Wisdom

The Book of Proverbs is, quite naturally, full of encouragements to seek wisdom. We read often that “the LORD gives wisdom” (Prov 2:6) and we read that “blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding.” (Prov 3:13). We are told that “the wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace” (3:35) and are commanded to “get wisdom; get insight” (4:5) and to “be attentive to my wisdom” (5:1) and to “Say to wisdom, ‘you are my sister'” (7:4).

Yet in Ecclesiastes we read a different flavour. The author, Kohelet (the Preacher), writes, “I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.” (Ecc 1:12). He tells us, “I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.” (Ecc 1:17-18). Again, “the wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them.” (2:14), “For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!” (2:16).

Of course, Ecclesiastes is speaking of the futility of life without God, for any kind of life comes to an end. Kohelet questions, “For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?” The phrase, “under the sun” is repeated many times in Ecclesiastes, as referring to life under heaven, or life without reference to the supernatural. Whether one is rich or poor, wise or foolish, ultimately becomes meaningless since all will die and be gone.

But the question still arises, how can one be seeking wisdom without reference to God, if the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom and the LORD gives wisdom? How can Proverbs tell us continually to see wisdom, yet Ecclesiastes says, “Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself?” (Ecc 7:16). Surely there are two things being spoken of here, the wisdom of the world, and the wisdom that comes from God.

Worldly wisdom is not always bad, for it teaches us how to make medicines, how to measure time, how to create. But the wisdom from God is “pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17). The worldly wisdom will come to an end, as Paul writes, “among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory” (1 Cor 2:6-7). This wisdom comes from the Holy Spirit, for “we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual” (1 Cor 2:12-13).

There are many ‘wise’ today, the scholars of our age, who have much of the wisdom of the world. However the wisdom of the world is not enough to make judgements on the holy and perfect nature of God. The wisdom and knowledge of God is revealed from God by God to those who are His children. Many, in seeking to determine things of God without the wisdom that comes by faith, are deceived by what is “falsely called knowledge” (1 Tim 6:20). We read in Proverbs 9 that Wisdom sends her young women to call from the high places, “whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” (Prov 9:3-4), and yet likewise Folly sits in the high places and calls out, “whoever is simply, let him turn in here!” (Prov 9:14-16). Folly looks like wisdom.

There is a false wisdom that is from the world, which masquerades as godly wisdom, though it is not. It is a deceptive wisdom, and many are led astray. Many argue today against the cause of Christianity, arguing from scholarly research that the Bible is not true, that God cannot exist, that Jesus could not have performed miracles, and the like. And yet this is wisdom from the world. We know of God not because of secular scholasticism, but because God Himself has made Himself known to us by His Spirit, because His Spirit bears witness with out spirit that we are the children of God (Rom 8:16).

Don’t be led astray by worldly wisdom, but rest on the sure wisdom of God. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Prov 3:5). Let God speak to you through Scripture by His Spirit, and do not be phased by the secular wisdom because God has not revealed Himself to them. It is by His Spirit that we know of Him.

In The Beginning

In the beginning was the Word who is God,
The Alef and the Tav, the Spotless Lamb
The Word is the Lord and yet distinct from the Lord,
One person of the Truine I AM.

In the beginning, by Christ the Word of God
And for Him, and through Him, all things were made
For what is seen was not made by what is not visible
Without the Word was nothing made that was made

He is the image of God who is invisible,
Who made all things in earth and in heaven
And all things invisible or visible
Are held together by Him, God’s only Son

For by the Word of the Lord the heavens were made
And by the breath of His mouth all their host
Out of water and through water was the earth formed by the Word
And man’s soul was formed by God’s Holy Ghost

And the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us
Showing the glory of God in heaven above
In Him alone the Father is revealed to us
On Him the Holy Ghost fell as a dove

And the Word in human flesh came to die
To bear our sins that sinners He would save
And He we chose to mock and crucify
And lay His body in a sealed up grave

Yet He who bore our sins as though His own
Could not be held by even death or tomb
He rose again that those who are His own
Should also rise, and ever live with Him

The Trinity

 The Trinity is an often too ignored topic in the church today. It is not typically discussed, and rarely preached on. Perhaps this is because it is assumed that everybody already has a firm grasp of this topic; or perhaps it is because some are scared of discussing it, and getting it wrong, and being seen as a heretic thereafter.

It is much safer to ask questions regarding topics that one can be wrong about without consequence, but perhaps to ask questions of the Trinity is something that people avoid.

