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January 2004 Archives
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January 30, 2004
Speaking in Tongues
Filed under: Hot Topic
Among several, the dictionary defines tongues as:
A spoken language or dialect.
Speech; talk.
The act or power of speaking: She had no tongue to answer.
Speech or vocal sounds produced in a state of religious ecstasy.
Style or quality of utterance.
Wayne Grudem, in his book Systematic Theology, defines tongues as "prayer or praise spoken in syllables not understood by the speaker."
Grudem makes a great introductory point... "We may wonder why God would give the church a gift that operates in the unseen, spiritual realm and that is not understood by our minds. One reason may be to keep us humble, and to help prevent intellectual pride."
In 1 Corinthians 14:27-28 Paul talks about bringing order to the use of tongues. "If anyone speaks in a tongue, two - or at the most three - should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God." There sure are a lot of Pentecostal/charismatic churches that could use this one! I think this is my big rub with speaking in tongues. It seems to be such an emotional time, and if it is not happening
to you, you wonder what must be wrong! Or if it is happening to you, your closeness to God is now better than ever (and everyone else). It just seems a perverted approach.
1 Corinthians 14:22-23, "Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand[1] or some unbelievers come in, will they not say
that you are out of your mind?"
Michael Cortright from Michigan outlines 11 benefits of speaking in tongues:
1. To edify you - 1 Corinthians 14:4, Jude 20
2. To speak to God divine secrets - 1 Corinthians 14:2
3. To speak the wonderful works of God - Acts 2:11
4. To magnify God - Acts 10:46
5. To pray perfectly - Romans 8:26,27
6. To give thanks well - 1 Corinthians 14:17
7. To have the Spirit bearing witness with our spirit - Romans 8:16
8. To know you are a joint-heir with Christ - Romans 8:17
9. To strengthen you with might in your inner man - Ephesians 3:16
10. To be a sign to unbelievers - 1 Corinthians 14:22; Mark 16:17
11. Rest to the soul - Isaiah 28:11,12; 1 Corinthians 14:21
Grudem has great insight into the issue of "not all speak in tongues." He convincingly argues that tongues are not for everyone just as the rest of the gifts of the spirit are not for everyone. According to 1 Corinthians 12:11, the holy spirit "apportions to each one individually as he wills."
Conclusions
I think tongues is a way to communicate with God - in private. Sometimes you don't have the words to pray, or sometimes God impresses stuff on your heart and you don't know details, but you feel a burden. Tongues can be a great way to speak in a language that God understands.
Regarding public use of tongues, I think of rare instances where its usefulness is appropriate.
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January 23, 2004
Self-Control
Filed under: Hot Topic
The dictionary defines self-control as:
Control of one's self; restraint exercised over one's self; self-command.
It seems as though self-control meant the same thing in the Old Testament as it did in the New Testament - not surprising, but obviously and age old dilemma. Proverbs 25:28 says "Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control." What do you think of when you think of a city being broken down? Defenseless, weak, disgraced, broken, etc. So when we lack self-control, we are defenseless, weak, disgraced and broken. No thanks!
I think one of the biggest needed areas for self-control is in the sexuality department. It (sexuality) is perhaps one of the strongest forces in human beings and also one demanding proper usage and context, thus the bridge of self-control is needed to properly align this privilege. Paul speaks to this
very issue in 1 Corinthians 7 when he is admonishing people not to marry, but to go ahead if they can not hold back their sexual passions. It is interesting though in verse 5, "Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control." In other words, husbands and wives need to keep sex a priority so that there is diminished opportunity for lack of self-control!
Galatians 5:23 reminds us that self-control is a fruit of the spirit.
2 Timothy 3:3 reminds us that lack of self-control is an indicator of "last days."
1 Peter 1:13 says "Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed."
1 Peter 4:7 says "The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray."
1 Peter 5:8 says to "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."
2 Peter 1:5 is the "addition" verse - "add to your faith goodness; and to your goodness, knowledge; and to your knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love." The notes in my Bible point out that adding self-control to knowledge was Peter's response to many false teachers of the day that said knowledge made self-control unnecessary. What a great point for a world that holds
education and learning so high. Knowing more does not mean we actually put our knowledge into action by refraining from the poisons that are bad for us!
Pastor Martin G. Collins says, "Self-control is the virtue that makes a person so master of himself that he is fit to be servant of others."
Pastor Charles Rush from Christ Church New Jersey preached a message quoting Aristotle... "the self-controlled man was neither cowardly, nor foolhardy but courageous. He was neither gluttonous, nor fasting, but healthy in diet. She is neither ignorant, nor a bookworm, but learned. He is neither a drunkard, nor abstemious, but social. This is what self-control looks like."
Aristotle said "the goal for the development of self-control was to feel the right amount of pleasure at the right things to the right degree."
I often wonder why God gave us so many "good things" here on earth. Food, entertainment, nature, sex, etc., all of these things are ours for the taking and enjoying. But without self-control, our senses can become senseless to the gift's original intent.
Self-control can be the kick in the rear, the pinch, the "heads up" that keeps our life on the right path. Will we ignore it or embrace it?
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January 16, 2004
Divorce
Filed under: Hot Topic
The dictionary defines divorce as:
1) The legal dissolution of a marriage.
2) A complete or radical severance of closely connected things.
Old Testament View
It seems clear that the context of divorce in the Old Testament was very much the dissolution of a covenant - a separation agreement if you will. And the reasons for divorce were many, often subjective. In Deuteronomy 21:14, it looks like a man could take a woman leftover from the losing nation in a battle and keep her as his wife. If he wasn't satisfied (after sleeping with her), he could end the union.
According to Deuteronomy 24, the "Law of Divorce" went like this (Jesus would later reference this in Matthew 19):
"When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man's wife, and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance."
