Bible Study With Jairus

Requirements for Prophesying Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 24

Requirements for Prophesying

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 24

 

The verses that inspired us after reading Numbers 24 were verses 15-16. What particularly caught our attention is the description of the prophet Balaam. We realized the need for the Church and Christians to be people who replicate these verses: "whose eye is opened, who hears the words of God, knows the knowledge of the Most High, and who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered” (ESV, Numbers 24:15-16). If we become such people, we will also prophesy and help others to hear and see God. We would see Christ in everything and everyone, preach the gospel confidently, and bring people from the kingdom of darkness into God's Kingdom of light.

 

Meant To Be A Blessing

Numbers 24 is about the king of Moab, Balak. The king of Moab invited the Gentile prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites. After Balaam’s two failed attempts to curse them, he went into the wilderness. There, the Spirit of God came upon him and he blessed the Israelites (Numbers 24:3-9). After this blessing, Balak became angry with Balaam and would not honor (pay) Balaam. Balaam responded by stating that even if Balak were to give him his palace full of silver and gold, he still would only say what the Lord asked him to say.

 

Balak is a Moabite, and Moabites are descendants of Lot. Deuteronomy 2 records that God told Moses not to contend with the Moabites in battle because God gave the land of Ar to Lot’s descendants, and not to the Israelites. We recall from Numbers 23 that God wanted to bless the Moabites. The purpose of God leading the Israelites to pass through Moab and pay for their food and water was so that the Israelites and Moabites could reconcile. God was hoping to use Israel’s passage through their land as an opportunity to bless Moab.

 

Why? Because Abraham’s and Lot’s servants had fought, which led Lot to move to Sodom, and Abraham to go to the Promised Land. Later, God would judge Sodom. Since Sodom did not have 10 righteous people, the city was destroyed. Abraham interceded so that God would save at least Lot. Although Lot was saved, his wife became a pillar of salt because she looked back at Sodom in disobedience to the angels’ command. Afterward, Lot's daughters plotted to have incestuous relations with Lot which resulted in the people groups of the Moabites and Ammonites. People and races who commit incest will inevitably be discriminated against. There must have been a lot of humiliation in the environment where the Moabites grew up. We can even see and feel that this existed when we read about the Moabites in the Book of Ruth. Naomi's husband and sons were even judged and died in Moab.

 

It is not difficult to understand why the Moabites regarded the Israelites with so much hatred and prejudice. God told the Moabites over and over through the Gentile prophet Balaam that He had blessed Israel. Yet, God wanted Israel to reconcile with Moab so that blessings could come to Moab. Even the birth of Christ through the Israelites was intended to be a blessing to the Moabites. This was God’s plan. However, because of the Moabites’ distorted mindset and fear, they were taken advantage of by the enemy to believe that God would not bless them. The Moabites even became Satan’s tool to attack God’s chosen people. After repeated refusal to repent, God's curse came upon Moab. God really wanted to bless Moab, but because the Moabites were obstinate and refused to forgive and accept the Israelites, they were tricked by Satan into engaging in sexual immorality and a plague followed. The plague was punishment aimed at dealing with the sinful activity they engaged in; the Moabites suffered for this sin.

 

Beware of Spiritual Fornication

Today, the spiritual situation of many people in churches is the same as those in Moab. We commit errors of spiritual fornication by harboring unforgiveness and entertaining ungodly thoughts and prejudices. We give the enemy and evil spirits the opportunity to build strongholds in us, even to the point of us being used to oppose God and His anointed people. For example, I read a true story about a woman who was harassed by her father and other men. Afterward, she became full of hatred toward men. This hatred turned into a stronghold reinforced by evil spirits and she became possessed by demons. In the case of this woman’s deliverance, the first step to her freedom was leading her to forgive the men who hurt her. When she released forgiveness, she dispossessed the evil spirits. She removed their authority to possess her and abide in her. On the contrary, if she had refused to forgive, the deliverance ministers would have been limited as to what they could do since she would still be granting the demons a home. No matter the conflict, if we do not learn to forgive, we will be opening doors to the enemy to set up strongholds in our lives. Everyone must learn to forgive and accept people according to God’s perspective so as not to commit the same mistakes as the Moabites.

 

Blessings in Disguise

In many cases, things that come to us are brought by God to bless us, but these blessings are often blessings in disguise. They may not look like blessings on the surface, but God’s hand is actually behind them. I have had many experiences like this. For example, for a period of time in both my work and family life, I repeatedly had to deal with people who were strict and stern with me. At the beginning, I complained to God asking Him why He allowed such things to happen to me. I later understood. God used those people to become a blessing to me by allowing me to examine my shortcomings, repent and confess, and learn to become a more mature and humbler follower of Jesus. In the end, I was helped and blessed. As Hebrews 12:11 (ESV) says: “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

 

The first reaction of the Moabites when they saw the Israelites was fear. They did not expect that God wanted to bless them through Israel. If the Israelites had been given water and food and were warmly received and cared for by the Moabites when they passed through Moab, God would have greatly blessed the Moabites. We know this because God established a principle when He made a covenant with Abraham that whosoever blesses Israel will be blessed and whoever curses Israel will be cursed. God's purpose of allowing the Israelites to pass through Moab was to give the Moabites a chance to treat the Israelites kindly and receive a blessing. Deuteronomy 2 records that God even commanded Moses to buy water from the Moabites instead of freely consuming it from their land. God hoped that the Moabites would respond by treating the Israelites with generosity and respect.

 

Elements of Prophecy

Let’s continue with Numbers 24:17-19 (ESV). It says: "I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!”

 

A man in our group asked, “To whom are these words directed to?” and “Who is ‘the one from Jacob who shall exercise dominion’ in verse 19?” I pointed out what Balaam said to Moab. Verse 14 (ESV) says: "Now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.” Balaam left and returned to his hometown, but before he left, he prophesied again telling Moab how the Israelites would treat the Moabites and other nations in the future. This prophecy includes salvation and punishment. Salvation in the sense that Christ, as a star, will rise from Jacob, and Christ will become a blessing given by God to all nations through Abraham. Christ will bear all the sins of the world as well as the sins of Lot and Moab. The punishment part is referring to God’s judgment which would also rise through Israel to other nations. Discipline will come to nations such as Moab and Edom. In verses 18-24, Balaam’s prophecy also mentions the judgement of other nations, including Edom, Amalek, Kenite, and Asshur. Then, it is recorded in verse 25 that Balaam went back to his place, and Balak also went his way.

 

Prophecy often has two aspects to it. One aspect to prophecy is like a close-up camera shot. It’s the part of prophecy that addresses the here and now, or soon-coming state-of-things. Balaam’s close-up prophetic word addresses the history of Israel and includes God’s impending judgement on Moab and Edom through Israel. Verses in the book of Numbers support that God specifically ordered Moses to punish the Moabites for inciting fornication. God punished Moab through Moses and later Moab (Edom) would become subject to King David. The other view of prophecy is like a far-off camera shot. In the case of Balaam’s prophecy, this would be the reference to Christ coming in the future. Moses even also said that one day God would raise up a prophet like him, and the Israelites must listen to him. Those who do not listen to Him will be cut off (Deuteronomy 18:18). This is talking about Jesus Christ. Jesus even affirms this himself when he says, "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he (Moses) wrote about me" (John 5:46).

 

Prerequisites to Prophesy

Verses 15-16 tell us three things: the kind of person who may prophesy for God; the kind of person that we need to be to become the channel of God's prophetic words and blessings to others; and the kind of person that we need to be to better understand God's prophetic words.

 

Verses 15-16 (ESV): "The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered..."

 

Many prophetic words of the Bible appear in the form of hymns. The Holy Spirit uses hymnal form to prophesy, and these hymns often have a special meter or rhythm. We can learn how to distinguish which prophetic words are God’s true prophecies by checking whether these prophecies have a meter. Do these meters exceed what the person who prophesies can do? Balaam’s prophecy is a hymn. I have highlighted all the meters in bold and I share my thoughts on each.

 

First, we must be someone whose eye is opened. When the prophet Elisha and his servant Gehazi were under attack by the enemies of Israel, the servant became afraid. Elisha told him, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Elisha prayed that God would open Gehazi's eyes. Afterward, Gehazi saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (ESV, 2 Kings 6:15-17). We too have to look with spiritual eyes. We need to see God’s work amidst our complicated world. We cannot be like Moab who failed to see or recognize the hand of God or His work through the Israelites. We cannot be blind. Society is full of chaos, and social media is full of rumors. As Christians and churches, are our eyes open? Are we people who can see what God is doing in the Spirit? Or are we people who just simply follow the crowd and become panic-stricken when there’s a straw blowing in the wind?

 

God has given me prophetic dreams about a major upheaval that will come to the world, and the purpose of it is to shake all the nations that can be shaken so that people will repent and seek God. In one prophetic dream, I saw an angel stretching out a huge stick from heaven straight into the ocean, and he began to stir. After which, I saw surging waves rise from the ocean and many houses were destroyed. I understand that God will raise up upheavals to break humanity from the status quo. To those who live according to God's will, God will guard them. We should take advantage of these upheavals to preach the gospel and bring many people into God’s Kingdom.

 

We must see through appearances to perceive the essence of things as they are in the unseen realm. We should perceive God’s hands in the things happening in this world and see God working through people and things. We need to see God's perfect plan amidst the imperfect exteriors. We have to be able to see past the sinful surface to find God's beautiful and good nature. We need to see the beauty of God in the ugliness of people. We need to overcome the weaknesses of our flesh to become spiritually capable of fathoming things in the Spirit. We need to be people whose eyes are opened in the Spirit. Are you such a person?

 

If you are, you will be a blessing to many people around you. If the Church becomes like this, it will also become a great blessing to the world. Let’s not be blind with covered eyes, unable to receive and fathom spiritual things. We don’t want to be the blind trying to lead the blind. Naturally, both will fall into a pit (Matthew 15:14). One of the main reasons why society remains sinful, blind, and unaware of God and His salvation is because the Church has yet to mature and embrace their calling of giving light and reconciliation to the world.

 

Second, we must be a person who hears the words of God. Do you often hear the voice of the Holy Spirit? Do you treasure hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit? If you have not heard it recently, when was the last time you heard his voice? If you have never heard it, have you ever fasted and prayed to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit? Are there any obstacles between you and God? Do you have any hidden sins that prevent you from approaching God and listening to His voice? Have you repented of and confessed your sins? As Christians we should always hear God speaking to us. The Bible is “logos,” the sure Word of God. We must consistently meditate on the Scriptures and eat God’s Word so that it turns into rhema (timely words of God). We can do this by reading and praying (pray reading). Do you pray read and meditate on God’s Word every day?

 

At the same time, churches must admit the existence of prophets nowadays. They must humble themselves and listen to God's words through the prophets. Many people think that there are no more prophets today. This is a false teaching. God has recovered a lot through the prophetic movement today. Although the prophetic movement is still immature, and many prophets have flaws, God is still speaking through them. The Lord Jesus said, “The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward” (ESV, Matthew 10:41). The Lord did not say that this sentence only applies to the Old Testament. Perhaps one of the rewards of the prophets we can receive today is to hear God's words for this age. We know that "where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint" (ESV, Proverbs 29:18). When the church neglects the gift of prophecy or the office of prophets, it often loses its prophetic vision. The New Testament also teaches us that we should not despise prophecies, but test everything and hold fast to what is good (ESV, 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21). Let’s continue to strive to be people that hear God’s words, especially through the prophets He has given.

 

Third, we must be someone who knows the knowledge of the Most High. In the Local Church Movement, we use a term called "God's economy," which means "God's plan." What is God's plan? What was God's plan for people throughout history until now? God's plan was and is to redeem us in and through Christ—to become His chosen people, prepare Christ's bride, and in the end, become Christ's army and reign with Him.

 

What is God's plan for this age? Are we facing the last days? Is the Lord Jesus coming soon? Many people believe the end of the world is near. The darkness we are facing is unprecedented, so the end of the world must really be getting closer. Rumors of the coronavirus, vaccines, and various wars are all portrayed as scenes of the last days. However, I personally don’t think that we have reached the end of the world yet. An American prophet, Katt Kerr, believes that the heavenly Father told her that the last days are still far away. The enemy hopes that the last days come in advance, but God has a beautiful plan for this age—for a great revival to come to the world.

 

In 2016, I sought God’s healing due to my wife’s infertility and I went to a prophetic conference. After I got home, the Holy Spirit asked me a question about China's great revival that was mentioned in the conference. In my conversation with the Holy Spirit, I understood that God is planning to bring a great revival to China, and perhaps more than 100 million people or more will be saved. A Korean prophet also told me that the 21st century is the time that God will evangelize China. There are about 100 million Christians in China. If 100 million more are saved, that’s 200 million people in total. If more people are saved in this great revival, China will still only be 80% Christian like the United States once was before. Evangelization in China will take several generations. God is not in a hurry to bring the end of the world. He will give us enough time to evangelize. The Church is far from being spiritually mature enough, and the glory of God has not yet filled the whole earth as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). But this day will come. Before the glory of the Lord fills the earth, the end of the world will not come.

 

Fourth, we must become someone who can see the vision of the Almighty. “Almighty” in Hebrew is elyon, meaning the Most High God. We must see God. Many people know God in terms of knowledge and doctrine, but they lack personal experience from encountering Him. This is a big shortcoming. In particular, many traditional churches devote more attention on gaining biblical knowledge than on believers having personal encounters with the Lord through pursuing the gift of prophecy or other supernatural gifts. Traditional churches even discourage the use or pursuit of the gifts and the supernatural. The result of this is a withering Body of Christ.

 

On the other hand, I’ve observed many people having personal encounters with the Lord in Pentecostal churches. As a result of these encounters, a new culture was created—one that focuses on encountering God. Many people now term this culture “Encounter Culture.” The emergence of this kind of culture is based on many people’s lack of personal encounters with the Lord in traditional churches. I have seen that this kind of experience blesses the people who engage in it. Many people in the Toronto Revival experienced God personally too. My own personal encounter with God when I was in the Local Church Movement changed me a lot. My experiences with the Lord in tangible and supernatural ways have only increased as I have sought to pursue the gifts of the Holy Spirit and engage more in a Pentecostal church. This includes experiences of being taken to heaven and talking with Jesus. These experiences have become great blessings to me.

 

But the pursuit of personal encounters with the Lord cannot replace our study of Bible. These two are interconnected and they need to complement each other. Pursuing only personal, subjective experiences will result in a weak foundation of biblical truth and will leave us gullible to deception by evil spirits. Pursuing only knowledge and biblical principles while denying and neglecting subjective experiences will cause us to wither and lack in zeal and prophetic vision from the Lord. Let us be willing to pursue both.

 

Fifth, we must be someone who falls down with our eyes uncovered before God. In another prophetic dream, I was taken to heaven to see the Lord Jesus. While waiting in line, I was given a robe to put on. Before I could even enter the door, I fell to the ground by a tremendous force, and it left me unable to stand. Then I heard the powerful voice of the Lord say, "Get up." I immediately gained strength. Upon entering, I saw the Lord sitting inside and He called me by my English name, Sean. This was a very shocking experience for me; it is an indescribable feeling when you hear the Lord Jesus personally calling your name. I have an idea of what it means to fall down before the Lord. Do you?

 

A person who can prophesy for the Lord or understand God's prophetic words more deeply will be someone who satisfies the above conditions. It’s only when we become such a person can we speak or understand God's prophetic words. And it’s only when we become this person that God will entrust prophecies to us. Otherwise, our understanding of the Bible will likely only scratch the surface of things we could know. Our knowledge of the Word will help us have more subjective experiences of Him and our subjective experiences and personal encounters will bring us to a higher spiritual level in the Spirit to better understand His Word. These two coexist in a complementary relationship. Valuing only one and neglecting the other will cause us to become biased in understanding God's Word. However, if we combine these two, we can prophesy better and understand the prophecies in the Bible better as well. Concluding, we should avoid being like Balaam who had a heart of greed while being gifted in prophecy. Likewise, we do not want to be the Moabites who could not hear the words of God because they maintained a veil of hatred and prejudice over their heart. How wonderful it is to have a pure heart in service to God and be followers who are willing to listen to Him!

 

 

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 12- A Discussion of Gifts

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 12- A Discussion of Gifts

Our discussion in Romans 12 begins with a focus on verse 3. This verse says, "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned." A man asked me a question about this. He said, “What is the direct relationship between this verse and the previous verses? Why does Paul mention this here? What does it mean to think with ‘sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned’?”

We must understand that the background of the book of Romans is the fierce conflict between the Jews and the Gentiles. This conflict caused all the Jews to leave Rome in the time of Claudius (Acts 18:2). At that time Priscilla and Aquila left Rome and traveled to Corinth. Corinth is where they met Paul, the apostle. Since all three of them were tentmakers by trade, Paul remained there and helped to build tents.   Perhaps it was prior to the time that Paul was burdened to write the Roman Church. He was also urged to write the book of Romans because he was determined to go to Jerusalem, and he was uncertain if he would leave Jerusalem alive and eventually visit Rome.

Racial conflicts in society usually penetrate the church. Therefore, in our study of Romans, we have also mentioned that one of Paul’s burdens was a hope that both the Jewish and Gentile believers of the Roman church could accept each other and live in peace. This may also help us understand Paul’s words in the highlighted text. Paul is admonishing both Jewish and Gentile believers to see each other’s strengths and not to think highly of themselves.

Spiritual Gifts in the Body of Christ

I shared that there are two great problems with Christians or churches. The first is that they think highly of their own gifts or callings but belittle the gifts and callings of others. Secondly, they look down upon their own gifts and callings but admire or even envy the gifts of others.

First of all, this is true among individuals. Paul uses the different parts of the body as a metaphor in Romans 12:4-8. Each of us is a member of the body of Christ, and each of us has our own function. Both the mouth and tongue are parts of the body, but they have different functions. With regards to the function of speaking, they are both indispensable. But if the mouth thinks too highly of its gift and acts like it does not need the tongue’s cooperation, it cannot speak alone. If the tongue feels that its work is less efficient than the mouth’s, it may belittle itself, become envious of the mouth, and give up its function. Again, the mouth would not be able to speak.

This is what “to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” means. We need to know and understand the measure of faith, the calling, and the gifts that God has given us. First, we need to do our part. When we do our part, we can complement each other and accomplish God's work.

From the body’s perspective, it is important that the mouth does not attempt to control the tongue or likewise. To produce a cohesive outcome such as eating or talking, the two must agree to work together.  The same must also be done spiritually. Therefore, when Paul talked about us being different members of the body of Christ, he specifically mentioned that we use our gifts “according to the grace given to us.” Romans 12:6-8 lists these gifts and how we should use them: “if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. When we are faithful to the talents and gifts that God has given us, God will multiply our gifts.

For example, you may only have the gift of preaching at first. You have shared the gospel and people were saved so you are now an evangelist. As you begin to teach these newly saved believers the truths of the Bible, you gradually develop the gift of teaching. Because you need to shepherd them, you will also develop the gift of pastoring. When the number of people or even churches you lead increases, you will become an apostle. Of course, if you pursue the gift of prophecy, you might be an apostolic prophet.

