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HOLD FAST

If there ever was a time we need to hold on to Truth, it is now. So much is thrown at our children, our families and the entirety of humanity that sometimes it s difficult to know what s real or not. We are in an age when true Godly wisdom and discernment are at a premium. Even in the Christian world, because of the lack of proper Biblical instruction, our people have gone sideways in search of something right under their noses. This reminds me of Philip asking the Ethiopian Eunuch if he understood what he was reading. How are our kids today, who hate reading, to understand the only thing which matters the Eternal Word of God, when so much garbage is thrown at them? Most times Christian books are no help at all. Thinking back on the past 12-15 years, I recall a time when I went to every possible conference. I had to buy every speaker s books and tapes and then they sat on shelves for years, sadly, only half-read! The speakers would sound fantastic in person sitting there with thousands of people. But when the rubber hit the road, when I was with myself, there was something missing.

The something was the Oracles of the Living God, as the Apostle Paul calls them or full immersion in the Bible! Observing the average young person, and increasingly adult church goers walking into a Christian bookstore is a sad exercise. There is so much to choose from, so many philosophies (even in the Christian world), how do we make the right choice? How do we get our teens and young children involved in reading? Fortunately, the digital book (Kindle, Nooks and tablet computers) are bringing eBooks to a new generation who are discovering anew, the written word. I wish to share an exhortation and an example as to what Scripture teaches is the way to go. The exhortation reveals a process we need to go through to achieve and receive, when we believe in the Revealed Word of God the Rhema. The example shows God Himself executing His own plan! Why something like this is needed right now can be seen in the fact that less than 10% of American adults have any form of Biblical worldview whatsoever .and we are supposedly the most Christian country in the west! Notice I said the West, because the most real Christians are found in the underground Church in China 300 Million Chinese! I would be surprised if they are 20 million real Bible believing Christians in the United States, when a recent Barna survey said 57% of evangelicals said there are other ways to heaven than the Lord Jesus!

HOLD FAST Prove all things; hold fast that which is good 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (King James Bible). Paul s letter to the Thessalonians contained a series of rapid fire instructions from the Lord Jesus Himself. This one stood out. We all say we seek wisdom. This only comes from the Mind of Christ. Using Paul as the example, we already know he was the Pharisee of all Pharisees.

Paul studied under the banner of Gamaliel, who is still revered by orthodox Jews today, 2000 years later! As a side note, may I say this: Gamaliel was from the respected School of Judaism called Hillel or the Peace Party. He was also a patriarch of the Sanhedrin. When he stood up for Peter and John in Acts 4 and told the temple thugs, known as priests, to lay off Peter and John or they may find themselves fighting against God, Gamaliel was not on his way to Salvation. Many have speculated he was softening towards Jesus the Messiah, over the years. The truth is this teacher was more interested in kumbayah in the two warring factions of Judaism Hillel and Shammai (the other school), than Adonai (Jesus Heavenly Name)! But that s another story. Back to Paul, we need to take note of this IMPORTANT FACT: Paul spent three years in the Arabian wilderness (Galatians 1:15-18) with the Lord Jesus! Can you imagine being alone with Christ as your teacher for three years! Now, is there any wonder he wanted to die to go be with Jesus, but desired to stay on earth a little longer to bring many to Salvation?! So Paul tells us to Prove or test everything we hear, see and read. Here we engage all the senses. But the very word Prove itself implies that we are even qualified to conduct this experiment!

QUALIFIED TO EXPERIMENT? We MUST be qualified to conduct this experiment. We are not going to prove a SINGLE thing unless we have Holy Spirit the Very Spirit of God living inside our very being. This only occurs after Conversion to Christ for eternity AND we allow Him to work through us and in us to Sanctification! Therefore, here is the Biblical Process, from God Himself, to proceed:

PACH AD ADONAI THE FEAR OF THE LORD The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge: [but] fools despise wisdom and instruction Proverbs 1:7 (KJV). This verse explains itself. All through the Bible, we know our Great God is to be feared, not just because He is the Judge of all things, but He commands AWE and RESPECT because of just Who He is! It is one thing for the enemies of God the majority of mankind to blaspheme and disrespect Him. He will deal with that in due course. It is another thing for many in the Body of Christ to ascribe thing to God He never said, meant or wrote in His Word. Too many in Christendom take liberty to use His Name to condone this or that behavior; disrespectful clothing in the church or distracting behavior in the Presence of Holy God, and calling it Worship . The Bible said it best here in Psalm 29:2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness .

TEVUNAH UNDERSTANDING The path to True Enlightenment starts with the Fear of the Living God of Heaven Yahweh or Jehovah! Secondly, if we do not comprehend what we read and hear, how can we process it for instant application? Understanding begins with the ear as we hear or with the eyes as we read. Our sensory mechanism then transmits those thoughts, or the written word to our Saved Soul to process. This is why an unsaved person could never get the simple, yet mysterious Oracles of God! The Spirit of Christ is the Interpreter otherwise we would be like those who argue with you and me about how God could do this or that. We would also be like the pagans who believe in a blob exploding 200 billion years ago out of nothing, and thus, all species originated from this.

Once the Spirit interprets what we hear, we decide for ourselves if we want to accept His instruction. You see, God does not force Himself on us. He offers the proof and we can either accept or reject. HOWEVER, if we are truly in the process of Transformation and Sanctification, we will know immediately what the Spirit is saying and understand immediately. You see, as we mature, it becomes easier and easier to agree with Holy Spirit! Then, finally, you come to a point where we see that Biblical knowledge is not complicated at all!

BINAH DISCERNMENT Here is the greatest prayer in the Bible for Godly wisdom, and it s from King Solomon 1Kings 3:9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people? This must be deconstructed seriatim: Understanding (Shama) This actually means to listen closely; pay strict attention; be a good listener and believe it or not OBEY! Thus Solomon is saying I can only have understanding if I listen well to the commands of God and obey them, period! Mind (Leb) This means the heart; the willingness; the intelligence; the inspiration; the skill and more to process God s commands. Discern (Bin) This means the ability to explain fully, investigate; observe; pay close attention to and yes, DISCRIMINATE .because if we do not have the understanding mind, and the power to pay close attention to what we are seeing and hearing .we can be easily convinced to go the wrong way! Biblical discernment is of Supreme Importance. How else would we know if some of those books at the store should be bought or if that preacher shouting on TV is really a man of God??!!

FLOW All good things flow from these two things Understanding and Discernment. Because we have this God inspired and Spirit-led ability, we perform righteous acts (Tzedekah) in Love (Ahavat)! Wait a second how does FEAR of GOD lead to LOVE?! That, my friend, is the mystery of the Faith! You know we sing How Great is Our God and God is so Good .and say God is love .All of this is true and tied up NOT in two parallels but two Truths the FEAR OF GOD IS LOVE! I just proved it with the Theorem above! This is the REALITY, to which we HOLD FAST!

EXAMPLE: In order to keeps this discourse fast moving and applicable, I wanted to keep it short, yet with an eye to seeing the Special Nature of our Great God. I promised an example and it can be found in Acts 8: 26-40. Here is the full passage but first, here are the key points to look for: FROM PHILIP S POINT OF VIEW: 1. The Call The Angel came directly to send him to the desert near Gaza where the Ethiopian was heading back home, right after Passover (and the Crucifixion of Christ) back to Africa 2. The Obedience He did as he was told, ran alongside the Chariot and the rest is history. FROM THE ETHIOPIAN S POINT OF VIEW: 1. He was a worshipper but of Judaism 2. He just came from Jerusalem which was in uproar after the Temple curtains were ripped in half by God on Crucifixion.

3. He had with him an EXTREMELY expensive Scroll of the Prophet Isaiah and was able to read it AVAILABILITY. 4. He understood some of what he read but not its point (Verse 34). 5. He also understood he was not getting it! (Verse 31 How can I, unless someone guides me? ) 6. He was teachable He sought an UNDERSTANDING MIND! 7. He discerned and the lights went on IMMEDIATELY (He was baptized AFTER salvation)! Now as we read this passage, it will be clear what this entire piece was about. To wit, we note: a. We can prove all things IF we are qualified; saved and being sanctified. b. Solomon showed us how to pray and develop maturity into the Mind of Christ Who initially directed him. c. We can take the Equation developed in Solomon s prayer to first understand Truth ourselves, and then teach and reach others like Philip does in the following passage. d. Because we, who are saved, have the Spirit of God in us, we have already won the victory. But there are battles ahead and we want to lose as few of those skirmishes as possible. We also want to lose no one because they were taught incorrectly. e. It is only when we comprehend the enormity, the importance and the empowerment we have to execute His Plan, that we can say with blessed assurance HOLD FAST!!

ACTS 8:26-40 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is a desert place. 27And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was
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reading the prophet Isaiah. 29And the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this chariot." 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" 31And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." 34And the eunuch said to Philip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" 35Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?" 38And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

All Scriptures are from the English Standard Version of the Bible unless noted as the King James Version (KJV) Public Domain. The
Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.

Images courtesy Google Images

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