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Sunday, May 31, 2015

In Debt to the Law or Liberated; Rules of Religion; Severed From Christ

In recent weeks we have looked at our position as Christians concerning government and society, as well as governmental persecutions. We then looked at Paul and his position as a Pharisee and what he did when he believed on Jesus as Messiah. Now we have to explore the question as to how the law and various rules keep sneaking into Christianity today, and how we can stop the rule making and alienation of others who do not do the same things we do. We want to first remind ourselves that Christianity was not a law, and it was never intended to be a law or rule of society. Jesus wanted his disciples to live in any society and bring his new commandment there, which was to love one another (John 13:34). Christianity was not supposed to be a governmental system like Judaism or Islam, which is why Jesus told us to abide by the laws of the government we live under. Yet we Christians make a whole new set of rules, laws, and religious practices that put people into bondage and not liberty. We harm people with our made up rules and wonder why we can’t get along. We are severed from Yahweh because we are debtors to our laws.

The idea that Paul, a Pharisee and scholar, put off the law and taught people to do the same has been a point of contention for two thousand years. We observed Paul’s sarcasm towards those who set themselves up as leaders over the church in Jerusalem. We also noted the problems that occurred when people from Jerusalem traveled to Asia Minor and wanted to put the new converts under the law. When Paul went to Jerusalem the first time the matter was settled, but as we noticed, Paul did not put himself under the authority of those leaders. This made it easier for the leaders of the Christian Church in Jerusalem to betray Paul, stabbing him in the back by turning him over to the Jewish religious leaders. Let’s read this in The Message as it makes the language plain. The leaders of the Church were not standing against the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, yet there were many thousands of Jews who made Jesus their Lord and Messiah.

Acts 21:20-26 They had a story to tell, too: "And just look at what's been happening here — thousands upon thousands of God-fearing Jews have become believers in Jesus! But there's also a problem because they are more zealous than ever in observing the laws of Moses. 21 They've been told that you advise believing Jews who live surrounded by Gentiles to go light on Moses, telling them that they don't need to circumcise their children or keep up the old traditions. This isn't sitting at all well with them.
22 "We're worried about what will happen when they discover you're in town. There's bound to be trouble. So here is what we want you to do: 23 There are four men from our company who have taken a vow involving ritual purification, but have no money to pay the expenses. 24 Join these men in their vows and pay their expenses. Then it will become obvious to everyone that there is nothing to the rumors going around about you and that you are in fact scrupulous in your reverence for the laws of Moses.
25 "In asking you to do this, we're not going back on our agreement regarding Gentiles who have become believers. We continue to hold fast to what we wrote in that letter, namely, to be careful not to get involved in activities connected with idols; to avoid serving food offensive to Jewish Christians; to guard the morality of sex and marriage."
26 So Paul did it — took the men, joined them in their vows, and paid their way. The next day he went to the Temple to make it official and stay there until the proper sacrifices had been offered and completed for each of them.  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Paul, the former Pharisee, told the new Jewish converts who lived among the new non-Jewish converts to go lightly on the law, but the new Jewish converts from Jerusalem were not interested in putting off the law. It seems the new Jewish converts were not quite converted. These people who now claimed to make Jesus their Messiah did not really allow Jesus to become their Lord. They may have believed Jesus was the Messiah but they didn’t believe his blood atoned for their sins once and for all. If they did, they would not feel the need to keep the law. Interestingly the Christian leaders in Jerusalem wanted Paul to show himself as an observer of the law. Strangely, Paul did what they asked him to do. Paul was trying not to cause division, but it didn’t matter because someone came along later and accused Paul and that started the whole kerfuffle. The Christian leaders do not defend Paul, they do not show up at his hearings, they do not contest the false accusations, and they do not seem to care that Paul is imprisoned. Isn’t that telling? The Christian church leaders at Jerusalem were enjoying their position and probably making some profit as well, and getting rid of Paul was for their own benefit. Paul was a troublemaker who did not submit to their authority, except in this case he did and look where it got him. Paul’s letter to the Galatians clarifies the new position of liberty the believer in Christ has. The Jews at Jerusalem did not like giving up their laws for freedom.  

Gal 5:1-4 IN [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off]. 2 Notice, it is I, Paul, who tells you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no profit (advantage, avail) to you [for if you distrust Him, you can gain nothing from Him]. 3 I once more protest and testify to every man who receives circumcision that he is under obligation and bound to practice the whole of the Law and its ordinances. 4 If you seek to be justified and declared righteous and to be given a right standing with God through the Law, you are brought to nothing and so separated (severed) from Christ. You have fallen away from grace (from God's gracious favor and unmerited blessing). AMP

Don’t be ensnared, hampered, or a slave to the law. If you practice circumcision you are now under obligation and bound to practice the whole law and its ordinances. You are not justified or declared righteous by the law, instead you are severed and separated from Christ. This goes for us too brother and sister Christian. If we follow the laws or rules to become justified we will instead be separated from Christ. The Message says this a little different.

Gal 5:1-4 Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.
2 I am emphatic about this. The moment any one of you submits to circumcision or any other rule-keeping system, at that same moment Christ's hard-won gift of freedom is squandered. 3 I repeat my warning: The person who accepts the ways of circumcision trades all the advantages of the free life in Christ for the obligations of the slave life of the law.
4 I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

The moment any one of you submits to any rule keeping system, you have lost the advantages of the free life in Christ. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects you are cut off from Christ. Wow. Have we ever really considered this? We Christians do this all the time, we have denominations that have rules and structures and if someone doesn’t live the way we think they should they cannot join our church. We seem to make so many rules that pretty soon we can’t be friends with anybody because everyone else is living “wrong”. Think about this. Judaism and Islam, as well as many Christian denominations, hunt after disciples with a magnifying glass, looking for each and every mistake. If a person sins, regardless of whether it is intentional or unintentional, someone is always close by with the hammer to beat that person over the head. How self-righteous must one be to hunt for sins in other people with a magnifying glass and beat them with a hammer?

If we truly live in the liberty we are called to we will not be hunting for sins in others because Jesus is not asking us to. Jesus is not asking us to point out the speck in our friend’s eye but instead work on the log in our own eye. Somehow we have made all sorts of rules regarding sins, such as “lying is not as bad of a sin as adultery, and adultery is not as bad as a catamite, and really we “shouldn’t have to pay our taxes since we are working for God”. We tend to rationalize what we want to, and throw stones at what we don’t like. Unfortunately that comes under the category of “rule keeping system”, hence so many different denominations living by their own plans and projects and all of them cut off from Christ.

The Jews of the first century did not understand that the law had been fulfilled. Jesus said he came to fulfill it, then he gave us a new way to live, without the magnifying glass and hammer. Paul has a few word for those folks.  

Rom 2:17-24 If you're brought up Jewish, don't assume that you can lean back in the arms of your religion and take it easy, feeling smug because you're an insider to God's revelation, 18 a connoisseur of the best things of God, informed on the latest doctrines! 19 I have a special word of caution for you who are sure that you have it all together yourselves and, because you know God's revealed Word inside and out, 20 feel qualified to guide others through their blind alleys and dark nights and confused emotions to God. 21 While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? I'm quite serious. While preaching "Don't steal!" are you going to rob people blind? Who would suspect you? 22 The same with adultery. The same with idolatry. 23 You can get by with almost anything if you front it with eloquent talk about God and his law. 24 The line from Scripture, "It's because of you Jews that the outsiders are down on God," shows it's an old problem that isn't going to go away.  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

There are plenty of smug Christians who believe they are “insiders” too. Once people take the position of spying out other’s sins, they have put themselves above others; but who then is spying out their sins? So this is how top church leaders become corrupt, no one is going to hammer the hammerer. Then when all the dirt becomes public knowledge, as Paul says “it’s because of you hammerers that outsiders are down on God”. It’s not just the Jews, but the Christian hammerers who are pointing out specks and beating people over the head that make outsiders or non-Christians want to stay non-Christians. What non-Christian wants to go to your church when you march around with signs and look so angry that the world doesn’t live by your rules? Ouch. Paul goes on.

