Restoration Ministries International
Restoring the Hebraic Foundations of the Earliest
Church
Preparing the Family of Jesus to Be Light in Darkness
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Discussing How To
Restore The Early Church
Returning Intimacy and Power to the
Father’s Children
“I tell you that if two of you on
earth agree about anything you ask for,
it will be done for you by my Father in
heaven.
For where two or three come together in my
name, there am I with them.”
(Matthew 18:19,20)
Section 3 - Lesson 22
Hellenism And Romanism Today:
The Prophets Are Still Warning
A Call To Repentance
Scrutinize Your Own Faith Practices
Hellenism and Romanism Today
The Prophets Are Still Warning
“Now these things occurred as
examples to keep us from setting our
hearts on evil things as they did...
These things happened to them as examples
and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the
fulfillment of the ages has come”
(1 Corinthians 10:6,11).
Never discount the words of truth our
Father has poured out for us in the Hebrew Scriptures! The
Apostle Paul directs us back to the Older Testament because the
events recorded there for our benefit as followers of Jesus
“occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.”
God’s people had chosen to
compromise their relationship with Him through disobedience and
spiritual adultery even though He had proven His love for them
and His awesome power over and over. The Apostle recognizes the
frailty of human nature and understands that we in Jesus can
also stray. That’s why the consequences of disobedience
were spelled out so clearly in the Hebrew text “as warnings for us.”
Shouldn’t we be paying closer
attention to the caution lights our Lord flashes through His
vessels, the prophets? His character and His ways don’t
change! God is pointing us back to the Older Testament so that
our hearts can be convicted and convinced about that which He
is restoring today in the Hebraic Restoration.
The Israelites, that tiny people group He
handpicked to represent Him to the nations, are an example of
how our Father responds to His children when they keep on
sinning. The followers of Jesus have been
“handpicked” by our Father as well to bring the
Light of righteousness to the pagan world around us.
The holy fear that time and again turned adulterous Israel
toward their God in times of chastisement for their
disobedience has become a non-issue in Hellenized Christianity.
The prophetic warnings with which the prophets of old poured
out from God’s own heart have been relegated for the most
part to history’s dustbin.
BUT, as Paul intoned, these warnings are
intended to bring about a holy fear of our mighty and loving
God so that we might not fall into the same willful sin as the
Israelites did. Our Lord is sounding a wake-up call for those who
call themselves “Christian”: to use the accounts of
His warnings to the Israelites as an impetus to scrutinize our own lives. How are we tolerating
and excusing sin?
Our holy God loves His children far more
than any of us can imagine, and uses prophets out of His tender
mercy. His prophecies of hope and Messianic peace to ancient
Israel as well as His promises to His family in Jesus reveal
His ardent heart. And when His people stray from His commands,
out of love He sends prophets to warn them—a pattern
found in both Testaments.
But our Lord also sends warnings through
prophetic messengers to warn about forthcoming
events so they (and we) won’t
become fearful or be taken by surprise. For instance, Luke
records a prophetic warning issued through Agabus so that the
followers of Jesus could take measures beforehand to prepare:
One of them, named Agabus, stood up and
through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread
over the entire Roman world (This
happened during the reign of
Claudius) (Acts 11:28).
When His children are endeavoring to
fulfill a major undertaking He has directed them to do, our
Father often sends prophets to help
and encourage the people to
press on to completion (see Ezra 5:2, 6:14 for example). Our
Lord’s arm is not short to speak forth plainly that which
His people need to hear!
We’ve brought up these examples of
our Lord’s pattern of speaking through prophets for a
distinct reason: The prophetic
voice of God is undergirding the Hebraic Restoration. He is restoring the Jewish people back to
Israel one last time, fulfilling the promises He made through
the prophets.