I would argue that this should not be the case. Obviously, to understand the Biblical teaching and reject it is heresy, but a new Christian does not automatically have a perfect understanding of the Trinity. They should be allowed to ask questioned, even pose challenges or discuss areas of confusion surrounding the doctrine.

Often, the general response of many believers is, “well, it can’t be understood.” Now God is infinite, and we are not, God is eternal, and we are not, and He is incomprehensible; but I also believe that the doctrine of the Trinity is easier to grasp than people realise. We just have to force our minds to understand the logical distinction between ‘being’ and ‘person’.

I heard an illustration once to try and help separate this. A rock has being, but it has no personality. It is 1 being, but 0 persons. A human is 1 being and 1 person. Therefore the number of persons doesn’t have to be the same as the number of beings. God is not 3 gods, He is 1 God, 1 Being, but that 1 Being is shared by 3 persons.

Now among the ancient Church Fathers, when discussing the nature of Christ, a few terms were developed. Two notable ones had very similar spelling; ‘homoousios‘ and ‘homoiousios‘. The Greek term ‘ousia’ means ‘substance’ or ‘being’, the Greek term ‘homos’ means ‘same’, and the Greek term ‘homoios’ means ‘similar. In other words, ‘homoousios’ means ‘of the same substance’, while ‘homoiousios’ means ‘of similar substance’. The only difference in spelling between these two words is the Greek letter ‘iota’, from where we get the saying, “it doesn’t make an iota of difference.” Of course, the iota made all the difference in the world.

What does this mean? Well, ‘ousia’ means ‘being’ or ‘substance’, in other words, the ‘stuff’ or ‘material’ that makes up a thing. Homoiousios means that Jesus was of a similar substance to the Father; made of the same kind of ‘stuff’, but not the same stuff. Whereas, homoousios has the Father and Son made of the same divine material, the same stuff.

I remember hearing the Muslim Abdullah al-Andalusi arguing, in a radio debate with James White on an Unbelievable Radio show, that the Trinity was polytheism. He argued, “I’m sure all the Greek gods were made of the same substance.” I believe that this shows his lack of understanding of homoiousios verses homoousios. The Greek gods, according to Greek myth, were made of the same kind of substance. Think of this; my brother and I are made of the same kind of substance – that is, flesh, blood, bone, etc etc. But, we are not made of the same substance. If we were made of the same substance, we would share one body yet with two persons.

Of course, such doesn’t make much sense when thinking of a human, since a human’s body is finite, the result would be a human with dissociative personality disorder, or something similar. This is not so with God, because God’s divine substance – His Deity – the divine ‘stuff’ or divine ‘material’ of God’s Being – is not finite. God’s Being is infinite, eternal, all-powerful. Because of this, while God is only one Being, all 3 persons that share in this Being can simultaneously act as God.

Now the fact that God is one is fundamental to Scripture. The great Jewish declaration of Monotheism is the Shema taken from Deuteronomy 6:4, which is “Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad” – “Hear, Oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” This prayer is recited twice each day by Jews even to this day, and Christ Himself confessed this prayer in Mark 12:29. Monotheism is central to the Christian faith. Once we have established that there is one God, then we can look at the persons in Scripture.

While, I believe, there is much Trinitarian language used in the Old Testament, it is in the New Testament that the revelation of the Trinity is made clear and complete to us, and so from the New Testament that we build the doctrine and understand the language used in the Old Testament. I shall write a later blog post on the Trinitarian language of the Old Testament, but for now I shall focus on the New.

John very much, in his gospel, teaches the Deity of Christ. He begins by speaking of the Word;

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – John 1:1

We see that the Word already was in the beginning, and the Word was God.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”)” – John 1:14-15

John the Baptist’s speaking of the one who is to come is recorded also in Matthew 3:8, Mark 1:7-8, Luke 3:16. He refers back to this in reference to Christ;

“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’” – John 1:29-30

In other words, Jesus is the Word in flesh; and the Word is God. Jesus is God.

In John 10:30, Jesus says, “I and my Father are one.” This was a declaration that they were one in Deity; that Jesus was equally God with the Father. The Jews in the very next verse picked up stones to stone Him for blasphemy. In verse 33, the Jews said to Jesus that they sought to stone Him “for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

Now we know that Jesus, being equally God with the Father, is not identical with the Father as a person. They are not the same person, although they both are God. We know this because in the Garden of Gethsemene, Jesus prayed to the Father. Elsewhere, Jesus also prayed to the Father.

Jesus said in John 5:19-20; “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.”

So we know that the Father and the Son are distinct in personality. They are different persons, yet both God.

