No Good Thing Does God Withhold
Part 5
A Biblically-qualified pastor teacher is one of the things that God provides to believers who desire (1) to advance in the post salvation spiritual life of discipleship.
With the modern-day means of communication, many believers can now connect with the ministry of a Biblically-qualified pastor teacher at any time of the day or night.
Many believers just go along with whoever the pastor is that their religious organizations place behind their pulpit.
Sad to say, many believers make their choice of local assembly based on family tradition, convenience, entertainment, fellowship with the people who attend, services offered, or their likes or dislikes of the pastor's personality.
For an advancing disciple, his or her primary consideration when making such choices are made is the quantity of the accurate teaching that he or she can receive on an ongoing basis.
There ARE differences in the quality and in the quantity of the spiritual food (Bible Doctrine) that comes from different pulpits throughout the Christian Community. One’s choice of pulpit directly impacts his or her advancement or lack of advancement along the road to spiritual maturity.
Biblical ignorance is a choice that many Christians make. Biblical ignorance will only not only impede the development of a believer's own soul structure, but can cause Christian to unwittingly become a useful tool in the hands of the devil’s agenda, promoting deception.
Especially in the early stages of discipleship, believers who come from a religious background established by Man can have a problem determining just how much of an absence of accurate teachings or practice is he or she willing to continue to tolerate before it’s time to move on. We become accountable partners with whatever good or evil we identify with, and or support.
For an advancing disciple, the bottom line for accepting or rejecting ANY given teaching or practice is its consistency with Scripture.
“Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures DAILY to see whether these things were so (Acts 17: 11 NASB).”
This examination is not a one and done deal. The devil and the forces of evil are not going to give up that easily.
Advancing disciples meditate on the Word of God DAY and NIGHT is an ongoing process, as he or she strives to build and to maintain a Biblically-sound soul structure.
“But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night (Psalms 1: 2 NASB).”
This building and maintaining requires taking in the Word of God on a daily (2) basis in order to identify false doctrines or practices that we have allowed to become a part of our soul structure, and or to reinforce the accurate doctrine that we should have already accumulated.
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God (Heb. 5: 12 NASB).”
There are many Christians who aren’t any further down the road to spiritual maturity than they were six days, six weeks, six months, or six years ago; yet they go to a church on a regular basis.
Until one has matured enough to KNOW (3) and to APPLY (4) what the BIBLE, in fact, actually has to say, he or she will find himself being, “…tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every (contrary) wind of doctrine (Eph. 4: 14 NASB parenthesis mine).”
False gospels, doctrines, and religious traditions created by men can easily find a home in the heart of Fallen Man, as they appear to provide Man with the means to make himself right with God.
Christians that do not advance in Biblical discipleship are not only easy targets, but unwittingly become useful tools in the hands of the devil promoting his false doctrines.
We would all like to think that we have gotten it all together, and that the end time apostasy is only taking place in the local assembly down the street.
Christians become completely and forever saved (5) at the moment they first believed in a presentation of the unadulterated Gospel Message. But as far as the post salvation spiritual life is concerned, there will never come a time on this side of Heaven that a fallen Man will have it “all” together. Like a heavy-traffic floor, our soul structure must be washed on a regular basis to keep it clean from all the dirt that would otherwise accumulate.
Based on the amount of accurate information we have in our soul structure, we will be used by God to evangelize and to edify others. Based on the amount of false information we have in our soul structure; we will unwittingly be used by the devil to deceive others.
Unlike God, the devil does not have omnipresence. The devil can only be in one place at a time. Accordingly, he must rely on the members of his Eph. 6: 12 forces of evil and the people (including many Christians) that he has deceived, to carry out much of his agenda of deception in the realm of spiritual combat.
There may be a time(s) when there will be the need to move on to a different pulpit in order to move forward along the road to spiritual maturity. This can result in a Luke 14: 26 - 27 scenario that many Christians would rather avoid.
"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate (love, prioritize less) his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple (Luke 14: 26, 27 NASB parenthesis mine).”
For the advancing disciple, he or she is well aware of the consequences that will be the result of failing to produce divine good, and or for not taking a public stand for the Lord Jesus Christ (6).
The historical record makes it clear that no fallen Man has it “all” right, all the time. There is no perfect denomination, local assembly, ministry, leader, teacher, or born-again believer. They are ALL a work in progress.
But there are some that are more accurately aligned with Scripture in their doctrine and practices.
All born-again believers are forever and completely saved (7), but individually are at different levels of spiritual maturity. Being at different levels of spiritual maturity, the individual souls have different “nutritional” needs.
