Mark 5, verses 21 to 34, part 2, comments; the issue of blood

 

Mark 5:21 ¶  And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea. 22  And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, 23  And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. 24  And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him. 25  And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, 26  And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, 27  When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. 28  For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. 29  And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. 30  And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? 31  And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? 32  And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. 33  But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. 34  And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

5:24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him. 25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, 26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, 27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. 28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. 29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. 30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? 31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? 32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. 33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. 34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

This woman didn’t even seek God’s attention. She just believed that if she drew near to Him and touched Him she would be healed. She had already tried every temporal way to be healed and had spent all of her money. She came to Christ and drew near to Him to be healed of her sickness.

There are two types of Christians in type in this passage in Mark. One, Jairus, pleads with God to come to him and he wants to journey with God. The other just, in their misery, draws near to Him. Both will get, by faith, what they desired. I am sure there are many more examples that can come from these events.

Twelve is an important number in the scriptures. Twelve tribes of Israel, twelve apostles, 2 x 12 elders sitting around the throne of God, 12 baskets of food left over after feeding the 5,000, twelve years Sodom and its allies served the king of Elam, twelve princes from Ishmael, etc. etc.

Twelve years this woman suffered before she was healed. Like people who follow a false religion she suffered many things at the hands of physicians before finding true healing in Christ. They will give all their money and time to false preachers who twist the Bible into knots to justify their own delusions of grandeur and then when all is said and done nothing is accomplished but to leave the sinner still bent over and bleeding, but now broke and more hopeless than ever until they turn, not to men, but to the Saviour.

5:28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. 29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

Jesus, unlike a physician or human religion, heals instantaneously and completely, not just temporarily.

5:30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?

Jesus is aware that He has been touched and that a sinner is healed.

Luke 6:18 And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed. 19 And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.

Virtue is inherent power harnessed to do good. It is the power of God to do His will in the world which we as believers are given.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

2Peter 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

2Peter 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

Virtue is moral courage, moral power. The fictional character, Tom, in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin conquered his final foe with moral power, refusing to do evil unto death and even converting his two murderers to Christ before his death. The evil Simon Legree is left a shattered shell to finish out his life and enter Hell in abject misery.

The real-life William Kiffin was a Baptist minister in England. He once obtained the release from prison of a judge who had sent him there previously. He was a man incapable of revenge and totally dependent upon God. He did good to those who hurt him and lived his life in such a way that even a wicked king, Charles II, refused to believe any bad intent on Kiffin’s part. He refused to accept another wicked king, James II’s, declaration of liberty of conscience for he knew it was a fraud. He watched sons die and grandsons be executed but his character and Christian humility was beyond belief as he taught Baptist principles and doctrines in a country that executed men for doing so. He had moral courage, moral power, and virtue his entire life as a Christian and nothing said against him could stick because his most ardent enemies knew he would do no wrong..

There are people today who try to pretend that they are the conduit through which Christ heals.

Proverbs 25:14 Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.

They are fakers and frauds. Come to Christ and draw near to Him to be healed. Ask Him to come to you and with you to be healed. You don’t need an intermediary.

5:31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

The disciples, particularly Peter, are incredulous that He asks them, in this crowd, who touched Him.

Luke 8:45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

5:32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. 33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.

Here is another point of how the word, all, is used. All can be without exception as in all men are sinners and all can be without distinction as in what she said was the truth, or as part of my analogy, all men can be saved or it is God’s desire that all men be saved.

5:34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

This was a clear, physical healing. Let’s look at the type for us. Like in salvation, God responds to our faith by making us whole and healing us from our sin. Now, she would still have been healed if she didn’t make this public profession she made in verse 33 but it would have been different. We are called to make a public profession and, in my understanding in the New Testament church, your baptism was the public profession of faith. Your faith, or more completely, God’s response to your faith, will make you whole.