Now with regards to the Holy Spirit, Jesus speaks of the coming of the Spirit in John 14-16 in detail, teaching His disciples that the Spirit would come from the Father after the Son is gone. The language used of the Spirit is personal language; he will do this and he will do that. In fact, the language used of the Spirit in John 16:13 sounds very similar to the language that Jesus uses of Himself in John 5:19; of being a person sent from the Father, in submission to the Father.

Ephesians 4:30 speaks of the Spirit being grieved. The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force or entity sent from God, the Holy Spirit is not an ‘it’, but a ‘He’. The Spirit is grieved; and an impersonal force cannot be grieved.

Finally consider this – Jesus Himself commanded in Matthew 28:19; “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Imagine, after we have now established that the Father and Son are two persons who share in the nature of God, if Jesus commanded to baptise disciples in the name of the Father, the Son, and of Mary. Or the Father, the Son, and the Apostle Paul. That would be blasphemy! But we know that the Spirit comes from God and speaks of Christ; the Trinitarian language is used throughout the New Testament. Frequently in the Epistles, we read of God, Jesus, and the Spirit, working together to perform functions. This is Trinitarian language; the Father, the Son, and the Spirit all work together in all things. And Jesus commands us to baptise in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Books and books have been written in this subject; and I could have written forever on this. I shall hope to write more on the Trinity in future, but for now, I hope that what I have written here does no injustice to this supreme and glorious doctrine of the Truine nature of God.

Prayer

 “No man is greater than his prayer life.” – Leonard Ravenhill

Prayer is a much ignored topic in the church today, yet one that is so important. Charles Spurgeon called his prayer meeting the power-house behind the revival. Martin Luther once complained that he had so much work to do that day, he would never get it done unless he spent at least 2 hours in prayer!

The Bible itself certainly has a lot to say on prayer. David Wilkerson speaks strongly on prayer from Nehemiah 2 in his sermon “A Call to Anguish”. If you have not listened to this sermon, I highly recommend listening to it; it is an incredibly powerful and convicting sermon! In the sermon, Wilkerson points out that Nehemiah was not a priest or a prophet, but a career man – the king’s cupbearer – but he was a man of prayer; and as a man of prayer God chose him and used him for great things.

The new testament certainly says a lot on prayer. In our church’s prayer meeting on Tuesday, our pastor spoke from Romans 15:30;

“I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf.”

One of the first things to note here is that prayer is by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, and to God. The full Trinity is involved in prayer; it is important to have a right understanding of the God to whom we pray. It is also worth noting that Jesus Christ is called Lord. We must have Christ as our Lord; when we pray, we are appealing to his sovereignty. We are not relying on our prayers, but are relying on God in prayer.

It is also true that prayer is a struggle. Paul asks the Romans to strive together with him. It is a battle; praying can be difficult, but we are to persist. Paul himself persisted when he had a thorn in his side. He prayed 3 times until he had his answer from God – no, God would not remove the thorn. Christ spoke in the parable of the unjust judge of the widow who persisted in coming to the judge who eventually gave in; likewise, we persist in prayer and He is hearing.

In his epistle to the Philippians, Paul tells us to make all our prayers and requests known to God;

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God,which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7

Christ is the prince of peace, and He came to bring peace; but this peace which passes all understanding doesn’t just come to any and all Christians regardless. This peace comes through prayer and supplication. We are called to seek God’s peace.

In Ephesians 6:18, after speaking of the armour of God, Paul instructs that we be “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.” Prayer not only brings us the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, it also is imperative to our war against the kingdom of darkness, against the gates of hell, to further the kingdom of heaven on this earth. We can do nothing without the movement of God, and God’s movement is very much linked to prayer. We must seek His power through prayer.

Likewise James appeals for us to seek the prophets as an example. He says of Elijah, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” (James 5:17-18). That is such an amazing verse! Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently! There was nothing special about him; he was just a man as we are, he was a sinner as we are, but he was a man of prayer. God works through prayer, and God works through men of prayer.

I believe that it would be better for a man to have a right prayer life than perfect doctrine – of course it is good to seek both, but prayer is the life of any Christian, and prayer is the life of the church. How can we as a church move forward without it?

Guru-ism

 Yesterday morning, my pastor preached on 1 Corinthians 3. He preached about how we belong to each other, not to ourselves. Ministers, especially, exist for the benefit of the church, not the church for the ministers. Or, shepherds are there for the flock, not the flock for the shepherd.

He pointed out that one of the greatest problems with modern day evangelicalism is Guru-ism. That is, too many evangelicals follower after ‘evangelical celebrities’ or ‘celebrity preachers’.

