Hypocrites

None of us fully lives up to God’s standards, but we are not hypocrites for trying. We are hypocrites only when we pretend to be holier than we are, when we present ourselves as humble when in fact our hearts are proud and conceited. We should repent daily for any true hypocrisy that we might find in our hearts, and may we ask God to give us the grace, to be honest about ourselves with others.

   Grove Oak Church 

Meet the Bereans

I am convinced that the most dangerous lie is the almost true one. The regenerate believer can usually see through most Counterfeit Gospels, whether they be online, on TV, or in the pulpit. However, Satan does not always deploy his deceptions through shallow people falsely claiming to have special knowledge or skill, he also carefully cloths them in orthodox Christianity.

More and more false teachers conceal their heresies in the Trojan horse of sound doctrine. Also, like termites ravaging a house, the signs of trouble are evident only after the damage is done.  

We need razor-sharp biblical discernment as our frontline defense against the stealth invasions of theological error. Paul and Silas encountered that type of discernment on their missionary travel when they ministered to the Jews in Berea. Luke reported on their ministry there and described the Berean Jews as “More noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed”.

Acts 17:10-12

(10) The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.

(11) Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

(12) Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men.

The Berean’s familiarity with the Old Testament Scripture equipped them for embracing the new teaching they were hearing from Paul. They were not gullible, but neither were they incapable of learning something new provided God’s Word could corroborate it.

The Bereans received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether the things preached by Paul were so. They were open to the truth and searched their scrolls for themselves. No wonder Luke describes them as more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica.

The noble Bereans carefully sifted the evidence and concluded that the gospel Paul proclaimed was the truth that fulfilled Old Testament promise. 

Scripture held the highest possible authority among the Bereans. It was the final authority on their evaluation of Paul’s preaching and, as such, they were able to weigh Paul’s words on the scales of their in-depth, detailed biblical analysis.

Scripture was the Bereans’ accurate and effective filter for receiving truth and rejecting error. The fact that they read Scripture “daily” also points to a high degree of biblical literacy. They did not merely dip their toes in the reading of favorite stories and the memorization of “life-verses.” They were fully immersed in God’s Word and studied it as a collective whole, being able to identify the story of Christ woven throughout the Old Testament.

It is also telling that there is no mention of the Bereans consulting with any sources other than Scripture. Their belief in the sufficiency of Scripture is evident by their use of it as the sole, necessary plumb line of truth.

The church in Berea may no longer be in existence but their legacy ought to live on in the church as we carefully examine Scripture in discerning truth from error. Modern wolves now roam among God’s flock in sophisticated sheepskins. The seriousness of such a threat demands that we be present-day Bereans, and develop the necessary discernment to intercept these wolves at the point of entry into our churches. To naively assume that these threats do not apply in your church context is to buy into the lie that the enemy wants to sell you.

Christians are not supposed to be gullible. We are not to turn a blind eye to the danger. We are not to have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather expose them.

Ephesians 5:11

(11) Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;

We simply cannot be all-embracing without allowing false teachers to infiltrate and be destructive.

  Grove Oak Church 

GETTING TO THE ROOT

Two-Faced Hypocrites in (Matthew 6:2, 5, and 16) 

Matthew 6:2

(2) "So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full.

Matthew 6:5

(5) "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full.

Matthew 6:16

(16) "Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full.

The gospel writer recorded Jesus’ use of the Greek term (hupokritai), from which English derives its word “hypocrites.” Although the term was used in the biblical era and beyond in a strictly negative sense, early Greeks used the term more positively. The term (hupokritai) was first used to describe actors and the craft of acting. In particular, the term was used concerning the effective means of communication that is essential for actors to play their parts well. 

Ancient orators like Aristotle and Demosthenes used the term in this context to describe the specialized skill of speaking well before a crowd. Over time, as people began using the term outside its original acting context, (hupokritai) took on a more negative connotation. When everyday people spoke with the skill of professional actors, they were seen to be “playing a part,” presenting a face other than their own. 

