Biblical Discernment

1 Thessalonians 5:20-22

A Message preached by Jeff Wright .

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The Primary Reason for Education

Have you ever sit down and wondered why we have education? Is it so we can get good jobs? Yes, but this is a secondary reason. Is it so we can better our society? Yes, but this is a secondary reason. The primary reason that we, as Christians, should support education is because it teaches people the necessary skills so they can read the Word of God for all it’s worth.

Let’s examine this for few moments. 2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” The fact is, is that if you don’t “rightly divide” the Word of Truth, then when it comes from your mouth, it is not the Word of Truth. A person who studies God’s Word must work hard at it. It takes diligence, sweat, immense time, and sometimes insomnia to rightly divide the Word of Truth. How can you do any of these if you’ve had no education?

Reading: If you can’t read, then how can you even begin to study God’s Word? Granted, you can listen to a tape of God’s Word, but even then the person who is reading it to you has had to have an education. Reading helps you to thoroughly study God’s Word.

Math: If you don’t understand math, then you will miss out on the magnitude of some of the great miracles of God. One example is Noah’s Ark. If we sit down and figured up the volume of the ark, and the space that the animals would take up, we would understand that there was plenty of room left over inside of the Ark after thousands of animals were on. Math helps you appreciate the perfection of God’s miracles.

Social Studies: If we don’t understand how to study other cultures, then we will miss out on what God’s Word has to say. The primary recipients of the letters of the New Testament were the churches that they were being written to. We are the secondary recipients; therefore, we must understand the culture of the time in order to understand many illustrations in the Bible. Social Studies helps you learn where to begin in your studies.

Biology: By understanding biology, we get a glimpse into the miracle of God’s creation. To think and understand how complex the human body and this world is, and to think that God just said it into being, is truly an overwhelming accomplishment. Biology helps us better appreciate the miracles of God.

English: By understanding English, we understand the punctuation and the meaning behind the Scriptures. The very translators of our English versions couldn’t have rightly translated the Word without immense studies in English, also Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. English helps us understand the meaning of God’s Word.

The list of subjects can go on and on. The bottom line is, is that if you don’t have an education, then you can’t study the Word of God for all it’s worth. Also, if you don’t have the Holy Spirit of God, then you can’t study the Word of God for all it’s worth, for it is spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14).

I said all of this, to say this. Exalt the study of God’s Word in your homes above the meager study of secular schooling. Please don’t keep your kids from coming to church because they have to do homework. Which is more important, the Word of God that they’re being taught at the church, or the secular education that they’re receiving at school? To keep them home to do homework is to exalt the secondary reason for education over the primary one. For as much as they learn in school, they will only be a smart person who is going to hell, if they never accept God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. The primary reason we should support education, is so everyone can study God’s Word for all it’s worth, for it is the light that shines in this dark place (2 Peter 1:19). If people don’t understand it, then at best they are blind, for they can’t see without the Truth. I love you church.

In Him,
Bro. Jared

Rightly dividing the Word of Truth

(An Article I wrote for My Church's Newsletter)

(John Macarthur's Sermon "What God Thinks Of Homosexuals" was used in preparation for this article)

2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

To the surprise of many, there are homosexual “churches” across this nation. To our surprise, these “churches” are in Knoxville, Chattanooga, Nashville, and the Tri-cities. One is also in Cookeville, TN. These “churches” are called Metropolitan Community “Church”. Here is their mission statement:

“We call people to new life through the loving example of Jesus Christ, to create a community of healing and reconciliation and to confront injustice through Christian social action and liberation. Although we are a Christian church founded by lesbians and gay men, we are open to all. We believe that God's grace transcends all boundaries of dogma, doctrine, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, ability, and all forms of prejudice and bigotry.