Such Guru-ism existed in the early church, too, as Paul points out in these early chapters of his first letter to the Corinthians. In the first chapter, Paul speaks against divisions in the church. He writes;

“I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” – 1 Corinthians 1:10-13

Paul is warning against those many who say, “I am of Paul” or “I am of Apollos” or “I am of Cephas” or “I am of Christ”. As Paul points out, he wasn’t crucified for them; they were not baptised in the name of Paul. Christ is not divided. We are called to be united in the same mind and the same judgment, that is, the mind of Christ.

In his epistle to the Ephesians, Paul focusses on defending the unity of Christ and the unity of the Church against divisions. In Ephesians 2:18-22, Paul writes;

“For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

Paul tells us that we are all fellow citizens and members of the household of God, built on that foundation of the prophets and apostles, the chief cornerstone being Christ; perhaps the same foundation spoken of in 1 Corinthians 3 and in Hebrews 7, on which all that we do is built. The whole structure of the church, according to Ephesians 2, is being built into the temple of God, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:4-6 says; “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

We are in Christ, and there is one Christ, not divided. We serve God, there is one God. We were baptised into the name of Christ, and there is only one baptism. We are the temple of the Spirit, and there is only one Spirit. As 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, we are the temple of the Spirit, and so are not our own. This is so similar to what we read in 1 Corinthians 3:22; we all belong one to another; the ministers are here for us, and we belong to Christ, and Christ to God.

So this, then, is the trouble with Guru-ism. In the early church, Cephas, that is, Peter, and James the brother of Christ, and John, were said to be pillars. Later, Paul himself becomes the apostle to the Gentiles, the great missionary taking the gospel to new places, and another figure, Apollos, is a teacher who also is going around teaching the gospel of Christ. So Peter, James, John, Paul, and Apollos were all leaders in the church, were all teachers of the church. None of them was over the church, but they all are Christ’s and they all minister to the church.

This is why in 1 Corinthians 3:4, Paul writes; “For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?”

We have much of this same error in the church today. We have this modern-day Guru-ism. “I follow Paul Washer” or “I follow John Piper” or “I follow John MacArthur”. All of them make errors!

I am reminded of a clip from Wretched TV, where Todd Friel visited Michael Youssef’s church. He asked, “who heard the better sermon today, me at Micheal Youssef’s church, or you at your home church?” His point was that at the home church, the pastor is led by the Spirit to preach what we need; we shouldn’t idolise preachers. Again, I read an article about those who sit under their home pastor and judge what he says by John Piper or John MacArthur. They sit there and think, “well, John Piper doesn’t say that.” Or, “John MacArthur says that’s not true.” Somebody left a comment on this article that said, “you know that there are people in John MacArthur’s church saying, “John Piper doesn’t say that” and in John Piper’s church saying “John MacArthur doesn’t say that!” It’s true! Again, I love the teaching of Paul Washer. There was a time when I used to listen to just him, all the time. Then I watched a clip of him in an interview, where he warned against those who turn him into an idol! I was convicted.

We mustn’t idolise these preachers. They don’t want to be; if they are godly men, which I believe all those that I have mentioned are, then they would rather people check Scripture than just idolise them and follow them. In Acts 17, Paul commended the Bereans for testing everything he said by Scripture to make sure he was right. And godly preacher should want the same.

We also have the preachers of history to go back to. We can read their works. Why just listen to the few modern preachers, when we can read Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, J.C. Ryle, Matthew Henry, John Calvin, Martin Luther? We have all these resources. My pastor on Sunday quoted C.S. Lewis – and I’m afraid I don’t know where the quote was from – as saying, “every time you read a new book, read an old one.” My pastor pointed out that often times, much of what we discuss and debate in Christianity today, are things that have already been discussed and even settled hundreds of years ago! We wouldn’t keep going around in circles with the same debates over and over if we read up on history, we would be able to move on to new things.

We should be selective in that we should listen to good preachers. My pastor said, nobody is completely right, so you have to throw away the bone and keep the meat. If a preacher is 10% bone and 90% meat, he’s worth it, if he’s 10% meat and 90% bone, you’re wasting your time. But if a preacher is good and valuable, and we are comparing all that he says by the standard of God – sacred Scripture – then we should not be so quick to discard their wisdom.

