resurrection (Matthew 10:6-15). In most cases, the instructions of God have A universal meaning, but in this case the instructions that were given were time sensitive. We know this because prior to Messiah becoming the atoning Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, Messiah's followers were told not to go into the places of the Gentiles (Matthew 10:5-6), but after His earthly ministry was completed, after He was resurrected, and just prior to His ascension, Messiah then enlarged their ministry to include the entire world (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; cf. Ephesians 2).
Even though the instructions of Matthew 10:6-15 do not precisely apply to us anymore since Matthew 28:18-20 is now in effect, there are still some principles that we can and should learn from Messiah's instructions (Romans 15:4), in this case, concerning the first harvest:
1. Genuine revival will always begin among God's people first. In our postmodern mass-market culture we are taught to think of success in terms of how many new people, how many new customers are we getting. However, in God's economy, revival is all about getting God's house in order before reaching to the rest of the world. That's why in any genuine and authentic revival you will first see the heart of believers returning to God and obeying His precepts before you ever see a mass arrival of new converts (Matthew 10:5-6)
2. In a genuine revival the message will be constant: "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand." Why does God ask His ministers to stick to that message? Quite frankly, because that's the one we always need, and the one we are most likely to forget. God's kingdom is a theocracy. Yahweh is in charge, not us. It's His kingdom, not ours. Remember that to repent literally means to change one's mind, to change one's purpose or intent, to change one's desires, and to change one's way of life away from sin and toward what is pleasing to God. As believers, we stand in constant need of repentance throughout our lives, so that message is never obsolete (Matthew 10:7).
3. In a genuine revival and move of God, there will be signs and wonders. At the same time, it's critical to note that the signs and wonders will always coincide with, and will always address the real and concrete needs of the people. God does indeed do miracles, but almost without exception, His miracles will always point back to God, and they will always meet the concrete real needs of people. The legitimate gifts of the Spirit never point back to the Minister. They always focus on who God is, who Jesus is, and meeting the needs of the one who is receiving ministry (Matthew 10:8 cf. 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14).
4. In a genuine move of God, the ministers will operate on faith. That is to say, you don't take out a loan to raise an influx of cash so that you can do what God called you to do. Why do I make such a point of this? God does not entirely bless such a backward practice, because it violates Scripture. It's also an oxymoron. Think about it. The Bible is very clear that the one who borrows becomes a slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7). So how can you affectively preach freedom, deliverance and salvation in Jesus Christ, but you are going to go into the slavery of debt in order to do ministry? No, you gather your support as you go, you build as you can afford to within your means, and you trust God to meet the needs as you go, but you don't put yourself in other people in bondage so you can preach freedom (Matthew 10:9-10).
5. In a genuine move of God, faithful ministers will not be jumping from pillar to post. It will stay where God sends them, and where the people are receptive. Faithful ministers are not constantly looking for where the grass is greener and opportunities seem greater. At the same time, if the people are not receptive, faithful ministers are not required to endlessly plead and try to force people into a blessing. There does come a time when faithful ministers must move on if the people are not receptive to the message after due diligence and effort has been employed (Matthew 10:11-13).
6. Remember that ministers are called to be obedient to the Lord. The results are strictly between God and the individual, after the Minister has been faithful and obedient.
Our jobs as ministers is to be as faithful and obedient to the Lord as we can, and we should always be striving to improve. At the same time, we must remember that no matter how effectual we seek to be in ministry and service to the Lord, not everyone will accept the truth. The results after this are in God's hands, not ours.
In Matthew 10:16-39, Messiah detailed some of the difficulties that genuine God followers would face. The apostles reminded us of the same principles in their writings (2 Timothy 3:12). We have been warned to expect it and not be surprised by it (1 Peter 4:12).
In Matthew 10:40-42, Messiah reminded his first followers of the rewards for faithful and obedient service.
In Matthew 11:1-6, we see all these principles exemplified through John the baptizer, who has just been arrested.
In Matthew 11:7-19, Messiah affirms John the baptizer's ministry, and He declares that if the people had been willing to believe it and receive it, John was in fact the one operating in the spirit and power of Elijah who was to come and prepare the way for Messiah.
In Matthew 11:20-24 Messiah then pronounces woeful judgments, specifically on the cities that had heard his preaching, who had seen God miraculously working through Yeshua the Messiah, and then rejected Him.
In Matthew 11:25-27 Messiah then goes on to a prayer of thanksgiving to Yahweh. He first gives thanks to Almighty God His Father that the true concepts of the kingdom, about who John the Baptizer was, and about who He is; these things are not revealed to the wise, to the overly educated academics, or to the veterans in ministry. No, instead these things are revealed to infants. They are revealed to those who are like infants, who understand their absolute dependence upon God.

 

Viewing This Command in Its True Context

It's critical to remember that it is within the context of everything Messiah just said in the last 69 verses that the command and promise we are now studying actually applies. Remember that in this combined command and promise, He is addressing believers who know and understand who John the Baptist really was, they understand that Jesus truly is the Messiah. They understand at least on a basic childlike rudimentary level how the kingdom of God is supposed to function, and that the religious and political establishment isn't functioning as God designed them to work. They are choosing to remain true to what God says regardless of what the traditional religious and political establishments say. The people Messiah is addressing in this command and promise are facing hardship and persecution because of their faithful stand for God and The Messiah. It was in this context that Jesus said these words:
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” ” (Matthew 11:28–30, NASB95)
Yes, Almighty God and Messiah does desire for every individual to come to Him. Yes, the Almighty desires for every person to come to Him, and that no one would perish. There are other verses that speak to this throughout the Testament. At the same time, this particular verse cannot correctly be applied that way. Entering into the Lord's rest is not a free-for-all, as some would suggest. Both the first and second writings of the Whole Testament, apply the same restrictions concerning entering the Lord's rest or Sabbath.
1. Entering into God's rest requires that we be in covenant and in right relationship with Almighty God and the Messiah. This requires that we believe Him and continually come to Him.
2. Just because we are intended to make it and enter into God's rest, this does not magically guarantee that we will get to experience it. I give you this example. Didn't every single person who came out of Egypt with Moses, did they not all start out obeying God? Think about it. Everyone who came out with Moses had put the blood of the Passover lamb on their door posts so that the death angel would Passover and not kill their firstborn. According to the Scriptures, every one of those people had passed through the Red Sea on dry land and had seen the Lord's salvation. Everyone of those people were intended to live in a land full of promise and rest, but did they all enter the rest that God intended them to have? No they did not. In fact, among that first generation, only Joshua and Caleb actually lived to enter the Lord's rest, because they obeyed God, while the rest of their generation rebelled against God.
3. In both the first and second writings of the Whole Testament we are told the same thing. Entering into the Lord's rest requires that we believe God. It requires that we come to God. It requires that we start out obeying God. Entering into the Lord's ultimate Sabbath rest requires that we follow through and persevere in obeying God until we are all the way home and reach our ultimate destination.
Before you say, "Hey brother, that's Old Testament. We are under New Testament now. We are under Grace. Please, let me stop you there before you use such flawed theology to delude and comfort yourself right into hell. Yes, the example I used regarding Joshua Caleb and the children of Israel are in the first writing of the Testament, that's true. However, the exact same principle is restated again in the Second Writing of the Testament, or the New Testament (Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:1-33; Hebrews 4:1-16. Again and again we are warned throughout the Second Writings (AKA the New Testament) that we should diligently learn from the so-called Old Testament. We should hold on to the good examples (i.e. Hebrews chapters 11-12), all the while making sure that we not to repeat Israel's mistakes and failures. Please do not be deceived. Thank you for joining me. See you next time.
 
Brother Michel Lankford

God Is Pleading for Us to Hear Him

Christ's 28th Command
 
By Brother R. Michel Lankford

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 11:15)

Please Read: Matthew 11:1-19, (Which is the full context of the command),

 

