Growth After Spiritual Baptism

Tradition

Scripture

Hebrews 6:1-2 ESV
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, [2] and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

Examine your grasp of the "elementary doctrine of Christ"!

Can you teach these topics to new Christians? Have you attempted to discern the spiritual realities that are to be washed, handled, raised, and judged?

If not, and if you have been a Christian for a while, then consider in all humility and soft-heartedness the rebuke that Paul has for you:

Hebrews 5:11-14 ESV
About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. [12] For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, [13] for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. [14] But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

A pastor is blessed if he gives meat to God's servants in due season. Avoid those who are untrained in doctrine, and who tickle your itchy ears with feel-good Gospel-lite messages. Especially avoid those who deny the power of godliness, and who are ever learning, but never able to come into the knowledge of the truth!

Matthew 24:45-51 KJV
Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? [46] Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. [47] Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. [48] But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; [49] And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; [50] The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, [51] And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 ESV
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. [2] For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, [3] heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, [4] treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, [5] having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

2 Timothy 3:6-7 ESV
For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, [7] always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 ESV
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, [4] and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Repentance from dead works

Faith toward God

Romans 4:16 ESV
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring-not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,

Trusting God makes you a spiritual descendant of Abraham! It is by this channel (believing God) that we become subject to the promises which God made to Abraham.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

No one seeks after God, except those who believe that God will reward their search. ONLY the one believing receives the reward of eternal life.

Jeremiah 29:13 ESV
You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

John 17:3 ESV
And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Faith is the capacity by which we hold firmly to a rational belief, especially when irrational forces would tend to make us waiver.

Hebrews 4:14 ESV
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Hebrews 10:23 ESV
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

James 1:6-8 ESV
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. [7] For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; [8] he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

The power of doubt flows from fear of error. Many doubts cannot be disproven, yet even they can be disarmed.

In order to eliminate the fear of error, the believer considers how the belief might be put into practice. Some beliefs are impracticable or inactionable (they cannot be put into action).

For example, the belief that "truth cannot be known" cannot be put into action, for every action is based on a belief about what is true.

To doubt a proposition is to fear the possibility that its opposite might be true. This fear is called the "fear of error." But not all propositions are to be feared.

The Silver Chair, C.S. Lewis
Page 182, The Queen of Underland

Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things-trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play-world. I'm on Aslan's side, even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can, even if there isn't any Narnia.

This is my favorite passage in all of The Chronicles of Narnia. In it, the gloomy character Puddleglum demonstrates why he is able to act, in the following moments, without any fear of error, concerning the existence and worthiness of Aslan (an allegorical representation of the Christ). The mere idea of Him outshines every dubious promise that the world is able to make. No matter what enchantments may be brought against Christ followers, evil designs to make them doubt, we can act without fear of error when we live by faith in a loving God who saves, because we have no other hope of salvation.

Acts 4:12 ESV
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

The phrase "even if there isn't" parallels the language of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego responding to the king Nebuchadnezzar:

Daniel 3:3,16-18 ESV
Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. [16] Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. [17] If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. [18] But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Speak against the adversary:

"He will deliver us! But if not, let us make this clear: We will not serve your gods. We will not go after your false salvation. If for no other reason: it does not even pretend to save from anything that we fear. We do not fear the fire. We do not fear plague. We do not fear anything that can destroy the body. We fear God. And you should too."

Matthew 10:28 ESV
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Deuteronomy 7:12-16 ESV
“And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. [13] He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. [14] You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. [15] And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. [16] And you shall consume all the peoples that the LORD your God will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.

[Jump to this verse's relevance to healing miracles]

The proposition, "Truth cannot be known," is not to be feared. If it were true, then we could not know it; nor indeed could we know anything at all.

Therefore, no one need doubt the proposition, "Truth can be known."

Isaiah 45:19 ESV
I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, 'Seek me in vain.' I the LORD speak the truth; I declare what is right.

If truth could not be known, then it would be vain to seek after God. In the former futility of our mind, this was our basic attitude towards the knowledge of God: to seek Him is vain. That is, futile.

We cannot know Him. He is a God that is far, a God who hides Himself. Who can uncover Him?

But we are not told to seek Him in vain. He who seeks, finds. Seek truth, find truth. It's that simple. And that entails that truth can be known.

Ephesians 4:17-18 ESV
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. [18] They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

Luke 11:9-10 ESV
And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [10] For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

The proposition, "God is evil," is not to be feared. If it were true, then nothing we could do would change our fate. For, if God is evil, then all are damned alike, whatever we do.

But, "God is good," is a proposition to be feared. For, all are accountable to God; and, God's Word has told us that God is good.

Deuteronomy 18:19 ESV
And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.

Mark 10:18 ESV
And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

So, since "God is good" is worthy to be feared, while its opposite, "God is evil," is not worthy to be feared, then no one need doubt the proposition, "God is good."

Psalm 145:9-10 ESV
The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. [10] All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you!

Psalm 136:1 ESV
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Psalm 100:4-5 ESV
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! [5] For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Strong Man parable

The Strong Man and his armor
The Stronger Man and His armor

Luke 11:20-23 ESV
But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. [21] When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; [22] but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. [23] Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

The Strong Man is Satan, the father of lies

The Stronger Man is Christ. The Strong Man is disarmed by the Christian who walks and speaks in the character of Christ, as He reveals Himself through His Word.

Matthew 12:28 ESV
But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

The Strong Man's palace and his goods are those held captive under sin, believing his various lies (his children).

John 8:44 ESV
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

His "full armor" is the opposite of the Christian's "full armor"

Satan's instruments are opposed to the Christian's instruments.

Not opposed by way of privation (absence, as darkness is the absence of light), but opposed by way of negation. That is, Satan's instruments are those which cause privation.

Privation of virtue is not the instrument of Satan, but the goal or aim of Satan. His instruments are those by which virtue is neutralized; their development, frustrated.

πανοπλία
Lit. "Every-Instrument"

The Greek word for instrument, ὅπλα, is used for any instrument or implement by which any action is carried out. ὅπλα includes both weapons and armor pieces. Thus, the "full armor" of God includes pieces of clothing, armor, a weapon, and a shield. πανοπλία is thus the full load-out taken by anyone in carrying out a specific activity.

HELPS Word-studies
3833 panoplía (from 3956 /pás, "every" and 3696 /hóplon, "weapon") – properly, a complete set of defensive and offensive armor (weapons), i.e. everything needed to wage successful warfare; (figuratively) the full resources the Lord gives to the believer so they can successfully wage spiritual warfare. In this way they do not fight for victory – but from His victory!

Ephesians 6:13-17 ESV
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. [14] Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

[15 (Berean Study Bible)]
and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace.

[16] In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; [17] and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

Isaiah 59:17 ESV
He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 ESV
But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

The different name of the breastplate is related to the other passages. Ephesians and Isaiah call the breastplate righteousness, and 1Thessalonians calls it faith and love.

God imputes righteousness of Christ to those who are faithful.

Love fulfills the law.

Romans 4:13 ESV
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

Romans 13:8-10 ESV
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. [9] For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." [10] Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Belt of Truth

Satan's belt is of that which frustrates the growth and fruition of truth: confusion. Satan twists the words of Scripture, equivocating between different senses of words, especially substituting the worldly senses which men attach to words, in place of spiritual senses of God's Word.

The Strong Man is disarmed of his belt by thorough explanation.

