Well said.
The Coming Year
Well said.
Discipleship: Calling, Apprenticeship, & Ministry II
Repro. of painting by Emile Adan, copyrighted by Braun & Co., N.Y.
When I felt the push to explore this theme of Discipleship throughout the Old Testament, I had initially purposed to move through the Old Testament chronologically. However, I think that as long as I do a good job of identifying the Calling of each individual, I can skip to the more popularized figures of the Old Testament so that we aren’t always introducing readers to new characters; rather, we can begin with individuals whose stories most Christians feel they know well. In today’s post, I’d like to take a look at Gideon.
Gideon
So, I’d like to move forward a bit into the era of the Judges. The Lord God has led Israel into the promised land under Joshua’s leadership. To this point, however, Israel has failed to fully eradicate the inhabitants of the Promised Land. So after Joshua’s death, Israel sins, God raises up a judge to deliver Israel, and then Israel sins again. Most recently, God delivers Israel from the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan and the land goes undisturbed for 40 years. Now, we pick up our story in Judges Chapter 6.
Judges 6:1-6 (ESV) 6 The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. 2 And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. 3 For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. 4 They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. 6 And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord.
Oh my… another period of sin. The Lord God gives them over to Midian for 7 years. Discipline often requires punishment. The Midianites and the Amalekites are a ruthless, ungodly people about whom Israel was instructed to completely eradicate. The Lord God waits for His people to cry out for help. The answer He first sends comes in a formal rebuke (Discipline always involves rebuke of wrong-doing).
Judges 6:7-10 (ESV) 7 When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, 8 the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. 9 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.”
Ouch. The Lord God heard the cry of Israel, and He was going to send help, but they needed to understand that their predicament was not “bad luck” or “neglect”; rather, it was punishment. The Lord God making it absolutely clear to them of His Sovereignty, His mighty hand, and His promise. Now, once again, the Lord God will call from among His people a Judge.
Judges 6:11-16 (ESV) 11 Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” 13 And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” 15 And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” 16 And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”
The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor… When men “call” on someone, we are limited in what we know of them, or in what we hope may be in them. The Lord God knows no such limitation. When the Lord God calls Gideon a mighty man of valor, He is not necessarily referring to that which stands before Him (or as some would call “seeing something undiscovered within him”)… threshing wheat in a wine-press rather than on a threshing floor… He is speaking it into existence, for He is with Gideon to make it so. I love how Gideon’s first response isn’t even about the irony in being called a mighty man of valor in his present circumstance, but he struggles to accept the first part of the statement, “The Lord is with you“. He knows full well the history of what the Lord God has done for Israel in the past (perhaps he even heard the rebuke that came from the prophet sent by God?) and he has fully accepted that Israel’s present condition is punishment for disobeying the Lord God. Additionally, notice how Gideon clearly makes the case that he had done nothing… nothing… worthy of the Call of the Lord God on his life. The youngest in his household, the weakest clan of the tribe of Manasseh. We’ll find out later that his father, Joash, had built an altar to Baal and complete with the Asherah. Evil in the sight of the Lord. God demonstrates a great deal of patience with Gideon, as his response to the Call of the Lord God involves a lot of hesitation and requests for confirmation by signs. Definitely not a prescription for how one should respond to the Call of God… except… that Gideon answered the call and submitted to the calling of the Lord God.
As with any apprenticeship, the Master instructs, tests, admonishes, and rewards the apprentice in his growth. As you’ll read on (please, I urge you to read the rest of chapter 6 and chapter 7 on your own, so that I need not include it within the text of this post), you’ll see that the Lord gives Gideon step-by-step instructions and encouragement so that he will learn to trust in the Lord God and in the Calling God had placed upon him. The Lord delivers the camp of Midian into the hand of Gideon. Now let’s go to chapter 8:
Judges 8:1-3 (ESV) 8 Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely. 2 And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? 3 God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger against him subsided when he said this.
With this encounter, Gideon has graduated his apprenticeship and is now walking in his calling (his ministry) as a mighty man of valor. When the men of Ephraim accuse him of basically seeking to deprive others of their share of the glory, Gideon remembers the Word of the Lord, and that it must be known that to God be the glory for this victory. God fulfills His promise to Gideon, and to Israel and saves them from the hand of Midian. At the end of Gideon’s ministry, he again credits everything to the Lord God
Judges 8:22-23 (ESV) 22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” 23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”
Sadly, the nation of Israel does not remain faithful, and even Gideon falters. For you see, what Gideon did right, was to believe in the Lord God. Everything else, was accomplished by God, and through God, to preserve the Promise of God to one day bless all the nations of the earth through the offspring of Abraham, that is, Jesus Christ. And with that thought, I’d like to leave you with this thought from the Apostle Paul:
Philippians 1:1-11 (ESV) 1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
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, 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.
Amen. I pray you have a wonderful weekend, and may the Lord bless and keep you always,
In Him,
Jorge
CTT | you have not because you ask not…
While writing the last post about prayer, I was reminded of how often James 4:2c gets thrown around:
James 4:2c (ESV) 2 …You do not have, because you do not ask.
It is sometimes given as the sole reason why we are not living in prosperity, victory, and abundance. Often it is “backed up” with the following:
Matthew 7:7-8 (ESV) 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
The problem here, is that both passages are presented incompletely. In each case, we aren’t even getting the context of the paragraphs, much less the overall message each passage is. Let’s look at the immediate context of each passage, and see if we might then be better able to Complete The Thought.
James 4:1-10 (ESV) 4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Matthew 7:7-11 (ESV) 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
So, these passages are not talking about the same sort of thing within their immediate context. It is difficult to match up the good gifts of bread and a fish with what James is addressing regarding what is causing the fights and quarrels (sin).
I am not against using the “you have not because you ask not” as a reference to what James is talking about in James 4; however, if you aren’t using it within that context, then maybe you should just leave that passage alone entirely. Lifting it out of its context to teach something that is not fully laid out in Scriptures is dangerous. If you are tempted to lift a passage of scripture out of its context, then you should take a moment to check yourself… are engaging in exegesis or eisegesis? Is what you are pulling from the scriptures something that is in-fact there or have you first put it in there so that you can pull it out? Are you trying to encourage those who are praying and not seeing any results, then perhaps there is need of some correction found in James. However, if you are trying to cut against the false-humility and mentality of penance (not in keeping with the Gospel) where people don’t feel worthy to ask God for basic needs… then lead them to Matthew. In whatever you do, be sure to treat the Word of God properly and keep it in context.
May the Lord God bless and keep you,
FS
And when you pray…
It has been a couple of months since we last looked at prayer. Since then, we’ve been reviewing Sovereignty of God, His Word, the Gospel of Jesus, Discipleship… and I think it is important to revisit the topic of prayer. So, lets start with a quick review of how our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, taught his disciples to pray:
Matthew 6:7-15 (ESV)
7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Notice the first half of the prayer begins in full acknowledgement and praise of the sovereignty of God. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name sets the stage for the foundational basis of prayer. Jesus prayed to His Father in Heaven and He taught us to do likewise (because in/through Jesus we are made free to call the Lord God our Father). The next part of the prayer is where I really want to focus on today. Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Our first request does not come from us. Our first request is that God’s Kingdom come, and that God’s Will be done on earth, as it is done in Heaven. His Sovereignty. His Will.
God’s Will is done in Heaven. Jesus isn’t instructing us to pray that God’s will be done in Heaven, we are to ask that God’s Will be done on earth, in the same way that it is done in Heaven. This is to keep us, and our prayers, firmly rooted in the Will of God. Any attempt to twist this into somehow us giving God permission to execute His Will on Earth is false. The sovereignty of God is immutable. This is an acknowledgement that while we will make our petitions to God in prayer, He remains sovereign, and we acknowledge that above all else, it is His Will we desire to be done on earth just as it is done in Heaven. This is about submission to God, our Heavenly Father, in prayer. Now, I encourage you to take some time to read the context of this instruction fully, so start in Matthew 5 and read all the way through Matthew 7. I believe that the overall theme of this sermon is to clarify the role of Jesus Christ (to fulfill the Law & Prophets Matt 5:15), even to the extend that He clearly makes the case that apart from Him no one has access to Heaven because they are incapable of fulfilling the Law themselves (v22). In Chapter 6, Jesus moves into the need for total submission to God the Father in all things, even our good works according to the Law, and that we stop doing good things for our own glory. Including how we are to pray by specifying that we pray in accordance with His Will.