There also seems to be a common thread running through the Old Testament of divorce between nations or nations and God. Malachi 2 talks about Judah being unfaithful. And in Isaiah 50:1 we see Israel's sin and the Lord asking where a certificate of divorce is. What is interesting is that in this
context of this "nation divorce", it is usually a prophet / God speaking on the issue. But the way they discuss it, they are using terms that the people understand. In other words, the concept of divorce must have been a part of their culture for the people to understand what God was talking about. If
God was talking about Judah getting a divorce from another nation, then on an individual level the people would have understood what divorce was.
New Testament View
The first use of the word divorce in the New Testament comes in the very first chapter in the very first book; Matthew 1:19. It is used in the thought process for Mary and Joseph when trying to figure out how to justify or reconcile their pregnancy predicament. There is however a distinction because divorce in this context was a divorce during the betrothal period and not an actual marriage. Although this betrothal was more than just an engagement - even though it was considered husband and wife - there just hadn't been any sexual union. Nevertheless, Joseph thought divorce and God thought differently because the next verse is an angel of the Lord straightening things out. (As a side note, I find it interesting that Joseph thought doing a quiet divorce was the way to go because they would avoid the public judgment and punishment by stoning according to the law. It appears that the laws of the land had lessened their grip and or intensity from the OT times of nothing slipping through the cracks because Joseph obviously thought he could escape it.)
In Matthew 5:31-32 Jesus says, "It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.
I love how Jesus starts off all of his thoughts on topics in this chapter as "It has been said..." It is as though Jesus is saying the laws before were right on and I'm going to take it a step further. He was bridging the presumably archaic laws of the past and pumping some new life into them within the framework of a humble leader seeking to get to the heart, not the head. Right on!
Matthew 19:1-15 seems to be the most direct communication from Jesus on the subject in which He clearly opposes it with the exception of marital unfaithfulness. My notes indicate there were two Jewish schools with opposing views on what this Deuteronomy law was saying. The school of Hillel
focused on the part of the verse in Deuteronomy about being "displeasing to him" and the school of Shammai took the side of "something indecent (marital unfaithfulness)." Jesus obviously took the side of the Shammai.
Mark 10:1-10 is another version of the Matthew 19 scenario. Also according to my notes, it says "The purpose of Deuteronomy 24 was not to make divorce acceptable, but to reduce the hardship of its consequences."
Conclusions
God did not intend for divorce to be an option. The "two becoming one flesh" is a permanent paradigm. And it seems that Jesus is very adamant about not divorcing - and if you do or if you think you want that as an option, then don't get married. Better to remain single.
Of course the grace of God is always the wild trump card in everything. I see too many stories in the Bible of people messing up the perfect plan and God always working things out - albeit not always as easy as the original intent.
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January 9, 2004
Prophecy
Filed under: Hot Topic
The dictionary defines prophecy as:
1a) An inspired utterance of a prophet, viewed as a revelation of divine will. 1b) A prediction of the future, made under divine inspiration. 1c) Such an inspired message or prediction transmitted orally or in writing. 2) The vocation or condition of a prophet. 3) A prediction.
2 Peter 1:20-21 says "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
This particular passage from Peter is what jumped at me the most when reading many of the passages in the Bible about prophecy. The point that "prophecy never had its origin in the will of man" is so key, and because of this, I think prophecy has kind of lost the priority it once had on us as God-followers. It is as if we see prophecy today coming from the origin or will of man and not from God that causes us to distrust or downplay its significance. And I think in and of itself that built in truth detector is a
good thing, but I also think it causes us to miss the truly divine inspired prophecies. The very definition from the dictionary says prophecy is "made under divine inspiration!"
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 says "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."
I find it interesting how Paul encourages positive things (be joyful, pray continually), but then switches up his vernacular and goes into only 2 things NOT to do (in the context of everything else TO do). He says to NOT put out the Spirit's fire and do NOT treat prophesy with contempt. This passage from Thessalonians I think is a great way for us to view prophecy today - without contempt, but to test everything. Don't take it at face value, but don't ignore it either.
My biggest reason for not trusting (if that is the right word) modern prophecy is that I think it caters more than it guides or warns. And a lot of the guiding and warning that does go on seems so irrelevant (enough about Israel already!). When I look in the Old Testament it seems as though every
prophecy - although sometimes strange - was right on with audience and context.
The 1599 Geneva Study Bible frames the concept of prophesy into the "The explaining and interpreting of the word of God."
John Wesley says that the context of prophesy in 1 Thessalonians 5:20 is "preaching; for the apostle is not here speaking of extraordinary gifts. It seems, one means of grace is put for all; and whoever despises any of these, under whatever pretence, will surely (though perhaps gradually and almost
insensibly) quench the Spirit."
I see a few categories emerging regarding the subject of prophecy.
Understanding Prophecy
Prophecy About Persons / Future
Prophecy Fulfilled
Prophecy's Purpose Today
Warnings
A.W. Tozer said, "Today we need prophetic preachers; not preachers of prophecy merely, but preachers with a gift of prophecy. The word of wisdom is missing. We need the gift of discernment again in our pulpits. What is needed desperately today is prophetic insight. Scholars can interpret the
past; it takes prophets to interpret the present."
I conclude by personal recollection of the few prophecies I have had over me. Each time they seemed to be right on in terms of the "reading my mail" factor. Yet they all seemed to have some material satisfaction attached. "You will have money, you will be successful, you will be a writer, etc." I
don't remember anything about divine instruction in the context of Scripture or warnings about what is to come. And how many accounts in the Bible are there of individual prophecies for people - outside of Kings and rulers? It seems there is something to the whole fact that prophecies were given to a people or people's leader.
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