It's just like when you are putting on a carnal belt: you don't want to get it twisted. You want your belt to be straight. The top side of the belt should remain on top, and the bottom on bottom.

Satan will always be trying to get into your mind, in order to twist your perception of the truth. He will try to convince you to call good evil, and evil good. His slaves love hate, and hate love.

But the work of belief should lead you to call good what is good, and to call evil what is evil. The sons of God love love, and hate hate.

Keep it straight.

Isaiah 5:20 ESV
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Hosea 4:6,10-11 ESV
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. [10] They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply, because they have forsaken the LORD to cherish [11] whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding.

Pain and destruction are a consequence of lacking knowledge and understanding.

Healing does not come by hearing only, but by hearing, understanding, and turning (repenting, changing one's mind, and acting on the basis of the new understanding).

So: Give understanding to a brother, and you will take away his pain (if he will turn and do the Word).

Isaiah 6:10 KJVS
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

Matthew 13:15 KJVS
For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

John 12:40 KJVS
He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

Acts 28:27 KJVS
For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

1 Corinthians 14:27-28 KJVS
If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. [28] But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.

διερμηνεύω
Usu. Transl. "Interpret"
Can mean interpretation from one ethnic language to another, but core meaning is "thorough explanation".

HELPS Word-studies
1329 diermēneúō (from 1223 /diá, "thoroughly across, to the other side," which intensifies 2059 /hermēneúō, "interpret") – properly, thoroughly interpret, accurately (fully) explain.

From root: ἑρμηνεύω
Interpret, explain

HELPS Word-studies
2058 hermēneía – an interpretation, giving the gist of a message rather than a strict translation; an equivalent meaning, rather than a "word-for-word" rendering.

I have sometimes referred to this gift as the Gift of Gist.

From Hermes (also called Mercurius), the name of the messenger of the Greek deities; who was held to be the god of speech, writing, eloquence, learning).

1 Corinthians 12:10 KJVS
To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

The word "interpret" has a dangerous sense, as Lewis has called it. Many people approach the this passage with an understanding of the gift of tongues as having to do with the supernatural ability to speak a foreign language that one never had to learn. With this misconception in mind, "interpret" is taken in the sense of interpreting from one ethnic language into another.

But the context of this passage is about how to effectively instruct the initiates so that they can be inducted into the mysteries of the faith. No one needs to be told to teach in the ethnic language which your student understands!

But when an unlearned person is suddenly gifted with the Heart of Understanding (the Holy Spirit), they do need to be reminded that religious jargon (as it sounds to the unbelievers' ears) has little, nebulous meaning to those just coming into a relationship with Jesus Christ. They are using the same ethnic language, but they are using unfamiliar words, and familiar words in unfamiliar senses.

The Dangerous Sense

Studies in Words, C.S. Lewis
Page 12-13, Introduction, III. The Dangerous Sense

When a word has several meanings historical circumstances often make one of them dominant during a particular period...

The dominant sense of any word lies uppermost in our minds. Wherever we meet the word, our natural impulse will be to give it that sense. When this operation results in nonsense, of course, we see our mistake and try over again. But if it makes tolerable sense our tendency is to go merrily on. We are often deceived. In an old author the word may mean something different. I call such senses dangerous senses because they lure us into misreadings.

Recall the dangerous sense of λόγος

Deuteronomy 29:4 ESV
But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.

That was then. This is now. Now we have the mind of Christ, and His Spirit, which searches the deep things of God. This is what has been prepared for us since before the foundation of the world!!

1 Corinthians 2:9-16 ESV
But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him"- [10] these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. [11] For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. [12] Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. [13] And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. [14] The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. [15] The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. [16] "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

Isaiah 27:1 ESV
In that day the LORD with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.

2 Peter 3:15-16 ESV
And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, [16] as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

Galatians 1:6-9 ESV
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel- [7] not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. [8] But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. [9] As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

Examples of Satan twisting the words of God:

Genesis 3:1-5 ESV
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" [2] And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, [3] but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" [4] But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. [5] For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Matthew 4:5-7 ESV
Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple [6] and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, "'He will command his angels concerning you,' and "'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" [7] Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

Breastplate of
Righteousness

Righteousness is thwarted by the desires of the flesh.

The Strong Man is disarmed of his breastplate by the righteousness that is imputed by faith.

Also, remember Christ bought for us the privilege of forgetting the past. The Devil cannot touch you with accusation if you are faithful in forgetting the past.

So, forget the past, and claim Christ's righteousness as your own, not even attempting to self-justify. In so doing, your breastplate of righteousness will be securely affixed to your spiritual body, and the devil's breastplate will be rendered impotent.

Philippians 3:12-14 ESV
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. [13] Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, [14] I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:8-9 ESV
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith-

Desires of the flesh

1 John 2:15-17 ESV
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [16] For all that is in the world-the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life-is not from the Father but is from the world. [17] And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

2 Peter 2:17-19 ESV
These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. [18] For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. [19] They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.

James 1:14-15 ESV
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. [15] Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Remember the admonition to guard your heart! The breastplate is the piece of armor which protects the heart.

Proverbs 4:23 ESV
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Shoes of Preparation
of the Gospel of Peace

Preparation is thwarted by laziness and distraction.

The Strong Man is un-shoed by zeal and focus.

Romans 12:11 ESV
Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

2 Corinthians 9:2-3 ESV
for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. [3] But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be.

1 Peter 3:13-15 ESV
Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? [14] But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, [15] but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

Revelation 3:15-19 ESV
"'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! [16] So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. [17] For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. [18] I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. [19] Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

Focus requires conviction concerning our goal, aim, or purpose.

All the focus in the world is not helpful, if you are focused on the wrong thing.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ESV
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. [25] Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. [26] So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. [27] But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Note how the church of Laodicea thinks, wrongly, that they are rich. In the same way, one can think one is alive, when in reality (according to God's Word), one is really dead.

That is because Spiritual life is the True Life, while bodily life is merely a representation of the True. When the bodily life is taken for the True, it becomes an idol of the heart (a misconception). But, when one realizes the True Life is spiritual, the bodily life is seen for what it truly is: an instrument whose proper use is to glorify God, and to set captives free.

Wealth is the same way. The True Wealth is heavenly: it is the Word of God, and His righteousness. Do not mistake worldly Wealth for the True! Else, it will become an idol of the heart.

True Treasure vs. false treasure

Psalm 62:10 ESV
Put no trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

Matthew 6:19-21 ESV
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, [20] but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. [21] For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

True Life vs. false life (death)

Romans 7:9-11 ESV
I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. [10] The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. [11] For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.

Colossians 2:13 ESV
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

There are many mysteries in Scripture. The mature have access, by the Holy Spirit, to those mysteries, and great joy is found in exploring them.

However, a Christian is not to please himself, but to seek the good of his brethren. That means being intentional about maintaining familiarity with the first principles of Christianity, so that milk can be given whenever it is needed.

Do not please self, but others

Philippians 2:4-7 ESV
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. [5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Romans 15:1-3 ESV
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. [2] Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. [3] For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me."

Milk vs. Meat, and first principles

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 ESV
But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. [2] I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, [3] for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

1 Corinthians 14:18-19 NIV

I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. [19] But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Shield of Faith

Faith is shaken by threatening the believer, and by slandering the one believed. Threatening and slanderous accusations are the fiery darts that Paul warns about.

A shield is only as firm as the one holding it. The shield resists, because the man's feet are firmly planted on the ground. Christ is the ground of our belief, the Rock that is the foundation of our faith. Abide in Him.

Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Standing firm, without fear, is the way to disarm the Strong Man's darts. His time is running out, but Christ Life is eternal.

Philippians 1:28 ESV
and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.

James 4:6-10 ESV
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." [7] Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [8] Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. [9] Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. [10] Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

1 Peter 5:6-11 ESV
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, [7] casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. [8] Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. [9] Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. [10] And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. [11] To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Threatening, Slander, and Persecution in general

Persecution is inevitable to a Christian who lives on mission. Not only will unbelievers persecute Christians, but the part of every person which does not believe Christ will emanate with the motivation to persecute one speaking truth with love. That means even Christians (none of whom are without sin) will be at war within themselves, even as they are trying, themselves, to speak truth with love.

Matthew 10:34-39 ESV
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. [35] For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. [36] And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. [37] Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. [38] And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. [39] Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Persecution rarely takes the form of arguments and reasons. No one can reason in the spirit (and spirit is truth) that Jesus Christ is cursed. Every account of reason which opposes God is fallacious, and can be dismantled easily with the Sword of Spirit. Reason and argument are not advantageous grounds for Satan, which is why persecution usually takes the form of threatening and slander, which are irrational methods of influence and manipulation.

1 Corinthians 12:3 ESV
Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

Even a false account of reason may seem convincing, though, which is why competent sophists are highly exalted in the world.

Colossians 2:4 ESV
I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

Sophistry is the result of divorcing the methods of persuasion and influence from the love of truth. The art of sophistry is a subspecies of the art of illusion. Like the modern street magician, the sophist's trick lies in hiding the fallacy of his argument through misdirecting the attention of his subject.

Just as the hand is faster than the eye, the tongue is faster than the mind. This is why sophists are sometimes called "fast talkers".

But, the saints of God are slow to speak. We can know the wolves by their fruits.

James 1:19-20,26 ESV
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; [20] for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God...

[26] If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.

Proverbs 10:19 ESV
When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.

Proverbs 17:27-28 ESV
Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. [28] Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

Proverbs 29:20 ESV
Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Anti-sophistry is the class of apologetic art which is concerned with exposing the fallacies contained in false but convincing accounts of reason.

Ephesians 5:6-15 ESV
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. [7] Therefore do not become partners with them; [8] for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light [9] (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), [10] and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. [11] Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. [12] For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. [13] But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, [14] for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” [15] Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 ESV
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. [5] We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

Common rhetorical tricks sophists use to hide their mental sins:

Sophistication - the use of hard or obscure words to fancify what could be a very simple statement. Sophistication is used to intimidate opponents into submission.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 ESV
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. [2] For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. [3] And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, [4] and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, [5] so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

1 Corinthians 14:19 New International Version
But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Sophistication also gives the sophist room to maneuver in his arguing, because obscure words are, by nature, nebulous in meaning. A sophist may begin his argument speaking in one sense, but later shift to another sense of the word.

1 Timothy 6:3-5 ESV
If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, [4] he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, [5] and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

Quarrels about words:

Equivocation - using the same word in different senses at different points of the argument. In order for an argument to be valid, the terms of the argument must remain constant throughout the argument.

Hebrews 13:8-9 ESV
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. [9] Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.

Distinction Without Difference - the attempt to hide self-contradiction by affirming an idea using one word or expression, and later denying the same idea using a different word or expression. The sophist may even pile words upon words in order to create the illusion of distinction between the two words or expressions.

Quantity Without Quality - the attempt to overwhelm an opponent by presenting many arguments in rapid succession (fast-talking). Sometimes the sophist will not even make the arguments! He will simply refer to some body of man's traditions, and thereby the sophist will claim to stand upon a "mountain" of arguments or evidence.

Jeremiah 51:24-26,35-37 ESV
“I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion, declares the LORD. [25] “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, declares the LORD, which destroys the whole earth; I will stretch out my hand against you, and roll you down from the crags, and make you a burnt mountain. [26] No stone shall be taken from you for a corner and no stone for a foundation, but you shall be a perpetual waste, declares the LORD...

[35] The violence done to me and to my kinsmen be upon Babylon,” let the inhabitant of Zion say. “My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,” let Jerusalem say. [36] Therefore thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will plead your cause and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea and make her fountain dry, [37] and Babylon shall become a heap of ruins, the haunt of jackals, a horror and a hissing, without inhabitant.

Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon on Chaldean:

1(c): Chaldeans, as learned class, skilled in interpretations

Daniel 2:2,4 ESV
Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king...

[4] Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.”

The Lord refers to Chaldea as a "destroying mountain" in Jeremiah 51:24-25. Since Chaldeans are also the name of the learned class within the cultural context of Jeremiah, then we can discern a literal sense in which God has promised destruction to the "mountains of academia" which worldlings appeal to in their sophistry.

Appeals to False Authorities - the attempt to influence submission by the power of a false authority. A false authority can be any body of men or men's ideas, which can be construed as agreeing with the sophist's conclusion, and worthy of deferential respect. The authority may be demonstrably untrustworthy, or the authority may not even turn out, upon inspection, to agree with the sophist's conclusion.

Having respect for any such false authority gives sophists power over you, to influence your mind in opposition to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:12 ESV
Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

1 Timothy 6:20 ESV
O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,”

1 Timothy 6:20 KJV
O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:

"Science" means knowledge. Today, the name "science" is given to a nebulous and often changing body of men, and the ideas they put forward as true. The men who champion this science falsely so called are quite forward about their anti-theistic principles. They will not allow a divine foot in the door of their thinking (which is the very same frame of mind which led to mankind's destruction in the global flood of Noah's day).

Genesis 6:5 ESV
The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

The reputation of this body as an authority - as a firm foundation for beliefs - rests on the technological and predictive success of the scientific method. The scientific method, however, is only useful in disproving testable hypothetical physical explanations for physical objects and phenomena. The scientific method can say nothing at all about untestable explanations, explanations about spiritual things, or spiritual explanations for physical things.

Untestable physical explanations
for physical things

Colossians 2:20-23 ESV
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— [21] “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” [22] (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? [23] These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

δογματίζω
to decree, to subject oneself to an ordinance
Transliterated "dogmatize", to make the subject of dogmas

The science falsely so called of our day has dogmatized the "big bang" explanation for the beginning of the world, and "molecules to man" macroevolutionary explanation for the origin and diversity of biological life.

The "big bang" explanation for the beginning of the world is untestable, and therefore unscientific. The "big bang" is a materialistic faith-based explanation for the beginning of the world.

Genesis 1:1-3 ESV
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. [2] The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. [3] And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

John 3:12 ESV
If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?

"Molecules to man" macroevolutionary explanations of the diversity of life in the world, are untestable, and therefore unscientific. This, too, is a product of materialistic religious dogma.

Genesis 1:20-27 ESV
And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” [21] So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. [22] And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” [23] And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. [24] And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. [25] And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. [26] Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” [27] So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Here is an argument for the need for Divine Revelation in matters pertaining to His Acts:

The Argument

(1) Where age is not directly observed, it must be inferred from some evidence.

(2) If the effect is supposed to have been produced by natural causes, then age is inferred from our knowledge of those natural causes, which we attain through the practice of physical, empirical methods.

(3) Divine causes can produce effects which are identical to the effects of temporally extended series of natural causes (such as the wine produced in Christ’s first miracle).