This divide between the outward portrayal of one character and the inward reality of another helps us understand Jesus’ use of the term about those who act in ways inconsistent with their fundamentally prideful nature. It is unsurprising, then, that the term has come to indicate those we call “two-faced.”

 Grove Oak Church 

The Lord is still working

The Lord is still working to save those who are lost. God will provide The opportunity, the increase, and the reward. Are we willing to be "Fellow Workers with God" today...?

 Grove Oak Church 

You’re Not Alone

Never think that because something is invisible it is unimportant or weak. You may be surprised to know that the Bible talks a lot about air. The Old Testament calls it (Ruach). The New Testament calls it (Pneuma). The English Bible, however, does not translate either one as (air). Usually, it’s (breath). “God-breathed into man the breath of life.” Or it is called (wind). “Like a mighty wind.” Or it is translated (spirit) as in the “spirit of man” or “the Holy Spirit.”

Several words are used for Spirit words like helper, advocate, comforter, convicter, restrainer, exhorter, and reprover. He is portrayed by symbols, too, such as a dove, fire, wind, even water.

There are some things the Spirit of God is not. Let me point out three or four ideas that many people have about the Holy Spirit. When people return to their roots and attempt to explain their beliefs, they are often most confused about the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. I have often heard Him called an “it” . . . so let us start there.

The Spirit Is Not an “It,” but a Distinct Personality

The Holy Spirit is a distinct person. He is a “Him,” a “He.” Jesus once said:

John 14:16-17

(16) "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;

(17) that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

What a helpful revelation! When Jesus left the earth and sent another Helper ("another Helper" of the same kind, interestingly), like Himself, the Helper came and became a part of their lives deep within. No longer near them, but in them. That is a mind-staggering truth.

The Spirit does not just lay back and watch, but He is Active and Involved

Read very carefully, what Jesus taught:

John 16:8

(8) "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;

John 16:13-14

(13) "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

(14) "He will glorify me, for He will take of mine and will disclose it to you.

Never doubt that the Spirit of God is constantly on the move. As with air, we cannot see Him; nevertheless, He is hard at work convicting, guiding, instructing, disclosing, and glorifying. Just a few of His activities!

The Holy Spirit Is Not Imaginary, but Real and Relevant

Just before Jesus’ ascension back into heaven, He met with a group of His followers. They had questions. He had answers. He also had some crucial news regarding the Spirit who would soon come to take His place.

Acts 1:6-8

(6) So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?"

(7) He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;

(8) but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

The Spirit is no imaginary or uncertain hope; that is a promise from our Savior.

The Holy Spirit Is Not a Substitute for God, but He Is Deity

This should increase our respect for the Holy Spirit’s work if nothing else will. Tucked away in the book of Acts is a seldom-mentioned story about a couple who paid the ultimate price for their hypocrisy. Woven into their brief biography is a statement of the Spirit’s deity.

Acts 5:1-4

(1) But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,

(2) and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife's full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles' feet.

(3) But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?

(4) "While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."

When they lied “to the Holy Spirit” (5:3), they “lied . . . to God” (5:4).

Imagine what it means to have the presence of the living God within you. Pause and ponder this, the third member of the Godhead, the invisible, yet the all-powerful representation of deity is living inside your being. His limitless capabilities are resident within you since He indwells you.

You think you cannot handle what life throws at you. You think you cannot stand firm or, when necessary, stand-alone in your life.

You think you cannot handle the lure of life’s temptations. Well, you certainly could not if you were all alone. You alone cannot do that anymore than I can fly alone. However, with the right kind of power put into operation, the very power and presence of God, you can handle it. You can do it. All the pressure will be shifted and the weight transferred from you to Him. It is a radically different way to live. Also, because He is God He can handle it.

Grove Oak Church 

Ministry of Death versus Ministry of Life

The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious . . . how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 

2 Corinthians 3:6-8

(6) who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

(7) But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was,

(8) how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory?

