1. Of Christian Foundations
Has the foundation for the Christian faith been laid once for all, or do we look for new foundations to be poured in every generation? To ask such a thing is to answer it. The idea of digging up the old foundation of a building every forty years, so as to lay a new one is ridiculous. Then if it is certain that the foundation has already been laid, we must be careful to build on that rock only.
In I Corinthians 3:11, Paul likens himself to a construction engineer who is in charge of a special project in his day. He claims that his preaching of Jesus Christ to the Corinthians was essentially the laying of the foundation for the church there. While his comment could be interpreted locally, it is clear that Jesus Himself concurs with Paul's assessment as He speaks to Peter in Matthew 16:
"...upon this rock I will build My church." What rock is that? Peter, to whom the words were addressed? Peter denies that assertion in his own letter, calling himself and the persons to whom he wrote, living stones, themselves built on the chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ. It was the fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Holy Spirit words that emanated from Peter's mouth, that became the foundation of the church worldwide. Every church formed in every generation must preach that message first to qualify as a true church of the living God. Churches built on men alone are disqualified.
But the question of foundations does not end with these statements about Jesus. Ephesians 2:20 indicates that we have been built also upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. If Jesus Himself is the foundation rock, the cornerstone, then those who have preached that message first must be considered a part of that foundation also. Historically, it was apostles and prophets who were in the "mix" of foundational material.
Once we identify apostles and prophets as primary, we of course must go on and tell which apostles and which prophets, and here we run into some problems.
First, the prophets. Are these the Old Testament prophets, most of whom offered some insight into the coming Messiah and His role? Isaiah who foretold His sacrifice. Jeremiah who saw His covenant. Daniel who told us the time of His birth. Micah who pinpointed the place. Malachi who identified His forerunner. Even Moses, who prophesied a prophet who was to come like himself. David also is called "prophet" in the New Testament, and for good reason. He saw Jesus on the cross, and then saw Him in His final reign over all the earth.
Were these prophets the foundation-stones on which the church was built? Works for me. But some may prefer to put forward first century prophets who gave oral revelations about Jesus as eyewitnesses before there was much in the way of a written revelation. Together with apostles, every necessary word and action of Jesus was established, then recorded for us.
Finally, to whom does Paul refer when He speaks of apostles? Any apostles of all time? The twelve? And if so, which 12? Not such easy work here. Paul does open the door to the possibility of apostles being with us throughout the church age. While most evangelicals decry the idea of apostles in their midst, they are quick to empower "missionaries", a title which is seen nowhere in Scripture.
Or is it? Missionary means "one who is sent". So does apostle. The former is from the Latin, the latter from the Greek. So Baptists believe in apostles after all! And just for the record, some of their Western-based church boards would be shocked to hear stories about their mission fields that equal episodes from the Book of Acts, showing that not only apostles, but signs of apostles, are still very much with us. Wisdom demands that those boards not hear everything...
Or so I am told. Anyway, if apostles could be with us now, are they foundational? That was, after all, the original question of this article. I think that there we can be conclusive in our answer. Jesus Christ was offered as the original foundation, unchanging. Similarly there was a first century group that was originally assigned a special position in the church. That foundation must not be laid again. I believe that today's apostles, if they exist, do not qualify as originators, only as confirmers. In fact if they do originate, and their doctrines defy the words already given us, they are to be ignored and/or exposed.
Does that leave then, only the "12"? I believe I am on good ground here in saying, yes it does. Jesus told that special group in Matthew 19:28, "You will sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel." It is this very specific calling and office that motivated the apostles (Acts 1) to elect immediately a man to take the place of Judas, who obviously is not bound for a throne. Their choice of Matthias receives no comment from Heaven, for or against, though many have speculated that it was probably Paul who was designated by the Father to occupy that chair. We'll have to wait and see, since all the speculation in the world will not change the actual fact.
As confirmation of the honor placed on these twelve who gave their entire lives to put in place the Christian foundation, the Book of Revelation cannot be equaled. The New Jerusalem is filled with the number 12. There are 12 gates. 12 angels. The 12 tribes of Israel. And, there it is, 12 foundations, said to stand for, you guessed it, the 12 apostles!
Seems pretty clear to me. What I have just told you IS "set in stone."
2. Spirit or Word?
It’s become a byword. Nearly a description of the neo-Western world. Ignorance of the Scriptures. This Book was the one used to educate children in early America. It is largely despised and ignored today.
How solid is Biblical knowledge in Christendom? Those who stress experience as the main event are among the worst when it comes to Bible knowledge. They somehow believe that experience trumps Bible knowledge. Of course, their very experience, if genuine, is Biblically based. What a joy to be able to turn to the pages of Scripture and say, “That’s me! I know all about that!” And how better to pass the experience on authoritatively than to say, “This says the Lord,” and quote a Bible verse.