My Gifting

Allow me to use a personal example to further explain. I left the Local Church Movement (LCM) in 2015 to study in the charismatic church. There I encountered many people with prophetic gifts. When they met me for the first time, many people said, “You have the gift of teaching. God has given you a gift in which once you understand a truth, you can express it in a language that others can understand.” Many people have prophesied to me like this. They have the gift of prophecy and I can confirm this because they do not know about my experience in the Local Church Movement. The LCM practices prophesying in the way of forth-telling [see note at the bottom] and PSRP (pray-reading, studying, reciting, and prophesying). It encourages every brother and sister to learn to speak for the Lord. Therefore, many brothers and sisters in the Local Church Movement have the gift of teaching. The Local Church Movement’s position is that everyone prophesies. If speaking is not your natural talent, everyone will say amen and encourage you. Everyone dares to speak over time, and everyone is granted the opportunity to learn to speak. Everyone is afforded the opportunity to speak with boldness.  Since the church encourages everyone to study the Bible diligently, many people have the ability to teach to some extent. Everyone can speak boldly.

In 2015, I had been attending meetings in the Local Church Movement for 13 years. My wife and I had been married for almost 10 years but we were infertile. Therefore, it was my hope to seek help from some brothers and sisters who were attentive to the voice of the Lord and could help us understand God’s will. We needed direction on how to be healed. But no one could help me in the Local Church Movement.  Later, under the leading of the Holy Spirit, I visited some charismatic churches and met some Christians with prophetic gifts. They could see prophetic visions or receive miraculous revelations after praying. Some people even saw in their prophetic vision that we would have a child and shared that with us, which became our comfort in difficult times. Some of these prophetic words have yet to occur. But in general, there was indeed some hope and comfort for us at that time. Later, God also spoke personally to me. After this, we had our miracle baby! During the process, I realized that the gift of prophecy is real and that I was very eager to pursue it. I studied and completed the prophetic class offered by Randy Clark’s Global Awakening. I continued to learn and practice. Gradually I was able to activate the gift of prophecy. Although the gift has been stirred up within me, it must mature. I have started to have many prophetic dreams and some prophetic visions. Although these gifts are very controversial for many Christians, my experience is real, and I did experience an increase in my measure of faith and in my gifts.

Because the Local Church Movement does not acknowledge, understand, or teach the gift of prophecy (in the sense of foretelling), it was naturally impossible for me to learn or grow in the gift of prophecy in its meetings. Using your gifts is like exercising.  if you exercise a muscle often, this muscle will be naturally strong; but if you do not exercise or never use a certain muscle, this muscle will not be strong.

The reason why the Local Church Movement does not teach the gifts of prophecy in terms of foretelling is based on the inaccuracies of many foretelling prophecies in the Pentecostal churches, including revivals or earthquakes that did not come as prophesied. This judgment is true, but the gift of prophecy was immature at that time when the leaders of the LCM made such conclusions. There have been more developments and progress since that time. But the Local Church Movement completely closed this door based on its bad experience from the past. As the saying goes, they “threw the baby out with the bathwater.” Another saying, “Misuse is not the excuse to not use," does a better job of explaining what they should have done. There are many misuses of gifts in the history of the Charismatic Movement, but the misuse of gifts is not an excuse for us to neglect gifts.

The Local Church Movement does not advocate for or teach miraculous healing because they believe that pursuing miraculous healing will make believers pay less attention to spiritual life and growth. However, on the other hand, if our bodies cannot be healed, it would conversely limit the spiritual growth of believers. My own needs were not met in the Local Church Movement. Didn’t this prove that I was missing something? My experience is unique to me, but common to the body of Christ. I shared my experience on YouTube and WeChat, and believers from the Local Church Movement in the United States and China wrote to me to affirm my experience. They also discussed with me how to get healed. Although the gift of healing is new to me, it is being developed so that God can use me to help others. After talking to others who share similar beliefs, we all agreed that the Local Church Movement does not teach or exercise the complete five-fold gifts as described in Ephesians 4:11-13.

Therefore, in addition to the gift of prophecy, I also pursued the gift of healing. I went to New York to attend the healing meeting of Kenneth W. Hagin, the son of Kenneth E. Hagin, and asked him to pray for me to receive the gift of healing. After some hesitation, He said “This is entirely up to God.” He reluctantly prayed for me. However, I had a prophetic dream that night. In the prophetic dream, I saw Jesus telling me from a high place that He had given me the gift of healing. I said, “I didn’t receive it.” Then the Lord said, “Raise your right hand.” I then raised my right hand. A current flowed through my hand. Then the Lord Jesus asked me to raise my right arm again. This time the heat current flowed through my entire arm. Later, many people with prophetic gifts said that God has bestowed on me the gift of healing to help me steadfastly pray for my wife. God healed my wife through my prayers which resulted in a miraculous pregnancy!

Just as my prophetic gift is currently dormant, my gift of healing is also limited. In addition to my wife, I have prayed for many other people. Not many have received healing. However, when I look back on my experience over the past few years, my measure of faith and my gifts have indeed increased. Although there is still room for improvement, I have made progress.

I am thankful to the Local Church Movement for its help of activating the gift of teaching and spiritual growth.  I also thank the charismatic church for helping me activate the gift of prophecy and the gift of healing. My gifts may be limited, but God’s gifts are unlimited. We cannot think highly of the gifts of our teachers and belittle the gift of prophecy in other people (or vice versa).

How Teaching and Prophecy Fit Together

Rick Joyner, a well-known prophet in charismatic churches, compared the gift of teaching with the gift of prophecy, thinking that these two gifts need to balance each other. He said that prophets often receive revelation from God, but if there is no balance with the gift of teaching, they often are in danger of teaching heresy. For example, in history, "Mountainists" paid a lot of attention to the gift of prophecy. They declared that they had received special revelation. In the end, they taught wrong truths, which had a great impact on the misunderstanding of the gift of prophecy by Christianity in later generations. Another example is William Marrion Branham, who was a prominent figure in the healing and charismatic revival in the 1950s. He had a keen gift of prophecy. He could often tell the symptoms of patients and heal them. But in his later years, he taught heresy and wrong truths, even calling himself Elijah. Therefore, the gift of prophecy needs a balance of the gift of teaching so as not to go to extremes.

The gift of teaching also needs the balance of the gift of prophecy. Many traditional churches only give importance to the gift of teaching. They deny, neglect, or belittle prophetic gifts. Gradually, teaching tends to become dogma. If the church lacks prophetic vision, it will gradually face spiritual death. This is the result of over-emphasizing the gift of teaching and neglecting the gift of prophecy. The Bible says that, “Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint.” (Proverbs 29:18). Many people may feel that “casting off restraints” here may be too serious, but the fact is that many churches are spiritually dead. The reason is that they have too much teaching. They lack fresh words from the Lord or fresh encounters with the Lord. It is not that we don’t need the gift of teaching. But if we only value the gift of teaching, the situation that Solomon said will happen: "My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh” (Ecclesiastes 12:12) This does not mean that we should not study, but that studying should be combined with experience. Prophetic visions and prophetic dreams are our subjective communication with the Lord. They belong to the category of prophetic experiences. They are to know the Lord through subjective experience. Meanwhile, reading the Bible and studying are to know the Lord in objective truth. They belong to the category of the gift of teaching. They are to know the Lord through knowledge. These two need to balance each other. We need both the knowledge of the Lord and experiences with the Lord.

The Gifts In Practice

After I left the Local Church Movement, I visited many churches. I observed that every church has a different assignment before God. Some churches focus on teaching the truth. Some churches focus on worship. Some focus on 24-hour prayer and worship. Some focus on fasting and prayer. Some focus on religious ceremonies. Some focus on saving the children's ministry. Some focus on caring for the poor, and so on and so forth. Every church and every denomination has a call from God. But the disagreement between churches is often because they regard God’s call to themselves as God’s most relevant call. Actually, this is not the case at all. We might reverence our own call as the most important, but it does not necessarily mean that what we are called to do is the most important thing to God. Because each of us has a limited energy, we can only focus on one thing. God has a titanic size workload.  Therefore, in God's eyes, different churches are different members of His body. They work together to accomplish His perfect plan.

If we regard God's calling to us as God's entire work, or as God's most central work, and neglect to learn, understand, and cooperate with other people's callings and gifts, we will easily wither or become biased. Because we are different members of the body, those of us with the gift of teaching need to balance those with the gift of prophecy. Those who have the gift of prophecy need to balance those with the gift of teaching.

If you pay attention to the situation of different churches, churches that value gifts but are not solid enough in God’s Word are often prone to have wrong teachings on the truth or not have enough spiritual maturity. This type of church falls apart easily as they tend to be lukewarm, unrooted, and not disciplined.

The churches that value the teachings of the Bible, but not the gift of prophecy, have a lot of knowledge, but without God’s anointing and not exercising gifts at the appointed time, they tend to be confined to their ivory towers. Such churches often think they know the truth, but many of their teachings are full of tradition-based knowledge. Often, they are not strong enough in the operation of the Holy Spirit. They, along with their followers, often die and wither spiritually. Such churches are often prone to legalism.

I just cited two gifts -the gift of teaching and gift of prophecy for comparison. There are other gifts that are also vitally important. For example, many churches do not attach importance to the work of deliverance ministry, which will gradually lead to many problems. There are controversies about the gift of apostleship and whether there are apostles in the church today. But I believe the apostolic ministry is still vital today. Due to time constraints, we will not discuss other gifts in detail here.

Unity in the Body

Therefore, in addition to individual Christians needing to admit that their faith and gifts are limited and thus need to be paired with those of other members of the body, churches must also admit this fact. Unity in the church is not conformity. In order to achieve unity in the church, the church must recognize the diversity in churches and their different callings before God. The unity in the church does not lie in any one method. It comes from a oneness in the understanding of the knowledge of God's truth.

Let’s consider the following example. In the early years, the Local Church Movement practiced gathering in Los Angeles in accordance with the locality’s principles and on the basis of oneness. A group that advocated speaking in tongues had gathered with the Local Church Movement on the basis of oneness. But in the end, everyone had a different understanding of speaking in tongues. This caused a separation. Although the leader hoped that everyone would put aside their differences and attend meetings on the basis of oneness, they still could not be at peace with each other. 

I left the Local Church Movement and went to the charismatic movement in 2015. After experiencing the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues there, I realized that speaking in tongues is an important truth in the Bible, which is essential to a Christian’s spiritual experience. Speaking in tongues is not what many people think, the smallest gift among the gifts. Speaking in tongues is a very important gift and a requirement for the growth of other spiritual gifts. Many people need to pass this requirement first before they can pursue more gifts, and even spiritual maturity (though speaking in tongues itself will not guarantee spiritual maturity). If used properly, speaking in tongues can help believers to obtain more maturity. There is a lot of controversy about this truth, but remember that Paul specifically asked the church not to forbid speaking in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:39). He said that he spoke in tongues more than anyone else (1 Corinthians 14:18). But many churches have actually forbidden speaking in tongues, which is inconsistent with Paul's teaching. I don’t have time here to explain the truth about speaking in tongues. But for people who understand its importance, it is difficult to stop speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues is a gift.  Although I don’t need to speak in tongues in meetings, I know that people who don’t speak in tongues lack knowledge of certain spiritual truths and spiritual experiences regarding tongues. I do not force others to speak in tongues, so others do not need to force me to quit praying privately in tongues. The difference in understanding of this basic truth caused the church to split into two major divisions. Who says that speaking in tongues is the smallest gift? If it is, why does the smallest gift cause the biggest split in Christianity? Does this make sense? It is evident that speaking in tongues is a very important truth. It is a truth and gift that the enemy strives to prevent Christians from knowing and practicing. The purpose is to prevent Christians from growing up in their spiritual life and receiving spiritual gifts to fight him.

Of course, counterfeit tongues and the fleshy situation of Christians who are speaking in tongues have always existed, whether in the Corinthian church or the modern church. There are also many wrong teachings about speaking in tongues. For example, the statement that “speaking in tongues is necessary for salvation” is not in line with the Bible. This will cause the people who don't understand about speaking in tongues to stumble. But as we said earlier, “Misuse is not the excuse to not use.” In fact, this is another method used by the enemy to attack the truth about speaking in tongues to make people misunderstand it and to stigmatize it. When anything is stigmatized, it is often more important.

Consider the example of speaking in tongues. I pointed out that the Pentecostal and Charismatic Movement, which is comprised of 600 to 700 million Christians, cannot be in oneness with other evangelical denominations which have around same number of people. This is because everyone’s understanding of the truth is not in oneness, and everyone’s lives are not mature enough. Under this premise, any method, including the basis of "oneness in our locality" (which may be a good method and in line with the Bible) won’t bring people into oneness. The problem does not lie in the method but in us.

Under these circumstances, if you insist on oneness, there will be two results. One is organizational unity, such as the Catholic Pope and the different levels of religious systems trying to maintain oneness. The other is trying to unite us in a coalition. But often you are friends only on the surface. Neither method can achieve true oneness.

Andrew Murray said that the division between churches and denominations lies in the fact that they have not allowed themselves to be filled more with God’s Holy Spirit. He gave the following example. He said it’s like when the tide goes down, shoals appear one after another. Each shoal is like one denomination. There are fish in it. Everyone does their own thing there; they shepherd their own fish. The barriers of the shoals are like the barriers of the denominations. Only when the tide rises will all barriers be removed and will oneness be achieved. The true oneness is for the Holy Spirit and the Lord’s glory to fill the earth. People's knowledge of the Lord fills the land as when the water fills the sea. Before this, no method can let us achieve oneness.

I told the brother who asked this question that there is no need to pursue oneness just for the sake of pursuing it. Our oneness with the Lord is enough. Slowly, as the body of Christ grows in stature, a better understanding of the truth will slowly bring about oneness. Oneness is made by the Holy Spirit, not by us humans. Before that, learning to love one another is the most important.

In conclusion, let us review the four sections of Romans 12, which sums things up well. The first section tells us to “present our bodies as a living sacrifice, which is our spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). The second section tells us we should “be transformed by the renewal of our minds” (Romans 12:2). The third section tells each of us we should look at ourselves “according to the measure of faith God has assigned.” We should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, and we must use our gifts alongside those of other believers. But at the same time, we must also yearn for an increase in the measure of faith and an increase in gifts. The fourth section is a reminder that there should be love in everything. Love one another with brotherly affection, love your enemies, and live in harmony with one other. (Romans 12:10, 14, 18) When we live out love, we live out oneness.

Perhaps this was Paul's burden for the Jew and Gentile believers in the Roman Church.

 

Note on forth-telling: “Foretelling is the declaration of future events as revealed from the Lord, pertaining especially to the kingdom of God

Forth-Telling is to utter forth, declare, a thing which can only be known by divine revelation; declare the divine will, to interpret the purposes of God, or to make known in any way the truth of God which is designed to influence people. It can only be uncovered and revealed through prophets.”

Source: https://joycewaiwai.wordpress.com/2016/11/23/prophecy-foretelling-vs-forth-telling/

Understanding God’s Gift of Free Will Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 7

Understanding God’s Gift of Free Will

Bible Study with Jairus – Romans 7

The Process of Spiritual Growth and Maturity

Romans 7 is a very relatable chapter for many Christians, especially verse 24 (ESV), where Paul sighed and said, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" This type of expression is familiar to many Christians while they are in the process of pursuing spiritual life.

We received new inspiration when we read Romans 7 in our Bible study. The Holy Spirit illuminated the words in Luke 2:34-35, which covered the birth of Jesus and gave us new revelation. Just like a baby in the womb, Jesus will enter our spirit and dwell in our hearts, and we have a choice to make. If we choose Jesus and let Him grow in us, it brings life and peace. But if we choose to live according to the flesh, it leads to death (Romans 8:6).

Therefore, every descendant of Adam must make a choice. They can either choose the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and one will result in life, the other, death. The power we have, especially our free will, is very important. It determines whether we have life or death. Since God has given us free will, our choice is the determining factor. This is why Jesus came to the world as a baby and why the divine life we receive after believing in the Lord can also be likened to a baby. The life of this baby is in us, revealing many of our thoughts and leading us to fall and rise (Luke 2:34).

One question we had was why did Jesus come into the world as a baby and not as an adult? Couldn’t God have come into the world as an adult and gone to the cross immediately to accomplish redemption? Of course, He could have. In the same way, at the moment we are born again, why is it that Jesus also comes into our hearts as a baby? Why doesn’t He allow us to go to heaven and become spiritually mature instantly so we could avoid all temptation? Could God do this? He is omnipotent, so if He was willing to do so, He could. However, this is not His will.

His will is to give us divine life that starts out small, just like a baby.  Jesus Christ first came into the world as a baby. Similarly, the spirit of Jesus Christ that is born again and dwells in our heart (Ephesians 3:17) is also just like a baby. How we treat this baby within us reveals the thoughts of our soul. If we are unwilling to believe that Jesus Christ came to save us and are unwilling to accept Him, we are choosing death, and we will face eternal punishment. If we choose to accept Jesus Christ and be reborn in the Spirit, He will dwell in our hearts. However, how we treat the spiritual baby-like life of Christ within us also determines whether we will be rewarded or disciplined in the future. If we set our mind on the Spirit and on things above (Colossians 3:2), we will have life and peace (Romans 8:6); If we set our mind on the flesh, we receive death.

God’s Gift of Redemption

In other words, we must use our free will to make this choice. God is righteous and just. Therefore, if we were disciplined in the future, we could say to God, “If it’s Adam who sinned, why would you let me, the descendant of Adam, bear this sin? Adam is the one who made the wrong choice. I did not have the opportunity to make my own choice. So if you convict me, I do not have to accept the consequences.”

This statement is fair and would make sense. Therefore, God gave the world His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and allowed him to die and accomplish redemption on the cross to bear the sins of Adam.  This opened up our way to the tree of life. As 1 Corinthians 1:30 (ESV) said, "But you are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption." The teaching I received in the Local Church Movement was that the redemption that Christ accomplished opened our way to the tree of life. They teach this because Genesis 3:24 (ESV) says that after the man was driven out of the Garden of Eden, God “placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way of the tree of life.” The cherubim symbolize God’s glory, the fire symbolizes God’s sanctification and the sword represents God’s righteousness. Thus, God’s requirements for glory, sanctification, and righteousness render us unable to get close to the tree of life. But Christ accomplished righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (the redemption of the body represents the glory we received, which is our glorified body). Therefore, through the blood of Jesus Christ, we can come to God's throne with confidence and receive mercy and grace in times of need (ESV, Hebrews 4:16). Ephesians 2:18 (ESV) says, “For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” These verses prove that we can come to the tree of life (which is the life of God embodied in the life of Jesus) through the blood of Jesus.

God did not allow Jesus Christ to accomplish redemption on the cross for all men to be automatically saved. That’s not how it works. Instead, God created everyone with free will to make their own choice. If you choose Christ’s redemption and accept His life by faith, you will have eternal life. But if you do not choose this redemption, it is not God’s heart to condemn you. Condemnation is the natural consequence of not choosing redemption, and you will be heading towards death. When we preach the gospel, we often share an example. In this example, we are all sitting on a train that is heading towards death. It lines up with what Jesus said; “you have been condemned already (John 3:18)”. Because the wages of sin is death, everyone is naturally heading towards death. But Jesus’ train of salvation has arrived, and you must board this train to have life.  Jesus’ train of salvation is not here to convict you but to save you.

Jesus’ Entry into the World as a Baby

After Jesus was born as a baby in Israel, He was circumcised and cleansed for eight days.  After this, Mary and Joseph took Him to Jerusalem and presented Him to the Lord. The Holy Spirit had revealed to a prophet named Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. He praised the Lord and said that he could now die in peace after seeing His redemption with his own eyes. He blessed Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, and said to Mary: "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” (ESV, Luke 2:34-35).

In other words, when Jesus Christ came as a baby, it was quiet and low-key, so much so that he was born in a manger. He could have chosen to come into the world in a more noticeable way, but He did not. Instead, He chose to come into the world quietly as a baby. This baby was appointed for the fall of many in Israel. For example, many people thought that He came from Galilee and despised Him because there had never been a prophet that came out of Galilee. This baby was also appointed for the rising of many. Because many people believed in this baby, they followed Him and were appointed as apostles. Even a thief who was crucified with Jesus believed that he would enter paradise with Him. The baby Jesus became a sign to be opposed. Whether you accept or oppose Him, the thoughts in your heart will be revealed. God can test your heart through your attitude. He knows whether your heart chooses life or death. Everyone who is saved today can be likened to Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus. Because of the life placed within her, she was persecuted, and her soul was pierced by the sword. This happened not only when Mary saw her son Jesus being crucified but also when every Christian suffered and was persecuted because of their faith.

Paul’s Struggle with the Flesh

When we were reading Romans 7 this time, the Holy Spirit illuminated this verse in Luke to help us understand Paul’s experience in Romans 7. In this chapter, Paul’s experience had paved the way for Romans 8, which talks about spiritual reality: “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” (ESV, Romans 8:6).

Paul's distress in Romans 7 stemmed from him not being able to discover the mystery of this choice at the time. Each one of us has three parts that can be likened to three different people. One is the old man, which symbolizes living in our flesh. This old man has been crucified with Christ, but his hold on us is still very powerful. The second is the good man that God created in our soul or the "inner being" that Paul mentions in Romans 7:22. This man loves the law of God. But the law of the flesh (Romans 7:23), which is the law of sin and death, waged war against Paul’s mind, so he felt overcome by the law of sin and death and his flesh. Although his "inner being" or mind wants to serve God, his old man is serving the law of sin and flesh (Romans 7:25). This was the cause of Paul’s distress. Many Christians have the same feelings as Paul. The Bible clearly says that the old man has been crucified with Christ. If this is the case, why is it that our old man’s influence still seems so strong in our lives? This question brings us to the revelation that we received during this discussion while reading the previous verse from Luke.

Because God has made a way for our old man to be crucified with Christ, why is our old man still so strong? This can be explained by the lesson of re-election given to us by God. The law of sin and death in our body is still trying to influence our choices and get us to choose death. But the "law of the Spirit of life" (Romans 8:2), like the tree of life in Genesis, is hidden in our spirit. The Bible says, seek, and you will find (ESV, Matthew 7:7). However, whether we seek or not, the thoughts in our hearts will be revealed. Many people wonder why the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden is in an obvious location, but the tree of life seems to be hidden. It is symbolic because life is found only by a seeking heart. Sin and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil are very easy to find. Finding life requires a seeking heart, and Jesus promises, “Seek, and you will find.” (ESV, Matthew 7:7).

Choosing Life or Death

Today we must make a similar choice as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. Our soul, which is our thoughts and mind, must make a choice. We can choose the life of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that is readily available. Or we can choose the baby-like life of Jesus Christ hidden in our spirit, which is the tree of life. Our choices will result in either life or death.

At the beginning of Romans 7, Paul compared our old man to a husband. If a husband dies, the wife will be free. In the same way, we have died to the law (Romans 7:4). As wives, we are not subject to the control of our original husband (which represents our old man). Instead, we live for our new husband (which represents Christ) so that we may “bear fruit for God” (Romans 7:4). Romans 7:5-6 (ESV) says, "For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code." Here it says, "While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions were aroused by the law." What does this mean? It means that if we choose the flesh, sin, and death, the law of God will convict us, and we will die. The law itself is not wrong, nor is it sin (Romans 7:7).  However, the law convicts us of sin (Romans 7:7). In other words, the law reveals, convicts, and kills our flesh. But if we choose life, the law will not convict and kill us. Rather, it will help perfect us. The greatest commandment in the Law is to love the Lord and to love your neighbor as yourself. When we choose life, we will satisfy Jesus Christ’s requirements of this law.

The Function of the Law

The function of the law is to bring death when we choose sin and the flesh. The purpose of it is to turn our hearts towards the Lord and choose life. The law itself is not wrong, but the reason why the law kills is because a veil lies in our hearts. But when our hearts turn to the Lord, the veil is removed. The Lordis a Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (ESV, 2 Corinthians 3:16-17).

If you were driving a car on the highway in the United States, you would notice that there are white or yellow lines on the side of the highway, and there is some very bumpy pavement outside the yellow lines. If you accidentally drive your car over the line, it will make a loud noise and your car will shake. The purpose of this is to remind you that if you do not readjust the steering wheel, you could be in danger once you cross this line, and your car could go off the road. This is exactly how the law functions. The law itself is not wrong. Rather, it is the behavior of your flesh that is wrong. The law acts like the bumpy pavement.  It doesn’t cause your car to crash, it is your own driving mistakes that cause the car to crash. But the function of this highway border is just like the function of the law. Once you cross this border, your car may go off the road. This is what Paul meant in Romans 7:7-17. It is not the law (border) that caused you to sin (crash), but the behavior of your flesh (driving) caused you to sin (crash). With this being said, if you fail to obey the law or drive across the border, you may crash, or die.

Just as you can deliberately drive over the borders you set, the law of sin and death in your flesh can also overcome the law of goodness in your soul. In Romans 7:18-23, Paul begins to talk about how powerful this law of sin and death and the flesh is, and how it can overcome the law of goodness in his soul. Paul found that the law of God was with those who were willing to do good, but evil was right there in his flesh. The members in his mind wanted to follow the law of God, but the law of sin in his flesh often seemed to take him captive. He felt like a passenger in a car. He didn't want an accident to happen, but the driver was driving very recklessly. Fortunately, passengers are not required to ride in this car and they can choose a good driver. Just like when Americans are riding in an Uber, they usually choose a highly rated driver. In the same way, you have the opportunity to choose Christ today. If you set your mind on the Spirit and choose God and the Lord Jesus Christ, you will have life. But if you set your mind on the flesh, you will die. If you entrust your life to the Lord and let Him drive the car which represents your life, He will lead you to the path of life. But if you choose to live according to the flesh, and let the flesh and the law of sin and death act as the driver you will be taken to the path of death.

The Spirit of Life

This is the experience that Paul talked about in Romans 7 and the preparation he did for the revealed truth that he saw in Romans 8. This truth is "The law of the Spirit of life has set me free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death." (ESV, Romans 8:2). But just as I mentioned earlier, this law of the Spirit of life will not automatically allow us to have life. It is up to each person, you have to make a choice! The choices you make will have different results. If you are feeling distressed like Paul in Romans 7, it means that somewhere along the way you made a wrong choice.

Of course, we must acknowledge the fact that it takes a period of time between making these choices and seeing positive results. For example, let’s say you were a farmer and you planted crops in a field. These crops are like the law of the Spirit of life, but the weeds are very powerful. If you fail to get rid of the weeds in time, they will grow very quickly and dominate and kill your crops. I have a garden at home but I didn't attend to it very well for period of time because of my hectic schedule. When I went back to check on it I found that the weeds had grown so tall that they had taken over many of my plants. Some of my plants had even died.

Because these crops, or the life of the law of the Spirit of life, started out as babies we must harness our thoughts and choose the spirit of life and continue to weed out the behavior of our flesh in order to mature spiritually. It is only after becoming spiritually mature that we can truly experience freedom through the law of the Spirit of life.

Our soul is created at the beginning of God’s creation. After God created us, He even said, it was very good (ESV, Genesis 1:31). God then allows us to choose again, which is the process of saving our soul. We must make the right choice in order to have life. Christ's redemption gives us the opportunity to choose again, but it is up to us to make the right choice.

 

Choosing Life Every Day

In the beginning, the life of Jesus Christ was still a baby in us and needed to grow and mature slowly. The choices you make and your attitude towards this life will reveal your thoughts and determine whether you will receive salvation and God’s rewards. I pray that God works in your heart and that you make the right choice, and become a child of God. If you have already received salvation, I pray that you choose life every day, so that the life of Jesus Christ will continue to grow in you, allowing you to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Many people have received salvation in America, but many of them have still not chosen to set their minds on the spirit to receive life and peace. Rather they have chosen to set their minds on the things of the flesh. This is why they reap death. People, wake up! Don’t make the wrong choice as Adam did! Yes, you were saved, but you will not be automatically saved from everything! You must make the right choice just as you made the right choice when you decided to accept Jesus Christ into your heart! The life of Jesus in you is still a baby. Give Him room to grow!

Settling Legal Matters Between Believers Bible Study With Jairus - 1 Corinthians 6

Settling Legal Matters Between Believers

Bible Study With Jairus - 1 Corinthians 6

 

1 Corinthians 6 contains three distinct paragraphs. The first paragraph is about lawsuits among Christian believers. A man in our Bible study inquired whether Paul’s perspective on lawsuits between believers is still relevant today, especially given the increasing number of lawsuits between believers in the United States. It is, in my opinion, highly controversial. Some people believe that Christians should not sue one another even if they are wronged. Others use Paul’s appeal to Caesar as an example, believing that we can make an appeal to Caesar too or, in other words to go to court. They believe Christians can file an appeal in a court of law to resolve issues of unfair treatment. We always thought about cases of lawsuits between Christians when we read this chapter in the past. Should we sue to protect our benefits, or should we accept being wronged?

 

The inspirations that we will share today while reading this chapter are not from this perspective. It is only when Paul mentions that the lawsuits could involve immoral behavior that the church felt ashamed. And in their case, the law may have been used to wrong others instead of protecting their own lawful rights at the time. This is probably why Paul advised us not to file lawsuits against other believers. On the one hand, it tarnishes the church’s image. On the other hand, believers should not use the law of this world to harm others, particularly our brothers and sisters in Christ. Please continue to read my explanation as I share a verse that touched us today.

 

Should Believers Rights be Protected in Court?

We were moved by 1 Corinthians 6:8 in today’s reading. It states in verse 7, “To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?” This is the background for verse 8. Christians often use this phrase to argue that we should not protect our rights in court. But this verse does not contain the full picture unless we read it in context with verse 8. Verse 8 says, “But you yourselves wrong and defraud - even your own brothers!” According to this verse, Paul condemns Christians who wrong and defraud others and file lawsuits against other believers. According to these verses, Paul condemns not only those who have been wronged but those who have wronged others in court. Paul does not say that even if our legal rights are threatened, we should still be submissive. This was not the intended meaning. Paul could be trying to say it is not good for those who have already committed offenses to bring lawsuits against others, especially other believers. Perhaps what he said about “Why not rather be defrauded?” was directed at those who defraud others in court.

 

Paul Warns the Church About Sin

Furthermore, we will discuss the conditions of the eight sins mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. In these verses, we will look at why Paul discusses the conditions of these eight sins. One fundamental principle must be followed when we try to understand the Bible, and that is the relationship between previous and subsequent verses. We often overlook the relationship between verses like these, especially if the previous verse appears to be unrelated to the subsequent verse. If the correlation between two verses is not obvious, it can be very difficult to see any connection. This is the case with the verses we have been discussing. For example, let’s take a look at Chapter 6 verses 1–8. This paragraph discusses lawsuits between believers. The main topic in verses 9 through 11 is prostitutes and sexual immorality. Why does Paul bring up prostitutes in this chapter after talking about lawsuits? Is the matter of prostitutes related to lawsuits in any way?

 

My guess is that some believers who filed lawsuits may be guilty of one or more of these eight sins mentioned here. This is just a guess but let me explain my reasoning. These are the eight sins mentioned in the second section of this chapter: “sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, men who practice homosexuality, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, swindlers” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Paul also says, “the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10) When Paul wrote letters to people, including the Church of Corinth, he was probably aware of their situations. More than likely they understood what he was saying without him having to go into detail. Paul obscures details for them and does not mention their names or the sins they have committed. I believe he did so under the leading of the Holy Spirit and because many of the believers repented. Although Paul was lead by the Holy Spirit and did not reveal their wrongdoings, this does not mean that the wrongdoings did not exist. Those who filed lawsuits may have committed some of the aforementioned sins. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense for Paul to mention them right after talking about the lawsuits. Although Paul does not discuss the details of their lawsuits, I assume it’s because he didn’t feel it was appropriate to address them publicly.

 

The reason I assume this is because in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, Paul specifically mentions two weaknesses in our flesh: gluttony and sexual lust. He only mentions gluttony briefly, but he spends a lot of time talking about sexual lust. In verse 15, he says our bodies are members of Christ, and those who join themselves to a prostitute become one body with her, and the two will become one flesh (6:16). However, those who join themselves to the Lord become one spirit with Him (6:17).

 

 

Paul withholds the names of those believers who are involved in lawsuits, as well as the content of the lawsuits, and whether or not these believers committed one or more of the eight sins, he mentioned in verses 9-11. However, sexual immorality was one of the special sins mentioned in verses 12-20. As a result, my guess is the lawsuits between these believers were related to sexual immorality. We do not know for certain what the lawsuits were about, but they could be about prostitution.

 

We know that the city of Corinth was a thriving commercial city. There was a lot of idol worship and sexual immorality. Mark Allan Powell, a theologian, says, according to some ancient historians “throughout the empire, the expression ‘to act like a Corinthian’ came to be Roman slang for engaging in sexual promiscuity.”[1] In Corinth’s society, sexual promiscuity was part of the cultural background. Some believers had grown up in this culture, and their spiritual senses were not strong enough to pull them away from it. So Paul reminded them that while some of the believers had previously committed these sins, they had been sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (6:11). As a result, they had to learn not to join in sin and instead learn to join with the Lord, because joining with sin caused them to become one body with sin. He who is joined to the Lord is one Spirit.

 

This is just my best guess, seeing as we will never know the exact details of the lawsuits mentioned in this chapter. However, one point stands out, and that is the distinction between joining with a prostitute versus joining with the Lord. If a Christian joins with sin, the flesh, or the world, he will more or less think, act, and behave according to the world’s laws. He will solve his problems in a worldly manner, not a in spiritual manner.

 

A Dispute Between Believers

Not long after I became a believer, one older man who we shall call Adam in my church told me a story. This story took place in our dorm which was called the Brothers House. There were two students that we shall call Bob and Chris, who came from China. Bob had been a believer for a longer period of time than Chris, who was a new believer. One day, Chris accidentally hit the bumper of Bob’s car, resulting in minor damage. This accident caused an argument between them. Chris begged Bob to settle the dispute privately because if the accident was reported to the insurance company, Chris would be charged a higher premium later. Bob plainly refused and insisted on reporting the accident to the insurance company. The older man, Adam, attempted to resolve their disagreements, telling Bob, “Chris is a new believer. If you insist on reporting the accident to the insurance company, this may negatively impact his newfound faith. Please think about resolving the incident in private. Furthermore, this was a minor accident with very little damage.” Bob did not follow Adam’s advice. He persisted and reported the accident to the insurance company.

 

I’ve never met Bob and Chris but heard their story from Adam, who regretfully told me that because Bob did not follow Chris’s suggestion, Chris had not attended any gatherings since. From the way it sounded, I believe Adam was sad. If he were Bob, he would have definitely treasured the fact that Chris, who had just received salvation, could feel the love of brotherhood more than his own insignificant loss.

 

By contrasting the attitudes of Adam and Bob, we can see that Bob was following in the footsteps of the world. This is not incorrect. In the United States, reporting a car accident to an insurance company is a basic step. To Adam, who was more mature and passionate, acting in a worldly manner was not wrong, but rather it lacked the love of God. He valued Chris’s spiritual life and didn’t want his faith to be hurt through this small incident.  Is there anything wrong with reporting an incident to an insurance company in this example? Certainly not! Does Chris feel loved if Bob reports this incident to an insurance company? Of course not!

 

I shared this story to explain Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 6 and to provide a better understanding of Paul’s attitude towards lawsuits. Assuming that Adam in the above story is Paul and that the car accident between these two believers occurred in the Church of Corinth and is recorded in 1 Corinthians, can I assume that “Paul disagreed to report the car accident to the insurance company”? Or am I correct in assuming that Paul preferred “resolving the incident privately” following the car accident? It would not be reasonable for me to interpret Paul’s words in this manner. But, if we explain Paul’s attitude towards lawsuits in 1 Corinthians 6, we might make the same mistake.

 

Love Among Brothers

Paul was more concerned with whether or not there was “love among brothers” than with whether or not filing lawsuits in court was appropriate. Paul says, “can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers?” (6:5). Paul may not have objected to believers filing lawsuits in court, especially if believers were forced to do so or their rights were violated. If that was the case, Paul might have advised making an appeal to Caesar, similar to what he did. Paul was concerned that the believers of the Corinthian Church were still living in the flesh. Apart from having possibly committed some of the eight sins he mentioned in verses 9-11, the spiritual life of these believers was still immature as they were still living in their flesh.

 

Paul said, “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food.” (6:13). This verse contains a lot of meaning. It reminds me of the phrase: “Man eats for the sake of being alive, but man does not live for the sake of eating.” Eating is a necessary part of life, but it is not the center of our entire life. Our lives should be guided towards something more meaningful, much like human sexuality, which is not only for human reproduction but also many other rightful causes. Sexual lust is not all we want in marriage, and it is not right to have lust outside of marriage or with a prostitute. If some Corinthian believers committed sins out of lust, resulting in lawsuits as a result of these sins, this is not what Paul would want to see. Paul hoped the Corinthian believers realized that although some of them committed similar sins, they could experience the redemptive power of Christ that is mentioned in this verse: “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.” (6:11). These words appear simple, but they are difficult to put into practice. How many Christians today live in sin, despite the fact that they have already been sanctified and justified by the Spirit of God? Why do they live with this contradiction? However, in our own journey, we must learn to overcome the temptations of sin and stay away from evil by the power of the cross and the strengthening of the Holy Spirit.

 

How do you overcome evil? Do you have an experience similar to Paul’s in Romans 7? The more you want to overcome sin, the more sin defeats you. The key to defeating evil can be found in Romans 8, where Paul discusses “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:2). How can we have “the law of the Spirit of life” within us but still lose the battle against sin? This is due to a lack of union with Christ.

 

That is why, after sharing something negative, Paul followed it up with something positive about how to join with the Lord and become one spirit with him (6:17).

 

The Spirit of God Unites Believers

One of the men in our Bible study shared his heartfelt thoughts. He believed that the Corinthians’ lawsuits were merely a problem on the surface and that the main reason for this was that they did not practice joining with the Lord. He felt they would be one spirit with the Lord if they practiced joining with Him. He believed we would also have more unity with other members in the body of Christ if we were joined to the Lord as one.

 

What this brother shared was extremely good. The Lord Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35). However, we are constantly separated by different denominations and teachings and we cannot always love one another. Although we do not file lawsuits against one another in court, the nature of our relationship among different denominations is similar. Conflicts and disagreements between different denominations cause Christians to not have a good witness in the eyes of the world. If Paul was still alive, he probably would have agreed with this.

 

The ability to get along well with one another, whether it was believers of the Corinthian Church or Christians of different denominations, all depends on their ability to unite with God. We are members of the body of Christ, and like the members of a physical body, we are linked to one another. All members of a physical body are connected to the brain (or head), which sends instructions to each of the limbs, and the limbs must first follow the brain’s instructions before they can interact with other limbs. Suppose a person has Parkinson’s disease or another disease that affects the nervous system. In that case, this person’s limbs will be unable to function, perhaps even paralyzed, and his limbs will be unable to coordinate properly.