The return of over 1 million Jews in the
past decade and a half to that particular piece of real estate
has been a miracle that’s surpassed the escape of the
Israelites from Egyptian captivity! This too was prophetically
foretold:
‘Therefore,’ says ADONAI,
‘the day will come when people will no longer swear, “As
ADONAI lives, who brought the people of Isra’el out of the land of Egypt, but, “As ADONAI lives, who brought the people
of Isra’el out of the land to
the north and out of all the countries where he drove them”; for I will bring them back to their own land,
which I gave to their ancestors (Jeremiah 16:14,15).
Out of His mercy to Gentiles worldwide who
have so little understanding of the Older Testament (and we
realize many Jews are clueless about the Hebrew Bible as
well!), God is restoring the Hebraic
foundations of the Church. Through
the disobedience of Israel in the past, He is showing us the mercy that
He’s calling upon us to now show them! (See Romans 11:
30-32.)
If you’re accustomed to bringing
your questions before our Lord to reveal His confirmation to
you, you’ll have no problems searching Scripture and
hearing from His Spirit that this restoration is indeed
occurring now. If you’re resistant, however, He is
voicing a warning of impending judgment for those who refuse to
heed and test if this is the Father’s doing.
You may remember in our earlier Lessons we
discuss the fall of Jerusalem under the hands of the Romans.
This tragedy was no surprise to those who responded to
Jesus’s warning voiced some 40 years prior to the event: “Not one stone here will be left on
another; every one will be thrown down” (Matthew 24:2).
Jesus also advised them how to respond
when the city was about to be overtaken: “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the
mountains” (24:16). Finally, He warned
them to not let themselves be deceived by wishful thinking that
has no basis in Scripture:
“At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is
the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not
believe it” (24:23).
The true prophets of today have been
warning for decades about God judging the United States. Even
the most jaded would admit that the past decade has witnessed a
landslide of moral decay and lawlessness that parallels the
worst of ancient Rome and Greece.
As the daily struggle to make ends meet
becomes an exercise in futility for large segments of our
population, those who are hopeless will feel no guilt over
seizing whatever they want or need. Video clips from the New
Orleans disaster clearly demonstrated the lawlessness that
takes over when survival is an issue.
Noted prophetic writer and pastor David
Wilkerson has foreseen a day when the major cities in this
country will be aflame in race riots. And, as Billy Graham has
often remarked, “If God doesn’t judge the United
States, He will have to apologize to Sodom and
Gomor-rah.” Our God doesn’t
apologize!
God’s Word makes clear that
undeniable consequences face those who refuse to confess and
turn from the spiritual adultery they’re tolerating through willful sin.
Only by humbling themselves through repentance and filling in
those sinful ruts with the pure power of God’s Spirit and
His Word will they keep from giving way to the lies of
lawlessness and perversion of true grace:
Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all
this disaster has come upon us, yet
we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to
your truth (Daniel 9:13).
In 1998 when we were nearing the end of
writing our last book, Pastoring By
Elders, we spent a considerable
amount of time in prayer at a retreat center in the mountains
of Colorado. One morning the Holy Spirit revealed this message
to us:
“Dark Days of Chastisement are
coming on the United States. The children
of today will not become grandparents before this occurs. When
this is done, 50 million people will be dead. The message of
the Hebraic Restoration will not bear its full fruit until the
Dark Days come and people realize they need Jesus.
If you remember your history classes, you
may recall that 25 million died as a result of the Black Plague in Europe.
The religious system was so corrupt at that time that God had
to intervene by bringing that continent to its knees.
If you have trouble believing God gets
people’s attention through disasters, you need to revisit
His ways in the Bible. Does He ENJOY bringing about
catastrophe? Absolutely not! He yearns that people heed the
warnings and repent!
Do I take any pleasure in the death of the
wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased
when they turn from their ways and live? (Ezekiel
18:23; see also 18:32).