But wait, Fundamentalists, those of you who do know the Book, not so fast in your run to judgment! Many Bible believers have a glaring ignorance at times also. In fact, often their lack of experiential knowledge is far more serious. They remind one often of the Pharisees who searched the Scriptures constantly, memorized them, enforced them on others, but would not come to the living God when He showed up in front of them. Bible lovers often rule out the miraculous for today, saying it was all for a reason and for a season. Reason and season being history, they eloquently opine, miracles must be history too.
When a miracle does happen, and miracles there are aplenty for those looking, they must be explained away. Shamefully many of their arguments sound like those who deny the resurrection of Jesus, and all the rest. “It was group hypnosis.” “It was from the Devil.”
You’ve heard it all too, I guess.
I generalize of course, but in the main, fundamentalists are ignorant of experiences. Experientialists are ignorant of Scriptures. Neither is excusable. The Book is simply a written expression of someone’s experience in revelation. To come against it or ignore it is to come against the Spirit. And to come against the miracles of the Spirit in our day is to come against the promises of such in the Word.
For anyone who can read this, ignorance is no excuse. The Book is everywhere. God’s people, filled with His Spirit, ditto. America is beginning to lose in its educational prowess worldwide. I wonder if it has to do with its corresponding ignorance of the things of God?
3. God's Bible Course
The writer of Hebrews, whoever he may be, was aware that his readers were not up to par on the things of God. He commented in one place that by now they ought to be teaching others, but still had a need to be taught themselves. In another that they were babies still drinking milk when they ought to be handling meatier subjects.
For their convenience and ours, he outlined a series of lessons that need to be taught at an entry or elementary level, then implied by the things he taught later in the book another listing of more mature subjects.
"Professor" Paul (?) thus leaves us with a full course of study for the Christian life. You might be fascinated to compare the following lists to what you are being taught at your fellowship. Maybe a (loving!) word to the pastor is in order? Or perhaps he has a word of correction for your congregation!
My number designation is simply added for emphasis and has no Scriptural counterpart! But the original catalog of these courses is clearly given in Hebrews 6:1-2.
Course 101 would be repentance from dead works. Sin. Death. The cross. Jesus taught this course to people on the street, as He was inviting them to Himself. No repentance, no cross, means no salvation.
At that point, 102, faith, can be taught. Persons unable to repent, to lay it all down for Jesus Christ, are showing they do not have saving faith. The simple elements of the Gospel, what Jesus did for us, the efficacy of His blood, their need of a Saviour. Students need to believe this message before any progress will be made.
Baptism, part one, is course 103. The dead man must be buried. Water baptism is given as the first opportunity to testify of new-found faith in Jesus. A death has occurred. Here is pictured the burial. The presence of water in all the salvation stories of Acts can be brought out.
104 would be baptism, part two. Spirit immersion. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His, says the Word to us. Calling out for the Spirit of God, allowing for His fullness within, is basic and initial.
Then comes the laying on of hands course, number 105. A whole range of blessings come from this seemingly forgotten ordinance of the church of Jesus. Through the laying on of hands can come the Spirit in His fullness, healing, gifting, and setting apart for the work of ministry. Vital!
106. Resurrection. While all of the above are right-now things that every new believer should not only know but experience, part of one's elementary education involves our ending state. Called eschatology by some, this study of the last things that come to the believer is filled with excitement, and generates much of the hope that will be needed in the growing Christian.
107 is a continuation of 106 to some measure. Picking up just after the final resurrection, this course centers on the judgments that shall follow. The world will know an eternally damning judgment. Believers will be judged by the fruit of their lives and be given rewards - or not. Heaven and Hell can be studied at this time.
So how about it? Still studying the above? If you are new to the faith, you ought to be! All of this is elementary education. For children in the faith, newcomers.
But if you and/or your congregation have evidenced enough fruit for your pastor to move on to deeper things, here is another series of classes, suggested by the further content of the book of Hebrews:
201: The promises of all the prophets as they pointed to Jesus.
202: The history of God's people from Genesis on.
203: The legal and priestly system as it points to and reveals Jesus.
204: All the covenants of the Bible, with a special look at our own agreement with God, the New Covenant.
205: The life, work, and teachings of Jesus.
206: The faith walk.
207: Discipline and chastening. Boundaries for the Christian.
208:The moral teachings. Fruit of the Holy Spirit. Church rules.
209: Love to God, brother, neighbor, mankind.
Wow! You say. Sounds like a Bible College curriculum. Sadly, such lists are found in Bible Colleges, as those institutions have gradually taken from local congregations the responsibility for educating in depth. In this manner, a Protestant "clergy" has been formed, setting up the educated over the impoverished "lay" person.
