John the fifth chapter has fascinating application in the discernment of the true and false in the claims of so-called faith ministries, faith healing and derivative faith beliefs.
In this chapter Jesus heals an invalid man resulting in the man's rebuke by those in religious power referred to here as "the Jews". As "spiritual" leaders, these men were involved in rejecting the Messiah for the Jewish people (although some believed and eventually many more did).
These leaders did not recognize the authority Jesus held despite the works of God being before their eyes. To them Jesus spoke, described his authority and their failure to see it. My application of these matters to supposed faith healers begins at the pool of Bethesda.
"One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."
Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. ...-John 5:5-9 (NIV)
Jesus spoke it and the man was cured at once. We will not overlook verse 14--"Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."
Here I want to say that one should not claim they have a gift or a special anointing for healing if it is just not going to happen. Jesus spoke and the invalid was indeed healed...Jesus did not bus in a group of trained testimony givers to run back and forth on the stage, did not try to create an atmosphere for healing which is really just an emotional or hypnotic temporary effect. Also there was nothing given about holding that healing by faith or you would lose it. Rather the warning was stern and more severe..."Stop sinning or something worse may happen."
How did Jesus heal the man? Was it by some faith that is like the little train going uphill..."I think I can, I think I can", over and over? No.
"Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." John 5:19 (NIV)
Jesus said He could do nothing by himself, and that's exactly what a "minister" can do by himself, nothing. Do not be afraid to take it to the next level with any minister or anyone who makes a claim of some special gifting from God. Do they discern something indeed? Then what are they going to do about it? Ask them.
Who do we accept, as believers, to be someone bringing something from God? Think on this in verses 41-44...
"I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?" John 5:41-44 (NIV)
Why are Christian believers impressed with someone's poster, website, book, magazine, CD or DVD? These religious media are no more moderated than the old time Medicine Show in the back of the Conestoga Wagon. Here they come in their names, what's the latest thing, who's hot and which do we follow for the "next move of God"? Praising these men and women who are more show than substance is really a rejection of Christ.
Faith healers would be well-served by a reading of John chapter 5. Their focus, like ours, should be on God and not on men and women.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Angry Dudes We Love
Our heroes are sometimes very angry men. Sometimes this is what it takes to get the job done. Have you ever noticed the similarities of Thor, Hercules and Samson?
We have a hammer-swinging storm breaker who fights giants in Thor, a monster-slayer and lion killer in Hercules, and there's Samson, who killed a lion barehanded and an army with a donkey jawbone.
Here's the account of that enormous slaying from Judges 15, 14-17 (NASB)...
When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds dropped from his hands.
He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he reached out and took it and killed a thousand men with it.
Then Samson said,
"With the jawbone of a donkey,
Heaps upon heaps,
With the jawbone of a donkey
I have killed a thousand men."
Hercules and Thor were known to be fairly angry dudes at times and Samson is like that. So I've wondered that we don't seem to have the same amount of fans for Samson as the others--the mythical men.
Samson belongs to the people of God, and just maybe there's a grudge against Samson in the church. One or two grudges...the Philistine girl he married, and Delilah.
Samson's great strength was given to him to battle those who were physical and spiritual enemies of Israel. First, though, he had to get mad at them. They persuaded his new wife to get the answer to a riddle out of him...and cause him to lose an expensive bet.
Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him,
"What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?"
Samson said to them,
"If you had not plowed with my heifer,
you would not have solved my riddle."
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of their belongings and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he went up to his father's house. And Samson's wife was given to the friend who had attended him at his wedding.
Judges 14:18-20 (NIV)
Here is a little information on Ashkelon, from Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary found on BibleGateway.com:
..........................................
It stood on the shore of the Mediterranean, 12 miles north of Gaza. It is mentioned on an inscription at Karnak in Egypt as having been taken by king Rameses II., the oppressor of the Hebrews. In the time of the judges (Judg. 1:18) it fell into the possession of the tribe of Judah; but it was soon after retaken by the Philistines (2 Sam. 1:20), who were not finally dispossessed till the time of Alexander the Great. Samson went down to this place from Timnath, and slew thirty men and took their spoil. The prophets foretold its destruction (Jer. 25:20; 47:5, 7). It became a noted place in the Middle Ages, having been the scene of many a bloody battle between the Saracens and the Crusaders. It was beseiged and taken by Richard the Lion-hearted, and "within its walls and towers now standing he held his court."
...........................................
Ashkelon was the beginning of Samson's anger and retribution against the Philistines. Of course the culmination is the destruction of the temple of Dagon and the deaths of the worst of the partying idolaters, even as they thanked their god for giving Samson to them. Ironic, isn't it?
