April 30, 2006

• I took massive notes on Friday and was asked by Pastor Don to type up what he was teaching. These are the notes I took and how I wrote them up. I am putting them up here now, but please know, after Pastor Don reads them, if there are any changes I will include them. I think the teaching is important enough to share now. Hope you enjoy the teaching and have an awesome weekend!

  
  

  One new note: From Pastor Don’s book Christianese: the language of the believers, he comments under the definiton of new tongues, “Finally, remember that what you believe does not determine what God can and cannot do. What you believe only limits what you can do. Spiritual gifts and miracles happen today, and will continue until he comes.” Page 10

  
  

   

  
  

  Heather

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

  Bible Study

  
  

  Pastor Don Moore

  
  

  Friday, April 28, 2006

  
  

   

  
  

              God will be judging His church, he will not be reviving the dead churches, but will judge them. We have a choice as a church, to do a self exam and repent or to disappear. Our churches need an obedience to the Love relationship with Christ. God is not looking at the style of worship, but at the heart of worship. While some may have a calling for mega churches, it is dependent on who is being glorified when churches are growing – is it for the glory of the pastor or for the glory of God.

  
  

   

  
  

       In this day and age the harvest is not the internal church but the external church. Inside churches there needs to be a heart for God, and this will be carried to the outside world – so that revival can come in communities, not just within the church walls. Many within our churches today are not being taught properly. God is looking for a harvest of the spirit by God’s spirit, and it is written on the hearts and minds of the worshippers.

  
  

   

  
  

       Many deny the supernatural movement of God. In every church today there are believers and non-believers. Just because a person has all the right movements, all the right words, all the right Bible knowledge, and acts Holy does not mean that they are a believer. There are two camps across all denominational lines, those that have the look and sound of belief and an intellectual comprehension of God, and those who not only have head knowledge, but the knowledge is in the heart of the believer. Non-believers say that the signs and wonders died with the apostles and the early church, they question Mark 16:14-18.

  
  

   

  
  

                          14) Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table;

  
  

                          and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart,

  
  

                          because they did not believe those who had seen Him

  
  

                          after He had risen. 15) And He said to them, “Go into all the

  
  

                          world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16) He who

  
  

                          believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not

  
  

                          believe will be condemned. 17)  And these signs will follow those

  
  

                          who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they

  
  

                          will speak with new tongues; 18) they will take up serpents; and

  
  

                          if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them;

  
  

                          they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. Mark 16:14-18

  
  

   

  
  

              In verse 14, Jesus was rebuking his 11 disciples. This was not a group of people he just met, they had served in close proximity with Jesus, had watched every aspect of His life, saw the healings, watched the food be multiplied, the storms quenched, the dead raised. They had seen miracle after miracle, and yet they were operating in unbelief and hardness of heart. Even in the camp of Jesus’ closest followers there was a division because of unbelief. The refusal to believe Jesus is hardness of heart.

  
  

   

  
  

               There is a connection between willingness and believing. People seem to think that believing is magical, that it happens without effort. They think belief is like turning on a light switch. They seem to think that they don’t have to have anything to do with their belief. Jesus is saying to them, you saw enough miracles to be able to believe and yet you choose not to believe. That is why He rebuked them. You can almost imagine Jesus saying to himself, “How can I turn my legacy over to a group of eleven guys who refuse to believe?”

  
  

   

  
  

              As we grew up we were conditioned and our conditioning affects our beliefs. Even when we are taught the truth, often we still keep doing and believing things that we have been trained in the past to do and believe.  When we are operating with a mix of right and wrong thinking we must search the scriptures to see what is true and right. When our conditioning and wrong beliefs are threatened we often turn to argument, reproof, and have hearts that embrace unbelief as a belief solution, refusing to embrace the truth.

  
  

   

  
  

              Jesus spoke to his disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees, Matthew 16:5-12 “Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadduces.’ And they reasoned among themselves saying, ‘It is because we have taken no bread.’ But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, ‘O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? –but  to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadduceess.’” Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

  
  

   

  
  

              Jesus rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees for their lack of belief. Mark 1:15 “…The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

  
  

   

  
  

  What was the gospel that they were to believe? Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

  
  

   

  
  

  He was concerned that, after all the miracles the disciples saw, they still did not get it. In Mark 9, regarding the demon possessed boy, Jesus says in verse 19 “…Oh faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” And it is belief that is necessary for a healing to occur, because Jesus turned to the father and said in verse 23 “….If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Note, Jesus did not say “If you can believe, SOME THINGS are possible, and he said to HIM WHO BELIEVES, which implies that to anyone who believes, all things are possible.  And God and Jesus can work with honesty. The father says to Jesus in verse 24 “Lord I believe; help my unbelief!” The responsibility of believing rests on us, and what we choose to believe.