John 2:6-10 ESV
Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. [7] Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. [8] And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. [9] When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom [10] and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”

(4) Furthermore, God is free to produce His effects over any duration of time which pleases Him.

Jeremiah 32:27 ESV
“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?

(5) Thus, if the effect is supposed to have been produced by God, then age can only be known by the provision of divine revelation.

Proverbs 25:2 ESV
It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.

Isaiah 8:20 ESV
To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

(6) Creation is not an effect of natural causes, but must of necessity be the effect of divine causation.

2 Peter 3:4-5 ESV
They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” [5] For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God,

(7) Therefore no age at all can be inferred with respect to creation from the evidence of physical science. Only by the provision of divine revelation can we form any meritorious idea of the age of creation.

The Conclusion, In Other Words

In other words, every idea of the age of creation which is in any way influenced by knowledge of natural causes is, to that extent, without merit. Our knowledge of natural causes cannot provide certainty or even probability concerning the age of supernatural effects.

In still other words, God cannot be charged with creating “the appearance of age”, regardless of the nature of His effects; because such appearance of age could only have been the result of an inference from knowledge of natural causes; and all such inferences are utterly without merit when applied to supernatural effects.

Explanations About Spiritual Things

Science can give no explanation for things that are intelligible but insensible, because science relies on sensible observations.

God, spirit, justice, truth, life, goodness, joy, and love are all spiritual things. The scientific method can say nothing at all about them.

Philippians 4:8 ESV
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 ESV
But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— [10] these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

2 Corinthians 4:18 ESV
as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Spiritual Explanations about Physical Things

We learn from the Bible that physical things proceed from spiritual things. There are no physical principalities. Everything in the physical world is a procession from something spiritual.

Science can say nothing at all about whether or not this is so, and neither can science tell us how physical things proceed from spiritual things.

Proverbs 4:23 ESV
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

God renders to man according to his ways. The Bible teaches that truth is the substance of the spiritual body, so that flesh is to the the physical body, as truth is to the spiritual body. The physical body represents the spiritual body, so that deficiencies in the spiritual body are reflected by deficiencies in the physical body.

Since science is only cognizant of material principalities of health, science is blind to the spiritual principlal of health and wholeness (Truth). Scientists who ignore Scripture mistakenly regard the physical principals as first principals, rather than the secondary principals that they really are.

Disproving testable physical explanations of physical objects and phenomena is useful in reducing the range of error that we must wrestle with when we make predictions about the world. This ability is all that is needed to develop technology. The more accurately you can predict the behavior of a thing, the more efficiently you can exploit it.

The fact that the scientific method does what it is supposed to do, does not mean that it can do what it is not supposed to do. The scientific method is not supposed to give us knowledge about spiritual things. It isn't for that.

When scientists use their reputation to speak about spiritual matters (or even untestable physical matters), they are speaking beyond the scope of their authority. They are usurping power that doesn't belong to them. They are speaking as false authorities.

Let scientists stick to technology. Don't let them dictate theology.

Reducing error is not the same thing as building knowledge. The scientific method only disproves, and never proves anything. It is for reducing error. It is not for building knowledge.

Those who promise salvation through science believe that the management of error is all we need. We don't need knowledge. In order to exploit the world (see how their minds are fixed on the world), all we need to do is reduce our errors down to manageable levels.

Since God is Truth, this "manageable level of error" which promises salvation to worldly thinkers, is analogous to the "agreement with death" which God speaks against in Isaiah 28.

Isaiah 28:14-17 ESV
Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem! [15] Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement, when the overwhelming whip passes through it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter"; [16] therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: 'Whoever believes will not be in haste.' [17] And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter."

Isaiah 28:18-19 ESV

Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be beaten down by it. [19] As often as it passes through it will take you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.

To pursue knowledge using a system of knowledge that only disproves, and never proves anything, will lead to a lifetime of learning, without any certain knowledge of truth.

2 Timothy 3:1-8 ESV
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. [2] For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, [3] heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, [4] treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, [5] having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. [6] For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, [7] always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. [8] Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.

Satan has his mind fixed on the world, and mental fixation on worldly things is one of the primary signs of his influence.

Matthew 16:23 ESV
But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."

Romans 8:5-8 ESV
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. [6] For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. [7] For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. [8] Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Philippians 3:19 ESV
Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

God is no respecter of persons, and, in our thinking, neither should we respect the persons of men. Ideas need to be analyzed and judged in isolation from considerations about the men who propose them - no matter who they are. Christ is the only name which is synonymous with truth and reason.

Jeremiah 17:5-8 ESV
Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. [6] He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.

[7] “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. [8] He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Psalm 146:3-6 ESV
Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. [4] When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. [5] Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, [6] who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever;

1 Corinthians 2:7-8 KJV
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: [8] Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Since rational methods of persuasion put the devil at a disadvantage, his usual methods of persecution focus on irrational methods of persuasion: threatening and slander.

John 15:18-21 ESV
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. [19] If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. [20] Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. [21] But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

Matthew 10:24-28 ESV
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. [25] It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

[26] “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. [27] What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. [28] And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

The direct object of any threatening is always some form of suffering. The Christian's shield of faith enables the believer to remain constant in our peace and rejoicing, regardless of our temporal, bodily circumstances. The faithful Christian becomes immune to threats of suffering, because the faithful Christian does not believe that his life is a bodily life.

A bodily life is a thing that is well spent in suffering for the sake of the gospel. The True Life is hidden safely in Christ! Faith in the greatness of His blessed Life is what allows the faithful Christian to count all else as loss.

2 Corinthians 12:10 ESV
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Ephesians 3:7-13 ESV
Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. [8] To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, [9] and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, [10] so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. [11] This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, [12] in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. [13] So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.

Threats against the body

Matthew 10:26-28 ESV
“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. [27] What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. [28] And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

2 Corinthians 5:6-9 ESV
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, [7] for we walk by faith, not by sight. [8] Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. [9] So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

Aside from threats of direct violence, threats against the body include threats against your livelihood. The shield of faith protects from threats against his livelihood, because by faith we agree with Christ: Blessed are the poor.

Luke 6:20-26 ESV
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. [21] “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. [22] “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! [23] Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

[24] “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. [25] “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. [26] “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

Threats against the name (reputation)

To belong, to have a place in the society of men, is one of the desires of the flesh. A good reputation is a kind of glory; glory being the opinion or judgment that a thing is good. Glory is approval, acceptance, the admission of virtue and value.

Christ teaches us to die to this fleshly desire. Instead of seeking the good opinion or the glory that comes from men, we are to seek after the glory that comes from God only.

John 5:44 ESV
How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

Romans 2:29 ESV
But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

1 Corinthians 4:1-5 ESV
This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. [2] Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. [3] But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. [4] For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. [5] Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.

Matthew 19:29 ESV
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.

Luke 14:26,33 ESV
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple...

[33] So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Philippians 3:2-4,7-9 ESV
Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. [3] For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— [4] though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ...

[7] But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. [8] Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

Slander is violence against one's name or reputation. Satan will motivate unbelievers to lie about believers, in order to damage the reputation of believers.

A slanderer will twist your words in order to misrepresent your beliefs. Christians must be prepared to let every man represent his own beliefs!

Romans 3:8 ESV
And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

1 Corinthians 4:10-13 ESV
We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. [11] To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, [12] and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; [13] when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

A believer trusts Jesus Christ. Yet, none of us are without sin. We all have wrong beliefs, mental sins that cling to our spiritual bodies. That is part of our circumstance during these last days.