Hercules, beset by insanity from Hera, unknowing killed his wife and children. We do not excuse, but as this mythical hero spent his life in remorse, we forgive. Thor, a fearsome fellow, whose anger would flare over loud snoring,once dressed as a woman, the purpose - to deceive his enemies and get his hammer back, after which he smashed his enemies. That's a real twist for a manly slayer. Legend has not thought less of him for it. Samson's failings, his immorality, cannot be glossed over or glorified by the church...but we can forgive. Let's hear his repentance:
Then Samson prayed to the LORD, "O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes." Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.
Judges 16:28-30 (NIV)
Samson is heard there even offering his own life for the mission, bringing down the heart of idolatry in his day. God did not again give such amazing strength to a man. He didn't have to. Dagon's temple had been brought down.
The riddle of Samson:
"Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness."
--from Judges 14:14 (KJV)
Out of the slayer Samson comes forth the meat of the Word that our spiritual strength is in our obedience to God, and our disobedience brings us into harm and defeat. Not from the carcass of the lion with honey inside, but it is that of Samson buried beneath the rubble of Dagon's house which yields the sweetness that honest repentance brings us back into the will and favor of God. An honest heart can go right back into the mission.
Samson--truly an angry dude whom I appreciate, and so should you.
(Read the rest of Samson's story in the book of Judges in the Holy Bible.)
We have a hammer-swinging storm breaker who fights giants in Thor, a monster-slayer and lion killer in Hercules, and there's Samson, who killed a lion barehanded and an army with a donkey jawbone.
Here's the account of that enormous slaying from Judges 15, 14-17 (NASB)...
When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him mightily so that the ropes that were on his arms were as flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds dropped from his hands.
He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he reached out and took it and killed a thousand men with it.
Then Samson said,
"With the jawbone of a donkey,
Heaps upon heaps,
With the jawbone of a donkey
I have killed a thousand men."
Hercules and Thor were known to be fairly angry dudes at times and Samson is like that. So I've wondered that we don't seem to have the same amount of fans for Samson as the others--the mythical men.
Samson belongs to the people of God, and just maybe there's a grudge against Samson in the church. One or two grudges...the Philistine girl he married, and Delilah.
Samson's great strength was given to him to battle those who were physical and spiritual enemies of Israel. First, though, he had to get mad at them. They persuaded his new wife to get the answer to a riddle out of him...and cause him to lose an expensive bet.
Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him,
"What is sweeter than honey?
What is stronger than a lion?"
Samson said to them,
"If you had not plowed with my heifer,
you would not have solved my riddle."
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of their belongings and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he went up to his father's house. And Samson's wife was given to the friend who had attended him at his wedding.
Judges 14:18-20 (NIV)
Here is a little information on Ashkelon, from Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary found on BibleGateway.com:
..........................................
It stood on the shore of the Mediterranean, 12 miles north of Gaza. It is mentioned on an inscription at Karnak in Egypt as having been taken by king Rameses II., the oppressor of the Hebrews. In the time of the judges (Judg. 1:18) it fell into the possession of the tribe of Judah; but it was soon after retaken by the Philistines (2 Sam. 1:20), who were not finally dispossessed till the time of Alexander the Great. Samson went down to this place from Timnath, and slew thirty men and took their spoil. The prophets foretold its destruction (Jer. 25:20; 47:5, 7). It became a noted place in the Middle Ages, having been the scene of many a bloody battle between the Saracens and the Crusaders. It was beseiged and taken by Richard the Lion-hearted, and "within its walls and towers now standing he held his court."
...........................................
Ashkelon was the beginning of Samson's anger and retribution against the Philistines. Of course the culmination is the destruction of the temple of Dagon and the deaths of the worst of the partying idolaters, even as they thanked their god for giving Samson to them. Ironic, isn't it?
Hercules, beset by insanity from Hera, unknowing killed his wife and children. We do not excuse, but as this mythical hero spent his life in remorse, we forgive. Thor, a fearsome fellow, whose anger would flare over loud snoring,once dressed as a woman, the purpose - to deceive his enemies and get his hammer back, after which he smashed his enemies. That's a real twist for a manly slayer. Legend has not thought less of him for it. Samson's failings, his immorality, cannot be glossed over or glorified by the church...but we can forgive. Let's hear his repentance:
Then Samson prayed to the LORD, "O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes." Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.
Judges 16:28-30 (NIV)
Samson is heard there even offering his own life for the mission, bringing down the heart of idolatry in his day. God did not again give such amazing strength to a man. He didn't have to. Dagon's temple had been brought down.
The riddle of Samson:
"Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness."
--from Judges 14:14 (KJV)
Out of the slayer Samson comes forth the meat of the Word that our spiritual strength is in our obedience to God, and our disobedience brings us into harm and defeat. Not from the carcass of the lion with honey inside, but it is that of Samson buried beneath the rubble of Dagon's house which yields the sweetness that honest repentance brings us back into the will and favor of God. An honest heart can go right back into the mission.
Samson--truly an angry dude whom I appreciate, and so should you.
(Read the rest of Samson's story in the book of Judges in the Holy Bible.)
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