Satan is in to Identity Theif

Hebrews 1:4-14

Has anyone stolen your identity?  It has not happened to me, but I got this information from the BBB. “First, although it may be a small consolation, you are not alone. This past year, various surveys put the number of identity theft victims in the U.S. alone at between 700,000 and 9 million, depending on how broadly the crime is defined and how recently the survey was taken.”  So identity theft seems to be alive and well in our world, in fact many businesses have been started to alert a person that their identity has been stolen.

In Hebrews 1:4-14 the Holy Spirit is using the service of the writer to establish the supremacy of Jesus Christ over all others and all things.  It is assumed that a group referred to as Gnostics, a religious movement teaching that salvation comes by learning esoteric spiritual truths.  The apostle Paul gave this insight in Colossians 2:18, “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind.”  It is a wise Christian who tests every thought by the revealed word of God. 

“Still, there's "no new thing under the sun."  False worship has been around ever since Satan aspired to the throne of God.  Unfortunately, the mad rush to worship and glorify angels always comes at the expense of sound Christian doctrine.  In most cases, as in the New Age writings, Christ is left out altogether, or else He is reduced to merely one of the pantheon of characters, that have visited earth.  In Hebrews 1:4, the writer begins describing the absolute supremacy of Christ in all things.  And almost immediately, only three verses in, he starts putting angels in their proper place.  He does it by reaching back into the Psalms and reclaiming verses, which his Hebrew audience would be familiar with.  It's a perfect format for learning how to "see Christ" in the Old Testament.” Jim McClarty

The enemy of our souls has a goal and it is to turn your heart away from truth, and Jesus Christ is the Truth.  Satan would prefer that you worship him, but he will settle for religion, yes, I know Baptists that worship being a Baptist, and he has no problem with you worshiping a goat or an angel.  In fact, the worship of angels is quite trendy in 2011, many books are written about angels, and most of them leave Christ’s supremacy out of their books.  As Jim stated, “There’s no new thing under the sun.”  We are told in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

The bottom line is who will I believe, some person who puts a spin on Scripture or will I agree with the authority of Scripture?  Hebrews 1:3, states, “He (Jesus) is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”  As you read verses 4-14, you see the Holy Spirit making a clear case that Jesus is to be worshipped for these reasons: He is God’s only Son, angels were created by Him.  God the Father called Jesus His Son, angels are never referred to in this manner.  We are told that God the Father called Jesus God and said His throne is forever.  He is also Creator and verse ten is very clear on that. 

Now verse 14 is clear that angels are being sent out by God to serve those who are to inherit salvation.  But they should never be the object of our worship, only Jesus Christ has that place of honor, all others fall way short.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Ceremonial Observance

Hebrews 1:1-4

This letter is addressing Christians who were by culture and birth Jews, and the writer is addressing the danger of relapsing into Judaism, and going back to ceremonial observances.  The writer is showing a comparison of the Christian age to the Old Testament.  As a non-Jewish Christian, but a Christian who grew-up in the culture of a small Baptist church in a low-income family, did we face the same challenge that the writer is addressing?

It is important to understand that God required many of the ceremonial observances so that His chosen people would remember His faithfulness.  But it seems common to the human race to always add a few more rules, I know, I grew-up in a small Baptist church and we lived more by rules than by faith.  I assumed that living by rules and observance of Easter and Christmas and acting spiritual at church services was not the same as bowing your knee to the will of God?

We may have much in common with the letter to the Hebrew church, if only we will stop and ask the Holy Spirit to teach us and give us understanding of these truths.  The first chapter in my English Standard Version of the Bible is titled, “The Supremacy of God’s Son.”  Now that’s not Scripture, it is a title given by some person.  As we look into the first four verses, that title is very descriptive.  “Long ago, at many times in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom he created the world.  He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.  After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”

Some may want it both ways they like religion but do not like authority.  The verses in Hebrews leave no wiggle room.  The Spirit of God is telling us in these verses that in these last days, and they began when the Church age came into being, God is doing something new.  If we were playing poker, it is time to show your cards, God’s Spirit gives you this option, believe or reject.  Jesus is Creator God, all that we see and much we do not see He has created.  It goes back to Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God, created the heavens and the earth.”  He has all authority, over all people, nature, climates, and He alone has made purification for sin.