Because of unrelenting evil He once sent a
flood to destroy all but eight people. Countless biblical
episodes reveal “natural” disasters emanating from
God’s hand: hail, tornados, earthquakes, floods, famine,
drought. We’re warned that His last judgments will be by fire (see 2 Peter 3:
10). All of these are signs which are intended to point to Him
as Sovereign Lord so that all people might cry out to
Jesus in repentance.
A repeated refrain is sounded throughout
Ezekiel as the prophet reports God’s disasters to come: “And they will
know that I am the LORD.” The word “LORD” here is God’s
covenant name, YodHehVavHeh (YAH-weh). Those who have discernment will realize from the
nature of the calamities that they’ve proceeded from the
only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Yet, our Lord doesn’t intend that we
spend our days worrying about what might happen. Those who know
Jesus in the midst of devastation such as tsunamis and
earthquakes and floods can walk in full peace and assurance of
His Presence. That peaceable Spirit within them will stand out
as light in the darkness and provide a sturdy platform from
which they can testify of His faithfulness!
None of us knows when or where disaster
will strike. Therefore we must make the most of each day,
following the pattern the Apostle lays out for us:
Since everything will be destroyed in this
way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives (2 Peter 3:11).
If you’re going through these
lessons and aren’t familiar with our Lord’s use of
prophetic gifting, be assured that the Newer Testament affirms
that God is still speaking through prophets today. (For
example, check Ephesians 4:11; Acts 2:18; 21:10; 1 Corinthians
14:1.) His spiritual anointings were intended for all followers
of Jesus for all time!
Our Lord Himself is the Source for the
prophetic words He shares with His people, “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy” (Revelation 19:10).
God promised Israel through prophecy that He would return them
to the Land and put in them a new
heart and a new spirit. The work of
that unchanging Holy Spirit was quite specific: “I will put My
Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws” (Ezekiel
36:27).
One purpose for the indwelling Spirit
stands firm for those today who are already in relationship
with Jesus as their Messiah: to guide, direct and admonish His
people when they don’t walk in obedience to God’s decrees.
When His people refuse to follow the Spirit’s prompting
to obey, He sends prophetic messengers to reopen their
spiritual ears!
Are there counterfeits who speak of words
and visions which have emanated from their own imaginations?
Absolute-ly! The prophetic writings of Jeremiah and Ezekiel,
for instance, overflow with attacks against true prophets by
those who falsely represent God. Tacking on a “Thus says
the Lord” in no way validates a supposed word that
panders to the desires and hopes of the disobedient.
That’s why followers of Jesus are
given instruction for correctly dealing with prophecy. Because
our Lord does speak through prophetic words as part of His
wonderful manifestation of His Spirit’s power,
we’re warned:
Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat
prophecies with contempt. Test
everything. Hold on to the good (1 Thes-salonians 5:19-21).
Counterfeit prophecies can lead astray those who
aren’t sound in their pursuit of the standard of
God’s Word. People would much rather hear a word that
makes them feel good even if they’re tolerating
wickedness! That’s why each prophecy must be evaluated
against Scripture. “Weigh
carefully what is said” (1
Corinthians 14:29). Our Lord never contradicts His character or
His Word through a prophecy. If something is shared that
doesn’t line up with the unchanging logos, disregard it!
Don’t allow the worldly
psycho-babble which permeates many false prophecies to convince
you that you can excuse your sin under false grace.
That’s deceptive horizontal thinking from man’s perspective, not
God’s. God treasures the righteousness of obedient trust.
When you’re resistant to repentance,
He sends prophetic words of warning to represent His vertical perspective. The step of response that will stir a listening
heart away from tolerated sin is recognizing just how sinful that
sin really is in God’s sight. Then fellowship can be
restored:
Then you will remember your evil ways and
wicked deeds, and you will loathe
yourselves for your sins and detestable practices (Ezekiel
36:31).
We encourage you to test the message the
Holy Spirit gave to us earlier. When the Dark Days come, there
won’t be widespread repentance. Instead, in the same spirit of
willful blasphemy and unrepentance that’s found in
Revelation 16:9-11, people will turn their darkened hearts against God.