Matthew 6:3-4 (ESV) 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:6 (ESV) 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:16-18 (ESV) 16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
And now, Jesus moves into addressing our motives. So, we’ve seen Jesus address the practice of good deeds not for recognition of men, but in full submission to God who sees in secret. Now he’s moving our motives.
Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV) 19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Interesting. We’ve been taught how to be blessed by God if we improve the way we give to the needy, pray, and fast… and immediately Jesus addresses money. Often, blessings are interpreted as money. Why? We walk in the flesh and are easily tempted. But Jesus makes a very strong point here, that we are NOT to lay up for ourselves treasures on earth; rather, we are to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. You see, when we seek the blessings of God in such a way that demands we receive our blessings on earth, we are trading permanent, heavenly treasures for temporary ones where moth and rust destroy. But it isn’t just about making a poor trade, it’s about who we are submitting ourselves to. No one can serve two masters… Jesus didn’t leave a third option, either you are serving money (wealth, prosperity, Mammon), or you are serving God. Again, you cannot serve God and Mammon.
Jesus moves straight from there, back to addressing the basic needs of mankind. He does so, by highlighting again the Sovereignty of God, but also His Goodness.
Matthew 6:25-33 (ESV) 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Seek first the kingdom of God… and again, take another look at how we are told to pray up in v9-14. “Your kingdom come” is also included in the prayer taught in the account in Luke 11 when the lesson is a response to the disciples asking Jesus how they should pray. That prayer is shorter, and I believe that praying for God’s kingdom to come is praying for God’s Will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven, and no doubt it served as a reminder of the full lesson Jesus taught here in Matthew. Because nothing happens in God’s Kingdom that is not within His Will. Nothing. That is the immutable sovereignty of God.
Whenever the topic of prayer comes up, the enemy will attempt to silence you and your prayers. He does so in many ways, but we’ve seen here a few already
- Unforgiveness (v14)
- Vanity/Self-righteousness (v1,5,16)
- Lust of the eyes (v22)
- Slavery to Mammon (v24)
- Anxiety (v25)
These are big items found in this one chapter. Now, let me take a moment to ask you to turn to James 4. You may have read this a few times before, but take a moment now to read what James had to say in light of Matthew 6, 7 (I know we didn’t really cover Ch7 here, but I will leave that for your study, or if God allows, a subsequent post).
James 4 (ESV)
4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
The question or objection that comes up whenever the subject of prayer is discussed generally falls under “yeah, I tried that, I prayed, and nothing happened”. Now there are so many reasons why a prayer may not have been fulfilled, that I generally take a deep breath and wait for a softening in the countenance of the person posing the question (because it’s normally presented as an accusation). Against whom is the accusation being levied? Is it against me? What have I taught that is of myself? Hopefully nothing; therefore, there is no need to be offended, or to take offense at the accusation neither should I worry about defending myself. But I was sharing what Jesus said in Matthew Ch 6. So, is the accusation against Jesus or God, the Father? I don’t need to speak for Him. James cuts to the heart of the matter, and I think it reflects the instruction we received in Matthew 6.
Prayer was an essential part of Jesus’ life, and should be an essential part of our lives. There are no secrets to prayer. There are no secrets to unlocking the key to prayer. Jesus openly taught how to pray, and again gave instruction to His disciples and God the Father ensured that the lessons would be preserved for us in His Scriptures. We must submit to God’s sovereignty, and make our petitions to Him fully acknowledging His Will. We don’t always get our way, because it’s not our will, but God’s Will. Let’s look at Jesus’ prayer in the garden of Gethsemane:
Matthew 26:39 (ESV) 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
In closing, I don’t want to pluck prayer out as some request roulette mechanic. The goal of prayer must be submission to God, and He does speak to us through His Word and by His Spirit so that we are not left completely unaware of what His Will is. Your kingdom come... He has shared so much with us already if we would just… read… the… Bible. Anyway, I love the way the Apostle Paul closes the letter to the Thessalonians.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 (ESV) 12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
25 Brothers, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.
27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, too.