That was the message to the Hebrew Christian church and it is the message to the Christian church today.  What kind of hand are you putting your confidence in: The fool says in his heart there is no God, that’s a hand some are holding.  The religious person often holds this hand, “I’m better than most, and I’m in many Bible studies, I give to help the poor, and I’m sure that God would not send some good person like me to a place called hell.  In fact, I’m not sure there is a place called hell, that is the hand far too many are holding.  But our Creator Jesus said, “Let not your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1)  But he does not stop there and you would be wise to keep reading, for he goes on to tell his disciples that he is going to make a place for them in heaven, now that sounds good, we all want to go to heaven.  But Thomas, and aren’t you glad we have a Thomas to ask the questions we want to ask, is fearful of looking foolish; Thomas asked “Lord we do not know where you are going.  How can we know the way?”  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.  From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:5-7)  I am not into poker, but if this was a poker hand, and it is God’s rules, only one hand is worth holding, all others must fold.  The song writer Kenny Rogers gave us some great advise; “You got to know when to hold them, you got to know when to walk away, and you got to know when to fold.  Your life on this earth is like a vanishing vapor, that is stated very clearly in James 4:14.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Value of a Letter

Philemon 25

It is amazing to think that not long ago a personal letter from someone you knew was always opened, read, and sometimes read more than once.  In our modern world of text messages, face book, and the Internet, we have lost much of the value of a letter.  We often get too many from the same person, I’m guilty of that, and often they are stuff we are passing on with no personal message to the one who is receiving the message.  So we look at the sender or the title block and make a judgment whether to hit the delete button or put that person in our Spam file so that we are not bothered by their emails.  That is the world we live in, and it would be horrible if they were sharing a personal prayer need with us, but we spam them. 

We live in a time where more words are being sent out in one of these forms, but so little is being said.  When you get a letter in your mailbox at home and it is from someone you know, I’m guessing you open it, and read it because it came in the U.S. mail and we know it took some effort from the sender.

The 25th verse of Philemon’s letter is the last line and it is understood, that it had no verses, just sentences, so this would be the last sentence.  “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”  I have a bad habit of dismissing the greeting and the final greetings, much like many of you do with emails that you assume you understand the contents.  But are we missing something of great value in doing so, and I’m talking about the greetings. 

What is your spirit; is it not the real you, is it not hidden from others sight, and it has residence in our earth-suit. The spirit is that which gives us the ability to have an intimate relationship with God.  James 2:26 states that a body apart from the spirit is dead and Job 32:8 states this truth; “But it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.”  We also have this insight from Stephen in Acts 7:59, “While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”  When “spirit” is used, it often refers to the immaterial part of humanity that “connects” with God, who Himself is Spirit.  Jesus tells us, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.  God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)

Is this not what Paul is saying, may the unmerited favor of Jesus Christ be all over you.  If we only grasp that Paul is stating so much more than what is understood in that greeting.  When the Spirit of Jesus Christ and His grace is with our spirit, He is compassionate, gentle and humble, longsuffering, forgiving, burden bearing, faithful, tender, quiet, gentle, just, and faithful.   He is a saving spirit, and we are blessed with all Spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Watch-out what you Love

Philemon 23-25

What can be learned from a final greeting?  That is what these verses are dealing with and in verse 23 we are introduced to Epaphras, Paul’s fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, and we would not know that he is a companion of Paul’s, unless we look to Colossians 1:7-8 and we find that he is from Colossae.  Paul said this about him, “just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant.  He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.”  In Colossians 4:12-13, we are given more information about Epaphras; “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.  For I bear witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea, and in Hierapolis.”  It is important to understand that Epaphras has taught the gospel to these people of Colossae, and they have received it and the gospel is growing and bearing fruit because of this faithful minister of Christ.  But now he is in Rome with Paul, maybe a prisoner, but Paul calls him a servant of Christ Jesus, a man of prayer, and he is also telling Philemon that he is a fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus.