These verses contain another contrasting choice that results in people either living by bankrupt human resources, or by bountiful heavenly ones. This contrast is "the ministry of death versus the ministry of life." These terms come from correlating four phrases: "the letter kills . . . the Spirit gives life . . . the ministry of death . . . the ministry of the Spirit." Of course, the old covenant of law is the "ministry of death," and the new covenant of grace is the "ministry of life" ("ministry of the Spirit . . . the Spirit gives life").

When people attempt to minister by the law, spiritual deadness results. Since the law sets forth a perfect standard but offers no assistance, it "kills" those who try to live by it. Only those who minister by grace can hold forth life to people because grace alone can provide the life that God intends for humankind to experience. Ministry is to be engaged in by individuals, families, and churches. Every ministry will be characterized as either a “ministry of death” or a "ministry of life." Either contact with ministries brings spiritual deadness to people, or it brings spiritual vitality.

What would people encounter if an individual, family, or church were a "ministry of death" (that is, a law-based ministry that left people relying upon their own sufficiency)? They might encounter judgmentalism or fleshly striving. They might find self-righteousness or self-confidence. They might discover hypocrisy or frustration. They might detect harshness or coldness.

Conversely, what would people encounter if an individual, family, or church were a "ministry of . . . life" (that is, a grace-oriented ministry that encouraged people to rely upon God's sufficiency)? Instead of judgmentalism and fleshly striving, they would encounter love and peace. Instead of self-righteousness and self-confidence, they would find humility and confidence in God. Instead of hypocrisy and frustration, they would discover genuineness and fulfillment. Instead of harshness and coldness, they would detect gentleness and warmth.

Our God is a God of life. God's loving plan of salvation was that the Son would die to bring us life.

John 3:16-21

(16) "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

(17) "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

(18) "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

(19) "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.

(20) "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

(21) "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."

The Lord has life for us, and He wants us to minister life to others.

Grove Oak Church 

Why do many Christians seem so prone to believe in conspiracy theories?

 One thing that has surprised me during this COVID-19 pandemic is how quickly and easily some Christians believe in and advocate conspiracy theories. I have witnessed intelligent and seemingly mild-mannered Christian friends feverishly promoting utterly bizarre conspiracy theories. 

For example:

“COVID-19 was invented in a laboratory by Democrats to kill as many old people as possible because they know old people usually vote for Republicans. COVID-19 was included in this year’s flu vaccine because they know that most old people get the flu vaccine every year.”

At first, I thought the person was joking. It turns out that he was serious. Umm…wow… Let us think through this conspiracy theory a bit.

It is true that generally speaking, older people are more politically conservative than younger people are. Therefore, if the goal were to get rid of a bunch of politically conservative people, finding something that would mostly kill older people would be deviously effective.

However, let us look at another factor. Almost all the major COVID-19 outbreaks have been in large cities. People who live in large cities are far more likely to be politically liberal. Just look at the red vs. blue breakdown on any nationwide election map. Typically, even the older populations in heavily populated cities lean to the left, politically speaking. Therefore, if COVID-19 is predominantly killing older people who live in large cities, it will be ineffective at making the electorate more liberal. The actual statistics on who is dying would give more evidence of a Republican conspiracy theory to kill Democrats.

Let me be clear. I do not believe COVID-19 is a conspiracy by anyone to kill anyone else. The above is simply an example of a conspiracy theory I have heard. Besides, like most conspiracy theories, it falls apart once you truly dig into it.

So, why do many Christians seem so prone to believe in conspiracy theories? I have two primary observations.

(1) The Bible seems to teach that, in the end, times, there will be some form of one-world government, led by the antichrist. As a result, many Christians have their eyes fixated on anything that even remotely resembles a covert government attempt to get more power. According to conspiracy theorists, world governments placing restrictions on their citizens to slow the spread of COVID-19 appears to be somewhat of a test run to see how people respond to some of their freedoms being taken away. Therefore, the virus itself must be part of the conspiracy.