Following Jesus' example, we see the mission of the Metropolitan Community Church of Knoxville in three parts--to love God, ourselves, and each other. In that light, then, we set out our vision as a diverse community of believers who assemble for worship, music, prayer, confession, communion, absolution, and ser- vice. We provide a safe and affirming place for teaching, learning, and fostering community involvement, political action, and evangelism. In addition, we provide a special ministry to the underserved gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered communities.”
-Found at www.mccknoxville.org

A former associate pastor for a Metropolitan Community Church in California said that their greatest evidence for God’s blessing on homosexuality is the fact that God blessed the homosexual relationship of David and Jonathon.

Friend, this may be one of the dumbest statements ever to come out of a pagan’s mouth. This man and every homosexual “Christian” have done nothing less than butcher God’s Holy Word, so as to make it say something that it does not, nor ever intended to say. The picture is that of a rape. They have forced themselves on Scripture, had their way with it, and left it bleeding in the gutter. Also, those who respect them, witness this, and follow suite.
Let us now examine the relationship of Jonathon and David…

1 Samuel 18:1 says, “As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”

1. This homosexual associate “pastor” said that this was the beginning of a homosexual relationship between David and Jonathon. (Scroll down on this Knoxville homosexual "church's" website for a brief summary of this belief, as well as other examples. http://www.mccknoxville.org/BeingChristian.htm )

2. The truth is that this verse should be the norm for every Christian. What is the second greatest commandment? Mark 12:31 says, “The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." We are to love our neighbors “as our own soul”. Can you see where this Scripture has been wrongly handled?

1 Samuel 18:4 says, “And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.”

1. This homosexual associate “pastor” says that this is the first homosexual act.

2. During the time that this happened, it was a great sign of friendship to give one, one’s clothing and armor. Can you see where the Scripture was wrongly handled in this verse?

1 Samuel 19:1 says, “And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David.”

1. This homosexual associate “pastor” said that delighted, in this verse, implies sex relations.

2. The truth is that there is not one place in Scripture where delighted refers to anything sexual. What it does refer to is the joy of the heart in a relationship of love. Can you see where the Scripture was wrongly handled in this verse?

1 Samuel 20:3 says, “But David vowed again, saying, "Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thinks, 'Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved.' But truly, as the LORD lives and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death."

1. This homosexual associate “pastor” said that favor (or grace) here, refers to Saul knowing that Jonathon and David were homosexuals. He says that Saul was an evil man, and the fact that he was against his son’s homosexuality, validates his evilness even more.

2. The truth is that grace never refers to homosexuality. To say that this verse implies homosexuality is to pull it out of the air, for it is nowhere in this verse. Can you see where the Scripture was wrongly handled here?

1 Samuel 20:30 says, “Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, "You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness?”

1. This homosexual associate “pastor” said that Saul is angry with Jonathon in this verse because Jonathon has chosen David and become a homosexual.

2. The truth is that Saul is angry because his son Jonathon had befriended the future king. Jonathon had become a traitor to the royal family. Can you see where the Scripture was wrongly handled here?

1 Samuel 20:41 says, “And as soon as the boy had gone, David rose from beside the stone heap and fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another, David weeping the most.”

1. This homosexual associate “pastor” said that this was a sexual act between Jonathon and David. The rest is pornographic writing.

2. The truth is that there was a great sorrow here. The kissing was cheek to cheek, and during this time, everybody and their brother did this. If we had to leave everything behind because the most powerful man in the nation was seeking our lives, would we not be weeping? Would we not show affection to the ones we were leaving behind, especially to the one who had went against his father, become our best friend, and helped to keep us alive? Can you see where the Scripture has been wrongly handled here? There is a New Testament example of this in Acts 20, when the elders come and weep with Paul.

2 Samuel 1:26 says, “I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.”

1. This homosexual associate “pastor” abuses this verse to say that David and Jonathon were homosexuals.

2. The truth is that there is something unique about a true friendship between two men or two women. I’ve got some true friends, and I believe that regardless how close my wife and I get, it cannot replace the true friendship that I have with my friends. Regardless how close my wife and I become, she is still a woman and I’m still a man. Can you see where this verse has been mishandled?