Rom 2:25-29 Circumcision, the surgical ritual that marks you as a Jew, is great if you live in accord with God's law. But if you don't, it's worse than not being circumcised. 26 The reverse is also true: The uncircumcised who keep God's ways are as good as the circumcised —   27 in fact, better. Better to keep God's law uncircumcised than break it circumcised. 28 Don't you see: It's not the cut of a knife that makes a Jew. 29 You become a Jew by who you are. It's the mark of God on your heart, not of a knife on your skin, that makes a Jew. And recognition comes from God, not legalistic critics. (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Legalistic critics in the Church today have made up rules and religious plans that keep many people away from becoming Christ followers, and yet the irony is that the legalistic critics are severed from God. So just as Paul was telling the believing Jews they were maligning the name of God, today we Christians do the very same thing.

Rom 2:24 For, as it is written, The name of God is maligned and blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you! [The words to this effect are from your own Scriptures.]  [Isa 52:5; Ezek 36:20.] AMP

We have to understand, the Jews came from a lifestyle of living the law and they did not want to change, but Christianity was supposed to be different. The church was not to be full of man-made rules and laws, it was to function under the covenant of love, the new command Jesus gave us. Christianity was not to be a legal system, but a belief system where its disciples walk in love, not law. Paul the former Pharisee had to take a three year sabbatical of un-learning and re-learning to be able to put off his legalistic ways. Jesus told us a few things that really helps us understand why we changed from a dispensation of law to a dispensation of grace. Simply put, we can’t escape hell without Jesus’ atonement, therefore keeping the law is useless.

Matt 5:21-22 "You're familiar with the command to the ancients, 'Do not murder.' 22 I'm telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother 'idiot!' and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell 'stupid!' at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

This is so incredibly harsh, it’s shocking. We are all murderers!

Matt 5:27-28 "You know the next commandment pretty well, too: 'Don't go to bed with another's spouse.' 28 But don't think you've preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those leering looks you think nobody notices — they also corrupt. (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Oh no, we are all adulterers!

Matt 5:31-32 "Remember the Scripture that says, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him do it legally, giving her divorce papers and her legal rights'? 32 Too many of you are using that as a cover for selfishness and whim, pretending to be righteous just because you are 'legal.' Please, no more pretending. If you divorce your wife, you're responsible for making her an adulteress (unless she has already made herself that by sexual promiscuity). And if you marry such a divorced adulteress, you're automatically an adulterer yourself. You can't use legal cover to mask a moral failure.  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Hmmm, a cover for selfishness, isn’t that why Jesus told the religious leaders that Moses gave them a letter of divorcement, because of the hardness of their hearts. All of us have been selfish and hard hearted at times, but not everyone has divorced a spouse. But let’s get out the magnifying glass and hammer, who’s been divorced?

Since we are all murderers and adulterers it is safe to say we need an atonement to escape hell. We simply can’t live by the law, it is not possible to get atonement without the temple. That is why we need Jesus. But on this subject of divorce, we have to stop hammering for a moment and consider this. Marriage is a covenant between two believers, it’s a covenant of love before God. Marriage is technically not for the unbeliever, however there is societal marriage. Societal marriages are not marriages under a covenant of love before God, but under legal benefits of the law. Many states and countries have the legal aspect of the marriage license which can stand alone, and the ceremonial aspect of the service officiated by clergy. Now in the case of spousal abuse in a Christian marriage, the covenant of love before God has been broken by the abuser, but we tend to victimize the victim by making rules that the victim has to stay in an abusive marriage because it’s the “Christian” thing to do. Nonsense. The victim is not obligated to become the punching bag for the abuser. It is because of the selfishness and hardness of the heart of the abuser that the abuser broke the covenant of love before God. The abuser broke the covenant, therefore the victim has the right to legally end the marriage. Once there was a woman who was regularly beaten by her husband. The Pastors and church leaders kept telling this woman she had to stay in the marriage. One day the husband killed her and their son, then committed suicide. There is blood on the hands of those people who insisted that this woman keep their rules. Shame on the church for not protecting the victims of abuse! Why are we continuing to victimize victims? Every situation is different and must be handled with fear and trembling, and with the leading of the Holy Spirit.

We can see how detrimental it is to make rules and religious programs to judge people by. Instead of seeing the Christ in others we look for the sin. Instead of loving others we stay guarded because we can’t love someone who is a rule breaker. Interestingly, Paul had to confront Peter on his behavior. Peter was well accepted in Jerusalem and probably kept the law, but when he was not around those people Peter lived under grace. However, as soon as the legalists came to Antioch, Peter put on a show.  

Gal 2:11-16 Later, when Peter came to Antioch, I had a face-to-face confrontation with him because he was clearly out of line. 12 Here's the situation. Earlier, before certain persons had come from James, Peter regularly ate with the non-Jews. But when that conservative group came from Jerusalem, he cautiously pulled back and put as much distance as he could manage between himself and his non-Jewish friends. That's how fearful he was of the conservative Jewish clique that's been pushing the old system of circumcision. 13 Unfortunately, the rest of the Jews in the Antioch church joined in that hypocrisy so that even Barnabas was swept along in the charade.
14 But when I saw that they were not maintaining a steady, straight course according to the Message, I spoke up to Peter in front of them all: "If you, a Jew, live like a non-Jew when you're not being observed by the watchdogs from Jerusalem, what right do you have to require non-Jews to conform to Jewish customs just to make a favorable impression on your old Jerusalem cronies?"
15 We Jews know that we have no advantage of birth over "non-Jewish sinners." 16 We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule-keeping but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ. How do we know? We tried it — and we had the best system of rules the world has ever seen! Convinced that no human being can please God by self-improvement, we believed in Jesus as the Messiah so that we might be set right before God by trusting in the Messiah, not by trying to be good.  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Hypocrisy, it’s an interesting thing we Christians do as well. We put on our “church face” on Sunday mornings, but as soon as we get home we kick the dog, yell at the kids and fight with the spouse. Hypocrisy. We are not to behave one way around those with the magnifying glasses and differently when they are not around. And Paul again says we are not set right by rule keeping. Rule keeping makes people hypocrites. Rules encourage perfectionism which then inspires more magnifying glasses for looking for sin in others. Paul points out that he, and we, are not perfect but “trying to be good” is keeping rules and laws not living by grace. 


Gal 2:17-21 Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect? (No great surprise, right?) And are you ready to make the accusation that since people like me, who go through Christ in order to get things right with God, aren't perfectly virtuous, Christ must therefore be an accessory to sin? The accusation is frivolous. 18 If I was "trying to be good," I would be rebuilding the same old barn that I tore down. I would be acting as a charlatan.
19 What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. 20 Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I am not going to go back on that.
Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Keeping the rules didn’t work. It doesn’t work. It can’t work. We have to be crucified with Christ, so that it is not about us it is about Him. Rule-keeping and peer-pleasing is bondage, not freedom. We cannot have a living relationship with God by rule-keeping. Yet this is what the Christian church has become, rule keeping, magnifying glasses, and hammers.

James points out that we pick and choose what rules and laws to keep and ignore the rest.

James 2:8-13 You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: "Love others as you love yourself." 9 But if you play up to these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand convicted by it. 10 You can't pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God's law and ignoring others. 11 The same God who said, "Don't commit adultery," also said, "Don't murder." If you don't commit adultery but go ahead and murder, do you think your non-adultery will cancel out your murder? No, you're a murderer, period.
12 Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. 13 For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

James’ point is to behave like we will be judged by the rule that sets us free, the law of liberty. That means we should extend grace and mercy to others. That means we should not be judging the lives or decisions of others. We have all sinned, we have all fallen short, and we all need Jesus. The grace we have does not give us an excuse to intentionally sin, but instead we should use our freedom to love and serve each other.

Gal 5:13-15 It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. 14 For everything we know about God's Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom. 15 If you bite and ravage each other, watch out — in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?

This is what we do to each other, we bite and ravage each other. Truly we have no right to force non-believers in Jesus to live the way we do. We don’t control the world, and we don’t have the right to expect that non-Christians should live under the made up rules and religious practices we institute for ourselves. Non-Christians do not want us staring at them with our magnifying glasses while we hold our hammer behind our back.  How many times has someone needed healing but only received a hammering? When we force non-Christians to live under our rules non-Christians try and force their lifestyles and beliefs on us. We are annihilating the church and losing our freedom. We are acting poorly, like the first century Jews who believed Jesus was the Messiah but refused to make Him Lord by keeping the law. We are severed from Christ.  