The Command in This Specific Context

It was well understood by the prophets and teachers of Torah that before Messiah came, either Elijah himself, or one operating in the spirit and power of Elijah would come to usher in the coming of Messiah. The key message of this latter Elijah would be repentance and a strong call for people to return to adherence to the written Word and Will of God (Malachi 4:4-5; Luke 1:13-17). Jesus Christ was declaring that John the Baptizer was indeed that prophesied precursor to the Messiah. The apostle Matthew agrees.
At the time, the people listening to Christ's words were struggling with the question. Who are these two men (meaning Joshua of Nazareth and John who baptized in the wilderness)? Are they agents of God? Are they impostors and frauds? Or are they simply insane? Is John the baptizer the forerunner of Messiah which was foretold or is he a fraud? Is Joshua, this Jesus of Nazareth truly the Messiah, the Christ who was promised by God and foretold by the prophets?
Yes! I believe that John the baptizer was the forerunner who operated in the spirit and power of Elijah, and I believe that Jesus/Joshua of Nazareth is in fact the Messiah and Christ sent by Almighty God. We must remember though, that at the time this discourse (Matthew 11:1-19) occurred, people were not at all sure who these two people were. They had certain expectations of the Messiah which teaching and tradition taught them to expect. While Jesus was meeting the biblical standards that were prophesied concerning Messiah, Jesus was not meeting the expectations that developed concerning Messiah according to the traditions of men. That left people in a quandary including John the Baptist himself. When John the baptizer was preaching in the wilderness, he was absolutely certain who and what Yeshua is (John 1:29; John 3:1-36), but when Yeshua did not fulfill what human traditions had taught that Messiah ought to be (remember He fulfilled the Scriptures but not the traditional teachings and expectations of men). People, including John the baptizer expected that Messiah would immediately overthrow all of Israel's enemies, and that the eternal kingdom would be instantly established. They completely forgot about the prophecy concerning the fact that Messiah would have to be cut off and killed for the sins of others (Daniel 9:26; Isaiah 53:1-12).
Even though it was completely prophesied concerning Messiah, these ideas had been completely pushed out by what had become the traditional teachings, beliefs and expectations of men concerning the Messiah. So when John the baptizer, who had faithfully preached the message of repentance and returning to God before the coming of Messiah suddenly found himself being arrested by Herod, I believe this was not what he expected. He struggled with doubts, because that turn of events ran completely contrary to what tradition concerning the Messiah had trained God's people to expect. That's why Jesus the Messiah sent John the reassuring message (Matthew 11:1-6).
Messiah then went on to give His affirmation of who John the baptizer was, and what John's ministry meant (Matthew 11:7-19).
As it is written:

“And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear. ” (Matthew 11:14–15, NASB95)

That phrase, 'And if you are willing to accept it...' is a very interesting terminology because on its face, it clearly suggests that each individual has a personal responsibility to accept the truths of God with which we are presented. Therefore this clearly refutes the idea that God's grace is absolutely irresistible, as some erroneously teach.
In A larger sense each human being will face the same exact questions that first century Israelites encountered. Is this John the baptizer who baptized people into repentance in the River Jordan, was he the forerunner of the Messiah. If you believe that he is, then believing and obeying Messiah becomes that much easier. Messiah then proceeds to give the woeful curses on those cities that refuse to listen or refused to hear (Matthew 11:20-24).

 

 

The Command in Its Broader Biblical Context

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear. (Matthew 11:15)

 
Both Yahweh Almighty God and His Word Who became flesh, Jesus the Messiah have been constantly pleading for people to hear and hearken to His voice. Almost from the very beginning unto this very day, God has been pleading for people to hear, to receive, to pay attention to, to believe and to obey the voice of the LORD. That is a constant chorus throughout the Whole Testament of Scripture. He repeats it constantly, because we need constant reminding. In fact, the very phrase in our command, 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear,' is repeated no less than 16 times in the 2nd writings (a.k.a. The New Testament). I have not counted how many times the sentiment is repeated through the whole counsel of God, but the concept is often repeated throughout the Whole Testament of Scripture. The point is that God is pleading for people to hear, to recognize, to receive, to believe and to obey the Voice of the LORD.
We will not do an exhaustive study of the command throughout the entire counsel of the Whole Testament, but I want to do a flyby of the concept spanning the entire Testament, so that you understand how important God considers this command. I do this not to exhaust your patience, but because this concept is so simple and yet so critical, and it is often the very simple yet most critical things that get neglected:
In Genesis, we see that God's word is so powerful that it created everything (Genesis 1). That way we can see that it can certainly re-create us. We see that Abraham and the patriarchs heard God, they were counted righteous because they believed, and through them God established the precedent of righteousness through faith (Genesis 12). By contrast we also see the effects of listening to the devil instead of listening to God (Genesis 3). In Genesis 4, we also see that Cain refused to hear God's counsel, therefore sin overtook him and he murdered his brother.
In Exodus, we see that Moses routinely heard and favorably responded to the voice of the Lord. God revealed Himself in special ways to Moses and those who heard God's word and acted upon it were delivered from God's judgment (i.e. Exodus chapters 3,12).
In Numbers, we see the tragedy that comes from listening to our own fears and refusing to hear God's voice (Numbers chapters 13, 14). The people refused to enter the land that God promised them because of their fears, but Joshua and Caleb were faithful to God's voice, and they were the only ones of that generation to enter the promised land.
In Deuteronomy, we see the entire law of God repeated for a new generation coming out of the wilderness and about to enter the promised land. The second telling of the law of God begins with a great cry of God's heart, which is often repeated every Sabbath day in congregations of God's faithful people throughout the world: "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! Deuteronomy 6:4 (NASB)