Those enmeshed in the scheming deception of Hellenism and
Romanism will turn against the true followers of Jesus and
persecute them, just as the false prophets and priests
persecuted Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
Does it seem impossible to you that when
catastrophes occur, people will still refuse to turn from their
sin and cry out to Jesus for forgiveness? Tragically, our Lord
has already revealed the response of those whose lives evidence
they tolerate wickedness. Spurred on by satan’s
emissaries, the spiritually blind will cling to their worldly
treasures and “work of their hands”:
The rest of mankind that were not killed
by these plagues still did not
repent of the work of their hands;
they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and
wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk (Revelation 9:20).
Don’t be among these people.
Don’t be complacent about
scrutinizing your life and faith practices. Heed Paul’s
words, “Now is the time of
God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). If you don’t,
when darkness is upon you, you may be too overcome with
compromise to respond in humble, obedient trust.
Walking uprightly according to the
Spirit’s impulse and the direction of God’s Word is
a sure way to strengthen your spiritual resolve to endure to
the end. The prophet Isaiah confronted tolerated sin from both
the religious leaders as well as the people, yet he never
ceased representing God’s perspective:
You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. But when we continued
to sin against them, You were angry. How then can
we be saved? (Isaiah 64:5).
In the footsteps of the prophet John, the
son of Zachariah, prophets today have a vital mission to
address the same situation he faced (see Luke 1:16,17):
• to turn the “sons of
Israel” (including today’s nominal believers and
the yet-to-believe) back to God.
• to turn the hearts of
“fathers to children”—to revive a deep
Spirit-concern for the training of the next generation to
follow Jesus in Spirit and in truth.
• to turn the disobedient to the
wisdom of the just — not just head knowledge but the application of
that wisdom.
• to make ready for our Lord a people having been prepared to serve His purposes.
“By faith Abel offered God a better
sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a
righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by
faith he still speaks, even though he is dead” (Hebrews 11:4).
Have you ever wondered how Adam and
Eve’s second-born could still be speaking to us today?
His decision to obey God and trust that his sacrificial
offering would be acceptable set the pattern for all offerings
that would be acceptable to atone for sin. Even though his
obedience cost him his very life at the hands of his jealous
brother, Abel chose God’s way.
(Note that God did not intervene to stop
this murder. Obedient trust today can be as costly, as our
brothers and sisters in Jesus in persecuted lands can attest.
God’s sovereign purposes don’t guarantee an easy
ride even for those who walk uprightly.)
Pay attention to whether your own choices are
righteous in the situations our Father places before you, a
lesson for us from Abel.
When you read Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
Daniel and the other prophets of the Older Testament, do you
think their prophetic words applied only to the Isra-elites?
It’s clear that some of the prophecies were
intended for a future time:
• “He
replied, ‘Go your way, Daniel, because the words are
closed up and sealed until the time
of the end’” (Daniel 12:9);
• “For
the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will
not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will
certainly come and will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:3).
There’s no doubt that God’s
words through many of the Older Testament prophets refer to
nations other than Israel. Many of the messages even delineate
these countries by name.
The Newer Testament as well speaks of a
time when words spoken through past prophets will be fulfilled: “[Jesus] must remain in
heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as
He promised long ago through His holy
prophets” (Acts 3:21).
Prophetic fulfillment is still taking
place all around us! How great is the need to be like the men of Issachar so
we don’t miss the relevance of these messages from His
Throne! These men “understood the times and knew what [God’s children] should do” (1 Chronicles 12:32).
Hellenism and Romanism Today
A Call To Repentance
“Now the glory of the God of Israel
went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved
to the threshold of the temple. Then the LORD called to the man
clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side. ‘Go
throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the
foreheads of those who
grieve and lament over all the
detestable things that are done in
it.’
As I listened, he said to the others,
‘Follow him through the city and kill, without showing
pity or compassion.
Slaughter old men, young men and maidens,
women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark.
Begin at my sanctuary.’ So they began with the elders who
were in front of the temple” (Ezekiel
9:3-6).
When God could tolerate the defiling
spiritual adultery of His beloved people no longer, He removed
His glory from the Temple (see Ezekiel 10). A line of
separation between the righteous and the wicked had been drawn.
Those who identified with His grief and lamented over the
corruption and spiritual decay were marked on their forehead
just as the blood on the door posts of the faithful preserved
them when the Destroying spirit passed throughout Egypt (see
Exodus 12).
The disobedient—all who chose to
follow the adulterous idolatry of the religious
leadership—suffered the same fate of merciless
annihilation as their corrupt elders. Neither wicked shepherds
nor duped sheep were spared; each was held personally responsible.
God’s judgment began at the Temple,
where those prominent within the religious system presided. In
the pattern lamented in Ezekiel, chapter 34, the leaders had
failed miserably in their responsibilities to walk in
God’s righteous commands. By deceiving themselves that
they could hide their personal pagan practices, the religious
leaders neglected to confront the spiritual adultery that was
rampant among the people.
God’s holiness tolerates no
compromise with evil. Those who are mature in their
relationship with Him can recognize the distinction between
that which is righteous and that which isn’t. Relational responsibility within the Body demands that we confront those
who continue to mix sin with religious practice and see nothing
wrong with that.
Her [clergy] do violence to my law and
profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common;
they teach that there is no
difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my
Sabbaths, so that I am profaned
among them (Ezekiel 22:26).
When those who call themselves
“Christian” continue to tolerate sin in their own
lives and within their families, they bring down God’s
Name. Those who are indwelled by the Spirit of Christ yet
continue to willfully sin are promised by Peter that
they’ll face judgment before their Lord:
For it is time for judgment to begin with
the family of God; and if it begins with us, what
will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of
God? (1 Peter 4:17).
Just as Ezekiel was commanded by His
offended Lord to confront the sins of Israel and Judah (see
Ezekiel 23:36), so today those He has called to prophesy
warning to His people must obey. The parallels between the
children of Israel and the disobedient within Christianity are
too similar to ignore!
Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD
says: Since you have forgotten Me [the God of both Testaments] and thrust Me behind your back, you
must bear the consequences of your lewdness and [spiritual] prostitution (Ezekiel 23:35).
With rampant clergy sexual misconduct and
divorce, and a Christendom with morals no different than
unbelievers, what do you expect God to do? He is going to begin
His judgment in His own family so that others will see and
repent. And, we believe this has
already begun.
“You are not being sent to a people
of obscure speech and difficult language, but to the [United
States]”
(Ezekiel 3:5).
The truths that our Father gave us to
share are being downloaded from our website and translated all
over the world. However, in the words the Spirit gave us, He
sent us back to “the hardest
place on earth for these truths to bear fruit. The spirit of
Hellenism owns Christianity in the United States.”
Yet Zechariah’s prophecy will be
fulfilled, even among those about whom we were told
“don’t need God and don’t need each other” in
the self-sufficient US: “I
will rouse your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and make you
like a warrior’s sword” (Zechariah
9:13).
An Hebraic understanding of Scrip-ture is
being poured forth to undo what the spirit of Hellenism has
done to Christendom. And gradually,
ever more people who have fled Nicolaitanism are embracing the
Hebraic foundations. They’re realizing that God’s parameters for receiving His mercy in Jesus never change: He “keeps His covenant
of love with all who love him and obey his commands” (Daniel 9:4; see also John 14:21).
Our intensity and earnestness to share
have grown because we have no doubt that Dark Days of Chastisement are coming on the United States. We’ve placed on our
website all that God has given us to be freely used by those
who seek truth to apply it to their lives.