  
  

   

  
  

       Romans 1:18 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

  
  

  This is a strong admonition, and it is not based on a direction to keep the law, which the passage could seem to imply at a quick glance.  We have to ask ourselves what the criterion for righteousness is, and we see that in Romans 4:3 “For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for RIGHTEOUSNESS.” When a person speaks unbelief into a believer’s life they are suppressing the truth in unrighteousness.

  
  

   

  
  

        Deuteronomy 31: 29-30 “For I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you. And evil will befall you in the later days, because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.”

  
  

   

  
  

       For God says in Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

  
  

   

  
  

       When the Israelites started doing things through their own hands, not believing and depending on God, not relying on God, turning to false idols, it was then that God’s wrath became apparent. We are now in the Later Days that Moses talks about, and in those days we are seeing more and more unbelief, and more false teachings coming from the pulpit. We have moved away from believing God and have put him into a box of our unbelief. Deuteronomy 28 talks about the blessings and curses of obeying God, obedience brings blessings, disobedience brings curses. And yet God, as Paul tells us, gave us the Law as a schoolmaster so that we can realize our need for a savior. The Israelites fell into the sin of unbelief as Numbers 13 shows. This was when the 12 spies were sent into the promised land and two came back with a good report and believed that God would give the victory, the rest came back with a negative report. All saw that the land was filled with milk, honey, and fruit beyond their wildest imaginations. Because of their unbelief none of the Israelites except Joshua and Caleb would set foot into the promised land. They died in the wilderness of their unbelief.

  
  

   

  
  

       At what point is the work of your hands going to translate to God is able? Pick up your miracles every day. Participate in the miracles and go and conquer giants in the land. Cooperate in miracles, out of belief, and work with God. God is able to do it.  Stop doubting. The gifts of God are still in effect. Use your hands, believe that God is able to work through you. Participate with God to do miracles. Titus 1:16 “They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.” What are the works? John 14:12-14 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.”

  
  

   

  
  

  Who is Jesus talking to in the above passage HE WHO BELIEVES. He did not say, my 11 disciples, or limit it to anyone. He spoke about he who believes. And he assures them that they will do the works that Jesus did (heal sick, raise the dead, cast out demons) and GREATER works. What holds us back from doing these things… our unbelief and erroneous teachings. Those who say that these miracles are not in effect today persist in a form of ungodliness that God does not honor.

  
  

   

  
  

       Where we have gone wrong today is that we embrace people of unbelief, not lovingly challenge them to come to a point of belief so that they can achieve their healing. God is not pleased with unbelief, it is not a higher badge of honor to “suffer” for Christ. How can you love someone and not point out to them that they do not have enough faith. If they need to raise their level of faith would it not be more loving to hit the floor and pray with them, help them find the passages in the Bible that will raise their level of faith, and keep persisting in praying until the victory is won. We must rely on what God says and not tolerate the language of unbelief, language that Jesus rebuked. All of Jesus’ parables point out to persistence – the widow and the judge, pray without ceasing, knock. Mark 10:23-27 “Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved? But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God, for WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.” Note, God did not say SOME things are possible, He said, ALL things are possible.

  
  

   

  
  

       When we read the Bible, we must take the word of two or more witnesses. We have seen similar scriptures in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and others. If we persist in our belief that miracles and healings died with the apostles, then it is our choice to persist in unbelief.  Paul said in Romans 1:18-20 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so they are without excuse. There is no way God is going to change his eternal power, the nature of the power is ETERNAL, it does not end, is not limited.

  
  

   

  
  

       Everyone who comes to God comes in the belief of his eternal salvation, they believe God’s power is manifested in them and affects them in the belief of salvation. Yet, through hardness of their hearts, they have decided that God’s eternal power for healing and miracles isn’t available.  They teach a theology of excuses. They have shut their hearts to the word of truth in this regard, and selectively read the scriptures. Here is a good example, Psalm 103. (with comments in plain text, the Psalm in italic).

  
  

  Psalm 103:1-5

  
  

   

  
  

  Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! (no problem there, we all agree that we should bless the Lord). Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: (no problem, we should remember God’s benefits. But notice the punctuation mark, it is a colon – a colon denotes a list of items, so now we are going to read a list of ALL of the benefits that God gives us). Who forgives ALL (words in all caps is my emphasis) our iniquities, (praise God for forgiveness of sin, now look what comes next, and is sandwiched between two easy to agree with benefits) Who heals ALL your diseases, (he did not say heals SOME of your diseases, he said ALL your diseases – so many pastors can believe for forgiveness of sin, but fall short in believing that God can heal all diseases – yes there will be sickness, but we need to begin to exercise our faith for healing – healing is possible if we believe), Who redeems your life from destruction (praise God, no disagreement there – for salvation helps to change our life course from destruction to salvation), Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (an elderly eagle beats his beak off on the rocks – our rock is Jesus, and spends time unable to speak or eat until the new beak grows in, when the new beak grows in the eagle is restored. We need to beat off our beaks, for out of our mouths come words of unbelief. We need to stop speaking untruth, and start eating of the Word of God until what comes out of our mouths agrees with God’s Word, then we will be renewed.)

  
  

   

  
  

       It is important to realize that God will heal us. How He heals us could involve many ways, instantaneous healing through faith, we could take time to come into agreement with his word and the healing takes time until we link our faith to God’s truth, we could be healed naturally through God’s healing built into our bodies, we could link our faith with a doctor and God to bring about a healing, and some might die, being healed in Heaven. What we need to remember though is that God is in the healing business, and as we learn to trust Him and His word, and link our faith to the Word of truth, we can speed the process of our healing. Sickness does not glorify God, but walking in joy and health is a good testimony to God. God loves us and wants the best for us, and His best for us is health and joy and peace of mind.

  
  

   

  
  

       To get the benefits of God mentioned in Psalm 103 we have to remember that they are eternal benefits, we can claim them anytime, when we release our faith for the benefit. The release of benefits could be instantaneous, three weeks, three months later. It depends upon what we can believe God for.

  
  

   

  
  

       In a Bible with lots of footnotes, the passage Mark 16:9-20 has this footnote: “these are bracketed in NU-Text as not original. They are lacking in Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, although nearly all other manuscripts of Mark contain them. We have to ask ourselves a question, why would these verses be left out of some texts, even though NEARLY ALL other manuscripts of Mark contain them. Perhaps the persons who left them out decided that the text was unbelievable and chose not to put it in. What we have to ask ourselves is if the same teaching shows up elsewhere in the Bible. Even if we tore this passage out of Mark and discarded it, we would still see in other places in the Scripture such as John 14:12-14. Don’t forget too that these miracles were seen by others who were not disciples. The disciples came to Jesus in Mark 9:38-41 complaining that someone was casting out demons in Christ’s name, but he did not follow Christ like the disciples. Jesus answered, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is on our side.”

  
  

   

  
  

      It goes without saying that it is not US who do the miracles, but God who does the healings. We must have faith in God, not faith in faith. But having faith in God means that we believe ALL his Words. We must not err in limiting the works that God does on earth through our unbelief.

  
  

   

  
  

       Another challenge to the Mark 16 passage involves some churches who have taken this scripture to heart and handle serpents, drink poison, etc. Truth is, relatively few in those churches die from doing this, but it is not the heart of what Jesus was teaching. We have only to look at Paul who did not let the bite of a deadly asp stop his work of spreading God’s word. He shook off the asp in the fire, and the fact that he did not die from the poison caused many to be saved. The mis-handling of the Word of God by some does not invalidate the truth of the Word.

  
  

   

  
  

       In the Word, we have seen the apostles demonstrating the miracles and healings of Jesus, we saw a Jew who converted – Paul demonstrate great miracles, we have seen others like Ananias who was told to go and restore Saul/Paul’s sight, , the 72 who were not apostles, Stephen. It is time we join the ranks of these believers and act on the truths that Christ taught. To go and do the miracles he has told us we are able to do, in His name. Stop limiting God. It is time that we stop losing heart and as Psalm 27:13 says, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” In these end days, it is time that we see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

  
  

   

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