If this is why you see a conspiracy theory under virtually every stone, what is the point? If the Bible predicts that the one-world government is going to happen, no amount of you complaining about it or even fighting against it is going to prevent it from happening or even slow it down. Posting conspiracy theories on Facebook is not going to change anything. Since the vast majority of conspiracy theories are not true, you are far more likely to damage your testimony than you are to help someone spiritually. If the antichrist is about to arise, and he is behind COVID-19, then we are all going to have much bigger things to deal with than having to wear masks and not being able to go to our favorite restaurants.

(2) Since we can not fathom why they believe the things they do, some Christians tend to demonize their opponents. The thinking goes like this: Only a truly evil person would be pro-choice, and only stupid people think that socialism will ever actually work. Therefore, those who support these, and other politically liberal positions, are either evil-minded or idiotic or both. Some Christians who opposed Barack Obama’s policies believed him to be the antichrist. Some Christians who oppose Donald Trump’s policies believe he is the antichrist. Many Christians just cannot seem to accept the fact that someone can disagree with them politically and still be a decent person. So, they attribute the absolute worst possible motives and conspiracy theories to everything their political opponents say and do.

If this is the reason for the conspiracy attack, you need to remember that Christ’s kingdom is not of this world. Conservativism may be a much better political system than progressivism, but conservativism cannot save us. Some socialists believe that way because they genuinely think it is a fairer system, not because they want to enslave us and force us to work on the alien spaceship repair crew at Area-51. Stop placing your faith in politics. Stop demonizing those with whom you disagree.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God is truth 

John 14:6

(6) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

God’s Word is truth 

John 17:17

(17) Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

We are to be people of the truth. Every word that comes out of our mouths should be the truth expressed in love 

Ephesians 4:15

(15) but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,

Every time we adopt or support a conspiracy theory that is not true, we are liars.

Proverbs 19:9

(9) A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who tells lies will perish.

When we promote falsehood, we are serving Satan, not God:

John 8:44

(44) You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

It does not matter how juicy the conspiracy theory is. It does not matter how believable it seems. If you do not KNOW that it is the truth, you should have nothing to do with promoting it.

 Grove Oak Church 

Salvation by Faith Alone

The key difference between biblical Christianity and most of the "Christian" cults. Is salvation by faith alone, or by faith plus works? Am I saved just by believing in Jesus, or do I have to believe in Jesus and do certain things?

The question of faith alone or faith plus works is made difficult by some hard-to-reconcile Bible passages. Compare

Romans 3:28

(28) For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

Romans 5:1

(1) Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Galatians 3:24

(24) Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.

We are not justified by what we do in any way. True faith always results in good deeds, but the deeds do not justify us. Faith brings us salvation; active obedience demonstrates that our faith is genuine.

Some see a difference between Paul (salvation is by faith alone) and James (salvation is by faith plus works). Paul dogmatically says that justification is by faith alone

Ephesians 2:8-9

(8) For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

(9) not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

while James appears to be saying that justification is by faith plus works. This apparent problem is answered by examining what exactly James is talking about. James is refuting the belief that a person can have faith without producing any good works

James 2:17-18

(17) Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

(18) But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works."

James is emphasizing the point that genuine faith in Christ will produce a changed life and good works. James is not saying that justification is by faith plus works, but rather that a person who is truly justified by faith will have good works in his/her life. If a person claims to be a believer but has no good works in his/her life, then he/she likely does not have genuine faith in Christ.

James 2:14

(14) What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?

James 2:17

(17) Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

Paul says the same thing in his writings. The good fruit believers should have in their lives is listed in

Galatians 5:22-23.

(22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

(23) gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Immediately after telling us that we are saved by faith, not works. Paul informs us that we were created to do good works

Ephesians 2:10

(10) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Paul expects just as much of a changed life as James does.

2 Corinthians 5:17

(17) Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

James and Paul do not disagree with their teaching regarding salvation. They approach the same subject from different perspectives. Paul simply emphasized that justification is by faith alone while James emphasized the fact that genuine faith in Christ produces good works.

Any teaching that Salvation is not based on Faith Alone is a false gospel.

 Grove Oak Church