The Bible warns through the character and
actions of our unchangeable God that there comes a time when
man’s sin is so great that He is compelled to act. Before that time
comes, he is warning each and every person to get under the
atoning blood of Jesus through repentance.
‘Even now,‘ declares the LORD,
‘return to me with all your
heart, with fasting and weeping and
mourning.‘ Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger
and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity (Joel 2:12,13).
Now is the
time for the Hebraic foundations of His entire Word to become
your way of life, a life that is pleasing to our Father. Even
if none of your friends understands your response to His call
or joins you in it, don’t let that stop you.
If you’ll turn to our Father in
complete repentance and learn to live by the foundations which
the earliest followers of Jesus embraced, our Lord promises
you,
As a shepherd looks after his scattered
flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I
will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness (Ezekiel 34:12).
“They stood in their places and
confessed their sins and the wickedness of their fathers” (Nehemiah 9:2).
“Let us lie down in our shame, and
let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the LORD our
God, both we and our fathers; from our youth till this day we
have not obeyed the LORD our God” (Jeremiah 3:25).
Take an honest look at the history of
Christendom and consider if our Father’s Kingdom as
described by Jesus is accurately and faithfully being
represented today: congregations that parallel the institutions
of the world (some with clergy functioning as CEO’s);
compromising to avoid persecution and martyrdom or just plain
inconvenience; blending in with the culture to make worship
palatable and entertaining.
Is your heart grieved by the way our God’s Name has been
defamed by the unrighteous lives of those who call themselves
Christian? This needs to be the generation that repents for
both ourselves and our forefathers. By embracing Greek and Roman
influences, we have transformed the holy living organism of
Christ’s Body into a man-centered, man-serving
organization. In our individual and collective failure to
courageously return to the Church being built by Jesus and
proclaimed by the apostles, we’ve settled for the
mediocre and powerless.
Marvel at the example set by our prophetic
spiritual fathers. Nehemiah, Jeremiah and Daniel each confessed
the ancestral sins that had brought defeat and captivity to the
Jews. Even though they themselves had walked in obedient trust,
each man owned the guilt of His disobedient people.
Turning to God in earnest prayer, as followers of Christ are called to do
today, these men confessed the sins of the whole nation for
past generations as if these iniquities were their own. Daniel
recognized that the “good
hand of the Lord” would not
be with his people until those sins were confessed and their
effect repudiated. (See Daniel 9:3-19.)
Turning away from God’s commands as though they only belonged to
the ancient Jews and are irrelevant to followers of Jesus today
is rebellion of the sort these prophets confronted so
vigorously. Those who disregard the timeless righteousness of
His laws and ways endanger themselves no matter how many
self-serving steepled buildings they habituate:
Though Ephraim built many altars for sin
offerings, these have become altars
for sinning. I wrote for them the many things of my law, but they regarded them as something alien (Hosea
8:12).
Deceived religious leaders have ignored
the precise commands of Jesus that permeate the Gospels as a deepening of the
Hebrew Scriptural teaching. Many have perverted the words of
Paul in particular to deny the validity of those very laws of
righteous living. Disregarding obedient trust as
“legalism”, those who casually declare
they’re “saved” yet have “plowed wickedness, reaped iniquity and eaten
the fruit of lies” (see Hosea
10:13) will be held responsible before our Holy Lord.
In the pattern of our righteous
forefathers, believers must repent for the centuries-long sins
of Hellenized/Roman-ized Christianity, and for turning away from the theocracy of Jesus as LORD of their lives and of His
collective Body. He’s calling us through His forgiveness
and grace to cooperate with Him with devoted and singleminded
hearts to fulfill His words: “I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH” (Matthew 16:18).
Hellenism and Romanism Today
Scrutinize Your Own Faith Practices
Up through this lesson, we’ve
discussed the Older Testament, the Hebraic perspective, and the
influence of Hellenism and Romanism on historical and
contemporary church practice and belief. Now we ask you to
thoughtfully and prayerfully answer the comprehensive questions
below.