Throughout this lesson, we have learned how heresy can be brought forth whenever Scripture is wrongly handled. The homosexual “Christians” are no more Christians than the fornicator who loves his fornication, or the liar who loves telling untruth, or the adulterer who loves his adultery, or the drunk who loves his drunkenness, etc. If homosexuals are going to start churches for homosexuals, then let the liars start churches for liars, the murderers for the murderers, the drunkards for the drunkards, etc. Having never turned from homosexuality, how can they ever turn to God? Without repentance, there can be no saving faith.
So church, let us identify the wrong handling of Scripture.

But, let us love the homosexuals as Christ has loved us. For without Christ, our part would be with them in the lake of fire. So, let us seek the souls of the homosexuals, the drunkards, the murderers, and all the other lost, for if we handle Scripture properly, then we know that this is commanded of us (Matthew 28:19+20). I love you church.

The Arrogance of Thankless Health

(Another Article I wrote for my Church's Newsletter)

Twenty-three years ago in Sparta, Tennessee, after only seven months in my mother’s womb, I was born. I weighed four pounds and ten ounces. Being two months premature, complications came with the earliness. I had highland membrane (underdeveloped lungs), and I had a brain hemorrhage. I stopped breathing shortly after I was born, and a nurse gave me mouth to mouth until an ambulance named Angel One got there from Vanderbilt. The doctor that delivered me didn’t believe that I would make it, and he didn’t want my mother to get her hopes up. I stayed in the hospital for 6 weeks until I finally came home. I barely weighed five pounds. During the course of the next year, I made three more extensive visits to the hospital, and one time my lung collapsed. Through all of this, the doctors and nurses called me a miracle baby. After that first year all of my health problems ceased.

I look around me all the time, and I see people who suffered the same things as I did, and they’ve been marked with handicaps. I often wonder why God spared me as He did, and why I’m not marked as them. There is so satisfying answer to this question. The bottom line is that God is sovereign and knows what He’s doing. As I look at these people who don’t have perfect health, I see the arrogance that laces my apathy towards my good health. When is the last time that I thanked God for my health? When is the last time you thanked God for yours?

Today I visited a lady who has a tumor which has left her as a shadow of her former self, but friend, Oh how she loves Jesus. Oh, God be merciful to me for my arrogance and thankless prayers for the health that you’ve given me. I wake up in the morning with eyes that see, I walk on working legs, I talk with clear/working speech, I eat without an I.V., I have kidneys which oppose dialysis, I have ears which need no hearing aid, I have lungs which breathe on their own, and I have a fully functioning brain. I HAVE GOOD HEALTH, AND YET I FIND MYSELF OFTEN PRAYING, RUNNING OUT OF THINGS TO BE THANKFUL FOR. MAY GOD FORGIVE MY PUTRID ARROGANCE OF THANKLESSNESS, FOR HE IS THE ONLY REASON I HAVE MY HEALTH (Acts 17:25). May endless praises forever fall from our lips for the King has given us so much. Let us not forget the Health-giver when we lay our heads on our pillows tonight. May I never forget. I love you church.

In Him,
Brother Jared

More Than You Could Be or Less Than You Should Be

(An Article I wrote for my Church's Newsletter)

In Galatians 6:3 Paul says, “For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”

In 1 Timothy 1:5 Paul says, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

As the title states, every Christian falls into one of these categories. Christians either look around them at all the horrible sin in the world, and believe that they’re better than those who commit those sins, thus thinking that they are more than they could be, or they look at their own lives and see how far they fall short of God’s glory, thus feeling constantly unworthy, knowing that they are less than they should be. Which category do you fall in? When you look into the character of King Jesus, does arrogance blind you of your constant need for Him, or does His perfection bring you to your knees in gratitude? I testify of all sinners, I am the worst. The only good thing about me is King Jesus. This truth does not discourage me, but encourages me for the King of kings and Lord of lords loves me. If finite man comes against me, hates me, persecutes me, spills my blood, or takes the air from my lungs, then greater tears will be shed from my eyes for one of my sins committed against the Infinite King whom has saved me, is saving me, and will save me. I just love Him so much that I hate my sins… every last one of them for He has changed me. Praise God for His faithfulness to an unfaithful people. Praise God for the willing sacrifice of His Son for my salvation. My prayer is that these truths will not fall on blind eyes or deaf ears, but on repentant and obedient hearts. Keep on keeping on Church for the One who puts the air in man’s lungs, loves you, has saved you, and is coming back to get you (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

In Him,

Bro. Jared

The Blood-soaked Hands of the Arrogant Christian

(A Newsletter Article I did for My Church's Newsletter)

The argument that’s about to be presented is the difference between the handling of our brethren’s confessed and unconfessed sin. All of our sins, past, present, and future, are forgiven at salvation; however, we still have our sinful nature and are told in 1 John 1:8, 9 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 (ESV). The difference is that before salvation, we confessed our sins in faith to receive God’s grace alone through Christ alone. After salvation, we confess our sins because of our salvation, not to keep it, nor to attain it again, but because He has changed us, is our Father, and thus we seek to please Him and have close fellowship with Him. God tells the church to bring up unconfessed sin (1 Corinthians 5, Matthew 18:15-17, Titus 3:10, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-18). It’s extremely sad how the church is told to bring up the unconfessed sin of other believers in hopes of restoring them, and the church will not do it; however, the church will bring up confessed sin in unaware sinful hope that it will satisfy their own evil desires, and the afterthought is the destruction of the testimonies of the other believers.

Throughout the years I have heard too many stories of arrogant Christians participating in the work of Satan. They do this in ignorance for they are blinded by the sinfulness of their flesh. Too many times I’ve seen Christians try to forget their past only to fail because of other Christians not letting them forget. We all know saints who have committed adultery, fornication, drunkenness, or idolatry. The difference is, is that if they have asked for forgiveness, then we are to forget and not think “less” of them because we’ve not committed their sin. Let me tell you what I mean.

There was a lady who loved Jesus. She, however, had placed herself in stupid situations, which led to her committing adultery. Since then she had repented and asked God to forgive her. Her husband was very forgiving, but even though years had passed, the Christians at church still brought it up occasionally. Why did they bring it up? They brought it up because they were unknowingly being used by Satan. You see, every person bringing up forgiven and confessed sin, only bring up sins that they’ve never committed or wouldn’t commit. I mean who is going to say, “Well, that Sarah sure drove fast a few years ago, she broke the law.” This is not the gossip that you will hear. But, if someone has fallen into sexual immorality or adultery, then you will probably hear about it. I’ve heard Christians talk about other Christians who got pregnant out of wedlock ten plus years ago. What other purpose is there in this, than to attack the character of the one being talked about?

These Christians are so focused on bringing up other Christians’ forgiven and confessed sins that they don’t realize that their hands are soaked with blood. At first glance one might think that it’s the blood of the Christian that they’re talking about, but it’s actually the blood of the sinless Savior Jesus Christ. You see, in order to bring up forgiven and confessed sin, these Christians must first reach into the blood of Christ, pull the sin out, and show it to the world all over again (Of course they aren’t actually reaching into Christ’s blood eternally speaking, nor in the eyes of the Father, but outwardly, earthly, and before the eyes of the church and the world, they are). The only other person who does this is Satan himself. Revelation 12:10 reads, “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of the brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.” The accuser of the brethren spends day and night bringing up forgiven sin to the Father.

The King of kings and Lord of lords has removed our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). He has forgotten the sins of those that are His. Why in the world then are those who have had their sins forgiven and forgotten, the ones that are unforgiving and unforgetful of the sins of their brethren? I just want to ask all of you one question: “Are your hands soaked with Christ’s blood?” If your hands are, then may God have mercy on your sinful arrogance, for you are participating in the work of Satan. I plead with you to ask for forgiveness now, for what you don’t realize is that by bringing up other people’s forgiven and confessed sin, you are actually sinning against Him, and thus diminishing your fellowship with Him. With each passing day, may we hold our tongues when our sinful nature and the accuser of the brethren tempt us to dip our hands in the blood of Jesus. I love you church.

In Him,
Bro. Jared Moore