A believer must remain soft-hearted, willing to admit that bias and blindness might lead us to build upon the foundation of Jesus Christ with perishable materials.

But the believer must also remain steadfast and immovable in their core trust in Jesus Christ. The slanderer wants to condemn you for your mental errors. Christ does not want to condemn you for your mental sins. He will correct you, and His correction is comfort to us (even if it does not feel pleasant in the moment).

Not without sin, sin that clings

1 John 1:8-10 ESV
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. [10] If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Soft-heartedness

Hebrews 3:7-8,13-15 ESV
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, [8] do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, ...

[13] But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. [14] For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. [15] As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Correction and Discipline from Christ

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 ESV
For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. [12] Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— [13] each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. [14] If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. [15] If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Psalm 23:4 ESV
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Hebrews 12:7-8,11 ESV
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? [8] If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons...

[11] 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.

Threats against the spirit

Those who usurp religious authority, the wolves in sheeps clothing, wield a weapon that confessing atheists lack: threats of condemnation against our spirit.

The shield of faith protects us against threats against the spirit, because we know that God is for us. If God is for us, who can be against us?

Wolves

Acts 20:29-30 ESV
I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; [30] and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

Galatians 2:4-5 ESV
Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— [5] to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.

Remember that the power of sin is to enslave. Christ freed us from the law by making us dead to the law. The wolves are they who seek to put Christians back under the law, or any law, dogma, or tradition by which believers are drawn back into the old way of self-justification.

The threat of condemnation depends on the belief that we must justify ourselves before God. If we are not justifying ourselves good enough, we will be condemned. The wolf, who pretends to be speaking for God, points to a law, dogma, or tradition that you are not following; then, pointing to the fact that you are not following it, he condemns you.

Have no fear of them, for Christ has set you free from every law.

Matthew 7:15-20 ESV
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. [16] You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? [17] So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. [18] A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. [19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. [20] Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

James 2:12-13 ESV
So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. [13] For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Galatians 3:1-3 ESV
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. [2] Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? [3] Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

βασκαίνω
Slander, bewitch

HELPS Word-studies
940 baskaínō (from baskanos, "to cast an evil spell, wishing injury upon someone; to bewitch") – properly, to exercise evil power over someone, like putting them under a spell; (used only in Gal 3:1); (figuratively) captivate ("be spellbinding"), appealing to someone's vanity and selfishness; "to blight by the evil eye, bewitch" (Abbott-Smith).


[In classical Greek, Aristotle used 940 (baskaínō) for "bewitching through the use of an evil power." That is, putting someone under a spell so they no longer could think (act) according to reason. 940 (baskaínō) is also associated with envy (so Josephus V:425; Demosthenes 20,24; Theocr. 5,13, ala Abbott-Smith).]

No condemnation for those in Christ Jesus

Romans 8:1-4 ESV
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. [2] For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. [3] For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, [4] in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:31-34 ESV
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? [32] He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? [33] Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. [34] Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Helmet of salvation,
hope of salvation

Salvation, the hope of salvation, is frustrated when the believer believes himself condemned.

Condemnation comes by the law. The law gives knowledge of sin.

Thus, Satan frustrates the believer's hope of salvation through misuse of the law. That is, the substance of the law is divorced from its proper purpose (to reveal God's character), and brought into adulterous union with the false purpose of self-justification.

The Strong Man is disarmed of this weapon through the remembrance that we are saved by grace, and not because of our own works.

Romans 3:20 ESV
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Ephesians 2:8 ESV
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Christ taught that we would not be forgiven, if we do not forgive all men their sins against us. Thus, the Strong Man may un-helmet the believer by encouraging the believer to condemn someone else.

The Ultimatum of Forgiveness

There is no wiggle room in this teaching. There is not meant to be.

If we are not forgiving a brother, if we are pointing our fingers at him, and saying in our hearts or out loud that he is deserving of some punishment or calamity, then we can know that we are not wearing our helmet of salvation.

Our head is exposed, and in this analogy, there is a battle raging all around us. Get your helmet on! Let it go! We forgive because we need forgiveness, and because we want to imitate the nature of our merciful Father in Heaven. This world is coming to nothing. You've been robbed of nothing. Count it all loss, let it go, get your Godsaved helmet on, and GET BACK IN THE FIGHT!!

Isaiah 58:9-10 ESV
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, [10] if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.

Matthew 6:14-15 ESV
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, [15] but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Luke 6:36 ESV
Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Matthew 18:21-22 ESV
Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” [22] Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Matthew 18:23-28 ESV
“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. [24] When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. [25] And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. [26] So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ [27] And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. [28] But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’

Matthew 18:29-35 ESV
So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ [30] He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. [31] When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. [32] Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. [33] And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ [34] And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. [35] So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Letting it go

ἀφίημι
Lit. "To send away"
Usu. transl. "To forgive"

HELPS Word-studies
863 aphíēmi (from 575 /apó, "away from" and hiēmi, "send") – properly, send away; release (discharge).

Mark 2:8-12 ESV
And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? [9] Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? [10] But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— [11] “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” [12] And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Forgiving means "sending away" the sin. Making it of no account. Releasing the obligation. Writing off the debt.

Jesus paid it all. The price that He paid, His own blood, is sufficient to cover the sins of the whole world. When you hold onto the sin of a brother, you are telling God that you value the debt owed to you by your brother, more than you value the blood of Christ. In putting something worldly and finite in the scales against the blood of Christ, you blaspheme the Lord. You trample His blood under your feet.

Stop doing that. Let it go. No matter what it is.

Hebrews 10:28-31 ESV
Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. [29] How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? [30] For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” [31] It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

It is easiest to forgive sin, when no one can sin against you. If you will freely give all that has been freely given to you (which is everything you have and everything you are) then no one can steal from you. If you will pour yourself out as a drink, then your helmet of salvation will remain firmly fixed to your head.

Luke 6:27-31 ESV
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, [28] bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. [29] To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. [30] Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. [31] And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

Philippians 2:17 ESV
Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.

1 John 3:16-18 ESV
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. [17] But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? [18] Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

1 Corinthians 4:7 ESV
For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

1 Corinthians 6:7 ESV
To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?

Sword of the Spirit,
the Word of God

Hebrews 4:12 ESV
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

The Word of God is likened to a Sword, but also to a hammer.

Jeremiah 23:29 ESV
Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

Jeremiah 51:19-20 ESV
Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob, for he is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the LORD of hosts is his name. [20] "You are my hammer and weapon of war: with you I break nations in pieces; with you I destroy kingdoms;

The believer is disarmed of his sword of Spirit when he is not training in the words of our confession.

1 Timothy 4:6-8 ESV
If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. [7] Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; [8] for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

The Spirit is the One who guides into all truth.

Thus, the Christian can be disarmed of his sword through the false conviction that anything other than God's Holy Spirit can guide into truth.

John 16:13 ESV
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

John 14:15-17 ESV
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. [16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, [17] even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

The sword of the Spirit is forged in fire from precious materials. Therefore, it is able to withstand the trial of fire.

When the devil leads a Christian into buying into man's philosophies, he is replacing a precious instrument with a non-precious instrument: a silver sword for a wooden one.

Such a Christian will feel prepared for battle, but when the trial of fire comes upon him, his sword will be burned up, and he will be left defenseless.

2 Peter 1:3-4 ESV
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, [4] by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Trial of fire

1 Corinthians 3:12-15 ESV
Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw- [13] each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. [14] If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. [15] If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

1 Peter 1:6-7 ESV
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, [7] so that the tested genuineness of your faith-more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire-may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 John 2:27 ESV
But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie-just as it has taught you, abide in him.

You need no man to teach you. This is consistent with many passages of Scripture indicating the untrustworthiness of men, that God prefers to give revelations to the world through babes, those who are humble in their thinking, and who therefore do not take upon themselves the title of teacher.

θεοδίδακτος
God-taught

1 Thessalonians 4:9 ESV
Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another,

Jeremiah 17:5-8 ESV
Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. [6] He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.

[7] "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. [8] He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit."

Matthew 21:16 ESV
and they said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, "'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise'?"

1 Corinthians 2:6,8,12-16 ESV
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away...

[8] None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory...

[12] Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. [13] And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. [14] The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. [15] The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. [16] "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

Psalm 118:22 ESV
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

Romans 9:30-33 ESV
What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; [31] but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. [32] Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, [33] as it is written, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."

Isaiah 28:14-16 ESV
Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem! [15] Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement, when the overwhelming whip passes through it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter"; [16] therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: 'Whoever believes will not be in haste.'

1 Peter 2:4-8 ESV
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, [5] you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. [6] For it stands in Scripture: "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." [7] So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone," [8] and "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

Isaiah 40:3-5 ESV
A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. [4] Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. [5] And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

Isaiah has many passages like this, in which he prophesies about how God's plan involves the removal of obstacles, difficulties, and intermediaries from the path of righteousness.

Man shall be taught by God, rather than by man.

John 6:45 ESV
It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me-

Isaiah 57:14 ESV
And it shall be said, "Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people's way."

Isaiah 54:13 ESV
All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.

Hebrews 8:1-2,6-8 ESV
Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, [2] a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man...

Hebrews 8:6-8 ESV
But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. [7] For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. [8] For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,

Hebrews 8:10-11 ESV
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [11] And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.

Raising valleys that lie in your path, means that your journey will not require you to cross rivers or streams, which run through the valleys. God leads us beside the waters, not across them.

Psalm 23:2-3 ESV
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. [3] He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Even when it seems like following the Lord must require you to cross the torrential waters of man's doctrines, wait on the Lord. He has shown that He is able to divide the waters, making the dry land appear.

Exodus 14:21-22 ESV
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. [22] And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Joshua 3:17 ESV
Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

Christ also showed that He is able to walk upon the waters.

Peter showed that we can too - provided we doubt not.

Matthew 14:22-31 ESV
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. [23] And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, [24] but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. [25] And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. [26] But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" and they cried out in fear. [27] But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." [28] And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." [29] He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. [30] But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." [31] Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

Crossing the waters requires you to take your feet off of dry ground. In the Way of Christ, we keep our feet firmly planted on the Rock. We abide in Him.

Man's philosophies are streams that run cross-ways to God's paths of truth. The many, babbling voices of man agree neither with God, nor with one another.

Psalm 69:1-3 ESV
Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. [2] I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. [3] I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.

ALL of the truth a Christian needs to live a glorifying life can be found in the Bible. In the Spiritual Baptism, the Christian allows His old body of knowledge (his body of death) to die, and rising in its place is the body of Christ, the Word of God.

Thenceforward, the born again believer's only knowledge will be that which is drawn from Scripture, building his understanding up according to the methods of building which are taught in the Scriptures. Judging nothing by appearances, even the believer's self knowledge will be obedient to what Scripture says about the believer.

Fear God only

The fear of losing something is a sign that you love that thing. "Love not the world or the things in the world," therefore means we must not act from fear of losing worldly things.

1 John 2:15-16 ESV
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [16] For all that is in the world-the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life-is not from the Father but is from the world.

Psalm 62:5-8,10 ESV
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. [6] He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. [7] On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. [8] Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah...

[10] Put no trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

The opposite of the fear of loss is the hope of gain. Our treasure, that which we hope to gain, is in heaven.

Matthew 19:21-23 ESV
Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." [22] When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. [23] And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.

To be fearless does not mean trying to believe that your fear will not come upon you. Trouble in this world is promised. To be fearless, you must set your heart towards pursuing God's unchanging purpose regardless of your circumstances.

John 16:33 ESV
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

1 Peter 3:13-17 ESV
Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? [14] But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, [15] but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, [16] having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. [17] For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

1 Peter 3:6 ESV
as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

Daniel 3:16-18 ESV
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. [17] If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. [18] But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

We should not fear loss of worldly goods, even though God has not yet removed the possibility of suffering such losses, because we are promised rewards which far, far surpass our losses.

Matthew 19:29 ESV
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.

Romans 8:18 ESV
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. [17] For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, [18] as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

1 Peter 1:5-7 ESV
who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. [6] In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, [7] so that the tested genuineness of your faith-more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire-may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Job 42:10,12 ESV
And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before...

[12] And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.

Matthew 10:28 ESV
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Luke 12:4-5 ESV
"I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. [5] But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

Isaiah 8:11-14 ESV
For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: [12] "Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. [13] But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. [14] And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Isaiah 51:12-13 ESV
"I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, [13] and have forgotten the LORD, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor?

Jeremiah 1:5-8 ESV
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." [6] Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth." [7] But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a youth'; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. [8] Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD."

1 John 4:18 ESV
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

Jesus Christ is both a person and a belief (God's belief about Himself). Faith in Christ is therefore both the firm conviction that God's self-revelation is true, as well as an abiding trust in the person of Jesus Christ as an authority over our beliefs.

2 Corinthians 10:5-6 ESV
We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, [6] being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

βέβαιος
Lit. "Walkable"
Firm, unshakable, secure

HELPS Word-studies
949 bébaios (an adjective, derived from bainō, "to walk where it is solid") – properly, solid (sure) enough to walk on; hence, firm, unshakable; (figuratively) absolutely dependable, giving guaranteed support (security, surety).

949 /bébaios (literally, "what can be tread upon") then refers to what is fully dependable, i.e. worthy of confidence because on "solid footing." This describes what is fully secure (stable), and therefore can be trusted to give full support.

Romans 4:16 ESV
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring-not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,

Living out your faith in Jesus Christ, you might find yourself in Peter's sandals, as he stepped out onto the water with our Lord. But His promises are walkable! You can count on them! Bet on them. Go all in with your whole life on them! Do not fear!

Matthew 14:28-31 ESV
And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” [29] He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. [30] But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” [31] Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Hebrews 2:1-4 ESV
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. [2] For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, [3] how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, [4] while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

Hebrews 3:6 KJVS
But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Hebrews 6:17-20 ESV

So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, [18] so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. [19] We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, [20] where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

1 Timothy 1:5 ESV
The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Because love issues from sincere faith, and since the greatest commandments are to love, it becomes a matter of primary importance to seek conviction regarding the truth. The inner work of understanding and believing Christian doctrine is preparatory to living out the faith in love.

"The aim of our charge," in other words:

The reason that the apostles charged the church with certain things, was to cultivate genuine love; and since such love proceeds from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith, those charges are directed towards producing these underlying fundaments of love.

Pure heart

What purifies the heart: Hope in Jesus

1 John 3:3 ESV
And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

What defiles the heart: "what comes out of a man"

Mark 7:20-23 ESV
And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him. [21] For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, [22] coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. [23] All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

Good conscience

Romans 5:1 ESV
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Since no one can be justified by the (outward) works of the law, the only way any man can be justified before God is through faith.

Specifically, faith regarding the fact that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

Romans 4:22-25 ESV
That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness." [23] But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, [24] but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, [25] who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Sincere faith

ἀνυπόκριτος
Lit. "Without hypocrisy"
Sincere, Unfeigned

HELPS Word-studies
505 anypókritos (an adjective, derived from alpha-privative 1 /A "not" and 5271 /hypokrínomai, "to act as a hypocrite") – properly, not a phony ("put on"), describing sincere behavior free from hidden agendas (selfish motives) – literally, "without hypocrisy" (unfeigned).

Hypocrisy, in turn, is deficiency in judgment.

Many lexicons and dictionaries define hypocrisy by its paradigmatic marks: acting in contradiction to professed beliefs, and insincerity.

This is a common metonymy. The usual marks of a thing can come to be called by the name of that thing. The mark of health in a man is a certain state of his complexion which we call "healthy". The complexion is called by the name of the thing that causes it, namely the quality of health that is in the man.

Remember that the springs of life flow from the heart. Acting in contradiction to one's professed beliefs, or acting insincerely, are outward emanations from the heart. There is something in the heart called hypocrisy. It is deficiency (hence the "hypo" prefix) in judgment (from the "krínomai" root).

Therefore, mark this well: Your love will not issue properly if you are slacking in the doctrinal work of Christianity. Remove your distractions, and nourish yourself with the words of our faith, and train with the Holy Spirit in godliness.

1 Timothy 4:6-9 ESV
If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. [7] Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; [8] for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. [9] The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.

Instructions on baptism

Matthew 3:11 ESV
"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

The baptism of fire and the trial of fire are one. The spiritual body is the body of beliefs, and the spiritual baptism is the cleansing of the spiritual body.

βαπτίζω
Baptize
Lit. Submerge; hence, wash

Matthew 28:19 ESV
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Acts 8:14-17 ESV
Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, [15] who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, [16] for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. [17] Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:36-39 KJVS
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? [37] And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. [38] And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. [39] And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

1 Corinthians 3:12-15 ESV
Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw- [13] each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. [14] If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. [15] If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

True beliefs are precious and pure. The trial and baptism of fire removes the impurities that cling to the spiritual body. To the pure portion of the spiritual body, the trial of fire is purifying. The heart that is pure longs for the baptism of fire.

John 15:1-2 ESV
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. [2] Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Ephesians 4:22-24 ESV
to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, [23] and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, [24] and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Proverbs 25:11 ESV
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

John 3:21 ESV
But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."

False beliefs are consumable and dead. They are the impurities which are revealed and destroyed by the trial and baptism of fire. To the impure portion of the spiritual body, the trial of fire is destruction. The heart that is impure fears the consuming fire of God.

John 3:19-20 ESV
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. [20] For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

Deuteronomy 4:24 ESV
For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Note that the Hebrew word for "idol" also meant "log".

Isaiah 44:14-20 ESV
He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. [15] Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. [16] Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, "Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!" [17] And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, "Deliver me, for you are my god!" [18] They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. [19] No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, "Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?" [20] He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?"

There will come a time when all who call on the name of the Lord will be made perfect in the twinkling of the eye. During the last days, sanctification is progressive. The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth, but does not simply drop the truth in your lap.

Personal bias and blind spots will hinder us as we walk with the Lord, but loving conversation, speaking truth with love among the brethren, is useful for exposing the errors that cling to us, which we cannot remove on our own.

Isaiah 28:13 ESV
And the word of the LORD will be to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little, that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

The pattern of going, then falling backwards, is consistent with all prophecy concerning the unity and influence of the church during the last days. First, there is a period of blessed striving towards unity of the faith (implying that the church did not begin with unity). Then, wolves in sheep's clothing will enter in, and there will be an apostasy, in which the "man of lawlessness" is revealed. But, then there is revival and restoration.

All of this was made possible by the price which was paid for the world upon the cross.

Isaiah 1:16-17 ESV
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, [17] learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.

Ephesians 5:25-27 ESV
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, [26] that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, [27] so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Laying on of hands

The physically blind "see" faces by the laying on of hands.

At present, God's children have a (torn) veil over our eyes, so that our spiritual vision is dim, incomplete.

Therefore, like the blind, we can lay hands on a patient's *spiritual body*, in order to *get a feel* for their beliefs and vocabulary. The spiritual laying on of hands is thus best practiced through conversation.

Genesis 27:1,12,22 ESV
When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, "My son"; and he answered, "Here I am." ...

[12] Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing."...

[22] So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau."

Isaiah 25:7 ESV
And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.

2 Corinthians 3:14-18 ESV
But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. [15] Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. [16] But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. [17] Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. [18] 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.

Acts 17:26-27 ESV
And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, [27] that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,

ψηλαφάω
Feel, touch, handle

HELPS Word-studies
5584 psēlapháō – properly, touch lightly, "feel after" to discover (personally investigate).

[5584 (psēlapháō) comes from a root meaning, "to rub, wipe"; hence, to feel on the surface (see Gen 27:12,21,22 in the LXX).]

It is not only the blind that investigate by touch. A physician also investigates the condition of his subject by laying hands on them.

The essence of spiritual healing is the removal of false beliefs through communication of gospel truth. Successful communication requires the speaker to speak truth in the vocabulary of the listener. Observe how essential this spiritual sense of "laying on hands" is to this practice of spiritual healing.

Getting a feel for a patient's vocabulary

The Difficulty Occasioned by Language

Faith, Christianity and the Church, C.S. Lewis (Essay Collection)
Page 35, God in the Dock

In all societies, no doubt, the speech of the vulgar differs from that of the learned. The English language with its double vocabulary (Latin and native), English manners (with their boundless indulgence to slang, even in polite circles) and English culture which allows nothing like the French Academy, make the gap unusually wide. There are almost two languages in this country. The man who wishes to speak to the uneducated in English must learn their language. It is not enough that he should abstain from using what he regards as 'hard words'. He must discover empirically what words exist in the language of his audience and what they mean in that language: e.g., that potential means not 'possible' but 'power', that creature means not 'creature', but 'animal', that primitive means 'rude' or 'clumsy'...

Isaiah 50:4 ESV
The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.

Don't underestimate the value of the simple and direct truths of Scripture

1 Corinthians 2:1-2 ESV
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. [2] For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Luke 16:19-21 ESV
"There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. [20] And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, [21] who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.

Consider this parable through the lense of spiritual wealth:

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 ESV
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. [3] If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

1 Corinthians 14:19 ESV
Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

1 Peter 2:2 ESV
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation-

Hebrews 6:20 ESV
where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

τάξις
Order, arrangement, ranking

HELPS Word-studies

Cognate: 5010 táksis (a feminine noun, derived from 5021 /tássō, "to arrange, order") – properly, an arrangement (a brand of ordering), placing one member over another in rank, approval, etc. See 5021 (tassō).

[5010 /táksis ("orderly array") was a military term in ancient Greece and thus **used as a ready "metaphor in Paul's conversation with the soldiers in His confinement**" (WS, 904).

5010 (taksis), as an ancient military term, describes an ordered troop ("cohort") – arranged in descending rank. This term suggests a detailed ordering rather than simply a general disposition of an army (as also in Thucydides, etc.).]

Getting a feel for a patient's beliefs

Galatians 3:5 ESV
Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith-

The answer to this question must be:

"He who supplies the Spirit to us and works miracles among us, does so by hearing with faith."

