Consuming the Gospel
Illustration
Remember the vision of glory that Ezekiel had. The Lord spoke to Ezekiel saying: “Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.” Then Ezekiel looked, and behold, a hand was extended to him; and lo, a scroll was in it. When the Lord spread it out before Ezekiel, he saw that it was written on the front and back, and written on it were lamentations, mourning and woe. Then the Lord said to Ezekiel: “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So Ezekiel opened his mouth, and the Lord fed him the scroll. The Lord said to Ezekiel: “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then Ezekiel ate the scroll, and it was sweet as honey in his mouth. Ezekiel was told to eat, to consume, the Word of God. This kind of makes you think: when was the last time I consumed the bible rather than just read it?
When one goes beyond reading the bible merely for the sake of reading the bible, then one will truly consume the bible.
Sermon
Reading Beyond the Words
According to a study, “The Bible in American Life," conducted by the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture, only 9% of Americans say they read the Bible daily. That is most interesting when you consider that a recent Pew Research Center survey reveals around 78% of Americans claim to be Christians. It is not our purpose, however, to discuss why most people fail to study God’s Word. It goes without saying that some people who call themselves a Christian believe and some do not; some are mature Christian and some are not; some are morally receptive and some are not; some have faith and some have not; some yield to the Holy Spirit and some do not. Thus, it is only to those chosen few, that band of brother and sisters who love the Word of God, that this letter is directed. To you it is written, beware of falling into the habit of reading the bible because we think it is our duty to read the bible. When we read out of a sense of duty we become nothing more than gleaners … we get just enough to survive. On the other hand, when the bible is our wheat field, and we are the harvester instead of a gleaner, we get more than enough to make us healthy and for us to grow in the strength of the Lord, and for us to share with others. (Leviticus 23:22) There is a major difference between just reading words and digesting a message from the Holy Spirit. That is why when we take so little as one bible sentence into our spiritual belly it is far more profitable to us than a thousand sentences taken into our mortal mind.
Jerusalem Letter
For example, let us examine the Jerusalem Letter provoked by Paul and Barnabas. When Paul and Barnabas arrived at Antioch, after their first missionary journey, they gathered the church together and they began to report all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. Their message was well received by all but those men who had come down from Judea and began teaching that unless a man is circumcised, according to the custom of Moses, they cannot be saved. Paul and Barnabas had great dissension with those teaching circumcision and they debate with them before the brethren of the church at Antioch. After much deliberation, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and elders, and get this issue resolved.
When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the Apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. Most seemed to agree with Paul and Barnabas, but some of the sect of the Pharisees, who had become believers, disagreed. They stood up and said: “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.” Still, after much deliberation the Apostles and the elders, with the whole church, decided to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; and they sent this letter with them.
“The apostles and the brethren who are elders, to the brethren in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles, greetings. Since we have heard that some of our number to whom we gave no instruction have disturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls, it seemed good to us, having become of one mind, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will also report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.”
At the time this letter was written it addressed a major, if not the major, issue facing early Christians. Did Christ fulfil the law, as prophecy said He would, or is some of the law still in place? We need to remember, this was a very tough question for those who had grown up under the Law, but now were convinced Jesus Christ was the Messiah. Early Jewish Christians wanted to follow Christ but they also wanted the sense of security found in covering themselves with the Law. Surprise, surprise! Setting up abstentions and observances as proof of one’s religious nature seems to be a human trait that still remains with us. In fact, there are many Christians today who insist on crawling back under some kind of Law as their security blanket. In any event, the question before us is: Does the Jerusalem Letter carry a message deeper than instructing us to hang onto what appears to be a portion of the Law?
The Problem With Literal Interpretation
It would be beneficial if we were to think back to the time of Barnabas and Paul’s conference with the Apostles and elders in Jerusalem. The Apostles and elders were laboring to bring Christianity to a people who had lived under the Law for hundreds of years. In some ways, the Jews probably did find it good to cast aside burdensome portions of the Law; but, in other ways it was extremely difficult to give up the sense of security generated by some aspects of the law. Thus, it was almost impossible for the devout Jew to fully rationalize the idea of gentiles receiving God’s grace without submitting to at least some portion of the Law. For this reason, it is understandable that the Apostles and elder’s letter to Antioch was written with a hint of the Law in it. At the same time, however, we realize that the Apostles and elders could not possibly be compromising God’s grace. It is far more probably the Apostles and elders constructed the Jerusalem Letter in a form and language that conveyed New Testament doctrine in Old Testament symbolism. In other words, the letter sort of sounded legalistic but it really wasn’t.