These different levels range from being a Hebrews 5: 13 INFANT in Christ, up to and including being an advanced disciple.
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, (but) you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk (AGAIN), and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to (hearing and applying) the word of righteousness (advanced doctrine), for he is an INFANT. But solid food (advanced doctrine) is for the (spiritually) mature (disciple), who because of practice (learning and applying Bible doctrine) have their senses trained to discern (between) good and evil (Heb. 5: 12 – 15 NASB parentheses mine).”
The good (in this case) is the unadulterated Gospel Message for salvation, and accurate Bible Doctrine for the development of post salvation discipleship. The evil (in this case) consists of all the false gospels, false means to obtain or retain salvation, and false doctrines that are the products of man-made, religious traditions.
Fallen Man comes into this world spiritually dead; outside of the Kingdom of God. While being spiritually dead, one can become very religious by embracing and advancing in one of the many religions (including many of the Christian religions) of the world, but will remain outside of the Kingdom of God until he or she is born again (8).
The moment one is born-again, he or she comes into the Kingdom as an infant in Christ, regardless of his or her biological age. But just as an infant in the natural realms needs to be nourished and learn to walk, so must an infant in Christ be nourished by the Word of God and learn to walk with the Lord.
Many born-again believers will go as far as taking in Bible Doctrine, but will choose not to apply it for a variety of reasons.
As a result, they will be spiritual infants throughout all of their post salvation spiritual life, denying God the glory, and forfeiting heavenly rewards and privileges that are reserved for advancing disciples.
The spiritual appetites of many believers are spoiled by filling up on junk food offered by human viewpoint and religious traditions of men (9). They are satisfied to know they are Heaven bound, and have no genuine desire to advance in the life of discipleship.
Others start out following Christ down the road of discipleship, but turn back when the cost or challenges they encounter put their commitment to the test.
Backsliding believes do not have to be saved AGAIN. But if they are to return to the road that leads to spiritual maturity, they will need to be reminded of on what basis (10) they were saved, and by what means (11) they are to advance in the post salvation life of Biblical discipleship.
Backsliding Christians will remain saved (12) Romans 8: 1), but will fail to glorify God here on Earth, and will not receive the disciples’ reward (13) and privileges (14) in Heaven that are reserved for those who live a life that glorifies God.
The challenge for the pastor teacher in a traditional local assembly is to be able to supply the spiritual food that all the different members of the congregation need. Many will offer separate classes and programs for this purpose.
In many traditional local assemblies, the pastor-teacher has less than one hour a week during a worship service to present a sermon or homily. This leaves the remaining 167 hours a week open to the competing influence of human viewpoint and or demonic influence.
Homilies merely scratch the doctrinal surface, pointing out a principle or two from the selected Scripture reading that often times have been pre-selected by an institutional authority.
In many cases, the local pastor much receive permission to base their homilies on matters outside of the pre-determined ones set by religious authority for the week of the year. Under no circumstances are such pastors allowed to deviate from the denominational teachings.
Sermons tend to pound away on good moral behavior and deeds, and the perceived need to conform to the religious requirements.
Some of these sermons have Biblical substantiation, as moral behavior and good deeds are a part of the post salvation spiritual life that begins AFTER one has already been saved.
Sermons tend to lean towards the principle of divine discipline (15), without mentioning the principle of eternal security (16).
Infants who are accustomed to the milk of homilies do not have the stomach for the solid food of advanced doctrine. Good enough is good enough, they say, as the challenges associated with the solid food of advanced doctrine gives them indigestion.
On the other hand, fearful believers who are subjected to hell and brimstone sermons never come to experience the John 8: 30 freedom or the Romans 8: 1 assurance of eternal security.
Like a godly father here on Earth, our Father in Heaven desires that we have respect for Him, but not that we live in fear of Him. Like going out with our loved ones at the finest restaurant in town, the next feasting on the Word of God should be something to which we look forward.
End of Part 5
_______________
(1) Jeremiah 29: 13 (2) Matt. 6: 11 (3) 2Pet. 3: 18 (4) James 1: 22 (5) Romans 8: 1 (6) 1Cor. 3: 15/Luke 9: 26 (7) Romans 8: 1 (8) John 3: 5, 7 (9) Matt. 15: 9 (10) John 3: 16 (11) 2Pet. 3: 18 (12) Romans 8: 1 (13) 1Cor. 3: 14 (14) Rev.2/Rev. 3 (15) Heb. 12: 6 (16) Rom. 8: 1
Part 5
A Biblically-qualified pastor teacher is one of the things that God provides to believers who desire (1) to advance in the post salvation spiritual life of discipleship.