Gal 5:16-18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. 17 For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. 18 Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence? (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Paul has more good ideas for us. Live freely, motivated by the Holy Spirit. We should be led by the Holy Spirit so that we can escape the erratic compulsions of a law dominated existence. Christianity is not a law, and it is not rules and religious programs. We are heirs of Abraham only by faith, not works, not in keeping the law, not by following my churches rules, but by our belief in Yahweh. Keep in mind there was no law at the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the Torah wasn’t written until the Jews were wandering in the desert.

Rom 4:13-15 That famous promise God gave Abraham — that he and his children would possess the earth — was not given because of something Abraham did or would do. It was based on God's decision to put everything together for him, which Abraham then entered when he believed. 14 If those who get what God gives them only get it by doing everything they are told to do and filling out all the right forms properly signed, that eliminates personal trust completely and turns the promise into an ironclad contract! That's not a holy promise; that's a business deal. 15 A contract drawn up by a hard-nosed lawyer and with plenty of fine print only makes sure that you will never be able to collect. But if there is no contract in the first place, simply a promise — and God's promise at that — you can't break it. (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

There is no contract, no business deal, no rules or religious practices, just a promise from God. The promised Messiah came, and now we believe that Jesus is the Messiah. Simple. Now the hard part is to trust Yahweh. And also trust Paul the former Pharisee. Paul is not the only Pharisee that believed on Jesus, he is one of the few we have written letters from. He did not spend three years in Arabia arguing with Yahweh as to keeping the law, he spent three years un-learning and re-learning the law and the new dispensation as we noted last week. Paul did not confer with flesh and blood, therefore the mysteries he reveals to us regarding this new administration, grace, the gathering, the one body, etc. did not come from man’s own ideas. There was no directional meeting of church leaders, Paul got the revelation of these things from something other than flesh and blood. 

Rom 5:20 All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn't, and doesn't, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it's sin versus grace, grace wins hands down.  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

The law makes more sin. It produces sin consciousness. It also produces pride. Have you ever noticed that when there is a set of rules laid out there are people who can follow them so well that they become prideful about how great they themselves are because they keep the rules so well? Then have you noticed that those very people condemn others with different lifestyles and different beliefs? Rules make more sin. Over and over Paul has told us this, yet we have churches and various groups that keep putting others under laws and rules and religious practices. Why haven’t we understood this in this day and age? Those who wish to live personally under rules and laws cannot impose that on others and cannot have a “superiority complex” over those who do not do what they do. But the devil is a clever adversary and twists our thinking until we cannot even understand the words Paul wrote. Thus reading the Message makes these ideas plain and understandable to us all. Once we get it, we can dig into these ideas deeper. Paul sums this up nicely in the next verse.

Rom 5:21 All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that's the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life — a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

We can’t earn our position, we are saved if we believe and then we have eternal life. Do we trust Jesus? Do we trust Paul? Do we trust that Jesus’ blood atoned for our sin and there isn’t anything else we can ever possibly do to contribute to that? There is no temple, so if you disagree with Jesus’ atonement, you are dead in your sins with no possibility of being made right before God. It is our choice. When we attempt to live by our own religious plans and projects we are cut off from Christ as Galatians says.

This is what Jesus did:

Eph 2:15 He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody. (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

And this is the way we are to live, without man-made rules and laws.

John 13:34-35 "Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. 35 This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples — when they see the love you have for each other."  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)


What will it be, rules and laws that sever us from Christ, legalism that magnifies sin in others and hammers people for not living our way, or living in freedom and loving others as we love ourselves, led by the Holy Spirit? When people look at us, do we look like disciples of Christ?

Monday, May 25, 2015

Un-learning and Re-learning; Pride; Paul Doing a New Thing

I think we have all known people who had an incomplete knowledge of something and yet argue and insist that they are correct in their ideas and beliefs. Maybe we were like that at times as well. It seems that sometimes people are so prideful about their knowledge and believing that they are “right” that they actually exude a stench of rotting garbage. This goes for religious persons or non-religious persons alike. But it is a very poor example for followers of Christ to behave in this manner because the accuser uses any excuse to magnify the mistakes of Christians. Therefore we have to stay humble regarding what we believe to be true. It is very hard to un-learn something we thought we knew, but we have a great example in the Apostle Paul as to relearning what we have been instructed in. Paul really is a great example for us in this aspect. The disciples and apostles walked and talked with Jesus. Jesus was tangible to them, so even in his resurrected body they believed on him because they had known him physically. Paul is in the same situation we are in, in that he had a Jesus experience and then cultivated and developed a relationship with Jesus. Paul did not hang out with Jesus before Jesus’ crucifixion. That is the dynamic we live with today.

Before we get to Paul we might want to consider the reason for the “soft” approach regarding the declaration of our beliefs. Yahweh is Yahweh and we are not. That pretty much says it all. Whether we are talking about one person criticizing another person’s ministry or someone disbelieving that the Holy Spirit led someone to do something, we have those examples in the Apostle Paul, who did not consult with flesh and blood when he went into the desert. What exactly did Paul consult with if it wasn’t flesh and blood? Was it Yahweh, the Holy Spirit, Angels? Whomever it was Paul learned from, it did not have flesh or blood. Paul’s ministry is the foundation of our Christian administration. So lest we become prideful and start to smell like rotting garbage, we ought to consider that humans are not always as smart as they think they are. Therefore the need for un-learning and re-learning. Which incidentally is not quite as hard as it sounds when one is not filled with pride. Pride will always hold one back from increasing knowledge. We have to realize that there are many levels of knowledge and not everyone will be inclined to learn as much or at the same pace as another. Again Yahweh is Yahweh and we are not. We have to observe what happened with Paul for a balanced approach to un-learning and re-learning.

We have studied the life of Paul previously, so just to recap Paul’s life, Paul was a student of Gamaliel who was a Pharisee. Paul studied and became a Pharisee. Paul’s mother was a Jew and his father was a Roman citizen, but also a Pharisee. As we know, lineage is determined by the matriarchal line but citizenship was determined by the father’s line. Technically, Paul had the best of both worlds for this time period. Paul did not meet Jesus before Jesus’ crucifixion. He did not see the miracles and healings that took place. He did not hear the voice of the Father and see the Holy Spirit at Jesus’ baptism. All Paul knew was what others told him to be true or false. Paul made the determination to believe those people who said Jesus was a fake. Paul then believed that the movement of Christianity was a detriment to society. I find it interesting that Paul’s teacher Gamaliel took a soft approach to Peter and John’s miracles and all the conversions, see Acts 5:34. As an active Pharisee, Paul felt it was his duty to crush the Christian movement. Paul was very passionate about his beliefs and very prideful as he persecuted people.  

Acts 22:3-5 I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but reared in this city. At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated according to the strictest care in the Law of our fathers, being ardent [even a zealot] for God, as all of you are today. 4 [Yes] I harassed (troubled, molested, and persecuted) this Way [of the Lord] to the death, putting in chains and committing to prison both men and women, 5 As the high priest and whole council of elders (Sanhedrin) can testify; for from them indeed I received letters with which I was on my way to the brethren in Damascus in order to take also those [believers] who were there, and bring them in chains to Jerusalem that they might be punished. AMP

Paul was a teacher of the Law, a Pharisee, which is interesting because after his conversion Paul rebuked those who tried to put people under the Law. But before his conversion, Paul felt it was his duty to stop the Jews from converting to Christianity. I think that is a typical religious attitude. There will always be people who believe everyone else in the world should live as they live and believe as they believe. That is an attitude of pride, so much so that it also limits Yahweh and the Holy Spirit, making a human the god over the whole world. While humans are elohim as we have studied, we are not elohim in place of Yahweh or the Holy Spirit, and we are to be led by Yahweh and the Holy Spirit and not behave in prideful arrogance.

Acts 26:9 I myself indeed was [once] persuaded that it was my duty to do many things contrary to and in defiance of the name of Jesus of Nazareth.  AMP

Pride and prideful thinking leads people astray. The Holy Spirit is not stagnant but many times people act as if the Holy Spirit doesn’t move beyond what we ourselves believe. Prideful people believe that the Holy Spirit stopped moving exactly where they rest their beliefs. That is simply silly. Again Yahweh is Yahweh and we are not. We have to stop limiting the Holy Spirit to our own belief system. Naturally, after the Day of Pentecost a new era started, but Paul was stuck in the old age of thoughts and rules. Paul did not follow Jesus until Jesus knocked him off his camel on the way to Damascus. After that, Paul had to relearn a few things. Once Paul received back his eyesight he went into the synagogue in Damascus.

Acts 9:20-25 And immediately in the synagogues he proclaimed Jesus, saying, He is the Son of God! 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, Is not this the very man who harassed and overthrew and destroyed in Jerusalem those who called upon this Name? And he has come here for the express purpose of arresting them and bringing them in chains before the chief priests. 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and continued to confound and put to confusion the Jews who lived in Damascus by comparing and examining evidence and proving that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah).

Can you imagine what that must have been like? Paul, a Pharisee, goes into the synagogue and starts teaching Jesus is the Messiah and no one knows what to believe about Paul. Is this man serious, or is he tricking people so that he can arrest them, or is this man an imposter and not really Saul of Tarsus? Paul did something the religious leaders were not doing, he compared and examined evidence proving Jesus is the Messiah. This is what every single person is responsible to do, on every subject in the Bible, no matter how big or small. If we have a belief about something, it does not hurt to take a broad view, say the view from 30,000 feet, and compare and examine all the opposing views as well as supporting views. Then it is truly our responsibility to dig into the minute points and compare and examine all aspects there as well. Opinions are useless unless backed up by the written words of the Holy Spirit.

Paul did something even more remarkable. Luke does not record it as Luke may not have known what Paul was doing at that time, but Paul went into Arabia for three years. Paul didn’t go to preach, he went to re-learn the 70 books. Remember that the Septuagint was what the synagogues used to read from. Paul clarifies this time in Galatians whereas Luke notes Paul was increasing in strength.

Gal 1:15-18 But when He, Who had chosen and set me apart [even] before I was born and had called me by His grace (His undeserved favor and blesssing 49:1; Jer 1:5.] 16 To reveal (unveil, disclose) His Son within me so that I might proclaim Him among the Gentiles (the non-Jewish world) as the glad tidings (Gospel), immediately I did not confer with flesh and blood [did not consult or counsel with any frail human being or communicate with anyone]. 17 Nor did I [even] go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles (special messengers of Christ) before I was, but I went away and retired into Arabia, and afterward I came back again to Damascus. 18 Then three years later, I did go up to Jerusalem to become [personally] acquainted with Cephas (Peter), and remained with him for fifteen days. AMP

Paul didn’t un-learn and re-learn by conferring with other humans, he relied on the Holy Spirit. Paul left Damascus and went into the desert for three years, then he went back to Damascus. Think of that. Paul took three years to re-learn this entire aspect of Jesus the Messiah. Rarely does one take that much time to learn a subject from the Bible before having opinions, and yet Paul took that much time to re-learn the scriptures. Paul already had a knowledge and an understanding of the coming Messiah, but Paul probably compared all the prophecies regarding the coming Messiah to see how they applied to Jesus. With computers we can make short work of most Bible comparisons but here Paul had to read each scroll’s prophecies and scribe them for his own reference. Not only did Paul do that, he received the greatest revelations for the church age. Paul learned mysteries regarding dispensations, the gathering, resurrections, the love of God, the ending of the law and circumcision. Paul the former Pharisee became the leader of the age of the nations’ receiving Jesus as Messiah. Not only that, Paul also gained a working knowledge of the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Paul did not have the Holy Spirit on the inside until he believed and confessed Jesus as Lord. Therefore the operation of the gifts of the Spirit was also something Paul learned during his desert time. Think about that, three years to study, examine, and compare, without a computer, and Paul changed the entire world. Paul then goes back into Damascus and teaches there, but the Jews as well as the governing officials want to kill him.

Meanwhile keep in mind, Paul did not go visit any disciples or apostles to learn the mysteries. Paul did not go to Jerusalem to the church leaders for knowledge and direction either. Paul did not go to a water baptism class before being baptized. This is an interesting point as today we have a set of rules for new converts such as taking a salvation class, a baptism class, and counsel and instruction by church leaders for membership into the church. Paul didn’t do anything of the sort, in fact he did what the Holy Spirit led him to do. This is why later, on Paul’s second trip to visit the church leaders in Jerusalem, the church leaders did not mind selling Paul out to the persecution of the Jews, because Paul was really not under their direction but the direction of the Holy Spirit. Paul was ministering to the non-Jews and the Jews could not stop non-Jews from getting saved. The Jews persecuted the converting Jews but they had no authority over non-Jews.

In the meantime, after his desert experience, Paul the Pharisee went back into Damascus and the Jews wanted to kill him there. The disciples hatched a plan for him to escape.  

Acts 9:23 After considerable time had elapsed, the Jews conspired to put Saul out of the way by slaying him, 24 But [the knowledge of] their plot was made known to Saul. They were guarding the [city's] gates day and night to kill him, 25 But his disciples took him at night and let him down through the [city's] wall, lowering him in a basket or hamper. AMP

Paul clarifies Luke’s account.

2 Cor 11:32-33 In Damascus, the city governor acting under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus [on purpose] to arrest me, 33 And I was [actually] let down in a [rope] basket or hamper through a window (a small door) in the wall, and I escaped through his fingers.  AMP

After escaping Damascus, Paul heads south to Jerusalem, but not for very long. Understand, Paul takes a trip, over one hundred miles, stays two weeks, and leaves. Paul did not stay and use his former position to schmooze his way into a new church leadership position. The Greek Jews wanted to kill him.

Acts 9:26-30 And when he had arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to associate himself with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe he really was a disciple. 27 However, Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and he explained to them how along the way he had seen the Lord, Who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached freely and confidently and courageously in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out [as one] among them at Jerusalem, 29 Preaching freely and confidently and boldly in the name of the Lord. And he spoke and discussed with and disputed against the Hellenists (the Grecian Jews), but they were seeking to slay him. 30 And when the brethren found it out, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus [his home town]. AMP

Paul went to visit Peter for fifteen days, then saw James, but then went into Asia for fourteen years. Paul did not make a pest of himself in Jerusalem, in fact later Paul went to Jerusalem only because some people were trying to put the new Christians under the law. So after leaving Damascus in a basket, Paul goes to Jerusalem for fifteen days, then heads back north by boat for fourteen years.  

Gal 2:1-5 THEN AFTER [an interval] of fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem. [This time I went] with Barnabas, taking Titus along with [me] also. 2 I went because it was specially and divinely revealed to me that I should go, and I put before them the Gospel [declaring to them that] which I preach among the Gentiles. However, [I presented the matter] privately before those of repute, [for I wanted to make certain, by thus at first confining my communication to this private conference] that I was not running or had not run in vain [guarding against being discredited either in what I was planning to do or had already done]. 3 But [all went well!] even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled [as some had anticipated] to be circumcised, although he was a Greek. 4 [My precaution was] because of false brethren who had been secretly smuggled in [to the Christian brotherhood]; they had slipped in to spy on our liberty and the freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might again bring us into bondage [under the Law of Moses]. 5 To them we did not yield submission even for a moment, that the truth of the Gospel might continue to be [preserved] for you [in its purity]. AMP

This is Paul’s greatest strength. He confronted the people trying to put new Christians under the law. Paul did not go to Jerusalem to teach anyone anything after he left Damascus, he went to learn from Peter. Isn’t that interesting? After un-learning and re-learning, he went to meet with a guy who actually walked with Jesus on the earth. He spent fifteen days with Peter. The conversations must have been awesome, with Paul asking questions and Peter relating story after story. Remember, Peter was a fisherman, not a Pharisee or a scholar. Paul was a Pharisee, a scholar of the law, who was learning from a fisherman. This is all backwards comparing this to today. Today if a scholar needs to re-learn something he goes to other scholars and university professors not fishermen. This tells us that Paul was a very very humble man.

Paul was not looking to make a name for himself. He was not trying to be a leader of the Church over the Jewish converts. Paul did not go to Jerusalem after his desert learning to tell the church leaders in Jerusalem anything about what he learned in the desert. He visited with Peter and then went to Asia Minor. Paul didn’t go back to Jerusalem for fourteen years. Think about that. Fourteen years is a long time. Even after fourteen years Paul didn’t go back to Jerusalem to usurp anyone then either. Paul went to Jerusalem to clarify the non-Jewish position of the law and circumcision. And Paul was not having any nonsense from people who claim to be leaders.

Gal 2:6 Moreover, [no new requirements were made] by those who were reputed to be something — though what was their individual position and whether they really were of importance or not makes no difference to me; God is not impressed with the positions that men hold and He is not partial and recognizes no external distinctions — those [I say] who were of repute imposed no new requirements upon me [had nothing to add to my Gospel, and from them I received no new suggestions]. [Deut 10:17.] AMP

Paul’s words are sharp here. This tells us something. While Paul had become a humble man to visit Peter and learn from him, Paul was not a game player in the politics of Church leadership. Paul was not impressed nor afraid of men who put themselves into positions over others. Look how Paul describes the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem. Those people created their own reputations to be something important over others. Paul says whatever their positions were, he didn’t care. He then says God is not impressed with these people’s positions. God is not partial to positions and does not recognize external distinctions. Hmmm, now we see why it was so easy for the Church leaders to sell Paul, the former Pharisee, out to the Jews on his next visit.

Paul got his instructions for teaching the non-Jews from the Holy Spirit, not men, and Paul did not submit to these men. Notice how Paul described the situation when he said it was divinely revealed to him to go to Jerusalem. Then he privately had a conference with the leaders, but other people pretending to be Christians came to spy on them and try to put them (the non-Jews) under the Law of Moses. Paul was not pleased. There seemed to be a lot of political wrangling in Jerusalem, but Paul wasn’t sucked into any of it. Why? Because he spent three years un-learning and re-learning from the Holy Spirit in the desert. Let’s reiterate, Paul did not receive instruction on the prophecies of Jesus as Messiah, or the mysteries of the one body, or the new dispensation, or the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or the gathering of the church from other people. Paul learned these things from the Yahweh and or the Holy Spirit, and Paul did not put himself under any man to be directed on what to say and do in the church. Paul started a new thing with non-Jews that was technically separate from the Church at Jerusalem. Coincidently, Paul was teaching the same things as Peter, but Paul was not “under” any human authority. He was directed by the Holy Spirit. Paul even had to correct Peter for his stance on the law. After remembering all the contentions between Jesus and the Pharisees, Paul the former Pharisee is telling people that the law is not applicable in this administration. That is an amazing realization. A former Pharisee discounting the law.

Now we have looked closely at Paul, a scholar and second generation Pharisee who was learning from the top religious leaders and was zealous for persecuting converting Jews, even consenting to their deaths. Paul had a pride issue regarding what he believed to be true. Paul really did believe he was doing the will of God. It took Jesus blinding him to get his attention. What we see is Paul’s immediate change. Paul was once a man under other men, but once converted Paul was a man directed and led by the Holy Spirit. After his conversion we see his pride gone and a willingness to learn from one man, a fisherman who walked with Jesus. We then see Paul preaching all through Asia Minor for fourteen years until too many people were trying to subvert the Christians freedom in Christ. That is when Paul takes a stand.

A short time later Paul was in Athens waiting for Timothy and Silas. The Athenians had an interesting perspective regarding learning. While they had many gods, they had a place in the marketplace for discussions. The Epicureans and Stoics were atheists and the resurrection was a very new and interesting idea for them.

Acts 17:16-21 Now while Paul was awaiting them at Athens, his spirit was grieved and roused to anger as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned and argued in the synagogue with the Jews and those who worshiped there, and in the marketplace [where assemblies are held] day after day with any who chanced to be there. 18 And some also of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him and began to engage in discussion. And some said, What is this babbler with his scrap-heap learning trying to say? Others said, He seems to be an announcer of foreign deities — because he preached Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus [Mars Hill meeting place], saying, May we know what this novel (unheard of and unprecedented) teaching is which you are openly declaring? 20 For you set forth some startling things, foreign and strange to our ears; we wish to know therefore just what these things mean —  21 For the Athenians, all of them, and the foreign residents and visitors among them spent all their leisure time in nothing except telling or hearing something newer than the last —  AMP

They wanted to hear this new teaching so they brought Paul to Mars Hill. They regarded knowledge as important and something worth considering. Notice the Athenians spent their leisure time discussing new ideas. Let’s read the last three verses in the ISV.

Acts 17:19-21 Then they took him, brought him before the Areopagus, and asked, “May we know what this new teaching of yours is? 20 It sounds rather strange to our ears, and we would like to know what it means.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there used to spend their time doing nothing else other than listening to the latest ideas or repeating them.ISV

It seems the Athenians were not prideful but instead they hungered for knowledge. As is common with the gospel, some people believed Paul and some did not, but at least they were willing to hear him. That was far more than the Jewish leaders were willing to do.

Acts 17:22-34 So Paul, standing in the center of the Areopagus [Mars Hill meeting place], said: Men of Athens, I perceive in every way [on every hand and with every turn I make] that you are most religious or very reverent to demons. 23 For as I passed along and carefully observed your objects of worship, I came also upon an altar with this inscription, To the unknown god. Now what you are already worshiping as unknown, this I set forth to you. 24 The God Who produced and formed the world and all things in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in handmade shrines. 25 Neither is He served by human hands, as though He lacked anything, for it is He Himself Who gives life and breath and all things to all [people]. [Isa 42:5.] 26 And He made from one [common origin, one source, one blood] all nations of men to settle on the face of the earth, having definitely determined [their] allotted periods of time and the fixed boundaries of their habitation (their settlements, lands, and abodes), 27 So that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after Him and find Him, although He is not far from each one of us. 28 For in Him we live and move and have our being; as even some of your [own] poets have said, For we are also His offspring. 29 Since then we are God's offspring, we ought not to suppose that Deity (the Godhead) is like gold or silver or stone, [of the nature of] a representation by human art and imagination, or anything constructed or invented. 30 Such [former] ages of ignorance God, it is true, ignored and allowed to pass unnoticed; but now He charges all people everywhere to repent (to change their minds for the better and heartily to amend their ways, with abhorrence of their past sins), 31 Because He has fixed a day when He will judge the world righteously (justly) by a Man Whom He has destined and appointed for that task, and He has made this credible and given conviction and assurance and evidence to everyone by raising Him from the dead. [Ps 9:8; 96:13; 98:9.] 32 Now when they had heard [that there had been] a resurrection from the dead, some scoffed; but others said, We will hear you again about this matter. 33 So Paul went out from among them. 34 But some men were on his side and joined him and believed (became Christians); among them were Dionysius, a judge of the Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris, and some others with them. AMP

The Athenians were willing to continue hearing Paul teach about Jesus being raised from the dead, repentance, and judgement. That is amazing. This is the attitude that we all should have. We should not be afraid to learn and discuss things we believe with others who may not believe the same as we do. Paul puts the attitude we should have into perspective when he addresses the Romans.

Rom 12:3 For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him.  AMP

If we compare this to what he says in Galatians regarding the people who made themselves leaders over the church in Jerusalem we can see why Paul was not happy with the leaders in Jerusalem. Paul does not want us to be narcissistic, stuck on our own selves as if we are special. Yet prideful people do exactly that, then legislate what they believe to others. The other side of the prideful leader is the followers of prideful people. The followers gain their own pride in a “team spirit” sort of way. It is easy for people to become prideful over the church they attend or prideful over the group they are associated with. Pride feeds on pride and no one learns or grows or is even allowed to learn or grow. The prideful leader determines the level of knowledge the followers will have and the prideful followers dare not go outside of the boundaries set for them. Remember what Paul told us in Corinthians regarding Apollos, Cephas and himself? Read the whole context and notice that Paul believed that many people were to work together, some planting, some watering, but God giving the increase.

1 Cor 4:6 Now I have applied all this [about parties and factions] to myself and Apollos for your sakes, brethren, so that from what I have said of us [as illustrations], you may learn [to think of men in accordance with Scripture and] not to go beyond that which is written, that none of you may be puffed up and inflated with pride and boast in favor of one [minister and teacher] against another.  AMP


So when someone talks “at” us, with opinions and judgments concerning others, we have to keep in mind their own level of pride. What did Paul do when he was unsaved? What did Paul do after he became saved? We, just like Paul, will have to un-learn and re-learn things we believe. Our best approach is to confer with Yahweh rather than men. I recently read of a prominent church pastor from a megachurch who condemned someone else’s ministry. It seems easier to condemn what we haven’t learned rather than learn something new. If we learn something new, as a megachurch pastor, we are technically admitting we didn’t know it all. Pride. I was also recently listening as someone explained in a prideful manner everything they believed about a certain situation. I couldn’t get a word in edgewise, but if I could have I would have said that we really can’t judge some things because Yahweh is Yahweh and we are not. Pride. It holds us back from learning and growing with Yahweh. Instead of being like the first century Jewish religious leaders who persecuted the new Christians, or instead of being like the first century Church leaders who persecuted Paul for teaching freedom in Christ, we should be willing to take three years in the desert to un-learn and re-learn what we know before we condemn anything or anyone. Paul, the scholarly Pharisee did it, and he is our example for humility and personal growth.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Governmental Persecutions; When Religion Becomes Law; Jailed and Beaten Christ Conquers

Last time we briefly thought on the difference between Christianity, which is not a governmental religious law but a belief system, and Judaism or Islam which are both religious governments and laws. Christianity can exist under any government, while Judaism or Islam are governing structures that dictate religious laws and practice to the nations. Jesus broke the mold that was created for Israel, being a nation under specific laws, social, moral, and religious, in favor of all people in all nations practicing Christianity without their governments dictating Christianity as a national practice. The first century Jews were angry that they lost governmental control of Israel and that the Romans were ruling over them. The Jews expected a Messiah to come and give them back rule over Israel, but when Jesus didn’t do that at that time they declared him to be a false Messiah. Therefore they protested and persecuted the first century Christians after Jesus’ crucifixion. The interesting thing that we will see is that the Romans were not aggressively hunting Christians at that time, the Jews were. Christianity was not to be a secular governmental system and Christians are not to behave like it is. However, there is the issue of unfair persecution toward Christians regardless of the government or the church age.  How should we view this and what are our guidelines for behavior?

Something that we should reiterate once again is that not everything we think is unfair persecution is truly unfair persecution. Take for example a home bible study that grows so large that there is no place for the neighbors to park. Neighboring residents would likely object to 100 members of a quilting club meeting every Sunday the same as a Bible study. That is not truly persecution. That is adjustment over inconsiderate behavior. Jesus did something rather unusual regarding John the Baptist’s persecution. If we remember the story, John spoke up regarding Herod Antipas and Herodias and was thrown into jail, and then later beheaded. John did not suffer persecution over baptism or calling people to repent, he publicly chastised Herod Antipas as an adulterer. That was against Jewish Law and if the Jews had been in control of Israel it would have been a punishable offence. That landed John in jail and later Herodias asked for his head. But Jesus did something weird when John was arrested. Jesus left.

Matt 4:12-16 When Jesus got word that John had been arrested, he returned to Galilee. 13 He moved from his hometown, Nazareth, to the lakeside village Capernaum, nestled at the base of the Zebulun and Naphtali hills. 14 This move completed Isaiah's sermon:
15 Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, road to the sea, over Jordan, Galilee, crossroads for the nations.
16 People sitting out their lives in the dark saw a huge light; Sitting in that dark, dark country of death, they watched the sun come up.  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Jesus came from Galilee south to Jordan to the river to be baptized, then went into the desert and was tempted by the devil. He then hears about John’s arrest and leaves to go back north. Why didn’t Jesus save John, protest his arrest, or at least go visit him in prison? Here is Jesus’ advice to the disciples a little while later.

Matt 5:25-26 "Or say you're out on the street and an old enemy accosts you. Don't lose a minute. Make the first move; make things right with him. After all, if you leave the first move to him, knowing his track record, you're likely to end up in court, maybe even jail. 26 If that happens, you won't get out without a stiff fine.  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Instead of fighting with an old enemy, Jesus is suggesting to concede to an enemy and make things right so that the matter will settle quickly. Jesus is proposing that we should not have a “fair” and “unfair” mindset but take actions to bring peace. Jesus, as we know, paid his taxes and told people to pay their taxes too. In those days the Jews felt it was an affront to pay taxes to the Romans as this was really the Jew’s land. But Jesus was asking people to abide by their governments rules, not fight them.

Matt 22:15-22 That's when the Pharisees plotted a way to trap him into saying something damaging. 16 They sent their disciples, with a few of Herod's followers mixed in, to ask, "Teacher, we know you have integrity, teach the way of God accurately, are indifferent to popular opinion, and don't pander to your students. 17 So tell us honestly: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"
18 Jesus knew they were up to no good. He said, "Why are you playing these games with me? Why are you trying to trap me? 19 Do you have a coin? Let me see it." They handed him a silver piece.
20 "This engraving — who does it look like? And whose name is on it?"
21 They said, "Caesar."
"Then give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his."
22 The Pharisees were speechless. They went off shaking their heads.  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Interestingly, the very thing they tried to use to entrap Jesus they used again later to accuse him. The funny thing is the Jews were the ones who fought against paying taxes to Caesar, not Jesus.

Luke 23:1-3 Then they all took Jesus to Pilate 2 and began to bring up charges against him. They said, "We found this man undermining our law and order, forbidding taxes to be paid to Caesar, setting himself up as Messiah-King."
3 Pilate asked him, "Is this true that you're 'King of the Jews'?"
"Those are your words, not mine," Jesus replied. (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Today we are to pay our taxes. It is a shame when a big Christian group is caught not paying their taxes, it is a direct denial of what Jesus taught. It is not about our opinions, it is about not being subversive so that we are not called a danger to society. We are to behave by the rules of the land we live in.

1 Peter 2:15 It is God's will that by doing good, you might cure the ignorance of the fools who think you're a danger to society.  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Notice, the Jews stirred up the Romans against Jesus. The very people who caused so much unrest among the people were also accusing Jesus of disturbing the peace.

Luke 23:4-5 Pilate told the high priests and the accompanying crowd, "I find nothing wrong here. He seems harmless enough to me."
5 But they were vehement. "He's stirring up unrest among the people with his teaching, disturbing the peace everywhere, starting in Galilee and now all through Judea. He's a dangerous man, endangering the peace."  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Let’s be clear about what we’ve read so far, Jesus wants his disciples to be peacemakers and pay taxes to their governments. We are to be good citizens so as not to give an excuse for people to accuse us. Now let’s fast forward to after Pentecost. The disciples were being persecuted by the Jewish religious leaders and those same leaders were having them jailed for healing people and telling them about Jesus. Peter and John in Acts chapter 4 were jailed overnight for healing the lame man and witnessing in the Temple where 5,000 people were saved. The apostles didn’t leave that meeting in fear, but instead they asked for more boldness.

Acts 4:23-30 As soon as Peter and John were let go, they went to their friends and told them what the high priests and religious leaders had said. 24 Hearing the report, they lifted their voices in a wonderful harmony in prayer: "Strong God, you made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. 25 By the Holy Spirit you spoke through the mouth of your servant and our father, David:
Why the big noise, nations?
Why the mean plots, peoples?
26 Earth's leaders push for position,
Potentates meet for summit talks,
The God-deniers, the Messiah-defiers!
27 "For in fact they did meet — Herod and Pontius Pilate with nations and peoples, even Israel itself! — met in this very city to plot against your holy Son Jesus, the One you made Messiah, 28 to carry out the plans you long ago set in motion.
29 "And now they're at it again! Take care of their threats and give your servants fearless confidence in preaching your Message, 30 as you stretch out your hand to us in healings and miracles and wonders done in the name of your holy servant Jesus."  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

The Jewish religious leaders kept trying to influence the government officials to stop the apostles, but even pressuring the government couldn’t stop the move of the Holy Spirit and an angel broke the apostles out of prison.

Acts 5:17-40 Provoked mightily by all this, the Chief Priest and those on his side, mainly the sect of Sadducees, went into action, 18 arrested the apostles, and put them in the town jail. 19 But during the night an angel of God opened the jailhouse door and led them out. 20 He said, "Go to the Temple and take your stand. Tell the people everything there is to say about this Life."
21 Promptly obedient, they entered the Temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching.
Meanwhile, the Chief Priest and his cronies convened the High Council, Israel's senate, and sent to the jail to have the prisoners brought in. 22 When the police got there, they couldn't find them anywhere in the jail. They went back and reported, 23 "We found the jail locked tight as a drum and the guards posted at the doors, but when we went inside we didn't find a soul."
24 The chief of the Temple police and the high priests were puzzled. "What's going on here anyway?"
25 Just then someone showed up and said, "Did you know that the men you put in jail are back in the Temple teaching the people?" 26 The chief and his police went and got them, but they handled them gently, fearful that the people would riot and turn on them. 27 Bringing them back, they stood them before the High Council. The Chief Priest said, 28 "Didn't we give you strict orders not to teach in Jesus' name? And here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are trying your best to blame us for the death of this man."
29 Peter and the apostles answered, "It's necessary to obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, the One you killed by hanging him on a cross. 31 God set him on high at his side, Prince and Savior, to give Israel the gift of a changed life and sins forgiven. 32 And we are witnesses to these things. The Holy Spirit, whom God gives to those who obey him, corroborates every detail."

Notice, they were healing people and people received Jesus as their Messiah, the people were not subverting the government, but the religious leaders were. This was a time where the Jews were trying to use their laws as a form of religious rule over the people of that region. This was not the Romans oppressing the Christians, but the Jews oppressing the Christians. Note that a Pharisee named Gamaliel was the one that diffused this situation. The Apostle Paul (Saul) had been a student of Gamaliel the Pharisee before Paul’s trip to Damascus.

Acts 5:33 When they heard that, they were furious and wanted to kill them on the spot. 34 But one of the council members stood up, a Pharisee by the name of Gamaliel, a teacher of God's Law who was honored by everyone. He ordered the men taken out of the room for a short time, 35 then said, "Fellow Israelites, be careful what you do to these men. 36 Not long ago Theudas made something of a splash, claiming to be somebody, and got about four hundred men to join him. He was killed, his followers dispersed, and nothing came of it. 37 A little later, at the time of the census, Judas the Galilean appeared and acquired a following. He also fizzled out and the people following him were scattered to the four winds.
38 "So I am telling you: Hands off these men! Let them alone. If this program or this work is merely human, it will fall apart, 39 but if it is of God, there is nothing you can do about it — and you better not be found fighting against God!"
40 That convinced them. They called the apostles back in. After giving them a thorough whipping, they warned them not to speak in Jesus' name and sent them off (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

The apostles were whipped by the religious leaders. This was unfair and unjust treatment, but it was not a government that was persecuting them but a religion that was persecuting them. Saul (later Paul) was trying to stop Christianity through persecution, but instead the Christians moved out from Jerusalem over the world preaching Jesus. 

Acts 8:3 And Saul just went wild, devastating the church, entering house after house after house, dragging men and women off to jail. 4 Forced to leave home base, the Christians all became missionaries. Wherever they were scattered, they preached the Message about Jesus (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Now, we might have misunderstood what was happening, Jews were trying to stop Jews from becoming Christians, but the Jews could not stop the Romans from becoming Christians. That threw a huge monkey wrench into the entire culture. The Jews had no authority to keep non-Jews from accepting Jesus as Messiah. So while they were persecuting converted Jews, non-Jews were receiving salvation too. Here is a re-cap of Cornelius’s story.

Acts 10:1 There was a man named Cornelius who lived in Caesarea, captain of the Italian Guard stationed there……….44 No sooner were these words out of Peter's mouth than the Holy Spirit came on the listeners. 45 The believing Jews who had come with Peter couldn't believe it, couldn't believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on "outsider" Gentiles, 46 but there it was — they heard them speaking in tongues, heard them praising God. (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.) (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Roman citizens and governmental employees were now receiving the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. The Jewish leaders could not stop the Holy Spirit, but the Jews got Herod Agrippa to go along with the persecution of Christians for their conversion of Jews and Herod Agrippa executed the Apostle James.

Acts 12:1-19 That's when King Herod got it into his head to go after some of the church members. 2 He murdered James, John's brother. 3 When he saw how much it raised his popularity ratings with the Jews, he arrested Peter — all this during Passover Week, mind you —   4 and had him thrown in jail, putting four squads of four soldiers each to guard him. He was planning a public lynching after Passover.
5 All the time that Peter was under heavy guard in the jailhouse, the church prayed for him most strenuously.
6 Then the time came for Herod to bring him out for the kill. That night, even though shackled to two soldiers, one on either side, Peter slept like a baby. And there were guards at the door keeping their eyes on the place. Herod was taking no chances!
7 Suddenly there was an angel at his side and light flooding the room. The angel shook Peter and got him up: "Hurry!" The handcuffs fell off his wrists. 8 The angel said, "Get dressed. Put on your shoes." Peter did it. Then, "Grab your coat and let's get out of here." 9 Peter followed him, but didn't believe it was really an angel — he thought he was dreaming.
10 Past the first guard and then the second, they came to the iron gate that led into the city. It swung open before them on its own, and they were out on the street, free as the breeze. At the first intersection the angel left him, going his own way. 11 That's when Peter realized it was no dream. "I can't believe it — this really happened! The Master sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's vicious little production and the spectacle the Jewish mob was looking forward to."

This is the second time an angel broke someone out of jail. Peter may have been among the first group as well. Is it beyond Yahweh’s abilities to break people out of prison? No. I think it’s amusing that Herod Agrippa did this to win favor with the Jews, but then it seems as though he had enough of this disappearing prisoner game and went on vacation.

Acts 12:18 At daybreak the jail was in an uproar. "Where is Peter? What's happened to Peter?" 19 When Herod sent for him and they could neither produce him nor explain why not, he ordered their execution: "Off with their heads!" Fed up with Judea and Jews, he went for a vacation to Caesarea. (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

While the Christians continue to spread out over the world, the persecution continued. Other religions got upset as well. Spiritualists who had a women working for them who was a psychic and fortuneteller had demons cast out of her and the Spiritualists were afraid of going broke. It was a great witness in Thyratira, which was a province of Turkey, under Roman rule.

Acts 16:19-40 When her owners saw that their lucrative little business was suddenly bankrupt, they went after Paul and Silas, roughed them up and dragged them into the market square. Then the police arrested them 20 and pulled them into a court with the accusation, "These men are disturbing the peace — dangerous Jewish agitators 21 subverting our Roman law and order." 22 By this time the crowd had turned into a restless mob out for blood.
The judges went along with the mob, had Paul and Silas's clothes ripped off and ordered a public beating. 23 After beating them black and blue, they threw them into jail, telling the jailkeeper to put them under heavy guard so there would be no chance of escape. 24 He did just that — threw them into the maximum security cell in the jail and clamped leg irons on them.
25 Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn't believe their ears. 26 Then, without warning, a huge earthquake! The jailhouse tottered, every door flew open, all the prisoners were loose.
27 Startled from sleep, the jailer saw all the doors swinging loose on their hinges. Assuming that all the prisoners had escaped, he pulled out his sword and was about to do himself in, figuring he was as good as dead anyway, 28 when Paul stopped him: "Don't do that! We're all still here! Nobody's run away!"
29 The jailer got a torch and ran inside. Badly shaken, he collapsed in front of Paul and Silas. 30 He led them out of the jail and asked, "Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved, to really live?" 31 They said, "Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you'll live as you were meant to live — and everyone in your house included!"
32 They went on to spell out in detail the story of the Master — the entire family got in on this part. 33 They never did get to bed that night. The jailer made them feel at home, dressed their wounds, and then — he couldn't wait till morning! — was baptized, he and everyone in his family. 34 There in his home, he had food set out for a festive meal. It was a night to remember: He and his entire family had put their trust in God; everyone in the house was in on the celebration.
35 At daybreak, the court judges sent officers with the instructions, "Release these men." 36 The jailer gave Paul the message, "The judges sent word that you're free to go on your way. Congratulations! Go in peace!"
37 But Paul wouldn't budge. He told the officers, "They beat us up in public and threw us in jail, Roman citizens in good standing! And now they want to get us out of the way on the sly without anyone knowing? Nothing doing! If they want us out of here, let them come themselves and lead us out in broad daylight."
38 When the officers reported this, the judges panicked. They had no idea that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. 39 They hurried over and apologized, personally escorted them from the jail, and then asked them if they wouldn't please leave the city. 40 Walking out of the jail, Paul and Silas went straight to Lydia's house, saw their friends again, encouraged them in the faith, and only then went on their way. (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

This group of spiritualists did the same thing as the Jewish religious leaders, and again the prisoners were given the option to walk free. This time they didn’t. Paul had a little bit of a stubborn streak and insisted on making a big deal about this as Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. Paul wanted this to be a spectacle that many would see. They were not Jewish citizens so they had a higher status in Roman territories and should not have been treated this way. Again, another new thing was happening here. Jews who were Roman citizens were now receiving Jesus as Messiah and spreading the news. First, Jews became Christians, then Romans became Christians, and now Roman Jews were becoming Christians. Look who’s next.

Acts 17:4-7 Some of them were won over and joined ranks with Paul and Silas, among them a great many God-fearing Greeks and a considerable number of women from the aristocracy. 5 But the hard-line Jews became furious over the conversions. Mad with jealousy, they rounded up a bunch of brawlers off the streets and soon had an ugly mob terrorizing the city as they hunted down Paul and Silas.
They broke into Jason's house, thinking that Paul and Silas were there. 6 When they couldn't find them, they collared Jason and his friends instead and dragged them before the city fathers, yelling hysterically, "These people are out to destroy the world, and now they've shown up on our doorstep, attacking everything we hold dear! 7 And Jason is hiding them, these traitors and turncoats who say Jesus is king and Caesar is nothing!"  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

The God fearing Greeks believed on Jesus as Messiah and the Jews got so mad they became violent again. Has anyone ever taught in Church how violent the Jews were toward the first century Christians? Probably not. There is a very interesting pattern here and we will explore it shortly. But first let’s look at Paul’s explanation as to what he was doing to the Christians before his conversion on the road to Damascus. 

Acts 26:8-11 For the life of me, I can't see why it's a criminal offense to believe that God raises the dead.
9 "I admit that I didn't always hold to this position. For a time I thought it was my duty to oppose this Jesus of Nazareth with all my might. 10 Backed with the full authority of the high priests, I threw these believers — I had no idea they were God's people! — into the Jerusalem jail right and left, and whenever it came to a vote, I voted for their execution. 11 I stormed through their meeting places, bullying them into cursing Jesus, a one-man terror obsessed with obliterating these people. And then I started on the towns outside Jerusalem.  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Paul, as a student of Gamaliel, believed it was his duty to oppose Christianity. He had all the authority of the high priests to jail people and he voted for Christians to be executed. Paul thought it was his duty, his obligation, his responsibility, to crush Christianity. Why? Because when a religion is a law and a belief system, but enforced by laws, it is proper to crush any other group that does not follow the laws of religion. Today we see Muslim countries that operate in the same manner. Certain nations have religious laws and legal systems that will not allow freedom to its people to believe and worship in a different manner than the established national religion. The lack of personal freedom to worship differently is well known by the inhabitants of those nations and if people wish to worship under a different religion, those people must leave that nation to live in a place that grants religious freedom. Today, Israel is a nation consisting of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Most nations have freedom of religion and separate religion from governments and societal law. Many nations adopted Judeo-Christian principals for societal laws but are not governed by religious law.

The pattern of religious persecution we have just looked at in the Book of Acts is due to the Jews wanting to keep their own religiously based governmental laws even though they were really under Roman rule. Whenever nations try to rule via religion there is always a bloody mess. Looking at the Romans after 70 AD, first they persecuted the Christians, then they created a national religion combining paganism and Christianity. Then there were the Crusades. There was also the Ottomans, the Spanish Inquisition, and the European wars over Protestantism and Catholicism. There are Hindu and Muslim wars. There are the Sunni and Shiite wars. The Buddhists rose up against the Catholic Vietnamese and the Chinese had their share of religious wars as well. Messy.

The ideal nation is not necessarily one that is founded on and governed by a religion. What we see regarding governmental persecutions towards any religious group is due to conflicting belief systems. Now think back to our last study, Jesus taught something completely different for the age of Christianity. He taught us not to riot, or protest, or stir up trouble. He taught us to be peacemakers and to smooth things over with our enemies. He taught us to pay our taxes and to be good citizens so that, as Peter says, people will not believe we are a danger to society. This surely does not sound like Christians should be instigators of political upheavals but instead servants of others. Remember when John was put in prison by Herod? Jesus left and went north. Now look what Jesus says to the church at Smyrna.    

Rev 2:9-11 "I can see your pain and poverty — constant pain, dire poverty — but I also see your wealth. And I hear the lie in the claims of those who pretend to be good Jews, who in fact belong to Satan's crowd.
10 "Fear nothing in the things you're about to suffer — but stay on guard! Fear nothing! The Devil is about to throw you in jail for a time of testing — ten days. It won't last forever.
"Don't quit, even if it costs you your life. Stay there believing. I have a Life-Crown sized and ready for you.
11 "Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. Christ-conquerors are safe from Devil-death."  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

If this was written to us today it would read: the devil is about to throw some of you into jail but don’t quit even if it costs you your life because Christ-conquerors are saved from devil-death. Just because someone is persecuted by their government or by religious leaders who force the government to imprison people does not mean that Yahweh has forsaken anyone. In fact the greater witness is when one behaves as Jesus already instructed, obeying the laws and paying taxes, and then gets thrown into jail. Walking in gentleness, holiness and in love is what we are called to, even in the midst of governmental persecution because it does not give an opening or an excuse for the devil to accuse us. Look at how Paul puts it.

2 Cor 6:3-10 Don't put it off; don't frustrate God's work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything we're doing. 4 Our work as God's servants gets validated — or not — in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times; 5 when we're beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating; 6 with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love; 7 when we're telling the truth, and when God's showing his power; when we're doing our best setting things right; 8 when we're praised, and when we're blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though distrusted; 9 ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; 10 immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all.  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

If Paul hadn’t been imprisoned in Rome we would not have his letters to learn from. The time was probably a good rest for his tired body. Look what Paul endured. We can see how weak we are in our modern times when someone gets excited because they think they are suffering persecution when they get a speeding ticket. Um, that’s not persecution, that’s breaking the law, don’t speed.

2 Cor 11:23-29 I've worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death's door time after time. 24 I've been flogged five times with the Jews' thirty-nine lashes, 25 beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I've been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. 26 In hard traveling year in and year out, I've had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I've been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. 27 I've known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.
28 And that's not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. 29 When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut.  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

Paul suffered for doing good. During the tribulation many will be martyred and suffer governmental and religious persecution, that is what the entire tribulation is about. We have studied it in detail; once the redeemed are off the earth, there will be three major religious groups, but people will still be receiving Jesus as Messiah and will be beheaded for it. It will a bloody time of governments enforcing religious laws on people. Paul tells us more.

1 Cor 15:30-33 And why do you think I keep risking my neck in this dangerous work? 31 I look death in the face practically every day I live. Do you think I'd do this if I wasn't convinced of your resurrection and mine as guaranteed by the resurrected Messiah Jesus? 32 Do you think I was just trying to act heroic when I fought the wild beasts at Ephesus, hoping it wouldn't be the end of me? Not on your life! It's resurrection, resurrection, always resurrection, that undergirds what I do and say, the way I live. If there's no resurrection, "We eat, we drink, the next day we die," and that's all there is to it. 33 But don't fool yourselves. Don't let yourselves be poisoned by this anti-resurrection loose talk. "Bad company ruins good manners."  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

It is the hope of the resurrection, the hope of eternal life with Christ that causes people like Paul to stare death in the face every day. Fighting lions in the arena at Ephesus, being whipped, being stoned and left for dead, Paul endured it all because of the resurrection and this is probably why he needed a two year rest under house arrest in Rome. Many of the guards assigned to Paul became Christians, and once Paul was released he journeyed to Spain and to the British Isles. When he went back to Rome he was beheaded. Paul coaches Timothy on what he should do, keep the Message alive.

2 Tim 4:3-8 You're going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food — catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. 4 They'll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. 5 But you — keep your eye on what you're doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God's servant.
6 You take over. I'm about to die, my life an offering on God's altar. 7 This is the only race worth running. I've run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. 8 All that's left now is the shouting — God's applause! Depend on it, he's an honest judge. He'll do right not only by me, but by everyone eager for his coming. (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

If we, like Timothy, are to keep the message alive, we are bound to ruffle religious feathers. But if we are abiding by our nations laws and are true servants and peacemakers we will be more effective. Jesus told his disciples to let Him lead, and that is what we are to do.

Matt 16:24-26 Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. 25 Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. 26 What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?  (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)


Self-sacrifice is the way. Keep the message alive. Ask for fearless confidence to speak the Message even when governments plot against you. Reconcile with your enemies and abide by governmental laws. Pay your taxes. The devil will throw some of you in prison, but endure to the end because you are a conqueror, an overcomer who can withstand to your death. Don’t be surprised when you are treated the way the apostles were treated; if necessary an angel can break you out of prison. When a religion is the law, all political and societal governance is a religious practice, therefore any outside religion will be met with governmental persecution. Jesus intended Christianity to be separate from law, he gave us free will, which is what we are to teach others. If we come to Jesus in freedom it is more valuable than by force. Therefore, if by healing people and presenting Jesus we come under legal persecution we have Jesus’ words, ‘embrace suffering’.