In the book of Joshua, we see that when God's people heard and obeyed God's voice, they won many miraculous victories against more powerful enemies (Joshua 6:1-27), but when they failed to either seek God's advice, they were deceived (Joshua 9:3-15). Or if they failed to obey God's voice, they lost even the so-called easy battles (Joshua 7:1-26).
In the book of Judges, we see the constant teeter totter of deliverance. For a while the people listen to God's voice, and obey His written word, but repeatedly they drift away from hearing and obeying God. They commit idolatry and other vile sins. God warns them to repent. They resist his voice. Israel's enemies triumph over them and oppress them for a while. They become overwhelmed under the burden. They cry out to God for deliverance. He sends a judge or deliverer who defeats the oppressor. Israel is then grateful and starts obeying God for a while but then repeatedly returns back into the old pattern of rebellion and disobedience and the pattern repeats itself through the entire book of Judges. That pattern of Israel's behavior is recounted also in Psalm 107. It is written there as an example for us not to repeat that bad habit.
In 1 Samuel, we see that offerings and ministries are okay, but they are only accepted by God after we hear and obey God's voice and directions. If we are willfully disobedient, our offerings are meaningless: 1 Samuel 15:22-23 Samuel said, "Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king." (NASB)
In Job, we see a man who was constantly crying out to hear God's voice. He stayed faithful to what he knew God wanted him to do, and God rewarded him with seven times more than anything he'd lost.
In Psalms, we routinely see the psalmists begging God to help them to take heed and to obey God's word (i.e. Psalm 19; Psalm 119:36; Psalm 119:11, 112; Psalm 141:4). He also warned us not to repeat the sins of Israel in the wilderness (Psalm 95:7-11; cf. Hebrews 3:15-19).
In Proverbs, God's word is constantly pleading for us to listen to the voice of wisdom and to turn away from every foolishness.
In Ecclesiastes, we see that the whole point of human existence is to reverentially fear the Lord, and to hear, to learn and to keep His Commandments. Comparatively everything else is meaningless because we will all have to answer to God someday (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
I could go on to find many other examples throughout the First Writings, but you get the idea. The exact same sentiment is repeated constantly throughout the second writings:
In Matthew, we see that Messiah defeated the devil with the rightly divided Word (Matthew 4). We also see that hearing God's word and doing God's will actually ensure our entry into the kingdom of God (Matthew 7:21). Hearing His words will also ensure that we are not torn asunder, but that we successfully endured through the storms and difficulties of this life (Matthew 7:24-25).
In Mark, He warns us to be attentive and receptive to the word (Mark 4:3-9).
In Luke, He repeats the exact same instruction (Luke 8:4-8). In the same book we have clear examples that both Joseph the husband of Mary and the wise men were receptive to God's leading, and so Messiah was saved from premature death, thus helping to guarantee our salvation.
In John, we see that hearing, receiving, and abiding in God's word will make us disciples. It will cause us to know the truth, and it will free us from slavery to sin (John 8:31-36). We know that hearing His voice is one of the things that identifies and marks us as one of His people, because Christ's sheep hear His voice, and won't follow another (John 10:27). We know that hearing and doing His commands is what demonstrates that we really love Him (John 14:21). Hearing and doing His Word is what makes us fruitful and productive in Him (John 15:1-7). It's what brings us into friendship with Him (John 15:14). It's what sanctifies us and sets us apart unto God (John 17:17). It is also what unites us to Him (John 17:20).
In Acts, the entire book is absolutely filled with one account after another people who heard God's word, and the leading and direction of the Holy Spirit, and their lives were forever radically changed (i.e. the people on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2); and Paul the apostle (Acts 9).
In Romans, we see that hearing and responding to God is what identifies us as one of His children (Romans 8:14). Hearing God's word is what produces faith (Romans 10:17), and believing God's word when it is preached is what grants us God's salvation Romans 10:8-14).
In 1st Corinthians, the entire book deals with the idea of how the Word of God functions together with the moving of the Holy Spirit to transform lives (i.e. 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14).
In Ephesians, we see that the Word and the Spirit seals us (Ephesians 1:3). A husband can use the Word to sanctify his wife (Ephesians 5:26). God's Word is our principle weapon in spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10-20).
In Philippians, we learn how important it is that we hold on to God's word without fear (Philippians 1:14). We learn to hold on to the word through all our difficult circumstances so that all our struggles will not be in vain (Philippians 2:16).
In Colossians, we learn that the Word is the foundation for our hope (Colossians 1:5). We are encouraged to make the word of God fully known (Colossians 1:25). We are encouraged to allow the Word to dwell in us richly, to encourage, and admonish each other using the words that are found throughout the Testament (Colossians 3:16).