With the modern-day means of communication, many believers can now connect with the ministry of a Biblically-qualified pastor teacher at any time of the day or night.
Many believers just go along with whoever the pastor is that their religious organizations place behind their pulpit.
Sad to say, many believers make their choice of local assembly based on family tradition, convenience, entertainment, fellowship with the people who attend, services offered, or their likes or dislikes of the pastor's personality.
For an advancing disciple, his or her primary consideration when making such choices are made is the quantity of the accurate teaching that he or she can receive on an ongoing basis.
There ARE differences in the quality and in the quantity of the spiritual food (Bible Doctrine) that comes from different pulpits throughout the Christian Community. One’s choice of pulpit directly impacts his or her advancement or lack of advancement along the road to spiritual maturity.
Biblical ignorance is a choice that many Christians make. Biblical ignorance will only not only impede the development of a believer's own soul structure, but can cause Christian to unwittingly become a useful tool in the hands of the devil’s agenda, promoting deception.
Especially in the early stages of discipleship, believers who come from a religious background established by Man can have a problem determining just how much of an absence of accurate teachings or practice is he or she willing to continue to tolerate before it’s time to move on. We become accountable partners with whatever good or evil we identify with, and or support.
For an advancing disciple, the bottom line for accepting or rejecting ANY given teaching or practice is its consistency with Scripture.
“Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures DAILY to see whether these things were so (Acts 17: 11 NASB).”
This examination is not a one and done deal. The devil and the forces of evil are not going to give up that easily.
Advancing disciples meditate on the Word of God DAY and NIGHT is an ongoing process, as he or she strives to build and to maintain a Biblically-sound soul structure.
“But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night (Psalms 1: 2 NASB).”
This building and maintaining requires taking in the Word of God on a daily (2) basis in order to identify false doctrines or practices that we have allowed to become a part of our soul structure, and or to reinforce the accurate doctrine that we should have already accumulated.
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God (Heb. 5: 12 NASB).”
There are many Christians who aren’t any further down the road to spiritual maturity than they were six days, six weeks, six months, or six years ago; yet they go to a church on a regular basis.
Until one has matured enough to KNOW (3) and to APPLY (4) what the BIBLE, in fact, actually has to say, he or she will find himself being, “…tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every (contrary) wind of doctrine (Eph. 4: 14 NASB parenthesis mine).”
False gospels, doctrines, and religious traditions created by men can easily find a home in the heart of Fallen Man, as they appear to provide Man with the means to make himself right with God.
Christians that do not advance in Biblical discipleship are not only easy targets, but unwittingly become useful tools in the hands of the devil promoting his false doctrines.
We would all like to think that we have gotten it all together, and that the end time apostasy is only taking place in the local assembly down the street.
Christians become completely and forever saved (5) at the moment they first believed in a presentation of the unadulterated Gospel Message. But as far as the post salvation spiritual life is concerned, there will never come a time on this side of Heaven that a fallen Man will have it “all” together. Like a heavy-traffic floor, our soul structure must be washed on a regular basis to keep it clean from all the dirt that would otherwise accumulate.
Based on the amount of accurate information we have in our soul structure, we will be used by God to evangelize and to edify others. Based on the amount of false information we have in our soul structure; we will unwittingly be used by the devil to deceive others.
Unlike God, the devil does not have omnipresence. The devil can only be in one place at a time. Accordingly, he must rely on the members of his Eph. 6: 12 forces of evil and the people (including many Christians) that he has deceived, to carry out much of his agenda of deception in the realm of spiritual combat.
There may be a time(s) when there will be the need to move on to a different pulpit in order to move forward along the road to spiritual maturity. This can result in a Luke 14: 26 - 27 scenario that many Christians would rather avoid.
"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate (love, prioritize less) his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple (Luke 14: 26, 27 NASB parenthesis mine).”
For the advancing disciple, he or she is well aware of the consequences that will be the result of failing to produce divine good, and or for not taking a public stand for the Lord Jesus Christ (6).
The historical record makes it clear that no fallen Man has it “all” right, all the time. There is no perfect denomination, local assembly, ministry, leader, teacher, or born-again believer. They are ALL a work in progress.
But there are some that are more accurately aligned with Scripture in their doctrine and practices.
All born-again believers are forever and completely saved (7), but individually are at different levels of spiritual maturity. Being at different levels of spiritual maturity, the individual souls have different “nutritional” needs.