Is it too late to call for all local congregations to train their own people fully and freely? To ask that "ministerial" candidates also be educated right there at home, observed carefully for many years, and then sent out to minister God's Word? Why did we have to follow the world's program of college and university, when we can see the foul fruits that are produced in it? Is it too much to ask of pastors and teachers at the local level that they give to their people a balanced diet of milk for the new, and meat for the old?
I can dream, anyway...
4. When the Book and the People Don't Match
Every word of God is pure. It is impossible for God to lie, to exaggerate, to change. Every detail matters. He says He is the Lord, and He does not change. That means if anything is to change, it must be me. Us.
Remember King Josiah? The people of his day had changed, radically. They were caught up in the spirit of the day, the values of the day. Slowly the world’s values had permeated Israel, and Israel became a different entity.
Then Josiah had delivered to him an old dusty Scroll. As Josiah read through it he realized that what was in that book did not measure up to what he saw in the people of God around him. People of God? No, that was the problem. They had ceased being the people of God and were in fact the people of the world. Pagan. They talked and acted and worshiped like the world around them. The salt had lost its savour.
Josiah knew that if that Book were true, he and these people were in grave trouble. He made a decision. No matter the cost, we’re going back to the Book, he said. It cost a lot. But the cost would have been far greater had he not instituted his reforms.
Eventually Israel returned to its vomit, loving the world and its idols more than the God Who had taken them from bondage. And judgment came, without apology, from a God Who loves His Word and keeps His promises.
The point here is that even one man who decides to live by the Book can stay God’s hand of judgment, at least on himself and his own.
It sounds curious to some to hear of “Book” talk in this age of the Spirit. Yet God has always had a Book, a written testimony. Even in the New Testament days, the apostles served as a walking Bible to the fledgling church. They knew what God was saying, did these first century saints. They had all of God’s recorded history and law handed to them, what we call the “Old Testament”, and then living apostles to tell them what it all meant and where things were going.
The apostles live with us still, if men prefer to talk of a living Presence rather than a “Book.” Brother John spoke to me just this morning from Patmos, reminding me that I need to renew my first love. Really. If talk of a “Book” is not sufficient for some, let me talk of a Spirit who speaks through the words of living - though departed from us – apostles.
Why does Jesus say that the person who breaks and teaches the very least of His precepts shall be least in the Kingdom one day? Because written words still matter. Jesus did not come to annihilate law. That activity is the work of the “lawless” one, the antichrist, not our righteous Lord, Who demands righteousness and perfection from all His saints.
What changed at Calvary was not the need for directions and rules and laws, but the way that all of this could be accomplished. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, an impartation of righteousness and a filling of the Spirit now “keeps” the law within us. God’s people are still people of the Book. They can’t help it!
Yes, the Commandments are summed up in love of God and love of neighbor, but have you read lately the detailing out of that summary as recorded not by Moses, but by Paul, and Peter, and all the other New Covenant men? God is speaking to His people. And the only way He has ever judged them worthy of this or that reward is through their obedience to those messages. He is still a holy God Who wants a holy people. And those people must obey! Whatever the Spirit has said to apostle or prophet of old, obey!
By the way, if apostles and prophets live among us today, judge their words by the words of the originals. When they do not speak the same thing, they are not to be feared. Many false prophets and apostles have already come… and gone. More will be along directly.
So many in the Western church of the 21st century will not endure such sound teaching. The pendulum has swung to experience, to the near exclusion of principle. These things ought not to be, but it is not a new phenomenon. The putting aside of the written word goes back to the days of Moses himself.
No one is suggesting that experience is not necessary. At least I am not. It is vital. Without personal experience, the book is a dead letter, a reminder of Sinai, a bondage. But on the other hand, experience without word will lead one to join hands with Mary-worshipers, Buddhists, Hindus, and the host of other religions where experience is king.
Perhaps the modern church and each of its members needs a serious assignment: Pick up a copy of the Bible, go on a retreat, whatever the cost might be, and read it through without commentary or human assistance. Stop only to eat and sleep. Do nothing by day or night until that Book is finished. Pray all the way for illumination.
In many cases, there will be Josiah moments. For, we will see the people of God in that Book, and realize that our group, our own life, does not in any way measure up. Then will come the choice. I fear that in many cases the choice has already been made, and it will be hard to stem the tide of the coming world religion. But the choices are still there:
1. Continue on, let things develop as they are, see where it all comes out. This was the choice of the early church as it headed into the paganism of the Dark Ages. Not until the Reformation did people finally say, Enough of this!