In 1st Thessalonians, we are to comfort and encourage one another with the hope that we find in God's word (1 Thessalonians 4:18).
In 2nd Thessalonians, we are told to comfort one another with the word (2 Thessalonians 2:17, and we are told to pray God's word will speed forward and the people will be open and receptive to the word (2 Thessalonians 3:1).
In 2 Timothy, we are told to follow the word (2 Timothy 1:13). We are told to be faithful to the word, correctly dividing and interpreting it (2 Timothy 2:14-15). We are guaranteed that if we stay faithful to it, it is sufficient to salvation, and it will leave us completely equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:14-17).
In Hebrews, we encounter the word of God that is living and active, sharper Than a two edged sword. It's able to discern the soul and the spirit, joints and marrow, and to judge the thoughts and intentions of our heart, so that we can repent before we have to be judged by God (Hebrews 4:12). We are encouraged to become mature and skillful in using the Word of God (Hebrews 5:11-13). We have an encouragement to remember all of those who live by God's word in the past, and to learn from their positive example (Hebrews chapter 11-12:1-2).
In James, we are encouraged to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. We again see that the Word is able to Save us. We are also warned that hearing and doing God's Word is our best safeguard against self-deception (James 1:19-25).
In 1 Peter, we are reminded that the word of God endures forever, and through it, we are born again (1 Peter 1:23-25). Therefore we should crave the word, in the same way the newborn babies crave mother's milk (1 Peter 2:2).
In the epistles of John, we are told that keeping God's word will perfect us in God's love, and confirmed that we are indeed in him (1 John 2:5). We are reminded that by abiding in God's word we overcome the evil one (1 John 2:14).
In the book of Revelation, God makes a final plea for us to hear His Words. He repeats this exact command, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." He repeats it some seven or eight times.
Beloved, that is not an exhaustive list but you get the point. He offers His Word to everyone who's willing to receive it (Isaiah 55:1-11). God doesn't want anybody to perish. He wants everyone to be saved (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4). He is eagerly willing to receive everyone that comes to Him (Matthew 11:28-30; John 6:37; Romans 10:13). The simple truth is that we will either hear God's Word and favorably respond to it so that we will be saved, or we will resist, neglect, diminish it, reject, or misuse God's word to our own destruction (Hebrews 3:15; 2 Peter 3:16).
I've said it in the past, and I will say it again:
I believe that Almighty God created the heavens and the earth and everything in them by speaking His Word (Genesis 1:1-3, 31). Therefore, I believe that God said what He meant and means what He says. I believe that all Scripture (Old Testament and New Testament) is God breathed, anointed and appointed by God.
I believe that it is all completely sufficient for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the people of God will be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (see 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
I believe that it is the refusal to rightly divide and obey God's word that is at the root cause of every human ill and character defect we will ever encounter.
I believe that when it is rightly divided and obediently applied in the context of being in right relationship with God and Jesus Christ, His Word is completely sufficient to give us true wisdom in every situation, guidance and comfort through every hardship, and victory in every battle.
This is why you want to avoid preachers and teachers who tickle your ears, who tell you what you want to hear or who diminish or change the word to suit their own purposes instead of faithfully pursuing God's purpose. It's not as though God has failed to repeatedly warn us. God is pleading with us to hear Him, to believe Him, to obey Him and to persevere with Him, and His Word. I want to be one of those people who enjoys the blessings of hearing and doing God's word, how about you?
Prayer: Almighty God Who created heaven and earth by the words of His mouth, have mercy upon me. Save me according to Your unfailing love. I admit that I have at times been willful, hardhearted, unreceptive and disobedient to Your Word. Please forgive me. Speak forth Your Word afresh in my heart, and save me from destruction (Psalm 107:20). Mercifully give me ears that truly hear You and what Your Holy Spirit says. Graciously transform my heart to be good, fertile ground for the seed of Your Word. Fill my heart with so much love toward God, that obeying Your Word doesn't even feel like a burden, but is instead always a delight and a joy. Grant that Your Word will produce an abundance of good fruit in my life. I commit my will to Your hands. I choose to be willing and obedient to You, but I need Your constant help to correctly fulfill that choice. Help me to be willing and obedient and to persevere in doing what truly pleases You, so that Your Word will truly become my salvation, and not my destruction. Graciously transform me and sanctify me by Your Word into one of Your children, who brings authentic joy and delight to Your heart. Mercifully grant this according to Your unfailing love, and also through Your Living Word made flesh, Yeshua the Messiah, amen.

Do Not Think I Came to Bring Peace, But a Sword

 

Christ's 27th Command:

By Brother R. Michel Lankford

 
"Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. Matthew 10:34 (NKJV)

Please Read: Matthew 10:24-39, (Which is the full context of the command)

 

Understanding the Command

This is not the first time that the Whole Testament challenges us to direct our thinking correctly:
· Deuteronomy 6:4-9 tells us how often we are to think and speak God's Words (cf. Joshua 1:7-8; Psalm 1).
· Isaiah 26:3 tells us to fix and stabilize our minds on Almighty God, and He will keep us in perfect peace when we Trust in Him (cf. John 14:27).
· Isaiah 55:1-9 tells us that redirecting our thinking is part of the repentance which will bring God's abundant forgiveness into our lives.
· The whole gospel account according to Matthew describes to us how to think according to the kingdom of Almighty God.
· Romans 12:1-2 clearly tells us that if we want to know and do the will of God successfully, we must let God renew our minds, so that our thinking patterns and our behaviors will not conform to the sinful and ungodly world (cf. Romans 8:5-8).
· The whole book of Philippians tells us how to keep ourselves encouraged by developing a God and Christ centered mindset.
So as you can see, developing a God centered and Christ centered mindset is a key to living as a successful disciple. Those are just a few examples on how the idea transcends the Whole Testament of Scripture.
The only imperative or command in Matthew 10:34 is, "Do not think..." Once again, Messiah is pointing out that in order to obey God and persevere in obeying God through difficult times, we are going to have to learn to think correctly.

 

Understanding the Principle behind the Command

When Messiah is saying, "Do not think...," He is not seeking or desiring to exercise some mystical form of mind control. He is trying to prepare us for the reality of living in a sinful world. Messiah's trying to prepare us to survive, to overcome, and even help us to thrive in the midst of difficult times. An essential part of doing that is that we must learn to think correctly.
Proverbs 13:12 specifically tells us that, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is the tree of life." In Biblical language, to hope literally means to place "a confident expectation" in a specific result. According to the proverb we just read, having our confident expectations not be fulfilled, when what we hope for does not come to pass, then we become heartsick. That is why it becomes vital for us to put our hope and our confident expectations in the right place, so that our hopes have a better chance of being fulfilled and less chance of being deferred.
In about 20 years of service to our Lord and Master, I've seen many would-be disciples become utterly crushed because their expectations and hopes were not fulfilled. Without fail, some diligent investigation has always proved that they were expecting God to do something or to prevent something, and the outcome did not occur as they hoped or expected that it would.
Without fully conceiving or admitting it in their conscious mind, many believers believe that God failed them or let them down in some way. The belief that God let them down because their confident hope was deferred and they became heartsick is not accurate of course. Those that correctly place their hope in the Lord will not be disappointed (see Romans 5:1-5; Romans 9:33; Romans 10:11; 1 Peter 2:6).
In my experience, investigation has always proved that the problem was that the disciple actually places their hope in the wrong place. That is to say, they placed their confident expectation towards a result that either God did not actually promise, or if God did indeed promise what they were expecting, the promise was made with conditions attached which the believer clearly did not rightly fulfill, and that is why they did not receive the result they were expecting. The reason that God and Jesus Christ gives us very specific instructions about how we are supposed to think is because God does not want us to put our hopes and expectations in the wrong place, and as a result we would make ourselves heartsick needlessly.
This is why such false teachings and worldly philosophies such as the Roman Catholic's ecumenical movement for example, (which tries to artificially produce unity and peace on earth through control and political means) is so dangerous, because it produces a false representation of what it means to be Christian, and a false expectation at the same time. The Roman Catholic Church is not alone in trying to sell this pipe dream to the body of Christ. Both the seeker sensitive movement and the emerging church movement so prevalent in the Protestant churches have also attempted to push the doctrine of peace and unity on earth at virtually any cost, even if it means abandoning sound biblical doctrine and truth to do it. There are many who will call themselves Christians in our present day who incorrectly believe that the primary goal of the church is to unify the world into a universal lack of conflict. This is a misconception. The primary function of the church is to preach and demonstrate true repentance and how to be disciples who function according to the decrees of the kingdom of God, so that sinners will repent and escape the judgment that is sure to come. That's the primary function of the church.
Beloved, I dislike conflict, confrontation, war and devastation as much, if not more than the average person.
Yes, it would be nice if every heart, if every mind, if every person's will and every soul were correctly aligned and agreeable to Almighty God, to Jesus Christ and to the Holy Spirit. It would be awesome if every human being's goal was to actively overcome their garbage, to correctly obey and apply God's principles, and each one treated their neighbor as they themselves would want to be treated (Matthew 7:12). If all we have to do is make nice and shake hands, it would be great. Wouldn't it be lovely if all we had to do was hold hands with our neighbor swaying back and forth, (in unison of course), and sing Kum ba yah, my lord, Kum ba yah. That would be great. It would also be called the garden of Eden before humankind fell into sin, or the kingdom of God.
As a result of the misconceptions and misplaced expectations such as the ones described above, many people have even taken up the dangerous practice of judging God. Think about it. How many of us have heard the old-line, 'Well, if God was for real, then how come there is so much pain, sorrow, suffering and death in the world?'
The answer is simple. It's called SIN. When God gave us the world, it was in perfect order. When God first gave us the world, there was no evil. At that time, there was no sorrow, no disease and no death (Genesis chapters 1-2). Almighty God gave humanity (Adam and Eve, and we their descendants) were given the stewardship and guardianship of the perfect world He created. In Genesis 3, we see that humankind started listening to and then obeying the devil instead of obeying God.
Each successive generation has since followed the exact same pattern of devastation. The answer to the skeptical question, "Well, if God is for real then why is the world in such a mess?" When God gave it to us it wasn't a mess. We are in the mess we're in because each successive generation disobeys God and listens to the devil, and satan then takes unfair advantage of the mileage that we give him. We sin, and we are the ones who bring devastation into the world. Beloved, we need to quit blaming God for our sins and the wreckage it creates.
The truth is that right now, we don't live in the garden of Eden anymore, nor do we live in the kingdom of God yet. There will be a time when God renews all things. At that time there will be no more sin or sorrow, no more pain and no more death for the people of God (Daniel 9:24; Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1-9). Until that time arrives, our job is to repent and turn away from evil, persevere and grow in knowing and obeying Almighty God and Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we can overcome the evil that is in the world through our faith (1 John 5:1-5; Revelation 21:7).
In the meantime we can seek for peace, we can pursue peace, (Psalm 34:14; Romans 12:18), but we should by no means set our hopes and expectations there, because our hopes will be deferred if we place our hope and peace on earth while we are in our present age (Jeremiah 6:14). Until the great day of the ultimate Restoration finally arrives, Messiah tells us that He did not come to bring peace. He specifically tells us not to put our expectations there, lest our hopes be deferred and we would lose heart. God's people have a lot to persevere through and overcome before we finally see The Great Day of Restoration, and we need to be prepared. That's why Messiah tells us exactly what we should expect in the meantime:
· If you love Almighty God and Jesus Christ and your goal is to do right in His eyes, then we should expect that both the sinful world, and those in the religious world who are hypocrites will hate and revile us for it, just as they did the Messiah (Matthew 10:24-25; John 3:16-21; Matthew 5:12).
· If you love Almighty God and Jesus Christ and your goal is to do right in His eyes, then we should expect persecution and not applause, at least not yet (Matthew 5:11; John 16:1-4; James 1:2-4; 2 Timothy 3:13).
When God's word instructs us to direct our thinking a particular way, He does so for a particular reason. He does it for our protection. God knows the future and we do not. When God tells us to think or not to think in a certain manner, it is because He does not want us to put our hope and expectation in the wrong place. He does not want us to get our hope deferred and to make ourselves heartsick when our misplaced expectations are not fulfilled.

 

Successfully Obeying the Command

As with every Biblical command, the most important discussion to have is, "How do I obey this command successfully?" This is a particularly tough question to ask whenever the commands and promises of God we encounter lean contrary to our preferences are comforts, but that is when it is most particularly important to ask this question and take steps in agreement with God's direction because it will take more than just the usual effort. So how can we strengthen ourselves to persevere in the midst of difficult times and overcome them? This is by no means an exhaustive scriptural list, but here are the basic instructions:
1. Acknowledge and admit your present difficulties. Bring them to the Lord. Admit them, do not deny them, but commit both yourself and your present difficulties to the Lord. Ask God to help you to be especially careful so that you will continue to apply His Words and Principles correctly in the midst of your present challenge (Psalm 37:1-9).
2. Reframe your situation within your mind. This is one of the hardest things to do, but it is an absolute must if we are to overcome successfully. We have to remember that in this world we will have tribulation (John 16:33). We will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12). We should not be surprised when it occurs, (1 Peter 4:12). What we have to remember is to reframe them in our mind. That is to say, we have to attach the correct meaning behind our suffering.
a). Our sufferings and challenges are known to God. He is not unaware of them, and yes He does care about us in the midst of them (Matthew 10:29).
b). We must remember that God intends to use our weaknesses challenges and difficulties for our ultimate well-being, in order to refine and transform us into the nature and character of His Son Jesus Christ. Remember that our pains and challenges are intended to transform and restore us, and never to destroy us (Psalm 106:1; Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 8:28; James 1:2-4; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Romans 5:1-5; Revelation 21:7). The key; the difficult part is to persevere in trusting and obeying God and continuing to do what pleases Him until our victories are manifest. That's the tough part, but it makes the difference between restoration or ruin. The scariest part is that the choice is in our own hands (Galatians 6:7-10).
c). The last thing we have to remember when we are trying to reframe our challenging situations in our mind is to remember to turn the tables. Think about it. If the persecutions, the trials, the tribulations and the challenges are happening just as Messiah forewarned us they would, then in one sense this too should serve to actually increase our hope in our minds. That's because, if the difficult times which Christ's forewarned are happening just as He said they would, then that means that the promises and benefits of persevering in obeying God and keeping faith in Jesus Christ are also equally true, and therefore, this should serve as an encouragement to us to persevere until we successfully overcome.
3. Abide in the Words of God and Jesus Christ (John 15:1-11): We hear that word a lot in church, but very often we get so busy that we don't take time to really digest what it truly means to "Abide." Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition) actually describes the word abide quite well. To abide means to endure and wait for without yielding. In the biblical sense, to abide literally means that we take up residence and establish our lives in a particular location. In this case, we are to take up residence, establish our lives, practice doing God's word repeatedly, endure and wait in the words of God and Jesus Christ without yielding that position. If we learn to do that we will eventually win and overcome through whatever difficulties we encounter.
Prayer: Almighty God, Lord Jesus Messiah, and gracious Lord Holy Spirit, have mercy on us. We do not relish difficult times, but your word makes it very clear that we will have them. Resenting it, resisting it, whining complaining, grumbling, and fretting about it only wastes valuable energy that we need in order to overcome, so please help us not to do that. Help us to think correctly so that we will not be deceived or disillusioned. By your grace and mercy, help us to respond correctly to our difficulties. Help us to abide in Your Word. Help us to correctly do Your Word, and help us to persevere in doing Your Word until we thoroughly overcome. In Christ's name, amen.