These different levels range from being a Hebrews 5: 13 INFANT in Christ, up to and including being an advanced disciple.
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, (but) you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk (AGAIN), and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to (hearing and applying) the word of righteousness (advanced doctrine), for he is an INFANT. But solid food (advanced doctrine) is for the (spiritually) mature (disciple), who because of practice (learning and applying Bible doctrine) have their senses trained to discern (between) good and evil (Heb. 5: 12 – 15 NASB parentheses mine).”
The good (in this case) is the unadulterated Gospel Message for salvation, and accurate Bible Doctrine for the development of post salvation discipleship. The evil (in this case) consists of all the false gospels, false means to obtain or retain salvation, and false doctrines that are the products of man-made, religious traditions.
Fallen Man comes into this world spiritually dead; outside of the Kingdom of God. While being spiritually dead, one can become very religious by embracing and advancing in one of the many religions (including many of the Christian religions) of the world, but will remain outside of the Kingdom of God until he or she is born again (8).
The moment one is born-again, he or she comes into the Kingdom as an infant in Christ, regardless of his or her biological age. But just as an infant in the natural realms needs to be nourished and learn to walk, so must an infant in Christ be nourished by the Word of God and learn to walk with the Lord.
Many born-again believers will go as far as taking in Bible Doctrine, but will choose not to apply it for a variety of reasons.
As a result, they will be spiritual infants throughout all of their post salvation spiritual life, denying God the glory, and forfeiting heavenly rewards and privileges that are reserved for advancing disciples.
The spiritual appetites of many believers are spoiled by filling up on junk food offered by human viewpoint and religious traditions of men (9). They are satisfied to know they are Heaven bound, and have no genuine desire to advance in the life of discipleship.
Others start out following Christ down the road of discipleship, but turn back when the cost or challenges they encounter put their commitment to the test.
Backsliding believes do not have to be saved AGAIN. But if they are to return to the road that leads to spiritual maturity, they will need to be reminded of on what basis (10) they were saved, and by what means (11) they are to advance in the post salvation life of Biblical discipleship.
Backsliding Christians will remain saved (12) Romans 8: 1), but will fail to glorify God here on Earth, and will not receive the disciples’ reward (13) and privileges (14) in Heaven that are reserved for those who live a life that glorifies God.
The challenge for the pastor teacher in a traditional local assembly is to be able to supply the spiritual food that all the different members of the congregation need. Many will offer separate classes and programs for this purpose.
In many traditional local assemblies, the pastor-teacher has less than one hour a week during a worship service to present a sermon or homily. This leaves the remaining 167 hours a week open to the competing influence of human viewpoint and or demonic influence.
Homilies merely scratch the doctrinal surface, pointing out a principle or two from the selected Scripture reading that often times have been pre-selected by an institutional authority.
In many cases, the local pastor much receive permission to base their homilies on matters outside of the pre-determined ones set by religious authority for the week of the year. Under no circumstances are such pastors allowed to deviate from the denominational teachings.
Sermons tend to pound away on good moral behavior and deeds, and the perceived need to conform to the religious requirements.
Some of these sermons have Biblical substantiation, as moral behavior and good deeds are a part of the post salvation spiritual life that begins AFTER one has already been saved.
Sermons tend to lean towards the principle of divine discipline (15), without mentioning the principle of eternal security (16).
Infants who are accustomed to the milk of homilies do not have the stomach for the solid food of advanced doctrine. Good enough is good enough, they say, as the challenges associated with the solid food of advanced doctrine gives them indigestion.
On the other hand, fearful believers who are subjected to hell and brimstone sermons never come to experience the John 8: 30 freedom or the Romans 8: 1 assurance of eternal security.
Like a godly father here on Earth, our Father in Heaven desires that we have respect for Him, but not that we live in fear of Him. Like going out with our loved ones at the finest restaurant in town, the next feasting on the Word of God should be something to which we look forward.
End of Part 5
_______________
(1) Jeremiah 29: 13 (2) Matt. 6: 11 (3) 2Pet. 3: 18 (4) James 1: 22 (5) Romans 8: 1 (6) 1Cor. 3: 15/Luke 9: 26 (7) Romans 8: 1 (8) John 3: 5, 7 (9) Matt. 15: 9 (10) John 3: 16 (11) 2Pet. 3: 18 (12) Romans 8: 1 (13) 1Cor. 3: 14 (14) Rev.2/Rev. 3 (15) Heb. 12: 6 (16) Rom. 8: 1