This has been the choice of most denominations, too, who go just so far and no more. They are equivalent to motorists stopping in the middle of a freeway and setting up a tent there. “I aint goin’ nowhere,” they will tell the officer… They have to be forced into moving on. But there is another choice…
2. Take a stand. Dig your heels in and say, Thus saith the Lord! We’ve gone the wrong way, we must go back, regardless of whether we move against traffic, swim upriver… There is only danger and destruction in the path we are on. Back to the Book! Back to the apostles! Back to the Spirit of God!
Amazing things happen when people make this choice. Not all of them are pleasant things, but always amazing. God’s favor will surely be evident, peace will fill the heart, communion restored, oh my!
But the displeasure of man, even fellow “believers” will shine too. Slander, ridicule, isolation, rejection, and worse, come to those who taste the sweet honey in their mouth and then share it with others. Jesus said the “fellow believers” of the disciples would one day think that killing them was the perfect will of God! What will you do when you discover it?
5. How Some Bad Grammar Stunted My Growth
Couple of things I've done pretty well with over the years. English is one of them, although the placement of the word "with" in the last sentence is not evidence of same. My style in general belies my knowledge of English rules. Nevertheless it's true that I can "sense" when something is wrong in a written text.
Take John 5:39, for example. Raised on the Old King James, I had it drilled into me that we are commanded to study the Bible, that is, "Search the Scriptures." I knew the rest of the sentence didn't seem to fit grammatically, but I assumed that was a KJV problem. Lot o' stuff sounded funny to a 20th century reader.
"Search the Scriptures because in them you think you have eternal life..." Hmmm. What's wrong with this picture? How
can I make it sound right? Then I learned there was another language before English. More than one, they tell me now. Place over in the Mediterranean known as Greece. That always got me laughing, too. 'Specially when they included Turkey in the sentence. Add Hungary, and we're all howling. Little kids, you know.
Anyway, in this Greece they had a language. And this language, like English, had rules. The rule in Greek about situations like this was that the 2nd person singular, "You search," has the same Greek ending as the command form, "Search!" No way to tell which of these words is to be used except by context.
You'd think the old KJV guys would have figured out the context, right? They didn't. And all my young years, I lived with the impression that if I would search the Scriptures, I'd find eternal life. Wrong.
Then Old KJV had a son, or something. They called him, NEW KJV. To my delight and the relief of Bible-searchers everywhere, I found that Jesus was simply making a statement of fact to some very bad people. It made sense grammatically, but it shattered a life-long concept. Eternal life was not bound up in a book after all. But in the Person to whom the Book pointed:
"You (Pharisees) search the Scriptures because you THINK you have eternal life in THEM! And THEY are the very ones that testify of ME. But you won't come to Me..."
So, says the English major, grammar really matters. And coming to Jesus does also. Opens up a whole lot of new worlds.
6. What Is the Will of God for My Life?
How do New Covenant believers find the will of God for their lives? The full answer to that one, I do not know. But I do know some things to keep them busy until the fullness of the revelation comes! These things were recorded by Spirit-filled men, and passed along to the church of every generation. These are “principles”, but they are Holy Ghost principles, so they live. You can begin this list at home, today!
Galatians 1:4 says that Jesus Christ gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, and that all this happened according to the will of God. First, it is God’s will that you be set free from the world system by the death of Jesus for your sins. You are no longer your own. You are His. The world is our temporary place, not our eternal one. Come to Jesus, accept your deliverance. This is the will of God for you!
Then there’s I Thessalonians 4:3. The will of God is that you be sanctified. So filled with the Holy Ghost that you are separate and apart from this world. Not separated first. Filled first. You’ll be different enough… Not weird, just very different. Your values, your friends, your talk, your tastes, all will be heavenly. That’s the will of God.
As you walk along with the Lord and start seeing difficulties, you’ll be happy to learn that you are to give thanks in every situation. Paul says this is God’s will for you, in I Thessalonians 5:18.
God’s will for you is that you be a good person in your community. That sounds pretty bland, but Peter was not kidding when he said it. It is the will of God that by being a good citizen you will “silence the ignorance of foolish men.” Obey the traffic laws. Obey the IRS. Obey your husband. Submission, in Peter’s mind, is how “being good” is defined. People will react, and be changed by your silent witness as well as your words. Check it out: I Peter 2:15.
For many of you, suffering for Christ will also be the will of God. I Peter 3:17 and 4:19 make a point of this, that “if it is the will of God” that you suffer, you should be sure that you suffer for Christ, and not for something foolish!
For those who really want to know what God expects of them next, look over this list, start working on it, and as you move in these directions, the Holy Spirit will certainly guide your way into that ministry or income or partner or healing that is on your heart. These are the things we normally seek when we ask “What is the will of God for me?” But, God has already told us in III John, through the apostle, that He wants us to prosper and be in health. Nothing to worry about there.
Salvation, sanctification, thankfulness, submission, suffering, prosperity, health. That is the will of God for your life! Enjoy.
