CTT | Where there is no vision, the people perish…

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Inigo Montoya Meme from the Princess BrideA commonly used proof text for both “vision casting” leaders and “new apostolic reformation” leaders is pulled from Proverbs 29:18a, normally quoted from the KJV

Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) 18 Where there is no vision, the people perish

This verse is most often used to suggest that since the people perish due to a lack of vision what they need to survive is a pastor who casts visions or a prophet who shares visions. The first problem with this notion, is that nowhere else in scripture (that I’m aware of) is this idea supported. The idea that without a vision-casting pastor or a prophet the people perish. Neither the ability nor the responsibility to cast a vision is listed in any of the criteria for an Elder, Pastor, or Deacon. Prophetic vision is a good thing, when it comes from the Lord God. Prophetic Visions always point back to God, whether they are of blessing, of punishment, or of promise. The problem comes when self-proclaimed NAR prophets/apostles focus their teaching/preaching/training on their visions over what is written in Scriptures, the Word of God. We’ll get to this point in a bit, but don’t worry, this will be a short post.

First, let us take a look at the full verse (yes… a major portion is left off of the end) in the KJV and in 3 translations that I consider to be solid translations of the Bible.

Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) 18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Proverbs 29:18 (NKJV) 18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.

Proverbs 29:18 (NASB) 18 Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law.

Proverbs 29:18 (ESV) 18 Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

That’s the thing about reading a proverb, most of them present dualistic thought. If a verse starts out doomed, you don’t have to guess what the opposite is, just keep reading. The opposite of “perish/unrestrained” is to keep the law and be “blessed/happy”. To keep the law. What is the law? Well, we know what the Apostle Paul had to say in his instruction to Timothy:

2 Timothy 3:10-17 (ESV) 10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

So then, even when we are without a Prophet of God sharing Visions from the Lord God, we are not truly without prophetic vision because we have the Scriptures. We are actually at a distinct advantage over the children of Israel who heard the word of the Prophets, for we not only have their writings, we also have the Gospel of Grace, the revealed Promised One of Abraham, of the seed of Eve who crushed the head of the devil and laid down His life as the atoning sacrifice for our sin. This is why neither the Apostle Paul nor the Apostle Peter included “casting vision” in their establishment of the office of Elder/Pastor. Peter especially was told to “feed God’s sheep” and Paul exhorts Timothy to “preach the Word“.

We’ve already taken a hard look at the test of a Prophet of God found in Deuteronomy, but I’d like to visit a couple of examples in the Old Testament of clear abuses of “vision casting” and how much it angers God when people follow after visions rather than the Word of God.

Jeremiah 23:23-32 (ESV) 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. 25 I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.

Ezekiel 7:23-27 (ESV) 23 “Forge a chain! For the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence. 24 I will bring the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the strong, and their holy places shall be profaned. 25 When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there shall be none. 26 Disaster comes upon disaster; rumor follows rumor. They seek a vision from the prophet, while the law perishes from the priest and counsel from the elders. 27 The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people of the land are paralyzed by terror. According to their way I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, and they shall know that I am the Lord.”

Zechariah 10:1-5 (ESV)
10 Ask rain from the Lord
in the season of the spring rain,
from the Lord who makes the storm clouds,
and he will give them showers of rain,
to everyone the vegetation in the field.
2 For the household gods utter nonsense,
and the diviners see lies;
they tell false dreams
and give empty consolation.
Therefore the people wander like sheep;
they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd.

3 “My anger is hot against the shepherds,
and I will punish the leaders;
for the Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah,
and will make them like his majestic steed in battle.
4 From him shall come the cornerstone,
from him the tent peg,
from him the battle bow,
from him every ruler—all of them together.
5 They shall be like mighty men in battle,
trampling the foe in the mud of the streets;
they shall fight because the Lord is with them,
and they shall put to shame the riders on horses.