 

The same principle applies to the spiritual realm as well. We must connect with our head, Jesus Christ. We will become one spirit with God if we unite with Him.  As we become one spirit with God, this unites us in spirit with fellow believers as well. However, if we do not unite with God, it will be difficult for us to unite with  other believers.

 

Ezekiel 37 portrays such a picture. As Ezekiel prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. (Eze 37:7) And there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. (Eze 37:8) And the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. (Eze 37:10) Paul also said, “and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.” (Col 2:19) If we are unable to become one in Christ and hold fast to the head, we will not be fully nourished and knitted together.  We will not be able to grow with a growth that is from God, similar to Ezekiel 37’s description of rattling bones. We must first unite with God and receive abundant supplies from our head, Jesus Christ, just as our body parts receive instructions from our brain. Then we can unite with one another and grow and mature and experience the life of God within us.

 

In this chapter, I do not believe Paul is focusing on whether Christians should file lawsuits in court, but rather on the maturity of a Christian’s life and being one with Jesus Christ. His concern is that we should be good witnesses of one another’s love to the world so that the world may know that Jesus has sent us. Paul’s words are the inspired Word of God; however, it does not mean we need to take it literally.

 

[1] Mark Allan Powell, Introducing the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2009), 278.

Be Ready to Discern God’s Plan Bible Study with Jairus – Acts 10

Be Ready to Discern God’s Plan

Bible Study with Jairus – Acts 10

 

Are visions important?

In Acts 10, the Lord gave Peter a fascinating vision. God showed Peter all kinds of unclean animals and asked him to kill and eat them. He refused, saying that he had never eaten anything unclean. Nevertheless, God gave him permission to eat, saying he should not call anything unclean which God has made clean. God’s words were not merely referring to unclean animals; God was guiding Peter to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, whom the Jews deemed impure.

I was saved in a church that emphasizes the life and teachings of Christ much more than it emphasizes visions or similar topics. However, as the Lord has led me into learning more about the Charismatics, I have come to understand that Charismatics place great emphasis on visions.

How should we resolve this discrepancy?

There are dangers on both extremes of the spectrum. We should avoid being overly cautious with visions and emphasizing the Bible alone, and we should also avoid an over-acceptance of visions that dismisses and neglects the written word of God.

First of all, let’s look at Peter’s experience. We must acknowledge the fact that it was not easy for Peter to evangelize to the Gentiles. His mind was filled with preconceptions and prejudices. However, we must revisit this question: why didn’t God grant this vision to John, James, or others? We do not know the answer to this question, but we can speculate that Peter was probably more flexible. Compared to those who more strictly adhered to Jewish traditions (such as James), perhaps it would have been easier for Peter to make a concept shift.

We know that Peter had a high spiritual intellect. He understood and acknowledged Jesus as the Son of the living God. He also committed frequent mistakes, saying that God would not let the Lord be crucified. Peter was criticized by the Lord frequently, but he also rectified his wrongdoings. Possibly Peter’s personality was more receptive to changes and corrections.

Despite this flexibility, however, it was still difficult to instill in Peter the idea that God had cleansed the Gentiles and was determined to preach the gospel to them. Because Peter found it hard to believe that this vision was really from God, the Lord had to send the vision to Peter three times in a row.

Traditional churches put aside visions, mainly for fear that if the visions are not from God but from the enemy, they would cause mistakes or harm to the church. This is a valid concern. Throughout church history there have been many who have seen so-called visions that turned out to cause a lot of damage to the church or even endanger the lives of innocent believers. These concerns are real.

However, if Peter had then dismissed the vision, saying, “I’m not going, let me take a year’s time to scrutinize whether this vision is coming from God or Satan,” then God’s plan to evangelize to the Gentiles would have been compromised.

Imagine Peter as a present-day believer. As a new believer, he was taught and instructed in the Christian faith. He believes the truths he’s learned are in perfect alignment to biblical truth. Nevertheless, one day somebody challenges him and tells him that the truth is outdated, and that God has updated this truth. What was not permitted before is now permissible; what was considered wrong before is now correct. Facing this major change, do you think a church member nowadays would be easily persuaded to change his mindset? Based on my personal experience and observations, this would be very difficult.

I recall hearing a preacher explaining why God needs to speak to us through dreams and visions, and I think his explanation makes sense. He said, “God also speaks to us during the daytime through our mind or other channels. However, if there is a concept which does not align with our pre-existing conceptions, our minds would become a barrier to God’s conversation with us, thus hindering God’s words from penetrating our souls. Therefore, when God speaks to us through dreams and visions, He is using a pictorial language to bypass or get around our minds.” At night, when our souls are relatively restful with a lower activity level, speaking directly to our spirits would achieve God’s aim to communicate with us.

For instance, the Lord might use a dream to remind us that a certain action might cause us danger, especially if the action is directly related to our personal interest. In our souls we might have various excuses telling us that it is okay to move forward with a dangerous activity, and that it would be beneficial to us or even to God. God might have warned us several times, but we have not received the message. However, if in a dream at night we do the action and encounter sudden danger, such as a dog jumping out to bite and startle us, we might start wondering if we are really justified in doing the action. We might give the dream some consideration, reflecting on whether the Lord is warning us about the decision we are about to make, which might bring us danger or a predicament.  

Job 33:14-18 gives us the following insight:

“For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds, then he opens the ears of men and terrifies them with warnings, that he may turn man aside from his deed and conceal pride from a man; he keeps back his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword.” (ESV)

This passage is frequently quoted by teachers in Charismatic churches to illustrate the importance of God speaking through dreams. That is, God does speak to people in many different ways, and yet oftentimes people ignore his communication or do not understand what He means. Hence, God speaks in dreams and visions at night. He speaks in their ears and imprints the messages directly onto their hearts. In this way the spirit’s hindrance is bypassed and the objective of communication is achieved.

This passage says that dreams take place at night, while visions occur mostly during daytime. Some people say that, compared to visions, dreams contain more pictorial language that is more difficult to comprehend than visions. I think this belief makes sense. If you compare this vision seen by Peter and the dream Daniel had, you will easily reach this conclusion. Nevertheless, in principle, their methods and aims are the same: to give you a pictorial depiction of ideas that are not easily expressed by words.

Why does God send a message that is beyond words? Hasn’t God asked Peter to preach the gospel to the Gentiles through other means, such as through the leading of the Holy Spirit? Yes, God has probably communicated this multiple times. Peter may have felt inspired by what he learned, but he wasn’t motivated to carry it out because the idea was too radical for his Jewish ideology. In order to break through this ideology, God had to speak to Peter through visions, even multiple repetitions of the same vision. Finally, Peter is forced to pray to God and ask him about this message. God once again revealed that He had already purified the Gentiles and that it was the right time to preach the gospel to them.

 

God uses our weaknesses for his glory.

I once heard a Charismatic preacher give the following insight: “Paul was committed to preaching the gospel to the Jews until death. He was even willing to die eternally for his Israelite brothers and sisters. In Romans 9-11, he swore that it if his own eternal damnation could bring his people to salvation, he would not hesitate to accept eternal death. Nevertheless, once he had been saved, God did not allow him to preach the gospel to the Jews; instead, God sent him to a faraway place as an apostle to the Gentiles.

“Paul would have been a powerful preacher to Jews. He had studied under Gamaliel and was a Pharisee of the tribe of Benjamin. As a highly qualified Jew, he would have been a powerful tool to bring Jews to Christ. His testimony was a convincing and effective message for the Israelites. He could have been an excellent apostle to the Jews. However, God did not make him an apostle to the Jews.

“On the other hand, Peter was a fisherman. We don’t know for sure whether the Gentiles despised him, but the Jewish rabbis, teachers of the law, and Pharisees must have looked down on him. He was raised in the Galilee region where Jews mingled with Gentiles. How fitting it would have been to make him the apostle to the Gentiles! Nevertheless, God chose him as the apostle to the Jews and had him preach the gospel to Israelites!”

This preacher believed that in our work for him, God sometimes uses our innate weaknesses instead of our innate strengths. In this way, we are forced to rely on God’s power instead of our natural gifts. Paul is an example of this concept: When Paul went out to preach the gospel, people’s first reaction was to recoil. They knew that he had been a persecutor of Christians, so they rejected him. When God sent Ananias to speak to Paul, Ananias raised this objection. However, through God’s wisdom and sovereignty, Paul became the apostle to the Gentiles, while Peter became the apostle to the Jews.

This concept gives important insight into Peter’s apostleship to the Jews. If people like James had seen the same vision, it might have been more difficult for him to understand what God was trying to convey. This is because James and the others were deeply immersed in the sense of Jewish privilege. A breakthrough to reach the Gentiles might have been more difficult if God had used James or other disciples. Peter seemed to be the most malleable one and the weakest link among these apostles. He lacked the higher education in Jewish religion, and at the same time he had a more flexible character. Because of his flexibility, Peter sprang into action as soon as God spoke to him in a vision. In other words, in order to pass on to the Gentiles the salvation He had prepared through the Israelites, God seemingly chose the most vulnerable and open individual, Peter. He placed the most open individual when placing the “water line” of salvation to the Gentiles, so that His grace of salvation could flow out most easily.

 

God’s perfect plan

To substantiate these ideas I’ve been sharing, compare Peter’s story with the story of God’s choice of Cornelius. God truly has sophisticated plans.

After I was saved, I used my salvation testimony to evangelize my parents. Nevertheless, my mother constantly argued that someone in the village who had be baptized as Christian was constantly stealing from others. She asked, “Are you Christians more moral than others?” She refused to accept Jesus Christ because she saw the hypocrisy of some Christians.  Christians commonly encounter this objection to their beliefs. Living out our Christian values really does matter.

In other words, if God were to choose a flawed and imperfect Gentile to be the first to accept his gift of the living water of salvation, his plans would have been severely hindered. I’m not saying that God couldn’t have accomplished his plan through a flawed vessel (with God all things are possible). I am just saying that this would have caused significant challenges to God’s plan.

Now let’s look at how the Bible describes Cornelius:

“At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. Cornelius your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.” (ESV)

This passage shows us that Cornelius was probably affiliated with Judaism. In modern church vocabulary, he was a “friend of the gospel” or “seeker of the truth.” He was a Gentile, but he prayed continuously to God. His whole family feared God, he was generous with the common people, and he was respected by all, even among the Israelites. The Israelites did not have complaints or even false testimonies against him. The angel also praised him. He was such a blameless person that he seemed perfect.

Can you see how amazing God’s plan and provision was? If Cornelius had had any moral issues, or if his family had had any flaws, the Jews who were against evangelizing the Gentiles would have caused quite a stir. God’s plan to bring the gospel to the Gentiles was perfectly orchestrated. With redneck Peter as the spigot and the perfect Cornelius as the water hose, God’s plan was executed in perfection.

 

Discerning attentiveness to God’s plan

When we serve the Lord, we should not block, neglect, or completely deny God’s revelations through dreams and visions just because of previous incidences of fake visions, fake dreams, and fake prophecies that were used to harm the church. We must be discerning and cautious, but not overly cautious. Being overly cautious is a lack of faith, and lacking faith in God is a sin. This is a concept which we must grasp properly.

Let me say this again: Imagine that God had devised this perfect plan of how the gospel would be transmitted to the Gentiles. Each part was in place. Imagine that Cornelius was standing by for a seamless transition, but Peter dropped the ball at the critical moment, saying, “What I saw was only a vision which might have come from God, or from Satan, or I just had too many cheese pizzas (this is a popular joke among Charismatics about dreams). Let me spend some time to check it out and see.” In that case, wouldn’t Peter be saying that God’s plan was unreliable? God is not an unreliable God; He does everything according to plan.

When Peter had seen the vision and heard God’s words, he took a bold step of faith. We need to acknowledge that this was not easy for Peter. Today if we face the same scenario and a difficult choice, we must take the risk in faith. If you slip, people will be eager to call you a “false prophet” or even attack you with stones.

In the end, we must stress the other side of the coin. If we are overly cautious, we lack faith. It is not right to be doubtful. However, it is also not right to be too trusting and believe everything without scrutiny. I’ve been learning about Charismatic beliefs for about three years, and I’ve seen many fake dreams, fake visions, and fake miracles. I’ve become acquainted with many Christian brothers and sisters attending Charismatic churches. Most of them are true Christians who have been saved. However, many of them tend to focus on the exercise of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and not on the discipline of reading the Bible. These two need to be balanced.

 

 

Bible Study with Jairus – Acts 3

Bible Study with Jairus – Acts 3

 

During exhausting and depleting times, we all yearn for rest, refreshment, restoration, and hope. Acts 3:19 promises a wonderful blessing to God’s people: “times of refreshing” which come straight “from the presence of the Lord.” (NASB)

These times of refreshing are not just a vague memory from the past or a vague hope for the future. Instead, they are a present reality that we can experience every day. When we repent and turn away from our daily worry and wandering away from God, we can experience these "times of refreshing" anytime and anywhere. Hebrews 4:11 (ESV) says: "Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience."[1] As we call on the Lord's name and enter His presence, God saves us from worries and brings us into his rest.

 

Surfing the Waves of God’s Working

 

In Acts, we see Peter being used greatly by God. But we also see him stumbling greatly. On the one hand, he healed lame people and performed miracles. On the other hand, he cowered in the face of legalistic Jews, pretending he didn’t care about the Gentile Christians. Even Barnabas was led astray by Peter’s hypocrisy.

 

This discrepancy demonstrates a profound interaction between human and divine effort in the early church. When Peter cooperated with the Holy Spirit, he performed great acts of service for the Lord. But when he got out of step with the Holy Spirit, he fell and failed.

 

The Holy Spirit can be compared to a puppeteer who directs the puppets, and believers can be compared to the puppets acting on the stage of life. Unlike a puppeteer, however, God does not control us or force us to act a certain way. Instead, we can liken God’s influence to ocean waves. The power of the Holy Spirit can carry us along, like a wave carries a surfer. When a surfer stays in sync with the waves, he will surf the waves and troughs. But when he gets out of sync with the motion and rhythm of the waves, he will be knocked over. Overwhelmed, he will crash to the ground. A surfer needs to understand the wave patterns and how waves move so that he can move in cooperation with the waves’ power.

 

In the same way, if we move in sync with the Holy Spirit, we rise to new heights. However, if we fail to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, or fail to grasp the wave patterns, we may get stuck or fall. Rather than a powerful force to propel us forward, the waves have become a force that hinders us and even kills us. When we don’t stay in sync with the Spirit, we will be overwhelmed by worldly trends, worries, and opposition from the enemy. However, when we let his power propel us forward, we can thrive—even during times of opposition and difficulty.

 

Persecution in the Book of Acts

On the one hand, the book of Acts retells the history of the church. It recounts powerful preaching and miracles performed by the apostles through the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, it is also the history of their constant persecution. After Peter rebuked the Jews for crucifying Jesus, he suffered for it. Paul was later flogged and mistreated, just like the Lord Jesus. Peter was imprisoned.

 

Why is there so much persecution in the book of Acts? When we demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, Satan will do everything he can to hinder us. This is a clash between two kingdoms, the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light.

 

Wherever the Lord Jesus or the apostles went, they aroused fierce resistance from the evil spirits.

One way to know whether we are filled with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit is by asking ourselves whether we have encountered persecution and opposition. If there is no opposition or persecution in our lives, perhaps we do not pose a threat to the evil spirits. We can infer that the power of the Holy Spirit is lacking in our lives.

 

The more I seek the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit, the more opposition I face. Although

 I am deeply disturbed by these unprecedented attacks, I accept them as an inevitable part of following Jesus.

 

We Christians not only face outward pressures, potentially including imprisonment, but we also are subjected to inward pressures, such as fear and worry. Our fear and lack of confidence keep us from riding the waves of God’s power.

 

Prophetic dreams: big bowl of noodles and small bowl of noodles

 

Acts 3:19-20 says, "Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." Let’s dive in deeper and seek to understand what God means by these “times of refreshing.” This verse looks forward to the millennial kingdom, a future time of restoration that God has promised. However, we can begin to experience this blessing right now. If we draw near to God with prayer and faith, we can have a foretaste of God’s promised blessings today.

 

In a church meeting, one of the men in our church shared a testimony about his stressful job. He shared that as a stockbroker, he handled tens of millions of dollars in transactions every day. He realized that if he made the wrong decision, it could cost the company millions. He had never dealt with such large amounts of money before. Sometimes the stress of his responsibility kept him up at night.

 

Two days before the meeting where he shared this burden, I had a dream about him. In the dream, I was eating noodles with him. I had washed two small bowls and was preparing to make noodles for the both of us. Suddenly, I saw a huge bowl appear. It was as big as a jar. I heard a voice saying, "That bowl is too big, you can't eat such a big bowl of noodles right now."

 

I have been having prophetic dreams since 2015. God often speaks to me and those around me through prophetic dreams. God speaks to me with personalized metaphors and imagery. As a Chinese immigrant, I have many dreams about eating noodles. Slowly I began to understand that God used "noodles" to represent "food", which demonstrates his provision.

 

Since God instructs us to comfort, strengthen, and encourage others through prophecy (1 Corinthians 14:3), I shared this dream with him. I knew he was under a lot of pressure. I then asked the believers in our meeting to share their inspiration with him.

 

The man's wife shared that this dream reminded her of the story of five loaves and two fishes, which teaches us that God will give us even greater blessings through our small contribution. Because of his excellent upbringing and streamlined journey through college and into his career, it was easy for him to depend on himself. His current difficulties would help him rely on God’s strength and support, rather than on his own ability.

 

My wife had an important insight to share. She wondered if God had chosen me and this man to work together. God was preparing us for future cooperation and service. He wants us to band together to preach the gospel to the Chinese people. I was preparing to serve the Chinese by studying theology and Bible truth, and perhaps God had sent this man to me so we could serve together. Perhaps he will use his financial acumen to help me manage my finances in the future. Or perhaps God will bless him financially so he can make large contributions for His kingdom.

 

The ministry God will give us in the future may be huge, just like that big bowl of noodles. But our capacity is still small right now, and God will continue to increase it. What this man is currently experiencing may be a process through which God increases his capacity. Perhaps God is allowing him to go through a lot of pressure so he can realize his endless potential. After he has gone through this difficult process, he will find that his capacity has increased.

 

I also shared my own insights. I think we need to focus on serving God in the present and achieving the things within our reach. Although the large bowl of noodles seemed like a promise, the voice said, "You can't eat such a large bowl right now.” We must take things one step at a time and slowly increase our capacity.

 

I shared with this man that recently I’ve been very busy. There have been so many things I needed to do. I was not efficient enough to multitask and complete all the tasks I was hoping to do. So I made some adjustments. I decided to focus my entire energy on whatever I was doing at the moment. If I only have 20 minutes to pray, I will focus entirely on praying, instead of praying for 20 minutes and thinking about things for 20 minutes in my 40-minute prayer time. Although I only have 20 minutes to pray, my mind is completely focused on praying, which is actually more effective. In all of our daily tasks, we will be much more efficient if we concentrate on one thing at a time.

 

It is very difficult for us to focus. Many people find themselves procrastinating, unable to focus. Because of their half-hearted attitude, they get very little accomplished. In reality, the ability to focus is strengthened through our spiritual disciplines and our fellowship with God. Meeting with the Lord every day, listening quietly to his voice, taking time to be still, and fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit will increase our ability to focus.

 

Every morning, I pray for at least half an hour. At noon, I set aside time for contemplative Bible reading and meditation on God’s word. In the past, I would also fast and pray once a week. These habits help me stay in the presence of the Lord and stay in sync with the “waves” of the Holy Spirit. They help me keep in step with the Spirit and follow in his footsteps. As we keep in touch with God, we can surf the waves and ride the wind. As our lives flow in rhythm with the Holy Spirit, we will do great things.

 

However, if we lack fellowship with the Lord, the same force that helped us move forward will become a force that suppresses us. If we neglect our fellowship with the Lord for a long time, we will find that we are overwhelmed by the forces of work and life. Why? Because the Lord is a river of living water within us; He always flows out of us. He is a powerful force. Only when He flows out of us can we withstand the pressure from the world.

 

We can compare God’s power in our lives to centrifugal and centripetal force. The Lord attracts us towards heaven, just like the moon or other planets attract the earth. His centrifugal force pulls us towards our eternal home. In addition, the Lord is at the center of our being, attracting inward closeness to him. This is an inward or centripetal force. As we maintain a balance between these two forces, we can stay strong against outside pressures. Without the inner strength that comes from fellowship with the Lord, the pressures we are facing will crush us.

 

Christ is our center. We must focus on Him. When we focus on Christ and his word, rivers of living water will flow out of us. Just like this man, the stress of this life can keep us from resting in Christ. The more we fellowship with the Lord, the more inner strength we will receive from Him, which can help us beat all of our worries and pressures. As we allow God to set us free from worry and the pressures of this life, we will enter the "times of refreshing" mentioned in Acts 3:19.

 

Prayer and repentance bring times of refreshing

Like this man, many Christians lack the inner strength that comes from fellowship with the Lord. They are overwhelmed by the busyness and pressures of the world, and their lives are full of worries. When we are overwhelmed and stressed, we must ask God to help us enter the rest he has prepared. We must prioritize our fellowship with God. We must let go of our busy lives and focus on worshiping, praying, reading God’s word, and waiting on Him. As he delivers us from our stressful lives of hurry, we will enter God's rest and peace. The more we practice a disciplined and quiet life, the more we will grow in our ability to focus. Even when we are outwardly busy, we will be able to enjoy God’s rest on the inside. We will be able to maintain our focus and concentration, get twice the results with half the effort, and become highly efficient.

 

The beauty of the Chinese language contains hidden wisdom to help us understand these concepts. For example, The character “忙” (busyness) is composed of two parts. On the left is the word "heart" and on the right is the word "dead". It means that when we are busy and preoccupied with worldly tasks, our hearts are dead. Paul said that setting our minds on the spirit brings life, but setting our minds on the flesh brings death (Romans 8:6).

 

True repentance includes a change in attitude as well as a change in behavior. The former is aimed at our heart, while the latter is aimed at our life. If we really want to repent before God, we must change our attitude and our actions. For example, if we repent of being busy, but make no changes to our busy lifestyle, our repentance has no practical worth. We must actually set aside time to pray and connect with the Lord. We must schedule time for spiritual practices such as prayer, praise, reading the scriptures, speaking in tongues, etc.

 

The Holy Spirit is a river of living water. He promises that those who believe in Him will have rivers of living water within them (John 7:37). Our responsibility is to have fellowship with Him, remove the mud and stones that block the channels of his love, and allow the rivers of living water to flow out of us without hindrance.

 

Conclusion

 

We don't need to wait for the millennial kingdom to have "times of refreshing". This future promise is real. Like the big bowl of noodles I shared about earlier, it is a promise for the future. But today, we can start enjoying the small bowl of noodles. We can increase our capacity and grow our ability to focus on the present. We can repent from our busy lives and focus on the Lord. In this way, our sins will be wiped away and we will experience times of refreshing every day. The inner peace and strength brought by fellowship with the Lord will prevent us from being entangled in worldly trends, and will help us surf the waves of God’s love. In the strength of the Holy Spirit, we will impact the world like Peter did.

 

 

[1] All Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

Showing Gentleness and Humility towards those who believe differently. Bible Study with Jairus – Acts 21

Showing Gentleness and Humility

towards those who believe differently.

Bible Study with Jairus – Acts 21

 

One of the ways the Holy Spirit speaks to us is by highlighting. Whether we’re reading the Bible or using prophetic gifts to prophesy, the Holy Spirit often points out something important that we should pay attention to. This is called highlighting.

 

For example, when a person with prophetic gifts is getting ready to prophesy, they often start “people-watching” to see which people in the meeting catch their attention in a special way. When one person jumps out at them, they ask the Holy Spirit what he wants to say to that person. Often, the Holy Spirit uses the prophet to speak specifically to that person that he highlighted—just like the prophet expected.

 

In traditional churches, many people use the word “inspire” rather than “highlight.” For example, people may say, “God inspired me to read a certain verse,” or “He inspired me to call someone.” Both “inspiration” and “highlighting” describe ways the Holy Spirit speaks to us.

 

For example, when you read a chapter of the Bible, you may suddenly notice a verse you never paid attention to before. Or perhaps you had read the verse many times, but you never thought about all its potential meanings. But today, you glean more meaning out of it than you ever had before. You need to pay special attention to this verse; you can be sure the Holy Spirit wants to speak to you.

 

When a particular verse jumps out at you, you need to learn to be quiet and listen to God’s voice. In the book of Samuel, God tells a story of young Samuel, who heard God calling him during the night. He thought it was his guardian, Eli, who was calling him. Because he didn’t know how to distinguish God’s voice, he missed the message God was trying to send. But Eli instructed him that the next time he heard God calling, he should say, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening" (NIV, 1 Samuel 3:9). After old Eli taught him how to discern God's voice, Samuel began to learn to communicate with God. We must learn to pay attention to the way the Holy Spirit speaks to us while we read the Bible and fellowship with the Lord. Otherwise, we may miss His message, as Samuel did at first.

 

 

Be gentle towards those who are different

The main story told in Acts 21 is about the trials Paul encountered in Jerusalem. As we’ve learned in previous Bible studies, Jesus stood by Paul and gave him strength, telling him that he must testify in Rome as he did in Jerusalem. Paul’s friends and acquaintances prophesied that Paul would be bound in Jerusalem. Through these prophetic voices, the Holy Spirit tried to persuade Paul not to go to Jerusalem. When Paul decided to go anyway, the Lord stood by him and gave him strength. We have already discussed in detail the spiritual significance of these seemingly contradictory facts, so we will not repeat this theme here.

 

In today’s reading of Acts 21, I feel that the Holy Spirit is especially highlighting a verse to me, which is, Acts 21:21: “They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs.” (NIV)

 

Paul had gone to see James and the elders in Jerusalem and shared what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. When these elders heard it, they glorified God. Then they said to Paul, "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law" (NIV, Acts 21:20). This verse provides the context for verse 21, the verse the Holy Spirit is bringing to our attention. The Holy Spirit not only highlighted verse 21, but he also emphasized a few words in particular: "teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses." The highlight in these words is "Jews who live among the Gentiles.”

 

In other words, one of the main reasons for this uproar in Jerusalem was the concern of the Jewish elders (the “they” in verse 21). Tens of thousands of Jews who were zealous for the law had heard rumors that Paul was teaching the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses. They felt that what Paul was doing went against their interests, which caused this uproar.

 

When I read this verse, the Holy Spirit showed me that the Jews may not have been concerned that Paul taught the Gentiles themselves to turn away from Moses and abandon circumcision and Jewish customs. Their main concern was the rumor that said that the Jews who lived with the Gentiles were being taught to turn away as well.

 

According to the general logic of Christians, Paul did not do anything wrong here when he was preaching that “neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation” (NIV, Galatians 6:15). Paul had already said he regards everything as garbage because of knowing Christ (NIV, Philippians 3:8). Naturally, he regards "circumcision," "customs," and even "Moses" as garbage. I don't think Paul is wrong, and I don’t believe the Holy Spirit is blaming Paul for the way he taught. But I think the Holy Spirit is encouraging us to be gentle with people who are different from us, or who have not yet recognized the truths that we’ve already realized. Let me explain.  

 

We should treat others with love and inclusiveness, even if their beliefs seem like garbage to us. When we speak to them with gentleness, we show respect to them and their journey. What we see as garbage, others may regard as a treasure; and what we see as treasure, others may regard as garbage. When we treat a certain concept as garbage, and impose this view on others who value that concept as a treasure, it may harm the other person and cause conflicts between us. For example, many Chinese Christians believe that the people who have blind faith in Buddhism are idolaters and are completely "garbage." Because I am Chinese and there are many people in China who worship Buddha (including my mother, who worshiped Buddha for many years), this attitude may be hurtful to my unbelieving friends. I don't think there is anything wrong with the concept itself; compared to Christ, worshiping Buddha is indeed garbage. But I’ve observed that people who try to preach the gospel to Buddhists, while simultaneously proclaiming that their beliefs are garbage, do not have good results.

 

Similarly, my denomination’s prized Bible truths may seem like "garbage" to another Christian group. Let me give two extreme examples. When I used to take the train to Washington, I would often see Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons. One day, I met a zealous Filipino Jehovah’s Witness on the train. We debated on the way to our destination. He told me that Christ is not God, but that he is just a human prophet. The man gave me a lot of examples from the Bible, trying to prove that Jesus is not God.

 

For me as a Christian, acknowledging Jesus is God and is the son of God is a basic prerequisite. A preacher in my former church said that one day, some people came knocking at his door. When he saw that they were Jehovah's Witnesses, he said to them, "Jesus is Lord" and closed the door. He also taught us that we must reject people like Jehovah's Witnesses because the Bible says, “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work” (NIV, 2 John 1:10-11). I accepted this teaching, so I treated Jehovah's Witnesses quite coldly. But then I began to be introduced to a different way of treating Jehovah’s witnesses. This is not to say that what the Jehovah's Witnesses are preaching is correct. Rather, we are saying that Jehovah’s Witnesses are like the Samaritans in Jesus' time.

 

As you may know, the Samaritans were not considered orthodox by the Jews. Samaria was the capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel (which was later destroyed). People there worshiped the golden calf and deviated from the true worship of God. Jews despised the Samaritans because of their heretical beliefs.

 

Because of this, Jesus’ response to the Samaritans might surprise you. John 4 records that when the Lord Jesus came to the well and met a Samaritan woman, He approached her with compassion and openness. Not only were the disciples surprised, but even the Samaritan woman was surprised. She said to the Lord, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink? (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans)” (NIV, John 4:9).

 

Later, she even asked questions about theology: "Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem" (NIV, John 4:20). In previous lessons, we learned that the Northern Kingdom of Israel sinfully worshiped the golden calf. The mountain the Samaritan woman is referring to is not Jerusalem; likely, she is referring to the place where the Northern Kingdom worshiped the golden calf. The Lord Jesus explained, "Woman, believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem" (NIV, John 4:21).

 

Jesus not only challenged the theology of the Samaritan woman, but he also challenged the theology of the orthodox Jews. The theology of the Samaritan woman was undoubtedly wrong, but Jewish theology needed to be renewed as well. Later, we’ll see that one of the reasons the Jews could not accept the Lord Jesus was that He challenged their existing theology. For now, let’s consider how to imitate the attitude of the Lord Jesus towards the Samaritans. The Jews considered the Samaritan woman to be a heretic, just like most orthodox Christians consider Jehovah’s Witnesses to be heretics. But the Lord’s attitude towards the Samaritans was not one of rudeness. He did not reject them brusquely and close the door. After I understood this truth, I slowly changed my attitude towards Jehovah's Witnesses.

 

I often take the train to Washington, D.C. Every day, rain or shine, I see Jehovah's Witnesses outside preaching. Although almost no one pays attention to them, I am still quite moved when I see them standing there. They are more hard-working than any other Christian group I have seen. Now, whenever I see them, I give them a friendly smile. I know I cannot change their beliefs or theology. But at the same time, I have heard many prophecies that predict that the next move of the Holy Spirit will convert many Jehovah's Witnesses to Christ.

 

Another time, a young man with a name badge pulled me aside at the entrance of a subway station. He told me that according to the Bible, humankind has fallen into sin and failure. Through the ages, God has sent prophets like Moses to save us. These facts were not wrong.

 

But then he began to say that God had sent John Smith to carry out the same work. At this point, I couldn’t bear to listen anymore. Based on the truth, I certainly could not accept his statement. But even though I reject his theology, I should respect and love him as a person. God loves all people, even Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. Throughout Christian history, we’ve failed to show love and grace to so-called heretics; we fail to treat them with the dignity they deserve as fellow image-bearers of God.

 

I cited these two extreme examples to illustrate that all people deserve to be loved—even those who are universally recognized by orthodox Christians as heretics. We should learn to respond the way Jesus responded to the Samaritan woman—with love. Unfortunately, many of the so-called heretics in history have been persecuted. Sometimes, the church persecuted people who later turned out to have true, biblical beliefs.

 

For example, in church history, the Catholics would not only burn Reformers, but also the Anabaptists. Anabaptists, the predecessors of modern-day Amish and Mennonite Christians, were against infant baptism. Because of this stance, they were considered to be heretics by Catholic and Reformers alike. The Reformers committed many atrocities against the Anabaptists, even drowning them to death. The massacre of Protestants by Catholics is widely known, but the massacre of the Anabaptists by the Reformers is less widely known. This example illustrates that we sometimes make mistakes; those we consider to be heretics may later prove to be orthodox, Bible-believing Christians.

 

This issue hits close to home for me because I was saved in a branch of the Local Church movement in the United States. Many Chinese Christians believe that the Local Church Movement and Witness Lee are heretics. Not only does the Local Church teach that each town should have only one church, but it also teaches that “Christ is the Spirit” and “God became man so that man might become God.” These teachings are controversial and condemned as heresy. The latter was not just said by Witness Lee, but also by the early church father Athanasius.
This issue should be considered to be a theological debate rather than a heresy.

 

Many Chinese Christians in mainland China are affected by this accusation of heresy. A Chinese Christian was very happy when I preached the gospel to her unbelieving husband. Later, when she learned that I was a member of the Local Church Movement, she told me on the phone that our church was "not good."

 

In addition, I often used to participate in campus services at a campus of the University of Maryland. I would often invite Chinese Christians from other places, but after a while, I’d notice that they’d stopped coming. It turns out that other Chinese Christian groups were telling them behind our backs that our church is heretical. Christians often work overtime to destroy rival groups behind one another’s backs. They claim they are focused on preserving the truth, but sometimes there is also an element of competition.

 

Christian Research International (who originally called out the Local Church Movement as heretical) published a magazine in 2009, acknowledging that their initial judgment was wrong. They now accept the Local Church Movement as an orthodox evangelical movement. But the damage has been done, and the situation cannot be remedied in one day. Many people still see the Local Church Movement as heretics because of their original article.

 

God led me to leave the Local Church Movement in 2015 in order to come in contact with churches in the Charismatic movement and to learn the gifts of the Holy Spirit and other teachings of the Charismatic movement. Indeed, I did break with a lot of the ideas and teachings of the Local Church Movement. After learning the teachings and practices of the Charismatic churches and other churches, I no longer agreed with some of the teachings and practices of the Local Church Movement. For example, I found that the Local Church Movement, like other evangelical groups, lacks basic understanding of many of the truths that God has restored through the 100-year history of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement. But this does not affect my continued adherence to many of the good truths taught by the Local Church Movement. These principles have been of great help to me in my spiritual growth, and they continue to benefit me to this day. I think that some teachings and practices of Local Church Movement would be very beneficial to evangelical Christian groups and Charismatic groups. However, if they are labelled as heretical, many people will be fearful to learn from them. Of course, we also need to distinguish between the truths that are worth learning and those which are not worth discussing.

 

The point I want to make with these examples is that Christians are often wrong in their judgments and evaluations of other Christian groups. Our understanding of the Bible is often subject to bias.

 

Breaking away from Bias

Going back to the content of this chapter, did the Christians have a bias towards the Jews? Did they interpret Paul’s treatment of the converted Jews through a distorted or biased lens? Is there a bias that continues to affect our attitude towards the Jews today?

 

While studying for my pre-Doctoral program at the United Theological Seminary in the United States, I took "Introduction to the New Testament" for two consecutive terms. During this course, we analyzed the story of Galatians 2. In this chapter, Peter was pretending not to care about the Gentiles and refusing to eat with them.

 

In my homework for this project, I wrote that the Jews were trying to be justified by the law through the efforts of their own flesh, while Christians were justified by faith. Here, Peter clearly understood that we are relying on God’s grace to be justified. But because of fear, he pretended that adherence to Judaism was required for salvation. The Jewish Christians sent by James were overly influenced by Judaism. They pressured Peter because they had not fully broken away from the concept of keeping the law. This is not in line with the teachings of the New Testament.

 

I did not expect my teacher to disagree with my point of view. She asked me a serious question. She said, “Why did you say that the Jews are all trying to be justified by their own efforts, by keeping the law through the flesh? What is your reason for saying this? Many modern Bible scholars disagree with this idea. You are seriously prejudiced against Jews.”

 

She said that for Jews, keeping God’s law is a way they can please God and live in the grace of God. Just like Old Testament saints kept God’s law and pleased God, she believes modern-day Jews can live in God’s grace through keeping the law. Her explanation was completely opposite to mine. I explained that my view was justifiable, based on the way I’ve been taught.

 

I am instinctively suspicious of modern seminary and modern Bible scholars. Although I was led to a seminary by God, I didn't have a good impression of seminaries. I feel that many seminaries are full of liberals and religious scholars. Many theological dissertations are barely touched or read. They are nearly covered with dust.

 

Additionally, I have heard that seminaries are a cemetery. Many excellent Christians and pastors never studied at a seminary, yet do an excellent job. After studying at a seminary, however, their spirituality becomes suppressed. Some even become unbelievers.

 

Because of my suspicion, I couldn't accept my teacher’s point of view at first. There were some tensions between us, but I told myself that I should be humble and listen to her logic.

 

I was also taking two consecutive terms studying Christian history, which taught me how Christians persecuted the Jews after their rise to power. Previously, I knew nothing of this historical persecution. For example, some people developed a theory that since the Jews killed Christ, all Jews were cursed and should be exterminated. Even during the first Crusades, many Jews were annihilated.

 

What's more, after Martin Luther's reformation, when anti-Semitism was on the rise, most German Christians did not step forward to stop Hitler from using this line of thought to incite hatred against Judaism. Only a few Christian scholars stood up for the Jews.

 

I began to understand that theological errors among Christians were exploited by the enemy to cause great harm to the Jews. Unbelievers often ask, "Where is God? If there is a God, why did the Jews, God's chosen people, suffer such a massacre?" God did not want the Jews to be massacred; this was done no doubt by the Enemy. But the enemy has taken advantage of our Christian theological errors.

 

In particular, Christians have misunderstood Matthew 27:25. In this passage, the Jews were preparing to have Christ crucified. Rather than blaming Pilate, the Jews shouted, “‘His blood is on us and on our children’”. Many believe that the Jews were bringing down trouble upon themselves. For this reason, hateful people over the centuries have subjected Jews to a series of punishments and massacres, saying they were meting out the divine punishment the Jews asked for.

 

Oh my God! In the past, I accepted this teaching as well. As I thought about it, I realized that this view is not in keeping with Jesus’ prayer on the cross. Before Jesus died, He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (NIV, Luke 23:34). Were the Jews more evil than other Gentiles, thus making them unworthy of the forgiveness of Jesus? Were the Jews not included in the "they" that Jesus prayed here?

 

Should we blame God for all the massacres, saying he was punishing the Jews? I do not deny that God sometimes punishes people. But now that Jesus has taken the full wrath of God upon Himself on the cross, we should think seriously before concluding that God is punishing someone. We are no longer in the Old Testament. The hostility and intolerance that Christians have shown towards Jews has furthered Satan’s goals of persecuting the Jews.

 

After understanding this, I pondered over what my teacher had said again. She said that Jews who seek to be justified by the law may not be doing it out of fleshly motivations. Further, Christians living under grace may not be living fully in the faith they profess; they may have adopted a legalistic motivation as they pretend to live only by grace.

 

She said Jews in the Old Testament were justified by the law, and that Christians often live in the flesh as they try to save themselves by their own efforts. She believes it is more accurate to say that whether Jews keeping the law or Christians relying on faith, both of them have a sincere side that seeks God through the law or faith, and they also have a ritualized and religious side. The key is to see if a person is really keeping the law (or seeking God through faith), or is just pretending. Every Christian denomination contains people who have true faith in God, and others who pretend.

 

She believes this principle also applies to Jewish groups. In other words, we can’t throw out one particular system as completely evil and problematic. Rather, every system can be abused. It’s true that many Jews keep the law out of their flesh, but we cannot say with 100% accuracy that every Jew of all times has kept the law out of one hundred percent fleshly motives. In the Old Testament, many diligent law-keepers were accepted by God because of their faith.

 

I understand what she meant, and I still can't fully figure this problem out. Christian theologians have different understandings about how Israel is saved in the end times. Some say that in the end, Israelites are saved because they were God's chosen people. According to God's covenant, all families of Israel will be saved in due time. Others hold that before the world ends, Israel will experience a great spiritual revival; many Israelites will come to know Jesus Christ and will be saved.

 

Working together in the Body of Christ

The verses I mentioned earlier, which the Holy Spirit highlighted, mention that the elders of Jerusalem were accusing Paul of teaching the Jews who lived among the Gentiles to abolish circumcision. Paul seems to teach that since Christ has come, the Jews don’t need to be circumcised. As I mentioned earlier, Paul said, “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation” (NIV, Galatians 6:15). It seems that Paul is against the continued circumcision of the Jews.

 

But in drawing this conclusion, we may have overlooked other verses. For example, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7:18-20, "Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them." (NIV) Many people believe that Paul is saying this to avoid offending the Jews. But what Paul means here is circumcision or uncircumcision is not important. If a Jew is circumcised and saved, there is no need for him to become uncircumcised. If a Gentile is not circumcised, then he should not be circumcised. Why do I say that the latter statement may refer to the Gentiles? Because the Jews are generally circumcised on the eighth day. They do not wait until they are saved to consider whether or not to be circumcised. So Paul’s statement that they don’t need to be circumcised is referring to Gentiles.

 

When Paul mentions becoming uncircumcised, what is he referring to? We know that circumcision refers to cutting off the foreskin. Becoming uncircumcised would mean growing the foreskin back. Anyone who has relevant medical knowledge knows that one can't grow the foreskin back. Only modern skin grafting could replace a lost foreskin, but this wouldn’t have been possible in Paul’s time.

 

Why were some of the circumcised Jewish Christians thinking about becoming uncircumcised in the first place? We can suspect that in places where there were many Gentile Christians, the Jews felt the pressure of public opinion "to make the Jews like the Gentiles".

 

We know that there was pressure placed on Gentiles by Judaizing believers. In churches dominated by Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, the pressure of this public opinion was so great that it led to Peter’s pretension in Galatians 2. He used to eat with the Gentiles, but after the people sent by James came, he pretended to not eat with them. Why? Because eating with the Gentiles does not conform to the laws of the Jews. This pressure had led some Jewish Christians to believe that Gentiles should also obey the law and be circumcised. A similar pressure existed in today’s chapter. The elders referred to it in Acts 21:10 "Brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law" (NIV).

 

We all know the pressure of "Judaizing the Gentiles," but we may have not noticed another kind of pressure, which is, "to make the Jews like the Gentiles." Paul may have faced both of these pressures. So when the Jews in Jerusalem accused Paul of "teaching all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses" (NIV, Acts 21: 21), it was not groundless. I personally think that it was not Paul who was teaching the Jews to abandon the law and circumcision. Likely, in the Christian community dominated by the Gentiles, there was an atmosphere that denied all of Jewish tradition and law. As an apostle to the Gentiles, Paul was wrongly accused by the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. In other words, Paul became a scapegoat here.

 

I personally think that Paul didn’t completely condone the Jews who wanted to abandon all their laws and Jewish characteristics to become a complete Gentile. As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:20, “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews.” (NIV) Paul did not completely deny the Jewish law; he recognized it as a part of Jewish identity. When Paul came to Jerusalem, he brought some people into the temple and paid for them to fulfil their vows. All of these behaviors are in keeping with the rules of the Jewish law.

 

It is true that Paul opposed the Jewish Christians who tried to impose the law on Gentile believers. We know that Paul did not advocate for Gentiles to be circumcised. But he also refused to allow Gentile Christians to completely annihilate the Jewish characteristics from the Jews in their communities.

 

In other words, the Jews who lived among the Gentiles did not have to eliminate all of their Jewish characteristics to be pleasing to God. Paul often advocated for the Jews to continue to be faithful to their religious duties.

 

This discussion will help us understand how to accommodate different opinions within the body of Christ. We need to learn to be gracious to people who are different from us. We don’t blindly talk about inclusion for the sake of inclusion. We don’t go to the opposite extreme of saying that Christians must embrace all religions, condone homosexuality, or agree that all religions bring us to God.

 

On the one hand, we Christians should be tolerant towards each other when we have differing understandings of certain passages. On the other hand, we should not accept those who deny basic Christian principles. We should not be inclusive just for the sake of inclusivity. We must maintain a healthy balance of being inclusive without losing our principles. This is the way Christ lived. As we face disputes with other groups of believers, we should contend for the faith but never lose sight of love.

 

Pastor Bill Johnson said that when God works in a mighty way in the world, the people He uses are often persecuted by the people God used previously. This is absolutely true. Whether we look at Jews persecuting Christians, Christians persecuting the Jews, Catholics persecuting Protestants, Protestants persecuting the Anabaptists, the state church persecuting the Puritans, Evangelicals persecuting the Charismatics, or early Charismatic sects persecuting new Charismatic sects, we see this pattern playing repeatedly. If you study church history, we see that the people used by God in His previous move end up persecuting the people and groups used by God in His next move.

 

When God's next move comes, will you be the persecutor or the persecuted? Will you be used by God, or will you seek to destroy those whom God is using? Larry Randolph, an American prophet, said that sometimes our posture determines whether or not God brings revival. The distance between revival and lack of revival may be the width of a fishing boat: a few feet. When Peter cast the net on one side, he caught nothing. But when he changed his posture and cast his net on the other side according to the Lord’s command, he was able to catch a lot of fish.

 

If a tornado is coming, and you are in it, you will become very dizzy. You’ll think the earth and sky are spinning around. But if you are not in the tornado, you can just stand by and watch, without having the slightest damage. Will you be a member of the new move that will be persecuted and used by God, or will you be a member of the group who is persecuting people used by God in His new move?

 

A prophet prophesied that when the next revival comes, it may come from a place like Galilee, a place you don’t expect God to come from. We must be careful. Many people in history missed God's move because of their prejudices. The Jews missed Jesus because they weren’t expecting him to come from such humble circumstances. Many Christians have also missed God’s revival. I hope that we can be alert now.

 

Returning to our passage, I believe that in the end, the early Christians realized that they should not force the Gentiles to become Jews. However, in church history, the pressure of “annihilating Jewish characteristics” still exists. This pressure caused many Christians to misinterpret Paul’s attitude towards the Jews. It even caused the tragedy of Christians persecuting and even killing the Jews. I think the way that all Jews will eventually be saved may not be the way we imagine. Let us learn from history to accept the differences of other members of the body of Christ and help each other fulfill God’s will.

 

Each of us must realize that our own personal view only represents one side of the matter. We do not have the vantage point of God, who looks down at His body in a holistic manner. We must be alert to the enemy’s temptation to use our narrow-mindedness to reject others and force them to be like us. We must have an inclusive attitude towards other races, cultures and Christian groups. We should learn from, tolerate and accept each other in order to avoid the mistakes made by many Christian groups throughout history.

 

Bible Study with Jairus – Acts 15

Bible Study with Jairus – Acts 15

 

Acts 15 tells us three stories. The first story is about Paul and Barnabas getting into a fierce argument with people about the need to circumcise the Gentiles. Peter and James responded saying that God had chosen the Gentiles. The second story is the sending of Judas and Silas to Antioch to comfort the brothers and sisters of Gentiles. The third story is about Paul and Barnabas getting into a disagreement whether or not they should take Mark to Pamphylia. 

 

The discussion we had in our Bible study revolved around these three stories.

 

In the first story, the woman leading our Bible study asked why Paul and Barnabas opposed circumcising the Gentiles? What does circumcision signify? Why did the Pharisees insist on circumcising the Gentiles to keep the Law of Moses? This opened up our discussion. I shared some of the views of an American teacher on the history of the Pharisees, while I was studying a New Testament course in seminary. My teacher recommended some books in class, telling us that the Pharisees are actually people like the "vigilantes" of Jewish history. “Vigilantes" is the nickname I have given to the Pharisees. If you don't know the meaning of this internet slang, you can look it up online. I call them “vigilantes” because they are always looking for someone making a “mistake.”  For example, the Pharisees challenged Jesus for not washing His hands before meals and, in the end, were rebuked by Jesus. He said that the Pharisees broke the law of God because of their human traditions. God never created a rule that Moses should wash his hands before meals. This law was created in the Jewish tradition. Although the law requires the Levites to wash themselves when they serve in the tabernacle or in the temple, the Pharisees are not the Levites. And, the law does not require the Pharisees, or even the Levites, to wash their hands before meals. This was a human created law, not one declared by God.

 

The Pharisees were an extremely strict sect. When they were suppressed by the Romans, they felt that it was because the other Jews did not keep the law, so they have adhered strictly to the law (voluntarily) and forced others to obey all of the rules, those made by God and those made by man. They believed the Jews were under the power of the Gentiles because they did not keep the Law of God. Thus, they strictly obeyed the Law of the God and even added a lot of rules to it.

 

In other words, they were acting like "vigilantes." Vigilantes are people who aren’t policemen, but act like they are. The Pharisees were such people.  God didn’t call them or order them to do so; they volunteered to do these things out of their responsibility to preserve the survival and law of the Israelites. Actively obeying the Law of God is good, but on the other hand, they were unconsciously becoming the executors of the law. This was a bit much because God did not ask them to do so.

 

The Bible did require the Jews to be circumcised. This was a sign of covenant between Jews and God. But the Bible does not strictly require the circumcision of the Gentiles. All the Bible said was that those Gentiles who live in Israel need to satisfy certain conditions first before they could be circumcised. Instead, the Pharisees demanded that the Gentiles be circumcised. Circumcision is one of the many laws the Pharisees tended to enforce.

 

The woman who led the Bible Study also asked why the following verse was mentioned twice: “Gentiles wanted to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.” (NlV, Acts 15:20).

 

It is first mentioned when Simon witnessed how God saved the Gentiles and filled them with the Holy Spirit. After that, James said that God also gave salvation to the Gentiles. He used the prophetic words in the Old Testament to confirm that God did promise He would one day reveal himself to the Gentiles. Therefore, he suggested, "Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the Law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.” (NIV, Acts 15: 20-21).” When the brethren sent Judas and Silas to explain these to the Gentile brothers, they had again mentioned: "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements.  You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things." (NIV, Acts 15:28- 29).

 

What do these two repetitions mean? This is important because, the Pharisees would execute the law excessively, and the Gentiles knew nothing about the law. So, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the brethren decided to adopt a compromise or balanced strategy, by applying only a few laws to the gentiles. This helps us understand how to work with different Christian groups today while maintaining unity in the Spirit. The conflict among most churches is still due to their different understandings of the Bible. If we can take a step back and hold to some basic truths, such as Jesus (the Word) became flesh, died and was resurrected, without arguing over other controversial issues, then we can stay unified in the Holy Spirit.

 

 

The second story is about when the apostles and elders chose two people, Judas and Silas, to go to Antioch and explain the unanimous decision, reached by the Church of Jerusalem, denying that the people who were calling for the circumcision of the Gentiles were not sent by them. The Bible commended Judas and Silas for being “men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"(NIV, Acts 15:26). Verse 22 says that "They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers.” This passage of scripture foreshadows our understanding on why Paul and Barnabas argued later in this chapter. We did not see it at the beginning, but we realized this foreshadowing while talking about the third story.  

 

The third story is about Paul and Barnabas engaging in a conflict with Mark. Barnabas insists on taking Mark, but Paul thought that Mark was not suitable to bring since he returned home early on their last trip. Paul and Barnabas disagreed. Eventually, Barnabas takes Mark and sails for Cyprus. But Paul chooses to take Silas with the blessings of the brethren, and travelled through Syria and Cilicia to strengthen the churches there.

 

The teaching that I’ve received explains that the reason why Barnabas and Paul were arguing is that Barnabas may have a bias because Mark was his relative. And, perhaps, Paul just thought that Mark was not suitable to go with them at this time. But Paul admitted in his letter later that Mark was useful to him, and that Mark was restored years later. One argument of those who hold this view is that Barnabas has never been mentioned in the subsequent verses of the Bible.

 

This argument makes some sense. But through our study of this chapter in today’s study, several members had different opinions. One woman said that maybe the disagreement between Paul and Barnabas is not a question of who is right or wrong, but rather Paul not wanting to risk their mission since Mark left early last trip. Barnabas seems to think that Mark is still trustworthy to serve. Therefore, he regards Mark's spiritual life as more important and is thinking about Mark first. From this point of view, the difference between Paul and Barnabas is not necessarily a question of who is right or who is wrong, but rather different priorities being placed on them by the Holy Spirit. Because Mark is restored later maybe we can say that Barnabas played an important pastoral role in his restoration.  

 

While this argument is reasonable, another woman replied that this still does not explain why the Bible does not mention Barnabas again, as if his exit is a bit unexpected. She asked everyone: “Is it unexpected for people like Moses, whom God favors, to suddenly exit out of the scene of Bible?” I said that although Moses offended God, and God did not allow him to enter the Promised Land, Moses still appears later in the New Testament (NIV, Matthew 17:2-3). From this, we can see that Moses was able to enter the Promised Land in a different way. And there is a greeting behind every letter written by Paul so it is reasonable to end something properly. This woman speculated that perhaps Barnabas did something that made God unhappy. In this regard, I think that everyone who serves God will make mistakes, but some mistakes are too big and carry consequences for future generations. Maybe Barnabas changed and no longer was following the Lord’s leading and, thus, no longer appears in Scripture.

 

The meeting approached its end, but I saw that not everyone wanted to finish. I sensed the Holy Spirit might have something else to say. As expected, the Holy Spirit suddenly inspired me regarding two verses.

This verse appears after the sending of Judas and Silas (who represent the church of Jerusalem) to Antioch and other places to read the council’s letter.

“The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. But Silas decided to remain there.” (NIV

, Acts 15:31-34).

 

Suddenly, I was inspired by the Holy Spirit and asked everyone a question: "When the brethren sent Silas and others back from Antioch and to Jerusalem, why was Silas unwilling to leave then?” The Bible specifically stated that only Silas believed that he should continue to stay in Antioch. And, the Bible also mentioned that Silas was a man who led the brethren in Jerusalem and said that he risked his life for the Gospel of God. He is also a prophet, a person who has received words and revelations from the Lord.

 

This involves a huge principle of the Holy Spirit, and it is definitely not a simple disagreement between Paul and Barnabas. Rather, the questions should be: (1) How can the Holy Spirit move forward and assign who will be the leader for the next move of God? (2) Who will be able to match Paul with moving God's work forward? (3) And, how will the Holy Spirit make use of His spiritual gifts to build the church?

 

The verses that I’ve mentioned (and laid a foundation) in the beginning of the article clearly show that the Holy Spirit wanted Barnabas to step out in this stage. This is only on the surface, and the root cause of it is that God wanted to guide Silas towards front-line service and co-work with Paul. This is a big point that many of us have overlooked. I had not seen this before and just saw this in the meeting when the Holy Spirit suddenly illuminated these words.

 

I’ll explain it in more detail. Perhaps it will help you understand it better.

 

First, let's look at the relationship between Barnabas and Paul. When Paul was still Saul, he experienced a sudden change from a person who persecuted Christians to a person who served God. The disciples had not accepted Paul; only Barnabas introduced and accepted Paul. Barnabas’s mentoring played a significant role in Paul’s development. This may be one of the reasons why the Holy Spirit had not mentioned Barnabas' shortcomings and weakness here. God was willing to cover for him because he was helping Paul to grow spiritually. Once, when I was teaching in another session, I asked our bible study members, why did Barnabas accept Paul and not the others, but in the end Barnabas and Paul get into a conflict resulting in a split? My answer then was that it’s not easy to accept a new person, and it’s even more difficult to accept a new person to be your leader. The first point is that Barnabas was doing better than others. The second point is that maybe he is not doing so well.

 

Why do I think this? For example, if we are in the church today or even in a cell group, a newcomer, who has lower qualifications than you or even a person you have helped/mentored before, becomes your boss or leader, how would you feel? Perhaps some bitterness? This is only human nature. Barnabas was certainly useful in shaping Paul, but when Paul was mature enough to be a builder (which God called him to be), perhaps this is where the conflict between him and Barnabas started. On the surface, it seems that it’s a problem with Mark. But the fundamental problem is who is in charge. Barnabas may have felt that he was older than Paul, and he also recommended bringing Paul into the ministry. Paul should listen to him, or at least agree with him by allowing Mark to go, but Paul is adamant, putting Barnabas in an awkward position.

 

But maybe Paul is the one following the leading of the Holy Spirit, and he may have felt in his spirit that it wasn’t right. He did not give in just because he had a relationship with Barnabas. Maybe Barnabas wanted Paul to take Mark, so he could learn. If Barnabas was a senior at that time ready to retire, Mark could probably inherit his mantle and continue his ministry. Why didn't Paul use this opportunity to give Barnabas a favor and help Mark?

 

If Paul had let Mark come, it would be understandable according to human standards, but he may have missed God's will because God's plans for your life far exceed human standards. I told many of the men and women who have been with me in our Bible studies that the Holy Spirit is the best film director and screenwriter. Every time we read the Bible, we must carefully understand the ideas and thoughts of the directors and playwrights, in order to help us understand the Bible better.

 

The previous argument over circumcision led the disciples to choose Judas and Silas as the “men who were leaders among the believers” (NIV, Acts 15:22), and praised them that “they can risk their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (NIV, Acts 15:26). Afterwards, it says that “Judas and Silas were prophets themselves, and they said much to encourage and strengthen the believers.” (NIV, Acts 15:32). When the brethren of Antioch thought that they had already spent enough time there, they intended to send him and Judah off safely. The Holy Spirit specifically mentioned that only Silas felt that for some reason, he should continue to stay there. Why? We can say that since he is a prophet, he was moved by the Holy Spirit to stay. At that time, he still didn’t know the reason why he should stay and not leave. But, after reading and listening to this part, I think you may already understand the reason behind it. The Holy Spirit decided to have Paul and Silas to work together so that Silas could be at the forefront of this stage of history. From just a background character, who renders service to a person who is put in front of the stage, to a leading role with Paul. This leads him to go with Paul who is set out by God to build the house of God and lead the movement of God. Thus, Silas was moved by the Holy Spirit and to stay in Antioch. Otherwise, if he did not obey the will of the Holy Spirit and left in accordance with the opinions of the brethren, then he would not have been able to complete or accomplish the task that was to be entrusted to him.

 

God’s plan was for Silas to stay with Paul, but the brethren of Antioch had the intention of sending him back to Jerusalem, and Barnabas wanted to bring Mark along with him. This clearly shows the inconsistencies between humans and God. Even church leaders or mature Christians can miss God's will. This is God’s will versus man’s opinion. This has a very significant spiritual significance. A pastor in the United States, Bill Johnson, often says that "Over the ages, people who have opposed the new move of God are the ones used by God in His previous move." In other words, yesterday, we may have been greatly used by God, but when God moves forward again, we may not be able to keep up and, consequently, hinder God’s work. For example, Barnabas may be a good person. As the Bible stated, maybe, he had no intention of being hard on Paul as I’ve guessed before. Perhaps, it was just that Barnabas was already old and had some established views on things and how God works. On the other hand, Paul was young, and had received revelation from God. Still, Barnabas may have felt that Paul was not reliable. As a result, the two had a conflict. Their conflict may be caused by their love of God. The two sides have no selfish motives. They are both trying to do what they think is right for the sake of the Lord and the Church. But they have affected God’s work. Even if Barnabas’s idea is a little old, and he hasn’t done anything bad to Paul, it still may not be suitable to be co-workers with Paul again.

 

My other guess is that perhaps God has reminded Barnabas many times: "You can retire, let the young people do it. Through your guidance and mentoring, Paul has become more mature now. You can retire already. Let's give the young people some opportunities." Barnabas may have said to the Holy Spirit, "Actually I am still like Caleb. I refuse to give in to old age. My expertise is still needed.  For example, Mark is a good young man. Shouldn’t I continue to develop him to be a co-worker for Paul in the future?

 

I shared at the meeting that it’s not easy when you are the leader in the church because, when the time comes, they’ll let you retire and let the young people replace you. This is hard because sometimes you don’t feel ready to retire just yet. It’s also hard because if you retire, you hope to put someone in place who will give you some say in the future. This is only human nature.

 

But I said that this is not the purpose of the Holy Spirit. The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to introduce and bring Silas to the front stage. In addition to the special commendation by Holy Spirit towards Silas that I’ve mentioned previously, the Holy Spirit continues to give Silas more credit, paving the way for his appearance. This has another profound hidden meaning which is contained in 1 Corinthians 12:28. The verse says “And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.” (New International Version, 1 Corinthians 12:28).

 

Both Paul and Barnabas are apostles. How did the apostles come into being? These two apostles are mentioned in Acts 13. When the prophets and teachers were worshiping the Lord and fasting in the church at Antioch, the Holy Spirit called Paul and Barnabas to be apostles. Rick Joyner, a prophet in the United States, said that only when teachers and prophets come and serve together, will the apostles be produced. He is referring to the traditional church's neglect of the gift of the prophet and other churches that acknowledge the gift of the prophet but do not pay attention to the gift of the teacher. The two did not integrate fasting and praying so it is impossible to produce apostles like Paul and Barnabas in today’s church.

 

Another aspect of this passage is Christ Jesus’ work in building the foundations of the apostles and prophets. This is what the Holy Spirit said through Paul in Ephesians 2:20. Ephesians 2:19-20 says, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” (NIV) Since the Holy Spirit has laid a good foundation for the church (through apostles like Paul and Barnabas), the next step is to build a second foundation, the prophets. Therefore, the Holy Spirit specifically mentioned that Silas was a prophet Himself and had said much to encourage and strengthen the believers in Antioch. He was anointed by the Holy Spirit and because of this he remained in Antioch. The Holy Spirit’s guidance had profound significance because it lead a prophet like him to work with Paul, while building the second foundation of the church, the prophet.

 

Some people say that the apostles are the greatest gifts to the church. Paul was gifted in many ways. His role as an apostle meant he could function as a prophet, teacher, miracle worker, servant etc. In layman’s terms an apostle is a well-rounded person or a general practitioner. A general practitioner is not an expert in any one area, but versed a little in all of them. For example, when you have a general practitioner as your family doctor, they know a little bit about everything. When the patient comes, the general practitioner can help further diagnose the problem, but you will probably need to see a specialist for serious issues. But since a good general practitioner knows a thing or two, they will be able to help find the problem, but might not be able to fix it. Sort of like Tiger Balm, which can do a lot, but not fully heal everything.  

 

The primary gift of the prophet is to hear God's timely word. Although I am a Christian who grew up in a traditional church focused on the gift of teaching, I am still extremely eager to pursue the gift of prophecy. I was exposed to the modern prophetic movement in the US, after the Lord led me to come out of my evangelical church and into the Charismatic church. Since I have studied the five prophetic courses in an online prophetic school, I understand the prophetic movement more clearly. In particular, I’m familiar with the tradition of paying attention to the gift of teaching, which takes a lot of time to study and teach God’s word. But now I’ve been exposed to the prophetic movements who tend to worship, praise, be alone with God, staying up all night waiting for God, fasting and praying etc. People have limited energy. You could be well-rounded, but there is only one Paul in this universe. You may not be a well-rounded person like Paul, or even if you are, you may not be as good as Paul.   God raised up some well-rounded leaders like Moses, David, and Paul, who were talented in many areas, but this is not the only path. In the church, we have different gifts, according to the grace given us. The Holy Spirit is unbiased, but we have different callings. The gift given to you is different. It’s not that God doesn’t want to give you the good gifts, but you might be too distracted if you are given too much. You may not be able to focus on God’s calling because your time, energy, and ability are limited. What God wants to create is not only a person like Paul, but a team, or a structure - the gift of the body of Christ, such as the apostles, prophets, teachers, etc., working together to build up the body of Christ.

 

I heard Rick Joyner say in a message that the gifts of the prophets and teachers need to be balanced by each other. Prophets can often hear God's timely words, but if there is no balance by the gift of teaching, it’s easy to fall into extremes. I know what this means because I have been pursuing the prophetic gifts. I mentioned previously that I have had some prophetic experiences including seeing Jesus in heaven and I have also been taken to mysterious, heavenly places in my dreams. I am still a novice who has learned only a little about the gift of prophecy. Many people who have more experience with the prophetic gifts may have more wonderful spiritual experiences. One day they may say they visited heaven and another day they may say they’ve visited hell. Should you believe them or not? So, if there is no foundation and restrictions of God’s word, it will be unbalanced. For example, I recently saw a WeChat article saying that a Korean pastor had witnessed Calvin in the lake of fire. I know some churches that were deeply influenced by Calvin, were opposed to the charismatics, and blocked the work of God to a certain extent. But just because of a vision or testimony that Calvin is in the lake of fire by a pastor, you cannot know that Calvin is in hell. Sometimes stuff like this just gets circulated on the web. I personally think this may be an extreme example of relying too heavily on the so-called prophetic gift or personal experiences.

 

On the other hand, the gift of teaching also needs to be balanced by the gift of prophecy. This is one of the reasons why God put the gift of the prophet in front of the gift of the teacher. If the teacher isn’t able to get God’s timely touch and words, there is a danger that the spiritual understanding of the message of the Bible can be elevated to the level of doctrine. Over time, it will limit the freedom of the Holy Spirit. I was saved in a traditional evangelical church. This church pays great attention to the study of God’s word. Basically, it is indifferent to or against Pentecostalism and the prophetic movements. When I was led by God to leave my church and come to the Pentecostal Church to learn about the gifts of the Spirit, the church elders who care for me were honest with me about their fears that I may have been deceived by the evil spirits. They loved me so much that they wouldn’t directly reprimand me, but they expressed some anxiety.

 

I personally think that the evangelical church pays too much attention to the gift of the teacher and has overlooked the gift of the prophet, which leads to dogmatism and legalistic tendencies. As the Bible says: “Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint.” (NIV, Proverbs 29:18). The prophet sees vision from God, and teachers need to learn from them keeping their minds open. Of course, another imbalanced situation can happen in the Pentecostal Church if they pay too much attention to the prophets and ignore the teachers of the Word of God.  

 

Back to our topic, who should Paul take on his journey – Silas, Barnabas, or Mark? Naturally, the Holy Spirit wanted him to take Silas, otherwise the Holy Spirit wouldn’t have annointed Silas to stay, nor would it praise Silas again and again in the text. God wants to build the foundation of the church through the gift of the prophets and the apostles. Barnabas was just another apostle, and Paul had already worked with him for a while, and he did a good job. God continued to lead the merger, or cooperation of apostles and prophets. But is Mark a prophet or a teacher? The Bible isn’t explicit about that. Paul later mentions in another letter that Mark was useful to his ministry. Perhaps Mark has the gift of the "helper" mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12. Of course, the Bible does not say that, it’s just my guess.

 

So, what the Bible addresses here is not only about Barnabas and Mark, but about the question of who will continue to work together with Paul and how will the church be built? At face value, it is a human dispute, but it’s actually about how the church will develop. One false step will make a great difference. If Paul listens to Barnabas's suggestion and lets Mark become his co-worker, it may have interfered with God’s plan (again, this is my guess).

 

In my life, various circumstances have come up that didn’t seem to make sense at the time. Over time I realized that this was the Holy Spirit intervening through circumstances to lead me in the proper direction. We don’t often see it clearly in the midst of difficulty.  This is especially true when I don't obey God's guidance. God always stirs something up around me that forces me back in the right direction of God's leading. When I look back, I realize that these small accidents or changes in my life are actually orchestrated by God. God may have spoken to Barnabas many times and led him to withdraw from the stage, or he may not have followed  God’s leading, so God allowed the disagreement with Mark to happen resulting in a separation between Barnabas and Paul. Either way, Paul ended up taking Silas who was prepared by the Spirit to work with Paul. I am not saying this because I want to advocate conspiracy theories or say that God used unethical means. Instead, I am saying this because I hope to comfort those who have experienced church disputes and divisions. You should not think that it is merely the attack or destruction from evil spirits, and there is no need to argue on who is right or wrong in these kinds of disputes. We can look at it from another perspective. Perhaps God’s guidance is different towards different people. Perhaps God is leading you in a new direction, taking you to the place He has prepared for you which is beyond your expectations.

 

If we are like Barnabas, and have been used by God to help bring someone further toward God, when the time comes, will we be able to let go of our pride or resist and be a hindrance to God? Have we allowed Silas, who was led by the Holy Spirit, to enter the front stage and play the leading role? Or will we choose Mark instead, someone who was fostered and trained according to our past church traditions? I have no intention of belittling Mark, but the Bible does not mention that Barnabas ever helped or guided Silas. At this time, Barnabas didn’t know Silas. If you were Barnabas, could you accept this reality? You may have longed to see the revival of God, but you didn’t expect that when the revival came it would fall on a church next door or on a group of people who you disagree with. Would you throw yourself into the revival fire of the Holy Spirit or would you just stand at a distance and criticize it? These are very practical issues, and it is worthwhile for us who serve God and who are church leaders to think them over.

 

Silas was a great help to Paul in his later service which is clear because Paul repeatedly mentions him and even says some of the letters were written by both Paul and Silas. Just like 1 Thessalonians 1:1, where Paul, Silas, and Timothy have written to the church at Thessalonica. Acts 16:25 tells us that Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

Afterwards, in 2 Corinthians 1:19 Paul says: “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.”” (NIV, 2 Corinthians 1:19).

Even Peter said: "With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it." (NIV, 1 Peter 5:12).

We see from these verses that Silas is a faithful person, more so than Mark who left halfway through their last journey. Clearly, there is a reason why the Holy Spirit chose Silas to replace Barnabas to work with Paul, and Silas was even valued and praised by Peter. This proves once again the importance of our character to the service of the Lord.

I hope I have made it clear to you what was really happening in the dispute between Paul and Barnabas. It was not simply an HR dispute. It was a much deeper. It was the question of who should continue to co-labor with Paul to lead in the next move of God. Silas’s gift and calling as a prophet would help the Apostle Paul to build the foundation of the church which is the work of Apostles and Prophets, as mentioned in Ephesians 2:20.

Dear readers, or listeners, have you been taught that there are no apostles or prophets today? If you have, I am telling you that you are being fooled by the enemy. God is restoring the gifts of apostles and prophets today. Once your veil is taken away, go do some research, and you will find out God is doing a great work in restoring these gifts today.

Have you ever wondered why we don’t have great apostles like Paul today? It is not that the age of apostles has gone. But it is because that the teachers and prophets haven’t come together to pray and fast.

One night the Lord appeared to me in a dream and told me two rivers would merge together. I have been thinking about it ever since. I may share more about the experience in another blog, but I would say the merging of the gift of teaching and the gift of prophecy could be the merging of two rivers in my dream.

Thank you for your time reading, or listening, and stay tuned. We have a lot more to share.

 

 

Understanding the Power of the Soul Through Numbers 14

Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 14

 

Understanding the Power of the Soul Through Numbers 14

When reading Numbers 14, we come across what at first appears to be an inconsistency in the text. Why is it that verse 24 (ESV) says, "But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it," but in verse 30 (ESV) it says, "Not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun." Why would the Lord say two different things? Why did He only name Caleb the first time He spoke, but mentioned both Caleb and Joshua the second time? Does this have any spiritual significance?

My thinking is that God had a different target audience and setting when he was speaking. The first time the Lord spoke, He spoke to Moses alone. The beginning of verse 11 says, "The Lord said to Moses...," revealing that this was a private conversation between the Lord and Moses. Numbers 11:28 (ESV) says, "Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth...," indicates that Joshua was chosen by Moses. Moses was a man of God. He chose Joshua. So it stands to reason that Moses would have spoken with the Lord about his assistant. Numbers 13:16 (ESV) says, "Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua." This verse is also very interesting. "Hoshea" means "salvation." "Joshua," in the original Hebrew text, is the name "Jesus" in Greek, which means "The Lord has become our salvation." Therefore, Joshua, who was chosen by Moses, led the Israelites into the Promised Land through battle, which is a representation of Jesus, the commander of our salvation, when he waged spiritual battle against death, hell, and the grave. Today, this warrior against our enemies, our “inner Joshua,” if you will, can represent our spirit. He will help us win victory when we turn to our spirit and call for help.

I think that in the context of verse 24, the reason why the Lord did not mention Joshua to Moses was not because He excluded Joshua; rather, because the minds of God and Moses are in sync.

But at the beginning of verse 26, it is recorded that "the Lord said to Moses and Aaron." Here the Lord was publicly commanding Moses and Aaron to tell all the Israelites that only Caleb and Joshua could enter the Promised Land, and that every other person would perish in the wilderness. This is was a message for the whole nation of Israel. Naturally, He had to make His plan clear to everyone, so there is no inconsistency in what He said.

 

What is Our “Inner Caleb?”

If Joshua represents our spirit, then Caleb represents the strongest part of our soul, or the good part of God's original creation. Our “inner Caleb” must rise up and fight to help our spirit obtain the victory in our spiritual battles. The soul is very powerful. Paul's words in Romans 8:6 (ESV) are a good proof of just that. He said, "For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." If the thoughts in our soul (which are represented by Caleb) can help our spirit (which is represented by Joshua), then we can receive God’s abundant life in the Spirit today and enter the spiritual Promised Land that God has given us.

The lives of the ten evil spies indicate the law of sin and death in our flesh (Romans 8:2). Caleb represents "our inner being who delights in the law of God" (Romans 7:22, ESV), while Joshua represents "the law of the Spirit of life" (Romans 8:2). We must get help from Caleb in order to help Joshua win the battle.

In order to understand this concept, let me give a few examples to illustrate how this “inner Caleb” works within us. My belief is that not everyone is gifted to preach. Some people are not gifted with words, but they are very caring. In the 1980s, there were brothers who came to Guangzhou (in the south of China) from Inner Mongolia (North China) to get a copy of the Bible. In order to save money, they purchased standing-room-only tickets on the train and didn’t eat for a couple of days. An older woman in Guangzhou, who was not good with words, came every day with a basket full of food she had bought, and fed these hungry brothers. The love of this lady is her “inner Caleb,” or the strongest part of her soul, at work within her. The love in her soul is like the attributes of Caleb that God bestowed on her so that she could be victorious in the Spirit.

Each of us has certain characteristics and strengths, which were especially given to us by God when He created us. For example, one of my strengths is persistence. No matter what obstacles I face, I am always determined and persistent in accomplishing what I think is right. When I was writing these articles, my wife often said, “You spend so much time writing, who will read those?” My mother told me, “The articles you have written are so long. You should write shorter. No one has that much time.” I know that a lot of the inspiration I receive during our Bible study comes from God and I must faithfully record it, because if I don't, I will gradually forget it. The Holy Spirit also told me through the mouth of a Korean prophet that one of my characteristics is that once I set my mind on something, I must carry it through to completion. Thus, my ego is a bit strong, and the Holy Spirit wants me to surrender myself to Him. On the last day of 2017, I was taken to heaven in a prophetic dream. The Lord Jesus said something similar to me. He told me that I should surrender so that He could greatly use me. The people around me also recognize this characteristic of mine, and my wife often says that I am “resilient.” Although I look weak on the outside, I am persistent on the inside. I came to the United States with only $300 to my name. An American teacher who helped me in those early days didn’t like me at first. However, after I attended her class for one semester, she commented, "You have a big soul." She meant "You have a strong will and a persistent soul." Of course, I got through that difficult period by relying on the grace of God and the love and help of brothers and sisters in the church and my teachers. But this also has something to do with my personality of persevering and never giving up. I often say that my IQ and EQ are not high, but the reason why God may use me is more than likely because of my perseverance. Everyone who serves God has something in them that God can use.

This is the “inner Caleb” that God has given me, which is one of my greatest strengths. It is what the Lord praised here: "Caleb has a different spirit and has followed me fully" (Numbers 14:24). It’s not only me who has this strength – you have it in you, too. Just like every snowflake created by God is one of a kind, every human is also made distinct and special by Him. He must give you unique qualities, which others do not have. That way, you can bring unique happiness and glory to the Heavenly Father.

 

How God Uses Weaknesses in the Soul

I know a woman who was sick, and recently experienced God's healing. She said that her will is often weak, but her compassion and empathy are strong. Emotional richness seems to be her forte. Like the old woman from China who fed the traveling brothers, she is loving and feels deeply. They both gave their love to Jesus, just like Mary, who poured perfume on the Lord.

God may have given you virtues and good characteristics, but you must discover them and make good use of them. This will be the key to your spiritual victory. The strong "Caleb" in you is often the point that is most fiercely attacked by the enemy, or where he will often try to deceive you. For this reason, some people never discover the inner “Caleb” God gave to them.

The woman who had been healed went on to say that because she was weak-willed, she found she was often deceived or intimidated by the enemy. But after recent trials, she hopes to become a strong fighter for the Lord. I then shared with her a teaching I received in the Local Church Movement, which I think is very useful. The teaching goes like this: each of our weaknesses is a "mirror" that reflects a characteristic of Jesus Christ. For example, when I lack love and I look up to the Lord because of this weakness, I will gradually begin to reflect His love. I will slowly transform into the image of the Lord and become a caring person. Similarly, if you lack a strong will but you often look upon and reflect on the strength of the Lord, you will slowly become strong like Him.

In other words, your strengths and weaknesses are created by God, or at least were permitted by Him. Their purpose is to help you win spiritual battles. Even our weaknesses can be used by God to change us. I remember reading an example in Brother Witness Lee's "All-Inclusive Christ," which is also a good illustration. In the story, there were two brothers; the elder was more kind and caring towards his parents than the younger brother. When the elder brother began to follow Jesus, he still treated his parents well because of his natural goodness, and he did not pray for God to change him. The younger brother was also saved later on, but because of his natural selfishness, he often prayed to God to help him be more compassionate to his parents. Thus, he slowly became caring and tenderhearted as well. The question is, who experienced more divine changes in their life? The answer is, naturally, the younger brother. In this example, the brother who had natural weakness and no love prayed frequently because of those very same weaknesses, and thus experienced more of God's transformative power. The elder brother, who had been living by natural goodness all along, underwent fewer divine changes in his life.

Much to our dismay, there are still many qualities in us that are more reminiscent of the ten evil spies. This is because of our ancestors’ sins and our own, our social environment and cultural influences, satan's deception, etc., that have caused us to have unbelief within us. Each of us have some qualities of these "inner evil spies," which are not pleasing to God, thus we have to experience the killing work of the cross. The evil spies here had to drop dead in the wilderness, and were not allowed to enter the Promised Land. This actually represents them having experienced the killing work of the cross.

I went on to share some of my weaknesses and "inner evil spies" with the woman from my earlier story. She sighed and lamented that she struggles greatly with this. These "evil spies" may be the effects of the fall of man (e.g. unbelief, lust, greed, theft, deception, etc.). They are rooted deep within us because of our sin and weakness. They often try to work together with Satan to kill us. Just like Paul's experience in Romans 7, the law of sin in his flesh often bound him, and even killed the good behavior in his soul that tried to obey God’s law. For that very reason he called himself a wretched man (Romans 7:24)!

Whether you have a strong will and faith or are weaker in these areas, the “inner Caleb” in our souls must rise up and stand firm, and cooperate with God’s promise and the Joshua in our spirit. It’s only when we are strong in certain aspects of our souls that we can help our spirit win.

 

The Power of the Soul

Many Christians often ignore the power of the soul, thinking that as long as we are saved, we can exercise our spirit in all things to overcome the difficulties in our souls. Things are definitely not that simple. Because although God’s life flows through our spirit, and our spirit also has the “law of the Spirit of life” (Romans 8:2), our spiritual power usually starts out small and fragile, like the seedling of an oak tree. Although it can grow into a towering tree that is dozens of yards tall, a small oak seedling can be eaten by a deer in one bite. I have a deep understanding of this because there are a lot of deer that gather near my house when I plant trees and vegetables in the Spring. I must install a fence to stop the deer, otherwise the deer will ruin them all overnight.

Have you ever watched swans take flight? It’s an awe-inspiring sight. They run on the surface of the water before taking off. This run-up is very important. The same goes for an airplane takeoff. Although planes and swans rely on wings, not legs or wheels, when flying, these parts still have to be immensely powerful in order to give them the lift necessary to achieve flight, because of their huge body mass. For us, our flesh is a heavy mass that weighs us down, and our spiritual power is still not strong enough to achieve takeoff on its own. We need the power of the soul to get off the tarmac. But one day, when our spiritual life is strong enough and our flesh no longer burdens us so much, we won’t need the runway anymore. We can take off directly from a launchpad, like a helicopter.

We must not underestimate the power of our soul, but use the positive part of its power, our “inner Caleb,” to help our spirit overcome the “evil spies in our flesh. Although Paul mentioned in Romans 8 that the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ has set us free from the law of sin and death in the flesh, he did not neglect to mention that our soul, especially its power of choice, brings different results.

Some Christians who pursue spirituality belittle the power of the soul, and do not clear up its problems. Instead, they blindly pursue spirituality, and eventually find that they arrive in a bottleneck. I have seen this many times, especially when I was studying Inner Healing Ministry and Deliverance Ministry in the Pentecostal Movement. Some people who pursue spirituality in traditional churches do not recognize or ignore problems in their souls. They treat them as their old selves, thinking that it is enough to just exercise their spirit. They have a saying that the soul is a "city of problems" and the spirit is a "city with no problems.” Some people even categorize inner healing in the Pentecostal Movement as simply "counseling." But as far as my learning experience is concerned, it is not that simple. We cannot ignore the fact that the killing of the flesh and our old man needs the work of the cross. The damage of the soul needs inner healing, and the demons inside need to be cast out. These are two different aspects of spiritual truth, which are both necessary for true freedom. According to my study and observation, many inner healers of the Pentecostal Movement often use prophetic gifts when serving people. They receive miraculous words from God and illuminate the problems of the souls they minister to, thereby letting people be set free and receive inner healing.

 

Unleashing Our “Inner Caleb” Sets Captives Free

For example, a Charismatic prophet I know said that once when he was ministering to a woman, he received an inspiration from the Holy Spirit and mentioned the name "Mike.” Immediately, the woman became hysterical. After that, they carried out deliverance and cast the demons out of her. Later, they continued to interview her and give her inner healing. It turns out that "Mike" is the name of the person who raped her. Because of this painful experience, her soul was distorted. But because the prophet brought up this matter through the gift of the Holy Spirit, told her through the love of Jesus that this was caused by the person’s evil, and assured her that the love of Jesus Christ is always there to guard her, she was set free, able to know God's love, and get rid of her hatred towards men.

This is of course an extreme example. Although the situation and degree of severity differ, each of us has a "Mike" in our soul. It is the unspoken pain in your heart that you hide from the world. Even if you believe in the Lord, these "Mikes" are still there, obstructing your spiritual pursuit. They are just like blisters - if they pop, they must be treated properly so as not to cause an infection, which would affect your overall health. Similarly, the path to pursuing spirituality requires solving the problems in your soul. I once observed a Charismatic church in Baltimore that was able to lead hundreds of people, many of whom were struggling financially or addicted to drugs, to salvation in just a few years. I believe their tremendous results came from the great importance they placed on helping people solve their actual material needs, and also on solving the problems in their soul through inner healing and deliverance ministry. They held many inner healing classes and trainings on "Identity in Christ." I have seen many people at many different churches use the gifts of the Holy Spirit to minister to others in similar ways, as well.

We minister to people not only to provide the light of God's words, but also to nourish people's spirits, so that they can grow spiritually. When we minister to people, we need to be able to help them recognize and solve the problems in their soul, discover their own value from the soul, and use the power of their soul to help them develop their spirit. This is a question of mutual help. Our spirit can help our soul overcome the control of our flesh, and once our soul can stand against our flesh, we have the opportunity to mature spiritually.

I know that the soul problems of many people are piled high and seem overwhelmingly numerous. It is difficult to solve them all at once. But the Holy Spirit is God. He will illuminate our soul, clear up any of its problems, and strengthen and renew it, thereby saving our soul.

This is the inspiration I got from reading this chapter. I am praying for you to discover the “Caleb” inside you that can rise up to fight with your “inner Joshua,” in order to win your spiritual battles. You need also to find the “ten evil spies” in you and put them on the cross. Our souls need inner healing so that we can become strong “Calebs” today. Let go of your “Mike,” but let your “Caleb” rise up in you! Do you agree with me?

 

 

 

Bible Study with Jairus – Acts 7

Bible Study with Jairus – Acts 7

 

In Acts 7, we find the story of Stephen being stoned to death. As we consider Stephen’s tragic death, we see two types of people: people of faith and people of fear. Stephen, a person of faith, saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. The angry crowd, people of fear, could not see the heavens opened. Instead, they covered their ears and stoned Stephen to death. We must ask ourselves: Are we people of faith who can see into the throne room of God, or are we covering our ears and seeing nothing but the material world around us?

Are we those who see the heaven opened, or are we persecuting those who see heaven opened?

Bill Johnson, an American Charismatic pastor says that each new wave of God’s work in the world is persecuted by people instrumental in bringing about the last wave. This is not limited to persecution between denominations. Even within the Charismatic church, each new movement is persecuted by the previous movement.

For example, when the charismatic movement was just emerging, many charismatic denominations were persecuted by their previous evangelic denominations. One of the big charismatic sects, Denomination A, was persecuted by traditional evangelical churches. Neville Johnson, an Australian prophet, says that Denomination A also participated in making up lies about future prophets. Regarding the prophet who has been accused of claiming to be Elijah, Johnson says, "The prophet William M. Branham did not claim to be Elijah and there were tapes to prove that he had said that he was not Elijah. This [accusation] was made up by the people of Denomination A.” If Neville’s statement was correct, then the once-persecuted Denomination A also participated in persecuting others.

In addition, the church in Canada that initiated the Toronto Revival was originally a church of the Vineyard Movement. But when the revival began, John Wimber, the leader of the Vineyard Movement, excommunicated the church. This type of persecution has been seen not only in the Charismatic movement, but in many religious groups throughout the history of Christianity.

In Acts 7, the persecutors were the Pharisees, scribes, elders and priests. They were the elite of the elite, and they believed they knew all they needed to know about God and the Bible. They believed they had mastered the truth, and that their persecution was an outflow of their dedication to God. Why did Israel’s elite make this mistake? Why were they unable to see heaven opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God? Why did they cover their ears and beat Stephen to death? 

Rather than condemning the Pharisees, scribes, elders and priests, we should consider our own lives. We must be careful not to degenerate to the same degree. We must make sure that when others see new revelations of God, we do not cover our ears, condemn them as heretics, and try to kill them out of service to God.

 

Entrenched Preconceptions and Traditions

What is the root cause of this hard-heartedness that rejects others’ experiences of God? Often, entrenched beliefs and traditions can cause us to fall into rigidity. After a person reaches 40 years old, they often solidify their existing knowledge and slowly become stubborn and narrow-minded. Instead of being open to new beliefs, we often believe whatever we like—what we have always believed. As we grow older, we need to continue to learn from each other’s strengths. We need to work to understand different perspectives held by different churches and denominations, so that information and truth can flow freely and we can obtain different perspectives and fresh information.

While I lived in London, I had a discussion with a roommate who was also Chinese. She found out that when cooking Chinese food, I heated the oil first, then put in ginger and garlic to sauté, and finally added vegetables. She told me I was wrong: I should put vegetables in first, and then add ginger and garlic. I explained that I’d watched my mother cook since I was a kid, and she always did it this way. She replied with the same response. Both of us were imitating our parents, and both of us thought the other was wrong.

This small example shows the powerful influence of traditions. We all grow up in a specific environment. When others teach us specific things, we naturally form specific ideas and preconceptions. We must be careful not to let these traditions keep us from learning and growing.

 

In Stephen’s sermon, he shared a familiar story from Israel’s history. Why did he tell a story that would have been so familiar to his Israelite listeners? Why is his information recorded in such detail? Why did the story cause the Israelites to hate Stephen to the point of killing him?

At the end of chapter 6, the Israelites accused Stephen of “speaking against this holy place and the law” (Acts 6:13). At the beginning of chapter 7, the high priest asked Stephen to give his defense against these accusations: “Are these things so?” (Acts 7:1). In response, Stephen began to tell the story of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses. He explained how the Israelites worshiped the golden calf under Aaron’s leadership and later worshipped other idols. After that, he mentioned Joshua, David, and Solomon, and criticized the Israelites for killing prophets throughout the ages and for not observing God's law (7:2-53). By this time, the Israelites were very angry, and they stoned Stephen to death.

While at first glance it seems that Stephen was just repeating Israel’s history; he was telling the stories from a new angle. He drove home a point that the religious leaders did not appreciate. He illustrated how the Israelites killed the prophets and refused to abide by the law. Stephen’s narrative retold the same events, but with a different emphasis. His narrative differed powerfully from the narrative of those who killed him. This is the power of different narratives. Stephen’s interpretation challenged the long-held narrative and traditions that the religious leaders held.

Throughout the ages, many kings and dictators have attached great importance to the power of controlling narratives. How you tell a story will eventually affect people's thinking and make them form a strong perception and prejudice. One way to break this perception and prejudice is to retell the story from a different angle, with different conclusions. This narrative will challenge the mindset of the people who hear it and force them to rethink. Although the stubborn people refused to change, and even killed Stephen, his efforts to change the narrative were definitely not meaningless. His efforts eventually changed Saul’s (later to become Paul’s) view of the world.

We learn in Acts that God appeared to Saul (Paul) after Stephen was put to death. Why did God wait so long to appear to Saul? If Saul, who was renamed Paul was chosen by God when he was in his mother's womb, as we learn in Galatians, why did God wait to appear to him until after Stephen’s martyrdom? If God had appeared to Paul earlier, the needless persecution of Paul towards believers could have come to an end earlier.

However, God chose to allow Saul to witness Stephen’s martyrdom before calling him to apostleship. Listening to Stephen’s new narrative and witnessing Stephen’s martyrdom must have had a powerful impact on Saul’s life. God wanted Paul to hear Stephen’s interpretation of Israelite history. This event would prepare him for encountering God.

In Acts 8, Jesus appeared to Saul on his way to Damascus. This appearance was not only a result of God’s sovereignty, but also a natural consequence of Stephen’s narrative and testimony. We can have the same spiritual experience today. As we remove the veil of our preconceptions and traditional mindsets, we will encounter God. Many times, our preconceptions and traditions prevent us from grasping certain spiritual truths. They prevent us from entering into deeper spiritual experiences.

When our hearts are turned to the Lord, the veil will be removed

In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul said that Moses covered his face with a veil so that the Israelites would not gaze at his shining face as it slowly lost its glow (2 Corinthians 3:13). Then Paul changed the narrative and said that the Israelites’ minds were hardened when they read the old covenant. Only through Christ is the veil lifted (2 Corinthians 3:14). Paul goes on, “Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:15-18)

Paul was telling us here that the Israelis’ prejudice while reading the Old Testament was a veil which prevented them from knowing Jesus Christ. When their hearts were turned to the Lord, the veil was removed. Once the veil is removed, we can use the mirrors of our hearts to reflect the glory of the Lord and slowly change into his image.

If the glory of the Lord is like the sun, then the Israelites’ preconceptions were like a dark cloud. On a cloudy day, the sun is still shining, but the dark clouds obscure the sun. Similarly, the dark clouds of Paul’s preconceptions needed to be removed so he could see the bright light of Jesus’ truth. If he had not heard Stephen’s sermon and adjusted his narrative, he might not have been able to respond to this encounter with God.

This truth is demonstrated by the fact that his traveling companions did not see the light. The light of Jesus’ presence was there, but only Paul saw it. Why are unbelievers unable to see God’s light? Because the veil in their minds prevents them from seeing the light. A small insulator can block the power of electricity, and a small prejudice can keep us from understanding God’s truth.

Stephen’s narrative enlightened Saul, who was standing nearby. Paul was a prominent Pharisee whose thinking was shaped by the Israeli narrative. Paul had been circumcised on the eighth day and belonged to the tribe of Benjamin (Galatians 3:2). He was educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of their fathers (Acts 22). Paul was zealous for God, believing that his persecution of Christians was a service to God. At that time, the veil in his heart had not been removed. However, Stephen’s sermon helped open Paul’s mind.

Stephen’s sermon included historical stories familiar to the Israelites such as Paul, but his conclusions were completely different from traditional teachings. Stephen said in Acts 7:51, “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.” Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. Under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, this sentence must have administered a strong psychological shock to Paul.

This experience is not unique to Paul. I am a Chinese immigrant who encountered Christ here in America. At our church, we preach to both Americans and Chinese immigrants, but we often find that immigrants are more open to the gospel. We’ve often wondered why this is the case. We’ve concluded that since many Chinese students have never heard of the gospel, they respond in amazement and acceptance when they hear about Christ. However, many Americans have heard about Jesus since childhood. They are very familiar with the Bible, and this familiarity has become a veil in their hearts which prevents them from knowing God. Familiarity with God does not equal intimacy with God.

This is not only true in evangelism but also applies to helping Christians to know the Bible. Many Christians already have fixed preconceptions about the meaning of certain Bible verses. Their knowledge of these verses has become a veil in their hearts. When they read the Bible, they are unable to get fresh revelation because they feel they already know what that verse is saying.

 However, when we remove the veil of our existing knowledge of God’s word and pray humbly before God, He will give us new revelation of his truth. These revelations can illuminate and change our lives.

 

God opposes the proud

 

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Pride blinds us to realities that are obvious to others. Pride exaggerates our blind spots.

A story from Chinese history illustrates this point. After China established the Republic of China in 1912, a warlord named Yuan Shikai seized power as a president. Deep down, he still hoped to be a feudal emperor of China. However, all the people in the country were against it. So his son and others made a fake newspaper which reported that the people all over the country wanted him to become emperor. They gave this newspaper to Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai was a very smart person, but he failed to realize this was fake news. His blind spot and pride led him to make a big mistake. After he became emperor, he received fierce opposition from the whole country and soon died.

This story demonstrates that we should avoid pride. If our church is not open to learning from other denominations and the light that God has given us, we will not have access to the whole story of God’s revelation. We will make wrong judgments because of incomplete information.

The root cause of pride is overconfidence in our own understanding of God. Some Christian groups believe that their understanding of the Bible is absolutely correct. They often fall into the trap of pride. It’s impossible for any Christian or denomination to completely, fully grasp the truth in an absolute way. When we think we have mastered the truth, we are in a dangerous place spiritually.

 

Stephen passed the baton to Paul

Like a relay runner, Stephen had finished his journey and handed the baton to Paul, another fast runner. When Stephen finished his race, he was lifted into the presence of God. When Stephen gave his testimony, a seed was planted in Paul which would later grow into maturity. Paul would imitate the legacy Stephen left behind.  

The blood of martyrs is a seed which later produces great fruit for God. Stephen testified for the Lord and was not afraid to die. As he was being martyred, he forgave his persecutors, just like Jesus did before his death. Stephen imitated the Lord, like a mirror reflecting the glory of the Lord. Stephen mirrored Jesus so well that when Paul looked at Stephen, he could see the glory of Jesus Christ reflected on Stephen's face. 

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:6, “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Paul probably had his own experience in mind when he said this. Stephen was like a mirror. When Paul looked at Stephen’s face, full of glory, he could see the glory of Jesus reflected, as in a mirror. Jesus Christ is the radiance of the glory of God (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus Christ reflects the glory of God, and Stephen reflected the glory of Jesus to Paul. At the same time, Stephen was able to look into heaven and see the glory of God reflected in the mirror of Jesus’ face. 

Many Israelites did not see the vision that Stephen saw. Instead, they stoned him to death. However, Paul was deeply moved. He not only saw the glory of God reflected in Stephen, but he later glimpsed the glory of Jesus himself: “the heavens are open, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God ” (Acts 7:55)!

God’s work among his chosen people on earth is like a relay race. Stephen ran faithfully and finished the race. He left a left a good testimony and example for Paul to follow. He then handed the baton to Paul, who became one of the best runners the kingdom of God had seen.

Paul compares the work of God to an athlete. He said, “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. But I discipline my body and keep it under control.” (1 Corinthians 9:25, 27). Paul was a very good and disciplined athlete. He also finished his race, won his crown, and received his reward (2 Timothy 4:6-8).

We can imitate Stephen and Paul today

When we know Christ like Stephen did, we can reflect Christ and have a strong testimony to others. Our testimony can help remove the veil of misconceptions in others’ minds, helping them become great servants of God, like Paul. Conversely, if we don’t know God deeply and personally, we lose our effectiveness for Christ.

In addition to imitating Stephen, we can also imitate Paul. We can take up the mantle of those who have gone before us, living up to the standard set by our predecessors. We can follow their example of faithfulness to the mission of God.

When others give a strong testimony of love for the Lord, we must let go of our preconceptions and fixed mindsets. We must not cover our ears. Instead, we must open our hearts to see the vision of the Lord that they see.

Are we following the example of Stephen and Paul, who saw the heaven opens? Or do we cover our ears? These questions are worth pondering.