To start with, we know the Jerusalem Letter cannot represent elements of the Law, which are to be observed by Christians. Jesus fulfilled the entire Law … there is no Law left for a Christian to observe. Jesus had to fulfill the entire Law because if we obligate ourselves to the Law and break even one Law then we are guilty of breaking all of the Law. (James 2:10) And, if we obligate ourselves to obey one element of the Law then we are obligated to obey all of the Law. (Galatians 5:3) Therefore, the Jerusalem Letter could not have been instructing the early Christian church to obey Jewish law, or any element of Jewish Law, or establishing any legalistic aspect in Christianity.
On the other hand, if the Jerusalem council was only sending advice to the Church they would not have said: “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: …” An essential is something that is absolutely necessary. The two essentials that the Holy Spirit and the Jerusalem council seem to have laid upon all Christians deals with abstaining from blood and fornication. Stop and think about this for a moment; if literally abstaining from blood and fornication are Christian essentials then what do we do with the Cross. All Christian essentials are rooted in, and nourished by, the teachings and sacrifice of Jesus Christ … not the Law. On top of this, how can abstaining from any food be a Christian essential? Jesus said: “Hear and understand. It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” (Matthew 15:10-11) Relative to food, the Holy Spirit told Peter: “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” (Acts 10:14-15) Jesus does not lie! The Holy Spirit does not lie! What we eat or drink does not condemn us; therefore, what we eat or drink cannot be an essential of Christianity. There has to be more here than literally abstaining from the consumption of blood.
Looking to the Spirit
Perhaps the council’s instructions extend beyond literal interpretation. To the early Jews blood was life or contained life. In explaining the New Covenant, Paul said that when we come to Jesus we are coming to the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel; which spoke to God from the ground, accusing Cain. (Hebrews 12:24, Genesis 4:10) Blood was not only the medium of life it was also the symbolic foundation of all covenant relationships between man and God. Blood signified and sanctified agreement between man and God. The last use of blood in establishing a covenant relationship with God was Jesus’ blood. With the sacrifice of Jesus, however, the blood covenant was brought to perfection … it was finished. Literal blood itself had lost its importance, but the symbol of blood’s atoning power remained in the Communion service established by Jesus. Therefore, the Jerusalem Letter could indeed be looking beyond literal blood. The idea that Christians should abstain from things sacrificed to idols could very well be a symbolic way of telling people to reject any suggestion that something physical can establish or maintain a new relationship with God. Maybe the letter is saying that physical abstention is being replaced by spiritual circumcision.
The letter also tells the people to abstain from fornication, or in Greek ‘porneia.’ Certainly we are to abstain from literal fornication, just as we are to abstain from all sin. The Jerusalem Letter, however, could be referencing a common early Christian understanding of porneia, which means to break our fidelity with God. James wrote: You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"? It is definitely possible that the Jerusalem Letter was also addressing man’s fidelity with God.
We must admit the Jerusalem letter could have been literal instructions to the church, but it is highly doubtful if that is all it is. This is not to say that people did not take abstaining from blood and fornication as essential doctrine; but, these abstentions just do not carry enough scriptural weight to be considered essentials of Christianity, any more so than not being a witch or homosexual is essential. Thus, it is proposed that there is more in the Jerusalem Letter than just literal words. To satisfy legalistic Christian Jews, the Jerusalem Letter could very well have been written in the vernacular of the Law; but, in reality the Jerusalem Letter could have also been telling the first century gentiles that it is essential for them not to put their faith in the rituals of man, but to remain faithful in their devotion to Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
The same concept is true with this letter … it is not about debating the Jerusalem Letter … it is about finding more in scripture than just words. No one can tell us exactly what inspired the way the Jerusalem Letter was written; but that is not the point we want to make. What is important is our realizing wisdom comes when we accept our mental limitations and allow the Word of God to become manna for our spirit. When we read just the words of the Jerusalem letter we, at best, have a temporal blessing. When we make a meal of the Jerusalem Letter we pass through a portal and enter the realm of the early church. We are not only one of those receiving the letter we are also one of those writing the letter. In this transformation, the letter is not as important as the issues forcing the writing of the letter; the considerations of those writing the letter; and the attitude of those receiving the letter. It is a wonderful experience to have the Word of God transform our reality and become a kingly banquet where our spirit can feast.
Here is the bottom line; you can simply read scripture or you can consume it.