In verse 24, Paul calls these men my fellow workers; they were in Rome with him, not as prisoners, but co-workers in the kingdom of Christ.  You may be familiar with the names Mark and Luke, but Aristarchus and Demas may not have hit your radar.  The first time we hear of Aristarchus is in Acts 19:29, he is from Macedonia and is a companion of Paul’s and is taken captive in a riot at Ephesus; that’s the first time we hear of him.  Acts 27:2, gives insights that I’ve missed.  Paul is a prisoner going to Rome, and was accompanied by none other than Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.  And in the book of Colossians 4:10, Paul refers to Aristarchus as my fellow prisoner.

Demas, another of Paul’s co-laborers, whom we may not be familiar with is found in Colossians 4:14, “Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas.”  So this we know that the church at Colossae knows who Demas is and must have some kind of history with him.  And in the letter to Philemon, Demas is called my fellow worker, but in 2 Timothy 4:10, we see a part of Demas that should awaken every Christian that reads it.  What insight from 2 Timothy 4:9-10; “Do your best to come to me soon.  For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.”

Demas was a co-worker, a follower of Christ and was involved in growing the kingdom of Christ on this earth, what happened?  Somehow, someone got him to remove his focus from the kingdom of God, to this present world and it did not happen over night, Demas never saw it coming, he was polluted by a love for stuff, and maybe the way others saw him.  In the gospel of Luke 12:15, Jesus said these words; “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”  In the gospel of Luke 8, Jesus is talking about the parable of the Sower beginning in verses 4-15, it seems that Demas and so many that are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life are unfruitful.  They, like Demas, have fallen in love with this present world.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Is your guest room open for a Friend?

Philemon 19-22

How well do you know the people you call friends?  I’ve shared in the past that I believe the word friend is over used almost as much as the word love.  If I came from another planet and heard all the uses of the word love, I might define it as; they like that thing or person a lot, but I would not have any real understanding of what love is.  Love is an action, love always has an object of its love, and love never puts self above the object of that love.  Friend is also used often in our culture in the same manner, what is your definition of a friend?  How many of the people you call friend would you call if you needed money, or your mate was injured in an accident, or you just needed to share about a great thing that had just happened to you; those are your friends.  Everyone else is an acquaintance, some have been in your life for years, and others have just shown up.

Philemon is more than an acquaintance to Paul, an it may have been a long time since they last spoke are saw one another, but Paul is sharing in this very private letter things you would only say to a friend.  Beginning in verse 19, “I Paul am writing this with my own hand. (I believe Paul is implying this is too personal and important to trust to anyone else) I will pay it back – not to mention that you owe me your very self.  I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.  Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.  And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.”

Often in our culture we are obtuse in our understanding of words and especially when it comes to relationships, and men have a greater degree of difficultly than do women.  After living in the Houston area for over twenty years, Jan and I have many people who are dear to us, many we enjoy hearing from and wish would feel the freedom to come and spend time with us in our little home in the Texas hill country.  I often wonder how we get so caught up in the busyness of life that we do not place even greater value on those relationships?  Could it be they were just relationships, very good relationships but they never moved to the place of being a friend?

What kind of friend am I to Jesus, has our relationship moved to friendship?  This is what Jesus has said about that subject: “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.  ¹³“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.  ¹⁴“You are My friends if you do what I command you.  ¹⁵“No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.”  (John 15:12-15)  Have you prepared a guest room in your heart for Jesus to come and stay with you?

I read this poem, and it spoke volumes to me:

 I heard the call, ‘Come follow,’ That was all.  Earth’s joys grew dim, My soul went after Him, I rose and followed ---That was all.  Will you not follow If you hear His call?  ------------- Leonard Ravenhill

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Are you a Follower of Jesus Christ?

Acts 17:16

Are you a follower of Jesus Christ?  I did not ask you if you go to a Christian church, nor did I ask if you believe in Jesus, from Scripture we understand that demons believe James 2:19, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” So believing in Christ may put you in the company of demons, but when we begin to be followers of Christ, it goes from empty words to application.  In Romans 2:17-29, the Holy Spirit addresses these truths through Paul’s pen, the foolishness and damage that is done by Jews in this case, who put great stock in the law of Moses and in circumcision, however they did not obey those laws but still taught others to do so.  This also holds true with people who claim to believe in Jesus; who live their lives in contrast to the teaching of Jesus and the Bible.   This is what the Holy Spirit said through Paul’s lips, “You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” (Romans 2:23-24 ESV)