Psalm 23 comments

 

Psalm 23:1 ¶  «A Psalm of David.» The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3  He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5  Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

 

This was my father’s favorite Psalm. David acknowledges that God is his shepherd, implying, in all contradiction to the usual narcissistic pretentions of a king, that David is one of God’s sheep. This also lends the lie to the popular mythology that the shepherds abiding their flocks in Luke’s gospel were despised. David himself had been a shepherd and he likened God to one. The Jews would have carried that in their collective memory.

 

The LORD, Jehovah, is David’s shepherd.

 

Psalm 77:20  Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

 

Psalm 80:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician upon Shoshannimeduth, A Psalm of Asaph.» Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.

 

But, in other places we also see this statement of God as the shepherd of Israel.

 

Genesis 49:24  But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)

 

Isaiah 40:10  Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. 11  He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

 

I shall not want refers to going without, to not having what one needs. See how want is contrasted with lacking and being hungry.

 

Psalm 34:10  The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.

 

In verse 2 the still waters significance is that David is saying that God leads His sheep to drink, not of turbulent and agitated water that would scare them as sheep do not drink from torrents, but from calm, quiet waters.

 

General knowledge of sheep notes that, “sheep prefer to drink still water as opposed to water from a moving stream. It is generally recommended that streams be fenced off and that livestock not be allowed to drink from natural water sources.”[1]

 

Think of what Isaiah will say later;

 

Isaiah 26:3  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

 

In verse 3 David acknowledges that God restores his soul, revives him. It is God that leads him in right things, things commended and demanded by God. And that is because of who God is. He is not a God who wants to destroy David but to show him the way to live before Him.

 

In verses 4 through 6 David reveals the Israelites’ expectation based on God’s promises. It was an assurance that if they obeyed God they would triumph over their enemies and glory in that triumph over the heathen round about.

 

The house of the Lord is something that David has referenced previously.

 

Psalm 5:7 ¶  But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.

 

Remember, though, that Shiloh was the central place for worship until Solomon built the temple.

 

1Samuel 1:24  And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD in Shiloh: and the child was young.

 

The context suggests that all the days of my life and for ever are synonymous phrases for David so this is a very temporal, earthly statement. David knows the tabernacle at Shiloh as the house of the Lord and God’s temple is in Heaven.

 

Psalm 11:4  The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

 

Habbakuk 2:20  But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.

 

Prophetically, these verses can be ascribed to Christ. Just remember that Christ is likened to David, the king, as the King of Israel in prophecy although there are those who say that David will be resurrected to perform things linked to him in the era beyond his life on earth. Some of these verses will be directly about Christ’s millennial reign.

 

Genesis 49:24  But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)

 

Isaiah 40:10  Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. 11  He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

 

Ezekiel 34:23  And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

 

Compare Ezekiel 37:24  And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

 

With John 10:11  I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

 

Compare Zechariah 13:7 ¶  Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.

 

With Matthew 26:31  Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

 

1Peter 2:25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

 

1Peter 5:4  And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

 

Christ restores that fellowship with God that Adam lost. It is only through Christ, who is righteousness embodied, that people can draw near to God and be justified in His sight. We should go back to the last Psalm to see some evidence of this.

 

Psalm 22:30  A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 31  They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

 

Those saved believers who will have the Marriage Supper of the Lamb with Christ and those who will spend eternity in the shadow of our Creator can be said to fulfill the remainder of this Psalm.

 

Revelation 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

 

John 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

 

For ever in the prophetic sense is for eternity. They will dwell with God in His house.

 

Revelation 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

 

Personally, besides our destiny in eternity with our Creator, we can see this Psalm as my Dad did, a comfort in our times of trouble and a confidence that God is protecting us, looking out for us. It can be recited or just brought to mind in the worst of times and in the best of times. Certainly, we can’t take it all literally as there are applications in context and prophetically that we are not looking for when we appropriate a passage to ourselves. This is one of the great comforts and assurances of the Bible. We are fortunate that David left this for us. What does it bring to your mind when you read it?

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[1] Susan Schoenian, “A Beginner’s Guide to Raising Sheep,” Sheep201, http://www.sheep101.info/201/feedwaterequip.html#:~:text=Sheep%20prefer%20to%20drink%20still%20water%20as%20opposed,be%20allowed%20to%20drink%20from%20natural%20water%20sources. (accessed on 12.20.2022)

Bible Study with Fred, Mark 5, verses 21 to 34, part 1, Jairus pleads wi...

Mark, chapter 5, verses 21 -34, comments, Jairus pleads with Jesus

 

Mark 5:21 ¶  And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea. 22  And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, 23  And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. 24  And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him. 25  And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, 26  And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, 27  When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. 28  For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. 29  And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. 30  And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? 31  And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? 32  And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. 33  But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. 34  And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

Let’s look first at; 21 ¶ And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea. 22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, 23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.

We’re going to have two examples, two types, of the Christian who gets saved in these gospel passages. This man believes in faith that if Jesus will just touch his sick daughter she will be healed. Now, we must remember that Jesus is physically present on this earth in a human body, which He has not been in that regard since His ascension. His Spirit resides in millions of human bodies today but He in His ministry of physical care for the Jewish people is not in evidence. The typology here is to our salvation, not physical healing. God can heal anyone He chooses to without anyone laying hands on them but a doctor or perhaps no one at all, but through prayer and humility.

We do not live in the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry nor do we live in the age of the Apostles. But, thinking of Jesus’ physical healing of the Jewish people and contrasting it with our salvation we can make several appropriate points. Jairus had faith that Jesus was enough. He, a man of responsibility and authority, believed that Jesus alone could make his daughter well. He is an example of a parent today who prays mightily and persistently for his child to be saved.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Now, with regard to the physical body, we live in a fallen world in fallen bodies, dying every moment, slowly aging or deteriorating from disease. We await the adoption, the redemption of the body but it is not here yet.

Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

There are some Christian groups who insist that if you just have enough faith you can be healed of any deadly disease. This is also humanism, the have faith in your faith crowd. They will proceed to the gospels written under the Law to Jews with a physical Jesus healing physical sicknesses in a foreshadowing of healing the spirit. Or they will thumb through Acts looking for the signs of the Apostles who are all gone now, and maybe wander on over to the book of James speaking doctrinally and anoint dying people with oil in a desperate hope that they will be healed. When their demands on God are not met because what they want is not Biblical, not of God, their faith is destroyed. There is no promise in the current church age that you will automatically be healed of a physical sickness just because you demand it.

Christians are funny folks. A young man who seeks a mate in bars and nightclubs will say, “well, I guess it’s not God’s will that I meet a nice girl.” God isn’t even in his search for a suitable partner but suddenly its God’s will that he be single. A person will clean up their act temporarily assuming that the sickness a loved one faces is a punishment for the lifestyle of someone else, something not even mentioned in the Bible. When their “reform” fails to heal the loved one they revert to their former self but in a magnified wickedness because they are now mad at God for not doing something He didn’t promise to do.

In like manner you might have a loved one who is enchained by the bondage of wicked pornography, destroying his or her family and self-worth. You might have a loved one wrapped in the arms of the mistress, alcohol. We shudder to think that like Israel who had gone to Assyria rather than God for help, then gave up their material worth to Assyria to obtain that help and then lost their own bodies and nation to Assyria, our loved ones have looked to an evil for comfort, something other than God, not of God, an evil which will take everything they have and then take them as well. We pray for deliverance to Christ. We plead with Jesus for help. We believe that Jesus is enough. We often don’t consider the willfulness of the person for whom we are praying in trying to resist God’s will.

Now, let’s look at Jairus’ daughter. She is helpless. She can’t heal herself. She is unable to resist healing or to resist death. Jairus himself is helpless. There is nothing he can do to save his daughter. He can only seek Jesus. That is all we can do, knowing that Jesus alone is sufficient to save our child. All his daughter can do is to receive the healing that Christ alone can give. He comes to fall at Jesus’ feet, which is the physical act of worship.

Psalm 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. (see also Revelation 3:9; 19:10; & 22:8.)

Jairus acknowledged that only Christ could save his daughter. The only hope for your loved one is Christ. Pray that it be His will to overcome any resistance to that salvation because it is God’s will that every person be saved.

Matthew 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

1 Timothy 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Typologies always break down eventually. The comparison between Jairus and his daughter and you and your child’s salvation breaks down when it is realized that Jairus’ daughter is helpless and couldn’t resist being healed any more than she could resist dying. Your child can simply set his or her face against God and refuse to be healed spiritually, in spite of the protestations of the Calvinists to the contrary. Pray that Christ will break their will not to be saved or delivered from their chosen bondage. Pray fervently and without ceasing. Trust me, He hears you.

Bible Study with Fred, Proverbs, chapter 21, verse 6, part 2, a lying to...

Proverbs 21:6 comments, part 2, a lying tongue, (scroll down for part 2)

 

Proverbs 21:6 ¶ The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.

Proverbs 10:2 has already told us;

Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.

Proverbs 13:11 has said;

Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.

In fact, in this age of Christ’s Church we Christians are warned of something even more explanatory of the time in which we live;

1 Timothy 6:6 ¶ But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

This Proverb specifically talks about obtaining wealth by lies, deception, and fraud which, alas, appears to be one of the common ways in which such treasures are obtained. Investment bankers and traders use other people’s hard-earned money which they naively placed at their disposal to engage in trades that relieve the investor of his cash and benefit the bankers and traders with great commissions on every transaction. It seems amazing to me that people still trust a system that appears to seek to impoverish them by playing and gambling with their hard-earned money. In the end, though, such “success” on the part of the person doing the lying is simply the road to death. The person who finds such treasures in dishonesty and deception will think himself a success and very clever and neither in need of a Saviour nor feeling the need to repent of his wickedness. With each commission check the weeks and months tick off closer to the time of his death and the eventual facing of God in a fiery judgment for an eternity that knows no end to pain and humiliation. The road to his destruction is paved with the ruined finances of the people he deceived and the lives that had the potential to not suffer want that were led to poverty by his actions. Of course, we hope this represents a small minority of bankers and traders, don’t we?

This would apply to anyone who gains wealth, blind to his or her own need for repentance and salvation, dishonestly, by lying and fraud.

But there is a deeper meaning to this Proverb, perhaps. There are preachers and teachers who gain the treasures of souls won for Christ by lies and fraud. It is a common thing and has been since the days of the Bible’s writing, as Paul warns.

 

2Timothy 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Romans 16:18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Many of them would even be using what I would call the right Bible and still be engaged in lies, fraud, and deception.

These lying so called men of God, like the old prophet in 1 Kings 13 who lied to the man of God resulting in the younger man’s death, are deceivers and speak “great swelling words of vanity”. They will tell people that you get saved by trusting Christ and believing in and on and just believing Him, as the Bible says very clearly in Romans 10, and then add a laundry list of other things you must do, in their opinion, which they have heard from other liars they admire, in order to “make it stick”.

And yes, new converts to Christ are likened to treasures. As Jesus warns His disciples about false teachers;

Matthew 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs (false male teachers; read 2 Peter chapter 2, Philippians 3:2; and Revelation 22:16) , neither cast ye your pearls (for believers and the people of God as precious stones see Exodus 28 with 1 Peter 4:5,6) before swine (false female teachers; again see 2 Peter, chapter 2 and pay close attention to verse 22), lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

These people will tell the new Christian that the most important thing once saved is that he or she come to church and go “soul winning” when, as Pastor David Peacock so aptly points out in his sermon “The Meaning of Revival” that is a lie. The most important thing is their relationship with Christ.

These lying so called men of God do not warn the new Christian that as soon as he received Christ as his Saviour he would be attacked by Satan and that the very first thing he or she must do is to start reading God’s word and praying for help and understanding. No, they’ll tell them at the end of a service to just be sure to be at church the next time the doors are open because if they’re in church they won’t be at the bars or in the street. Oft times, what happens is they never see the convert again unless they start banging on his door and shaming him into coming to church. The poor soul has been beaten, bruised, and battered by Satan and his own flesh and is more confused now than he was before he prayed for salvation.

These liars will tell the struggling convert to come to church, witness to the lost, and tithe in order to get close to Christ, a sort of religious “fake it to make it” process. But, you don’t do those things to get close to Christ. You do those things because you ARE close to Christ.

They’ll tell the convert that what he does and doesn’t do, his works and his separation from the world, will set him apart for God’s purpose. But, Christ says that God’s word sets us apart for Him.

John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

PART TWO The liars tell the new convert, the treasure to God, that the fruit, the proof of him or her having the Spirit of God in them is how close to 100% they attend church and how many souls they win for Christ. But, the Bible says that the Fruit of the Spirit is something the liar can’t control in Galatians 5:22-23;

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance:

The liars will take this treasure for God, this new creature, and tell him or her that church meetings are about anything BUT coming together as the body of Christ, the church, the house of God to worship God in spirit and truth with them speaking to God as a body in prayer and God speaking to them through the Pastor’s sermon from God’s word. Political agendas, control, pop psychology, and financial matters take precedence in the lying Pastor’s services over spiritual growth and worship.

Some of these liars will tell the new Christian that he or she doesn’t even need to unite with other believers to worship God. They’ll tell them to just sit tight in their easy chair and watch them on the TV, sending their offerings and gifts to the man on the idiot box. They’ll deny God’s treasure, the new Christian, the knowledge of the importance of uniting with other believers in worship and of hearing God’s words preached truthfully to inspire, exhort, and teach true doctrine in order to grow spiritually, loving God, and obeying God’s commands to love other Christians and have compassion for the lost. They will deny the need to be a witness to others for Christ because it doesn’t really matter what you believe, as long as you believe in something, a lie straight from Satan’s own tongue.

Their religion is a vain thing and they seek spiritual death, not only of themselves but of the people who come to them for guidance. They don’t teach the new converts, God’s treasures, to meet with God every day wherever they are. They insist that the only way to meet God is at a church service or in front of their face on the TV, and as Brother Peacock says, these Christians have no victory over sin because they are anemic, starving for the word of God that they need to feed themselves with throughout the weeks and days when they aren’t in church meetings hearing it preached.

Spiritual death, a spiritual life that is as cold as the grave and dependent on one emotional fix after another, is the end result. There is no joy in the believer’s life in Christ and when tribulation comes, as it always will, there is no capacity to deal with it by resting in Christ and trusting Him for the outcome.

The liars will hold a book they say is a Bible in their hands and say, “I’m now going to speak from God’s error free word”, but they don’t believe that such a thing even exists in the form of a book. In other words, they don’t believe the words that are coming out of their own mouths because they believe that only the original writings were given by inspiration, documents neither they nor any flesh and blood person on earth they know has ever seen, when the Holy Spirit has said explicitly that copies and translations can be given by inspiration, which is defined as understanding (not word for word dictation; See also 2 Peter 1:21; 2 Peter 3:15’s “according to the wisdom given unto him”.) in Job 32:8 (see also Jeremiah 36 and pay close attention to verse 32). No one in their right mind believes that Timothy had the originals of Moses’ writings or Jeremiah’s for that matter in 2 Timothy 3:14-17.

These men of corrupt minds and destitute of vision will take away the Bible as the focal point of the Christian’s communication with God; with them speaking to God in prayer and God speaking to them through His Bible. They deny the power of God’s word in changing the Christian’s life and make the new convert try to go it alone in this present, evil world like a small boat on a raging ocean with no oars.

The getting of treasures, new believers in Christ, by a lying tongue, 1-2-3 repeat after me salvation, phariseeistic judaizing, or feel good TV religion, is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death, and they have found it for millions of people who will never hear the gospel effectually laid out in front of their eyes because all they can see is the dog and pony show that so often characterizes modern Christianity in America.