These questions will give you the
opportunity to probe your own faith practices. Think of this as
an assignment to answer transparently before our Lord Jesus.
When you’re done, you’ll have revealed to Him how
you plan to lovingly live for Him to serve His Kingdom purposes. In the future,
when people ask you about your faith practices, you’ll be
prepared to clearly articulate your reasons.
Some of these questions may be similar to
ones you’ve answered in earlier lessons. Don’t look
back at your previous responses. Instead, answer from where
your heart and spirit are right now with the help of the Holy
Spirit—the Spirit of wisdom and truth.
Since these questions are written for a
diverse audience, not all of them may apply to you. So
don’t feel like you need to answer them all!
The Older Testament
What is your view of the Older Testament?
What is its relationship to the Newer Testament?
Is your response different when you read
the Hebrew Scriptures than when you read the Newer Testament?
Yes or No? If yes, describe your feelings.
Describe how you believe God wants you to
use the Older Testament in your relationship with Him, and what
He wants you to glean from it.
Describe your view of God as you see Him
revealed in the Older Testament. How is love shown to be an
important part of man’s relationship with God?
Describe your view of God as you see Him
revealed in the Newer Testament. How is love shown to be an
important part of man’s relationship with God?
What, if any, major differences were there
between your view of God in the Older Testament and the Newer?
Since God doesn’t change, why do you think you have two
different views of Him?
Covenants
Describe your understanding of cove-nants.
Why do you think our God initiates covenants with mankind?
Describe in detail what you believe the
“New Covenant” in Jesus means to you. What does God
require for a person to enter into this Covenant?
Jesus promises that we would receive the
Holy Spirit if we enter into this Covenant, and that out from
us would flow “streams of
living water” (John 7:
38,39). Describe how you recognize that the Holy Spirit is in
you.
Does that which you describe in the answer
above resemble what you believe Jesus meant when He said
you’d be a “stream of living water”? Yes or
No? If no, why do you think your life differs from His promised
result?
Can this “New Covenant” be
intentionally broken by man? Yes or No? If yes, how?
Revelation
Describe the varied ways God revealed Himself to mankind in the Older Testament. Do you believe God is still revealing
Himself and His will to man today? Yes or No? If yes, describe
in as much detail as possible the varied ways He does this.
If your answer is yes in the question
above, cite three instances of God’s revelation to you.
Sin
Describe what you believe sin is.
Describe what you believe God’s view of sin is. Why do you think He required a sacrificial death to pay the penalty of sin in the Older Testament? Why did Jesus die on the cross?
David laments in Psalm 32 what happened
when he failed to confess his sins. Describe your understanding
of repentance and confession.
John writes, “If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive
us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). What do you think he means, “purify us from all
unrighteousness”? At this
moment are you holding onto any unconfessed sin? Yes or No? If
yes, why?
Your Faith Perspective
We wrote in Lesson 8 about Hebraic logic
and syllogistic reasoning. What is your goal and purpose as you
read the Bible? Do you see God’s Word as an instrument to
change you, or do you read it to add to your knowledge?
Is your faith walk based on creedal
positions and doctrinal statements, or on a love relationship
of obedient trust in which your biblical applications
demonstrate a way of life that glorifies your Father? Explain.
Describe how unbelievers know you are a
follower of Jesus. Do you live it, or just articulate
“Christianese” to them?
Paul describes our faith pilgrimage on earth with these words, “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Describe, citing examples, how you have matured in your faith. Is your “spiritual maturity”
evidenced more by an increase in spiritual knowledge or by a
godly way of life seen in your actions?
Marriage
Why do you think God ordained marriage
between one man and one woman?
If you didn’t include this in your
answer above, how does the marriage covenant represent our
Covenant relationship with Him?