For years I believed that Jesus tells the truth, I went to church, and at the age of 27 years I ask Jesus Christ to come into my life and He did.  Things began to change, but I was not a follower of Christ, I was a new person and my life began to take on new desires and some of the old Bob began to leave, but I had not come to the place of being offended by the things that were an affront to my Lord.  Now that confession brings me to Acts 17:6, “Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.” Why should idols provoke our spirit?  Often I need to define what something is before I move on, so what is an idol: “When any thing or anybody gets What God Alone Deserves ... Even good things can become idols...” A.W. Tozer:  But this quote sums it up on how foolish our idols are and how they come from our minds: “When we try to imagine what God is like we must of necessity use that-which-is-not-God as the raw material for our minds to work on; hence whatever we visualize God to be, He is not, for we have constructed our image out of that which He has made and what He has made is not God. If we insist upon trying to imagine Him, we end with an idol, made not with hands but with thoughts; and an idol of the mind is as offensive to God as an idol of the hand.” - A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of The Holy

An now let’s get real, what provoked you; and are the things that incite your anger, and that trouble you deep in your spirit, do they also offend God?  If they do not, then you have a higher standard than God, or maybe you have not allowed the word of God to instruct you in what provokes God’s anger?

Let me give you a very current example of what the Democrat Nation Convention did that provoked me, and I believe angered God: they removed His name from their platform and once they understood that it would cost them votes, they had three voice votes and the not for God won on all three votes, but the leaders knew it was a death nail to their hopes so they ignored the vote and put it back in the platform.  I also believe that God is provoked when anyone says a man can marry a man or a woman a woman, because it goes against what God has said in Geneses 2:24, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”  If you are a follower of Christ look at what Jesus said on the subject: “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.” (Mark 10:6-8 ESV)

When we become followers of Christ, we become His ambassador’s and ours is the same goal as our leader, to stay on message, His message should be our only message, what is your message?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Politics and Religion

Acts 17:13

It is here again, it happens every four years, and you may be wondering what happens, a Presidential Election, and you see people on both sides attacking the candidate of the other party.  If you have lived in the United States, it will come as no surprise that many untruths are told on both sides, and one side always uses the same lies that the other party is for dirty water, to take away funding for programs that help the needy and the old people.  Why would they keep repeating this lie, because it works!  They also tell lies about the other, to this date I’ve not heard one say this is an honorable person, and they have the best interest of our country at heart, but I also am honorable and have the best interest of our nation on my heart, so listen to what their views are for this country and then listen to mine and decide who has the best plan to govern this great nation.  It is never going to happen; no they come up with lies right from the father of lies, the devil.

Now that is politics and if your politics are your religion, then you’re going to do what is needed to protect your base.  It has become clear to me in this Presidential election that many a church person is willing to share untruths, to be mean spirited, expressing opinions that are directed to attack the moral fiber of the person they are against.  Some use humor to do this and others just use any tool, and truth is not the measuring stick, winning at all cost is what they desire.  How does that stack-up with the teaching of our Lord, not very well?  Jesus asked this question:  “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?”  (Luke 6:39 ESV) “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.  (Luke 6:46-48 ESV)  I personally believe we are very close to that flood coming against our nation, how is your foundation?  Do you live your life as if Jesus tells the truth?  If so, review John 10:10 and see whose voice you are listening to.

You are asking, how does all of that tie into Acts 17:13, and so let me explain first by looking at this verse,  “But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.”  Do you understand that the religious Jews religion and their politics were on display, God was using Paul and Silas to show that the Messiah was not coming in the way they had been hoping, and that much of their worship was for the eyes of men and not toward the heart of God.  So they, much like the political parties of today, had a vested interest, it is called power, it’s called being the one that tell the others how to live life on planet earth, and so the same group that ran Paul out of Thessalonica came to Bera to agitate and stir up trouble for Paul.  They care not one little bit for truth, they wanted to keep control, and history tells us they did the most horrible things to the followers of Christ.  Hebrews 11:35-38, gives this account of religious people at there best: “Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”

           

A question I’ve asked myself, and let me confess, I found myself guilty.  Am I acting like a religious man or am I being a follower of Christ?  Scripture tells us to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith, 2 Corinthians 13:5, I hope it is something you do on a regular basic.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice