REVISITING CHRIST’S MESSAGE TO TODAY’S EVANGELICALS

Part II: Christ’s All-Sufficiency For Evangelicals Presented

B. Christ’s All-Sufficiency For Discipling The Carnal

(Revelation 3:14b(b))

 

I.               Introduction

A.    In prophetically addressing us believers in our current Evangelical era of Church History, Christ revealed that a great lack exists in effectively discipling carnal believers, and He also showed how to correct this problem.

B.    Revelation 3:14b(b) exposes Christ’s all-sufficiency for meeting this need of today (as follows):

II.            Christ’s All-Sufficiency For Discipling The Carnal, Revelation 3:14b(b).

A.    In preparing to comment on today’s Evangelical era, Jesus gave a threefold description of Himself in Revelation 3:14b as “The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the head of the creation of God.”

B.    The second title, “The faithful and true witness,” appears elsewhere in Scripture only in Jeremiah 42:5 where the phrase “faithful and true” is reversed, to read “true and faithful” (Strong’s Exhaust. Conc., p. 1179), and the Jer. 42:5 context illustrates Christ’s all-sufficiency for effective ministry to carnal believers today:

1.      After Judah fell to Babylon in fulfillment of decades of Jeremiah’s prophecies (Jer.19:14-20:6), Judah’s survivors at first treated Jeremiah as a true prophet by calling on God to be a “true and faithful witness” against them if they did not heed God’s future messages to them through Jeremiah, Jeremiah 40:1-42:6.

2.      However, these survivors did not truly trust God’s prophet, for they did not believe God, what had led to Babylon’s invasion!  Nevertheless, God in grace had Jeremiah tell Judah’s survivors to stay in Judah and trust Him to protect them there from Babylon, but that if they fled to Egypt, the harm they feared Babylon might do to them in Judah it would do to them in Egypt (Jer. 42:7-18).  However, the survivors said this message was not from God, but from Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch whom they claimed had manipulated Jeremiah tell them to stay in Judah!  Thus, they forcibly took Jeremiah with them to Egypt, Jer. 43:1-7!

3.      God then had Jeremiah predict Babylon’s invasion of Egypt to harm these Hebrews there, Jer. 43:8-44:30!

C.    Applying this passage to us today, Christ’s message on ministry to carnal evangelical believers is as follows:

1.      Though claiming that their pastors speak God’s truth, carnal believers today tend not to believe this claim, but think their pastors either preach their own ideas or voice what others manipulate them to preach!

2.      The cause of such thinking is failure to trust God, resulting in one’s facing repeat events of God’s painful discipline that are not viewed by the carnal as God’s discipline, but only as evils by others against them! 

3.      Such unbelief in God comes from (a) a failure by Calvinists to live by faith in God, for they believe that God gave them the gift of faith to believe at salvation, so God’s predestination will automatically preserve and develop that faith without any human responsibility to live by faith in God (Beveridge, [Calvin’s] Institutes, v. I, p. 484ff [Book Third, ch. II, 15-17]).  Also, (b) Charismatic-Arminians trust in the power of their faith, not in God, producing powerlessness in living! (Chafer/Walvoord, Major Bib. Themes, p. 220; Bettenson, ed., Docs. of the Christ. Church, 2nd ed., p. 377) Charismatic-Arminian believers thus try to use various experiential practices to enhance their faith in faith itself, deeds like indulging in excessive emotional expressions, wordy, demanding prayers, voicing mantras, etc. to obtain God’s “blessings”!

4.      However, failing in any way to trust in GOD and His use of His messengers only brings more discipline, so the carnal in both Calvinist and Charismatic-Arminian groups face repeat bouts of God’s discipline!

5.      Also, pastors are tempted to fear persecution from carnal hearers, so, like Jeremiah, they are tempted to say what the carnal want to hear or resign or change churches or careers to avoid being persecuted!

Either way, such actions by pastors reflect their unbelief in God, so they also face God’s repeat discipline!

6.      Christ thus gave the solution for effective discipling ministry to both carnal pastors and carnal hearers:

                         a.  As we before noted, Rev. 3:14 reverses the Jer. 42:5 order of the adjectives, “True and Faithful” to be “Faithful and True,” what stresses Christ’s reliability to judge now as in Jeremiah’s era.  Thus, pastors must trust Christ’s reliability to vindicate them NOW so that they might bravely give God’s truth NOW!

                         b.  Also, carnal hearers must heed God’s experiential signals with Scriptural support that He provides today to certify who are His God-led pastors, and repent and heed His Word for God’s discipline to cease!

 

Lesson: Based on errant views of FAITH in BOTH Calvinism AND Charismatic-Arminianism, many pastors and hearers alike FAIL either to LIVE by faith, or to live by faith in GOD, resulting in God’s repeat discipline events.

 

Application: May every pastor and hearer alike rely on the Lord to live in victory over carnality for blessing!