Thus, the Christian spiritual healer operates on the infallible basis of this Scripturally founded premise:

"God works miracles among us by hearing with faith." Replace a false belief about God with a true belief about God, and God Himself will celebrate the occasion by an outpouring of His benefits.

Romans 10:17 ESV
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

"Laying on" in the sense of "bestowing"

The blind and the physician investigate by touch, using their hands. Those who prepare the bread of doctrine must knead the dough of doctrine (use their understanding to *form* appropriate words, as befits the occassion).

Before any of this can be done, we need the Holy Spirit to bestow upon us our spiritual hands. This can sometimes be done by an apostle (one who is sent), if he is received as an apostle. Whoever receives a prophet in the character of a prophet, receives a prophet's reward.

ἐπιτίθημι
Lit. "Place-upon"

This is the word used in every instance of the laying on of hands in Scripture. In order to understand the full range of meaning suggested by the phrase "lay on hands," we must understand that this word for "laying" is also used for the bestowal of surnames, the infliction of wounds, and the laying of the cross upon Simon the passerby.

Bestowal of surnames

Mark 3:16 ESV
He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he *gave* the name Peter);

Infliction of wounds

Luke 10:30 ESV
Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and *beat* him and departed, leaving him half dead.

Laying of objects upon the body

Luke 23:26 ESV
And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.

Matthew 27:29 ESV
and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"

The spiritual hands

Spiritual discernment:
That by which we "feel about," investigate spiritual matters

1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

Psalm 32:8-9 ESV
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. [9] Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.

The bodily instrument of formation

Formation of thoughts, beliefs

Ephesians 4:28 Douay-Rheims Bible
He that stole, let him now steal no more; but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have something to give to him that suffereth need.

John 6:28-29 ESV
Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" [29] Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

The context of this verse is Paul's exhortation to mutual upbuilding through Christian conversation: speaking truth with love. The "thief" is the plagiarizer.

Each of us is responsible for building up our understanding of Christ's teachings. The work of explaining in one's own words is critical to spiritual growth. To "steal" another person's explanations (regardless of whether you are crediting the source), is a cheat, and will not lead to growth.

Plagiarize, according to Merriem-Webster:

to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use (another's production) without crediting the source

To the world "passing off as one's own" is part of the act of intellectual theft. However, spiritual theft involves the use of words which do not flow from the understanding which is in you.

If they do not flow from your understanding, then they are flowing from letters. You read it, it "sounded good", and now you are repeating it.

2 Corinthians 3:5-6 ESV
Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, [6] who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Remember, none of us can have a conversation with Augustine, Aquinas, or C.S. Lewis. We cannot ask them clarifying questions, or challenge them with Scriptures that they seem to be contradicting.

We cannot truly get to the root of their *reasons* for the hope that is in them, because doing that requires conversation. We can and should be practicing this form of conversation with the brothers who will gather with us today, to do the work of God: believing Jesus Christ. For when we do that, Christ is among us in a way that He is not promised to be, when we isolate ourselves with mere letters.

Matthew 18:20 ESV
For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."

2 Thessalonians 3:10 ESV
For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

Paul was careful about giving his life, a living sacrifice. He carried out in bodily form, that which we need to carry out spiritually. And spiritually speaking, whoever does not do the work of belief, the same will not truly eat the bread of doctrine; and thus, he will not grow.

Luke 12:56-57 ESV
You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? [57] "And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?

Formation of arguments, syllogisms

Formation of parables, analogies

Formation of plans

Resurrection of the dead

Matthew 22:30-32 ESV
For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. [31] And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: [32] 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living."

Luke 20:34-38 ESV
And Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, [35] but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, [36] for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. [37] But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. [38] Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him."

Luke 14:13-14 ESV
But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, [14] and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

John 6:44-51 ESV
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. [45] It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me- [46] not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. [47] Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. [48] I am the bread of life. [49] Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. [50] This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. [51] I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

"The last day"

The last day of the world
"Judgment Day"

The last day of eternity,
Which is also
The first day of eternity

Matthew 20:16 ESV
So the last will be first, and the first last."

Revelation 1:17 ESV
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last,

Romans 13:11-12 ESV
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. [12] The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Light=Day
Christ=Light
Therefore,
Christ=Day

Genesis 1:5 ESV
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

John 1:4-5,9-10 ESV
In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it...

[9] The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. [10] He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

From Barne's Notes on the Bible:

The day is near, or the time when they shall be admitted to heaven is not remote. This is the uniform representation of the New Testament; Hebrews 10:25; 1 Peter 4:7; James 5:8; Revelation 22:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:2-6; Philippians 4:5. That the apostle did not mean, however, that the end of the world was near, or that the day of judgment would come soon, is clear from his own explanations; see 1 Thessalonians 5:2-6; compare 2 Thessalonians 2.

The time when believers shall be admitted to heaven is not remote:

Hebrews 10:25 ESV
not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

1 Peter 4:7 ESV
The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

James 5:8 ESV
You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Revelation 22:10 ESV
And he said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.

1 Thessalonians 5:2-6 ESV
For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. [3] While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. [4] But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. [5] For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. [6] So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

Philippians 4:5 ESV
Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;

Paul did not mean that the "day of judgment" would come soon:

2 Thessalonians 2:3 ESV
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,

1 Timothy 4:1 ESV
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,

John 5:25-29 ESV
"Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. [26] For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. [27] And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. [28] Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice [29] and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

"All who are in the tombs"

Physical tombs, physically dead

Spiritual tombs, spiritually dead

Matthew 4:16 ESV
the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned."

Luke 1:76,79 ESV
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,...

[79] to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

Ephesians 4:17-18 ESV
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. [18] They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

Pre-millennial Resurrection vs Post-millennial Resurrection

Revelation 20:4-6 ESV
Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. [5] The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. [6] Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

ἀνάστασις
Lit. Stand up, or stand again

Romans 14:4 ESV
Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

We "stand again" or "rise again" into life, by the power of Christ. The first resurrection or anastasis that appears to our understanding is the return to bodily life, for all who have bodily died. This is the resurrection that Mary understood without being consoled about her brother's bodily death.

1 Corinthians 15:12-19 ESV
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? [13] But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. [14] And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. [15] We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. [16] For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. [17] And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. [18] Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. [19] If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

Sense of "stand again":

Acts 26:14,16 ESV
And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' ...

[16] But *rise* and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,

The second resurrection that appears to our understanding is the first resurrection that we actually experience. The return to spiritual life by those who were spiritually dead. To seek self is spiritual death, and to seek God is spiritual life. The truly first resurrection is the rebirth that we experience in Christ, dying to self, and living to God.

John 11:25 ESV
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,

To be in Christ is to be in the resurrection.

John 15:3-9 ESV
Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. [4] Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. [5] I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. [6] If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. [7] If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. [8] By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. [9] As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

John 12:24-25 ESV
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. [25] Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Romans 6:5-11 ESV
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. [6] We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. [7] For one who has died has been set free from sin. [8] Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. [9] We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. [10] For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. [11] So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

John 3:3,5-6,13 ESV
Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." [5] Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. [6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ...

[13] No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

Ephesians 4:8-10 ESV
Therefore it says, "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." [9] ( In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? [10] He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

Eternal judgment

Daniel 12:2-3 ESV
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. [3] And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

Revelation 20:10-15 ESV
and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. [11] Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. [12] And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. [13] And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. [14] Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. [15] And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Matthew 25:31-34,41,46 ESV
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. [32] Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. [33] And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. [34] Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ...

[41] "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ...

[46] And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

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