Children
What are God’s purposes for a married couple to have children? Describe the biblical responsibilities of
parents in raising their children.
How do the requirements of raising children
parallel the path to maturity our Father calls for in those who
follow His Son, Jesus?
The earliest followers of Jesus knew that
God wanted their homes to be the first and primary place for
spiritual development. Do you agree with this? Yes or No?
Describe what goes on in your home as it pertains to spiritual
development.
Fellowship With Others
Describe what you believe the word
“fellowship” means.
What do you think John means when he
writes, “We proclaim to you
what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have
fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and
with his Son, Jesus Christ” (1
John 1:3)?
Can fellowship with God be broken? Yes or
No? If yes, how do you restore fellowship with God?
If you answered yes above, can you have
fellowship with others if your fellowship with God is broken?
Can you have fellowship with a person who is not in fellowship
with God? Yes or No? If no, how would you know if they were out
of fellowship with God?
The early followers of Jesus fellowshipped
in homes in order to maintain “communal
righteousness” so that their prayers would be answered.
Do you believe that your unconfessed sin hinders the prayers of
others with whom you are in fellowship as extended spiritual
family? Yes or No? If no, what do you believe the consequences
are to unconfessed sin?
Do you gather in homes with others for
fellowship as extended spiritual family? Yes or No? If yes,
what is the criteria for your fellowship together? If no, why
are you not fellowshipping in homes with others?
If you meet in homes for fellowship, how is
your daily commitment to each other put into action?
When someone sins, Jesus offers this
command: The unrepentant is to be treated as “a pagan or a tax collector” (Matthew 18:15-17).
In dealing with the unrepentant Paul commands the Corinthians, “Hand this man over to Satan, so that the
sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day
of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 5:
5). What do you think our Lord and Paul mean by their
statements? How does this impact your own interaction with an
unrepentant Christian?
The Role of Elders/Shepherds
In Lesson 10 we describe the six stages of
male development. The final stage, zaken (biblical elder), were the older men
who shepherded God’s faith communities in the early
Church. Do you believe God wants older, wiser men restored to
pastor today? Yes or No? If no, who do you think our Father
permits to shepherd His children?
What do you see as the biblical role of
older men and women in faith communities today?
If you’re in a congregation led by
Hellenist clergy, can you remain in it and still fulfill
God’s Kingdom purposes for your life? Yes or No? If yes,
substantiate from God’s Word why you should remain.
Describe what you believe to be the role of
authority in faith communities. Who can have authority? What
does biblical authority entail?
In Lesson 11 we spoke of the change from
the Levitical priesthood to that of Melchize-dek. What is your
view of this change? How does this change apply to the
shepherds of God’s faith communities today?
The Indwelling Holy Spirit
In Lesson 11 we discuss the Holy Spirit.
What do you believe the “baptism
of the Holy Spirit” means?
Describe, with as much biblical support as
possible, your view of spiritual gifts. What is the role of,
and empowerment by, the Holy Spirit in your life as a follower
of Jesus?
The Influence of Hellenism and Romanism on
Christendom
When you read about the influence of the converted Greek philosophers on Christi-anity, do you think this happened as part of God’s blessing or curse? Describe your view. How do you feel about the effects of
Plato’s dualism on Christian practices?
Do you believe that our Father wants His
children to continue practices which are influenced by dualism?
Yes or No? If no, what have you changed in your own life?
In Lesson 16 we discussed pietism,
asceticism, and self-mortification. How do you feel about these
practices? Why would they be considered an “attack on
Jesus’s victory”?
What is your view of the building that people call “church”? How does this misuse of the term cause confusion in regard to the true essence of those who are the “called-out” ones? Describe what you believe about the role
and purpose of worship. Under what conditions is worship
acceptable or unacceptable to God?
Describe in what ways you believe your life
is pleasing to God. Are there attitudes or actions in your life
that are displeasing?
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