These Prophets were speaking to the children of Israel during the time of the Babylonian Exile. There was much evil done in the sight of the Lord during that time, a time that had befallen them as punishment for their sin. My point here is to highlight the danger in relying on the dreams of dreamers and self-proclaimed prophets without exercising discernment, and without knowing the Word of God. Notice the language here, “My anger is hot against the shepherds” for they have neglected their duties. This is where Jesus is so angry with the Pharisees, for even after God relents and ends the Exile and even uses Cyrus the Great to rebuild Jerusalem, they once-again grow cold in the things of God and do what is evil in God’s sight, they forget their role as shepherds and preach themselves.

I know that for many of the younger pastors, their desire is to do the right thing and I want to say that their heart is in the right place. But this whole notion of “vision casting” is dangerous and unbiblical. A young pastor should first seek to emulate Timothy and Titus by doing that which they were told to do. Those of us who have been blessed with the Word of God are not in jeopardy of perishing or casting off restraint if we remain in God’s Word. There is no fear of falling away to false doctrines if we remain in the Word of God above all else.

I do believe that the gift of Prophecy is still available today because it is a gift of God the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 14), but God the Holy Spirit will never give a prophetic vision that will conflict or draw away from His own divinely revealed, God-breathed, Scriptures. He won’t. There was a time in my life when I longed for a personal, prophetic word to be spoken over my life… and that longing became its own idolatry, because I wasted years of my Christian life NOT reading and studying God’s Word. Anything that rises above the Word of God draws believers away from God.

It is my prayer that each of you reading this attends a good church of the Titus 2 variety, with faithful leadership and a deep commitment to the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless you and keep you.

In Him,
Jorge

The Pharisee | An honest look at their sin

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CTTIt seems these days whenever a Christian exercises Biblical discernment and questions the theology being presented or taught by a Pastor, Teacher, or fellow Christian, the accusation or warning of being Pharisaical is just around the corner. The trendy thing in today’s evangelical circles is to be “above denominations” and to be known as a “Word church”, a “Bible believing” church. What strikes me as odd is that many time such churches teach so very little Scripture, that one wonders exactly whose “word” the church has been built around. If Christ is to be both the Head of the Church and the Cornerstone of the church, then shouldn’t the very Word of God be the sole measure of the Church and its doctrine? Recently, a friend of mine shared that he was reading a book called Pharisectomy, so I decided it was time we stopped throwing around this general pejorative and look at what the sin of the Pharisee truly was in hopes of properly defining what it means to be Pharisaical.

 The Pharisees Rejected Jesus as the Christ, Son of God

I thought I’d start at the most obvious, and eternally condemning sin, the sin of rejecting Jesus as the Son of God. All of Israel was longing for the Messiah (Hebrew for the Anointed One of God) the Christ (Greek for the Anointed One), the Son of David to arrive as prophesied. In Matthew, we see from the beginning that the Pharisees were aware of the prophecies concerning the coming Christ, and they knew well enough to seek out the “one calling in the wilderness”.

Matthew 3:4-12 (ESV) 4 Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Wow. John the Baptist wasted no time calling out the Pharisees and Sadducees who came out to investigate John the Baptist. As Matthew records this event, he captures 3 statements (underlined) that serve as prophetic statements. The first is John’s reference to them as a “brood of vipers“. What is interesting to me, is that this will come up again a couple of times when Jesus confronts the Pharisees. The next underlined portion serves as prophetic warning of an argument that the Pharisees will indeed make during a confrontation with Jesus. Finally, the third statement ends up being a recurring theme in Jesus’ teachings regarding trees not bearing fruit. Very exciting. However, before we get to it, I want to hop over to John for the rest of this encounter between John the Baptist and the Pharisees. I can’t say whether or not this happened before the account in Matthew or after it, but it adds to the picture of what is taking place.

John 1:19-28 (ESV) 19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then?Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” 24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Clearly, the Pharisees were looking for the Christ, Elijah, or the Prophet. There hadn’t been an anointed Prophet of God since Malachi. Many expected Elijah to be the forerunner of the Christ. I find it interesting that John the Baptist denied this, when Jesus later spoke of John the Baptist as Elijah who had already come and was not recognized. I am certain that in his desire to do the will of God, his sole focus was to point to the Christ, the Son of God. Now Jesus performed a great many miracles. These miracles were to serve as a testimony to the fact that Jesus was in-fact, the Christ, the Son of God.

Matthew 11:2-6 (ESV)2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

This was what John the Baptist needed to hear, and all of these signs were performed before people so that they would know who Jesus is and repent. However, there were many who did not repent.

Matthew 11:20-24 (ESV) 20 Then [Jesus] began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

John 9:24-34 (ESV) 24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

John 8:31-47 (ESV) 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” 39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Now, as for what the Pharisees were looking for in the Christ, Jesus asks them directly toward the end. Granted that by this time, it is clear that the Pharisees had already hardened their hearts against Jesus declaring him a blasphemer, an impostor, even a sinner (for breaking the Sabbath according to their rules) and a demon-possessed man, still the answer is interesting:

Matthew 22:41-46 (ESV) 41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,
44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet”’?
45 If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” 46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

They set their hearts and minds to kill him, primarily because they rejected Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. Their fate was sealed by their hardened hearts and their unbelief. In His trial, Jesus made it clear to them that He had already said all that needed to be said, and He had done so openly, plainly, and publicly:

John 18:19-24 (ESV) 19 The high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 20 Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret. 21 Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.” 22 When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?” 24 Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

There is a lot more to be said about how these Pharisees ignored Messianic Prophecies and the Law of Moses to feed their greed, defend their pride, and feed their bloodlust against Jesus. They hated Jesus and were lovers of themselves, and their esteemed positions.

The Righteousness of the Pharisee was Purely External

Jesus had a lot to say about the heart issue of the Pharisees. They were neither fulfilling their duties as priests, nor were they serving the people. They were serving themselves. Let’s see how Jesus rebuked them.

Matthew 23:1-7 (ESV) 23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.

Matthew 23:23-36 (ESV) 23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! 25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

I skipped a couple of Woes because the fall more into the next point. Notice here, that Jesus doesn’t say that the Law is bad or wrong. He says plainly that the disciples are not to emulate their works. They preached perfection of the Law and their identity as Levites, Scribes, and Rabbis while hiding greed, self-indulgence, uncleanness, and lawlessness. In Luke 11, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees while dining in one of their homes. The Lawyers jump in, much to their dismay:

Luke 11:45-52 (ESV) 45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” 46 And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. 48 So you are witnesses and you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. 52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”

That last comment is telling. In their refusal to accept Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, the Pharisees also persecuted the church, in the same way that their fathers killed and persecuted the prophets.

They Did not Understand the Law, and They Abused it to Serve Themselves

Matthew 15:1-9 (ESV) 1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” 6 he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. 7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
8 “‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
9 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

Matthew 22:23-33 (ESV)  23 The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. 26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27 After them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.” 29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

Matthew 23:16-22 (ESV) 16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

Luke 18:9-14 (ESV) 9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Beware the Leaven of the Pharisees

Luke 12 (ESV) 12 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

Matthew 12:33-37 (ESV) 33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Hypocrisy, twisting of Scripture for their own traditions, self-aggrandizement, and rejection or obfuscation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are the markings of a Pharisee, or the sin of being Pharisaical. These are strong accusations. The rebukes levied against the Pharisees were of the strongest that Jesus uttered. We should be very careful to flippantly toss out such accusations at a brother or sister who is trying to point to the Word of God. Are there present-day Pharisees? Sure. However, I’d wager that they aren’t the ones commonly being labeled Pharisaical. Someone who preaches himself, or preaches only Law without Gospel, who weighs a man’s tithing before serving as his shepherd… these are the indicators of a Pharisee, not the one who is exercising Biblical discernment, objects to questionable teaching and insists on sound doctrine.

I pray that you walking the Spirit of God, and that you exercise Biblical and Spiritual Discernment. Guard your doctrine, and preach the Word of God rather than the schemes of men.

Jude 1: 24-25 (ESV) Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

May the Lord bless you and keep you,
In Him,
Jorge

Where did the week go?

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Philippians 1:2-11 (ESV)2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace,[d] both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Though this page is still small in its readership, I think and pray often for each of you who takes the time to read this blog. Thank you, for joining me in reading and studying the Word of God throughout your week. This week has been fairly inactive here at Faithful Stewardship, so I wanted to take some time to acknowledge that fact and provide a little background. I am currently taking some college courses, one of which is the History of Philosophy and this week I have a rather hefty exam.

That is not to say that I am not concurrently working on Bible Studies to share here. I am extremely excited about the next two subjects.

  1. We will be taking a close look at the sin of the Pharisees. Regrettably, a popular theme in modern-day Christianity has been to silence those practicing Biblical discernment and are actually doing the work of pointing out poor hermeneutics and false teaching, by accusing them of being Pharisaical. While that is an Ad Hominem attack, it’s not enough to point out the fallacy of argument (argument from fallacy, fallacy). Besides, there could be a spec of truth to it, so we need to do the work of first rightly understanding the sin of the Pharisee, so that we can see what the proper accusation of Pharisaical error should be.
  2. We will be taking a close look at the early Gospel confessions of Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of God”. I find that for years I have skimmed over this one monumentally significant point in the Gospel, that the children of Israel (and even the Samaritans) were indeed looking for “the Christ, the Son of God”. I think a big part of this oversight is that we, Christians, approach the study of Scriptures already knowing Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of God”, because we have the New Testament (and most of us are told to read the New Testament first. I even advise it myself!). However, at the time that Jesus walked the earth in the flesh, there was no New Testament; therefore, the significance of each confession of Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of God” is monumental. So I want to pour through the Old Testament Prophets to look at what it was these followers of God were looking for in the Christ, the Son of God. As it stands now, this will probably be a 2 part series at a minimum, because once we’ve developed a picture of what these people were looking for in the Christ, the Son of God… we’ll need to examine what it means when Jesus warned of false christs in the end time. I don’t think He was limiting His warning to just those who claim to be Jesus… there is more to it than that. I’m extremely excited for this series.

If I might be so bold, I’d like to ask for your prayers. We are currently in the process of building a home, finding a new Church, and seeking new opportunities for work and ministry. Additionally, I’m trying to complete my college degree (somewhat begrudgingly), and I need grace in that endeavor as well. I thank you for your time and your prayers. May the Lord bless and keep you always.

In Him,
Jorge

Discernment | Prophecy or Apostasy?

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The primary goal of Faithful Stewardship is to study the Word of God. Knowing what the Word of God says as the standard of Truth will preserve you from false doctrine. However, there is a great need in this present day to understand that there are false prophets, false teachers, and even false christs leading away the saints away from the faith, from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I’d like to borrow an exhortation from Christ Rosebrough at Fighting for the Faith, “please, don’t come with an open mind; rather, come with an open Bible”. We really can’t rely on our feelings or emotions to warn us of false teaching or false doctrine, we really need to hold every teacher, writer, speaker to the Word of God. Today, I just want to look at the basis for why it is so important to practice discernment and not to just “go with it” in the name of “not being a thorn in someone’s side”.

Remembering that Jesus Christ didn’t come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it, let us look at what the Law says about false prophets.

Deuteronomy 13 (ESV)  1 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. 6 “If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, 8 you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. 9 But you shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 11 And all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you. 12 “If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to dwell there, 13 that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, 14 then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, 15 you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction, all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. 16 You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square and burn the city and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again. 17 None of the devoted things shall stick to your hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he swore to your fathers, 18 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.

I’d like to make a couple of notes here. Firstly, according to the old covenant, they were to be put to death. Under the new covenant, we are not to physically put them to death, but death is still what is required for this sin. According Romans Chapter 6, we know that we must die to sin, die to our flesh, by joining in Christ’s death, so that we might be made alive in Him. Repentance, Atonement, Returning to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The false teachers are to repent of their idolatry! That is why we still have the Law and the Prophets. The letter of the law kills, so that those of us who have died to sin might be made alive in Christ before we die in the flesh and face Judgement. This is real. If you ascribe to the secessionist view, then you probably believe the office of the Prophet to be closed. I do not hold to that view, because I don’t see any support for it in the Bible. Neither do I see anything in Scripture that modified the office of Prophet; therefore, the standard for a Prophet of God remains unchanged. God promised His people to send Prophets, because Israel begged Moses to speak to them the Words of God, for they were too scared to hear God’s voice for themselves (Exodus 20:18-21). In this present day, for anyone who claims to be a Prophet, even if their signs/wonders come true, if they preach themselves, or a god that is not the One True God of the Bible (pantheism, gnosticism, humanism, etc.) they are to be put to death (called to repentance and cut off from the people until such repentance according to the Law) and we are NOT to listen to them. As Paul told Titus, “they are to be silenced” (Titus 1:11). I would also argue that this same test be applied to anyone claiming to be a present-day Apostle. Again, even if the signs/wonders come true, if what they preach is not in keeping with sound doctrine (Titus 2) they are to be silenced and “put to death” (called to repent). Now, we also run into some abuses in the current charismatic/evangelical circles where they are wise enough not to claim for themselves the office of Prophet or Apostle, yet they feel completely free to claim to speak on God’s behalf via a gift of the prophecy, knowledge, understanding from God the Holy Spirit. For some reason, in this community they think it’s okay to “prophecy” in the Name of God things that do not come to pass. Is that okay? There is also a test for that in the Law as well.

Deuteronomy 18:9-22 (ESV) 9 “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, 14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this. 15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

Here, we see that false prophets are not to be feared. So then, the bigger sin here, even in the Law, is anchored in the teaching of the one who claims to be speaking the Words of God. If their teaching leads the Children of God astray, they are to be silenced and put to death (again, we understand this now in the New Covenant to be a call to repentance, that they might die to their sin and repent and turn back to God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ). It is one thing to falsely prophecy signs and wonders that don’t come true… for the Law identifies that the prophet has spoken presumptuously, and they need not be feared. Do not fear these individuals, they are speaking of their own. I think this happens when young Christians are poorly discipled in the Word of God and out of their zeal try to “operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit” and end up speaking from themselves rather than from the Holy Spirit”. This is not a “safe zone” because if they take the next step to preach/teach/or lead to a false gospel, false spirits, false teachings, then there is a major problem. For according to the old covenant, this false teaching and leading astray from the One True God bore the penalty of death. This is Sin.

Even more troubling, is that false teachers often buy their own lie first, even before leading away others after gods they have not known (borrowing from the passages in Exodus above). We understand that only the work of the Holy Spirit is capable of opening the hearts of sinners to the Gospel of Grace… how much more then does the Hand of God have to fall on those who once professed a faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, only to have let themselves be led astray by spirits of error or by pride/presumptuous assertions? The Apostles spoke strongly against false teachers, false prophets, and false christs. That is because when Jesus was asked about the end times (Matthew 24), He warned strongly against false christs even leading astray the elect. Being deceived is a worse state than being lost.

2 Peter 2:17-22 (ESV) 17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

I encourage you, brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ, to hold firmly to the Word of God. Scrutinize heavily anything extra-biblical (outside of scripture) being presented as the Word of God. Test the spirits (1 John 4), for God the Holy Spirit will never object to His Spoken Word being measured by His Written Word, for He is One God. Silence the false teachers and issue a rebuke and a call to repentance, burn up the false doctrines and do not return to them. Preach the Word of God and teach in accordance with sound doctrine. For we are stewards of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is His Gospel, entrusted to us as His stewards. And do not fear the false prophet, false teacher, even the false christ. Fear and love the Lord God.

Jude 1:24-25 (ESV) Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

May the Lord Bless you and keep you,
In Him,
Jorge

Plagiarism and the Pulpit

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CTTRecently in the news and across the Christian blogosphere, we’ve seen a great deal of fallout regarding Mark Driscoll and his publishing scandals (plagiarism and manipulation of the NY Best Sellers list). That’s easy to discern since the books were sold for profit and the integrity issues are plain as day. But what about plagiarism from the pulpit? Is it only a problem if done without permission from the original author? If a preacher has gone to great lengths to build a sermon series but then offers it as free material to be used in any way imaginable by anyone… does that absolve others of any wrong doing for using that material without acknowledging that the work was not their own? If you are an artist, you probably say, “yes, everyone is free and clear to use images that have been made public domain by its author without requiring citation”. But is that the standard?

Paul exhorted Timothy many times in his letters to preach the Word of God. Titus, too, was warned to preach sound doctrine. Paul told Timothy that all Scripture is God-Breathed (2 Tim 3:10-17) and Peter pointed out that no prophetic word of Scripture comes from man’s own interpretation (2 Peter 1:16-21). One of the major promises Jesus made to the Apostles regarding the Holy Spirit was that He would remind them of all Jesus had told them. His Word. That is why the Apostles point to the Scriptures and instruct so strongly against false teaching. The Written Word of God is sufficient for all things in this life and the life that is to come for those who believe in Jesus Christ.

Throughout school, we are warned, scrutinized, and punished for plagiarism. The tagline for Plagiarism in school usually takes the form of “plagiarism = stealing“. But what about the cases where the plagiarism isn’t stealing? Does that absolve the wrong of plagiarism? No. Because the rebuke of plagiarism in school isn’t only based on the idea of theft, but on falsely representing one’s own understanding of the material being presented. Why is that a problem in school? Because the very purpose of attending school (in the classical sense, not this new age progressive sense) is to demonstrate a working knowledge of academic material. Therefore, plagiarism isn’t only stealing, it’s also cheating. You are hoping to gain credit for someone else’s work by presenting it as your own. Proper citation demonstrates both the level of research taken and the integrity to distinguish your own work from the work done by others.

Plagiarism in the professional world (outside of academia) generally revolves around the concept of stolen property. Again, that is an easy one to spot. How about in the area of Christian Ministry? Rather than jump straight to plagiarism, lets first take a look at the role of citation of sources in Christian Ministry. What if an individual at the pulpit taught a sermon about how to pray without citing a single verse of scripture, or specifying which God to whom we should pray? Is the problem that he might have stolen the material? No. The problem here is that he’s speaking on his own authority and we have no means of testing the spirit behind his teaching, and we can’t even be sure if what he teaches is sound doctrine, because he has not properly cited the Word of God. In academia, the “cheating” element of plagiarism seeks to take credit for the work of another; however, when it comes to teaching/preaching, a lack of proper citation is often used to present the speakers ideas as though they were coming from God. When we preach the Word of God, we cite the Word of God because of the Authority of Scriptures (2 Tim 3:16) and to make it clear that we are not speaking on our own authority. Therefore, the role of teacher/preacher has a higher standard than a student in English Literature 101. Because the preacher isn’t supposed to preaching the myths or schemes of men, but the Word of God. The preacher must properly, contextually, dutifully, humbly cite the Word of God in an authoritative fashion for the building/edification of the Body of Christ. He must make clear when he’s sharing his interpretation, his understanding of the scriptures, so that the faithful Berean listener might search out the Scriptures for themselves to see what holds True to Sound Doctrine.