FS
Exegesis and Eisegesis
I’ve been studying the Scriptures a lot lately, particularly the Old Testament. I’ve also been studying about the study of Scriptures. Side-note: I’m finding that I had to repent of some overly negative perspectives on some Christian denominations. There are a couple of terms that I seem to run into at every turn, and I thought maybe some of you have run into these terms a time or two. Any discussion, writing, speech, sermon, etc. of the Word of God that goes beyond reading the texts will fall under one of two categories exegesis or eisegesis (sometimes written “isogesis”).
- Exegesis [ek-si-jee-sis] — noun, plural ex·e·ge·ses [ek-si-jee-seez] critical explanation or interpretation of a text or portion of a text, especially of the Bible.
- Origin: 1610–20; < Greek exḗgēsis an interpretation, explanation, equivalent to ex- ex-3 + ( h ) ēgē- (verbid stem of hēgeîsthai to guide) + -sis -sis
- Eisegesis [ahy-si-jee-sis] — noun, plural eis·e·ge·ses [ahy-si-jee-seez] an interpretation, especially of Scripture, that expresses the interpreter’s own ideas, bias, or the like, rather than the meaning of the text.
- Origin: 1890–95; < Greek eisḗgesis, equivalent to eis- into + ( h ) ēge- (stem of hēgeîsthai to lead) + -sis -sis
As stewards of God’s Word, we should endeavor to keep our interpretation of Scripture fully within the realm of exegesis and we should avoid Eisegesis. The simplest example is what happens when false prophets predict the return of Christ despite Matt 24:36, Acts 1:6-7, and the clear warning in Rev 22:8, they put their own ideas, bias, calculations into the texts to come up with a date. Most of the time its far more subtle and usually involves taking a passage of scripture out of context. Eisegesis can be done in ignorance, fear, or for selfish gain. The motives are not for us to discern, but the Holy Spirit for only God knows the heart of man. We are, however, to discern sound doctrine (Titus 2) and Biblical teaching.
As always, our focus should be on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not on seeking out false-gospels or false-prophets. We don’t need to study false teaching to identify that which is false. It is far better to devote yourself to the study of Truth, so that anything that contradicts Truth is false. We would do well to guard our hearts so as not to give the devil an opportunity. Our zeal for the preservation of the Word of God must not become an occasion for sin. We must teach the word correctly, and we must endeavor to correct others in keeping with Galatians 1:6-9, Titus 1, 1 Timothy 1:3-7 while also keeping with Matthew 18:15-20, Galatians 6. For those teachers who are beyond our reach (sphere of influence, authority, etc.), we make every effort to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ (as indeed we should regardless of the presence or absence of false teaching) and trust in God to deal with those beyond our reach. When it comes to the leaders in your church, remain humble in your demeanor and tone.
Hebrews 13:7-9 (ESV) 7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.
Hebrews 13:17 (ESV) 17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
We must bring correction to the leaders (elders, pastors, overseers, deacons, etc.) when we feel they are in the wrong, in humility and appropriately according to scripture, so as not to be a burden to them. That submission does not mean that we are to accept everything they claim to be the Word of God. Hopefully, understanding the differences between exegesis and eisegesis will help identify warning flags.
So, how do we do this? Well, the first recommendation I have is to devote time throughout the week to read the Word of God. If the only time you open your Bible is when you are told to “open your bibles to…” on Sunday morning, I’m sorry to say that you will be ill-equipped to catch scripture being presented out of context. What’s worse, is that if eisegesis goes unchallenged for a long time, there will be less and less emphasis on the “open your bibles to…” and possibly some extra-biblical references or personal revelation presented as substantiation. By that point, many will be attending several sermons without ever opening the Bible, even within the sermon. If you are in such an assembly, you are fully reliant upon the teacher to be correct in all of his ways. So, step one is to read the Word of God. I also recommend taking notes, or taking the notes your Church gives the congregation home. During the week, explore the scriptures and see for yourself the context of the passages used, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide your study. I promise you that He will show you things, even if the sermon was perfect… because you are giving the Holy Spirit time to speak to you through His Word. Finally, if there is something that you find troubling, reach out to your leadership in private (Matt 18) and ask the questions. I find that most of the correspondence Pastors receive are either antagonistic, accusatory, or solicitation… rarely is it the result of careful study of Scripture. You may find the ensuing discussion very encouraging.
I pray the Lord God bless and keep you,
In Him,
FS
Faithful Stewardship 
You must be logged in to post a comment.