Welcome back to part 5 of our series on How To Not Be Taken Captive, as we continue exploring dangerous captivating religious ideas. We began, This series by looking at the list of items in Colossians 2:8 of things to be wary of, things that can captivate us, and we saw the general commonality of “man-made ideas, and philosophies” — things that sound right and righteous, but lead to destruction.
Then, we began to examine what some of these man-made religious ideas are, and how when held up to the light of the finished work of Jesus Christ, these man-made ideas fall apart. Many of these ideas are very common in Christianity today, even preached from the pulpits, as many Christians just nod, and smile, and shout “Amen” to these false ideas, without giving them a second (or even first!) Thought. But as the scriptures say, there is a way that seems right but leads to death in Proverbs 14:12, so we need to be discerning about what we agree to
A baby will put anything into it’s mouth, even poison…but we should carefully see if these common ideas align with the truth of Jesus and His gospel, or not…
So join me today, as we continue exploring these commonly heard ideas, and see how to not be taken captive.
There’s an interesting allegory within the books of Galatians and Hebrews, which speaks of two different “mountains”.
One mountain is Sinai, which represents the Old Covenant; the Law of Moses, with it’s many rules and regulations.
The other mountain is Zion, and represents the New Covenant; the Grace of Christ.
The question in the title of today’s study, is meant to be one of self-reflection and examination: which mountain have you come to? And as we look at these mountains today, we will see that only one of these two mountains is where God can be found today… and only one of these two mountains leads to life.
Join me today, as we examine this important topic.
Proverbs chapter 7 has some strong warnings about what some translations call the “strange woman” or more aptly, the woman who is a stranger; not familiar. The literal translation is “woman who draws away”. And this is precisely what the warnings in the chapter are against… being drawn away.
But being drawn away from what, to what? If we are to truly understand and heed the warnings in the chapter, we need to understand what is actually being warned against. Who or what is the strange woman? What does she represent? And what is she trying to draw us away from? What methods does she use?
These are the questions that we will be examining in this study today – as always, through the lens of Grace and the finished work of Christ.
When we hear the word “fornication”, or as some scripture translations put it “sexual immorality”, our thoughts tend to focus immediately on the physical act of sex outside of marriage. It’s understandable, and in-fact normal for us to think of that. It is true that sex outside of marriage is not in any way ideal, nor is it beneficial… in-fact it is harmful in many ways; it’s just plain not a good idea.
However, I would like to direct your attention to a much deeper kind of “fornication”, a kind that I believe the scriptures speak about in a variety of ways, but it is often overlooked because we are so quick of focus on the physical act, that we miss the spiritual act – and this is a mistake, because the physical is not the root of the issue, but the root is in the spiritual.
As we examine this truth today, in the light of the finished work of Jesus Christ, through the lens of Grace, I believe that chains will be broken, and eyes will be opened to see the truth of Christ, even when the scriptures speak on something so often assumed to be purely carnal, such as fornication.
Choices, choices. We make hundreds of choices every single day: what to wear, what to eat, where to go, what to say, how to spend our free-time. Many choices, all ours to make as we see fit. Those choices have an effect, the choices we make result in certain things happening, and certain outcomes. Some with negligible differences, and some with larger and longer influences – such as a marriage.
All of these though, utterly pale in comparison to one choice… one eternal choice. One choice that will affect your eternal destination. One choice that will determine your future for all-time and beyond. What I want to share with you today, is exactly what this choice entails – it may surprise you to learn that many people aren’t as sure as they might have thought – and to also show you that this same choice has been available from the beginning of creation. This choice has not changed over the years, as some think that it has. It is an eternal choice, in every sense of the word; both in its existence and in its effect.
Over the years I have talked with a lot of people about healing. And it is surprising how often the conversations take the same paths over and over again. Many people suffer from the same misconceptions and wrong beliefs when it comes to the blessings of God and specifically healing. Sure they know that God is capable to heal, but they do not believe that he is willing to heal, and this can take many different forms, such as God is using a sickness to teach me a lesson, or that God is keeping me sick so that I can be a greater witness for Him – even though none of these ideas are supported in the scriptures. However, the fact that these wrong beliefs are not taught in this scriptures, has not really stopped them from spreading to many people in the body of Christ, and caused them to develop a wrong understanding of the nature and character of God as a result.
That's why in this study today, we will be examining how healing is actually your right in Christ Jesus. He has paid for you to have it, and He wants you to be healed even more-so than you can possibly imagine. God is not withholding healing from you, nor is He your enemy. As you see these truths from scripture, they will expand and increase your ability to see the goodness and mercy of God, and will help you to replace the many misconceptions about God and healing with right believing founded on Biblical truth.
One day someone asked me straight out “what is the ministry of the spirit?” – now this man was a believer, and as embarrassing as it may seem, I hadn't actually considered that there were believers today which did not know what the Bible says about the ministry of the spirit, or even that there has been a change in ministry. So his question caught me a little bit off-guard. Since that time, I've come to realize that the majority of believers also have the same question, unaware that there has been a change in ministry due to Jesus Christ.
This is what we are going to be studying today, seeing the change that has occurred in our ministry. It's important to see this truth for two reasons: first because as ambassadors for Christ, we should know what the message from our King is! And second, this will also help us to distinguish between truth and falsehood in ministry.
Many times when believers talk about health, they do it from the perspective of the world. As if sickness and disease is just a normal part of life. From a very early age, we are conditioned by the world to accept illness as a natural condition – as just part of being human, and so we receive it without a second-thought. Likewise when believers talk about prosperity, many times it is with derision “we don't want that prosperity gospel!”. As a result, many people spend their lives battling sickness and in poverty But is this what the Bible says should be? Is this what the life of a believer redeemed by Christ Jesus should be like?
Today in this study, we will be answering these questions from scripture as we examine what the Bible has to say regarding health and prosperity, in the light of the finished work of Jesus Christ. And as we see the truth of Jesus regarding these things, we will be able to receive more of Him.
You may have heard it before “If your eye offends you, pluck it out! If your hand offends you, cut it off!” These words spoken by Jesus are absolutely true and necessary – however when these verses are quoted, they are unfortunately extolled in a very negative and condemning way which fails to demonstrate the love of Jesus and reveal His heart.
That's why today we are going to examine these famous words of Jesus, and see the details in what He said which will allow us to see that He was not speaking out of harshness or hardness but that He said these words out of His Perfect Love and care for us.
There's an old saying which says “Home is where the heart is”, and it is actually founded in scripture, Matthew 6:21 says that wherever your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So, do you know where your treasure is today? The world offers us many choices, many roads for us to follow, many rainbows to chase after, but what will we find at the end of the rainbow? Will it be a pot of Gold, or a pot-hole for us to fall into?
The Bible tells us exactly where both our home and treasure can be found in no uncertain terms. This is what we will be studying today, and as we see the truth of scripture, our blessing will always be sure.