Preaching another man’s sermon from the pulpit, without citation is not a problem of stealing intellectual property. Doing so “with permission” doesn’t solve the problem of presenting as your own understanding what you did not extract from Scriptures. Furthermore, within today’s emergent, evangelical circles, pastors claim to be speaking divinely inspired messages that are custom-tailored to the needs of their congregation, and as such moved more to quoting portions of scripture rather than teaching passages of Scripture. This trend when combined with the trend of preaching pre-built sermons creates another integrity problem. If a sermon being preached to a small church in West Virginia is in-fact taken wholesale from a Beverly Hills, CA Mega-church… properly citing that sermon runs the risk of offending those who are under the impression that their pastor is teaching what God has for their church; however, NOT citing the Mega-Church sermon runs the risk of presenting someone else’s research, outline, anecdotes, application, promises, assurances, and errors as their own.

That last comment, is in-fact my biggest concern regarding pulpit plagiarism. A pastor/overseer/elder/deacon is worthy of a double portion provided he remains firmly rooted and grounded in sound doctrine, in the Word of God. The danger of this position is when he allows himself to drift from the Word of God and chase after myths, genealogies, and doctrines of demons, dishonest gain… because he does so not only at his own peril, but he risks being held accountable for all that he causes to stumble or leads astray. If the person preaching the sermon of another verbatim doesn’t catch the false doctrine or false teaching of his source material, then he is equally guilty of false teaching. Saying, “but I just preached what so-and-so preached” will not spare anyone. So then, it is clear to me that being absolved of theft (by an author making the sermon freely usable) does not fully remedy the problem, nor does properly citing the author but copying wholesale. Proper citation is the first step to solving the problem, but ultimately the problem stems from preaching other sermons as opposed to preaching the Word of God. The role of pastor/preacher/teacher isn’t just to give a good lecture, it is to preach the Word of God and that which accords with sound Doctrine.

2 Timothy 4:1-4 (ESV) 1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

The Gospel Coalition was looking at this issue back in 2010. Take a moment to read the initial post presented as a question to the coalition, and the responses from pastors in the coalition at the bottom (hyperlinks).

In closing, as some of the pastors in the TGC responses mentioned, there are varying degrees of error here. When a pastor follows a script and incorporates even the jokes and anecdotal stories… there is a clear problem. How does one properly cite a sermon that is quoted verbatim without saying, “today I will be preaching so-and-so’s sermon with little deviation”? I’m sure that would be okay once in a while… but if it happened often people might start wondering why they attend and give money to this church if they can stay home and watch the original sermons on WebTV. Is copying graphics, series titles, and general outline problematic? All I can say is that it could be, so pray about it. I leave you with one thought. If “borrowing” such material as a starting point is such a minor point… then why not take the extra couple of hours to start from scratch? We don’t want people coming for our graphic design skills, we want them coming to hear the Word of God.

If you discover that your pastor is regularly preaching material pulled from another pastor and doesn’t cite the source, I recommend talking to him about it privately. If there are errors in scripture or doctrine that isn’t sound, it definitely needs to be addressed in a meeting. However, if the pastor refuses to acknowledge this as a problem then pray for him and consider taking the matter to the elders. The responsibility and authority to teach sound doctrine rests with the elders, not with the congregants. If you approach them in love with a valid concern and are ignored, I recommend shaking off the dust and finding a church whose leadership takes their responsibilities to teaching the Word of God more seriously.  Those who notice you’ve gone and care will ask questions, answer truthfully. As the body of Christ, our unity must be based on the Word of God, not the branding of a church organization. I think that in most cases, a simple citation of borrowed material is all that is needed to both alert the congregation and elders of the source material and to encourage the preacher to search the scriptures himself, otherwise he’ll be citing entire sermons.

May the Lord Bless you and keep you,
In Him,
Jorge