Finally, for all who follow after specific Gurus, especially historical Gurus, there are then those who say, “well, I’m not this or that, I’m just a Christian.” The trouble with that is, the non-demonationals, or anti-denominations, who are ‘just Christians’, typically throw out all the good resources and good teaching of history. Paul lists those who say “I am of Christ” right alongside those who say “I am of Paul” and “I am of Apollos”. Calvin and Luther were fallible men, they were not crucified for us, we were not baptised into their names, and they didn’t agree with each other on everything; but they are teachers who are there for us, not we for them.

They are ours, and we are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. Let’s use these resources that God has given to us.

Matthew 7, Fruit of the Spirit

“You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.” – Matthew 7:16-17

This is taken from the last third of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, in which he is making the comparison between the good tree and bad tree, the wise man who builds on the rock and the fool who builds on the sand. The truly converted soul, and the false convert who believes but is not repentant.

In the specific context of this verse, in Matthew 7, Jesus is speaking concerning false teachers who come as wolves in sheep’s clothing, however Luke also records these words of Christ in Luke 6;

“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” – Luke 6:43-45

Luke 6 is Luke’s telling of the Sermon on the Mount of Matthew 5-7, albeit summed up in less words. Notice some of the wording here, though; the good treasure of his heart? Matthew actually does record this language of Christ elsewhere, too, in Matthew 12. The specifics of this is something I’m still trying to figure out, a harmony of the actual sermon delivered by Christ, because I think that Luke and Matthew both seem to offer two different accounts of the same event; or Christ merely repeated much of His own language in a later sermon, applying His earlier teaching in a different context. Regardless, Matthew 12 also repeats some of these same words from Matthew 7 and Luke 6, but not in the context of wolves in sheep’s clothing; instead the context is the Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”” – Matthew 12:33-37

This is speaking primarily of words, although we know elsewhere in Scripture that Christian fruit is about character as well as words, but the words reflect the heart. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks; this is why Proverbs speaks so much on controlling your mouth, and James delves into the issue of controlling the tongue. It is my belief that the entire epistle of James is the same content as Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, although told in a different order, and perhaps focussing more attention on slightly different points. James speaks of this same thing during his discussion on the tongue, he references the fact that a tree produces the fruit consistent with the type of tree. In this passage, James is speaking not just of false teachers, but to everybody;

“For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.” – James 3:7-12

So we know that, while Matthew 7 is contextually speaking of false teachers, the message here is not just for teachers, but for everyone. And for everyone, it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks, it is the treasures of the heart that produce the fruit consistent with this heart.

But hold on, isn’t the heart deceitfully wicked above all things? (Jeremiah 17:9) Well, yes; but when one becomes a believer, God removes his heart of stone and gives him a heart of flesh, and puts within them a new heart and a new spirit. (Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26)

Remember that Matthew 7:16-17 is in the Sermon on the Mount, and earlier in this same dialogue, Christ taught;

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:19-21

Any Christian knows that his sinful nature is still there, and his heart is still wicked, as we fight between the flesh and the spirit; however Christ taught to focus ourselves on what is right. We are to treasure the things of heaven, not the things of earth, for where our treasure is, there our heart is, and out of the treasures of the heart the mouth speaks! Elsewhere in the passage, Jesus says, speaking of asking things of God;

“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” – Matthew 7:11

What ‘good things’ is it that we ask for? Luke tells us;

“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”” – Luke 11:13

So it is asking the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit is the ‘good thing’ that God gives to those of us who ask Him. Remember always, too, that James parallels the Sermon on the Mount, and should probably be read and studied alongside it;

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” – James 1:5

“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” – James 3:17

The wisdom from above, as in, from the Spirit? We ask for the Spirit and God gives it, we ask for wisdom and God gives it. This wisdom is ‘full of good fruits’. This also parallels 1 Corinthians 2, a passage which I find fascinating, which speaks of the wisdom of the Spirit, so godly wisdom comes by having the Spirit, and if we ask wisdom of God, we are actually asking for the Spirit, who grants us wisdom, and good fruits.

There is a huge emphasis in Christ’s words in Matthew 6-7 on seeking the ‘treasures of heaven’ and ‘asking for the Spirit’. The Spirit is the source of these ‘fruit’ that are spoken of by Christ in Matthew 7. This is why we read so much, time and time again, throughout the New Testament, about the ‘fruit of the Spirit’. I think that there are not many people who are not familiar with the passage in Galatians, but references to the ‘fruit’ of the Christian as opposed to the damnable things of the unconverted man are found in many passages in Scripture.

So, asking God for the Spirit is directly related to producing ‘good fruit’?

Christ taught, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:4-5

How do we abide in Christ?

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” – John 15:10

What is the context of all this?

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” – John 14:15-17

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” – John 14:25-26

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” – John 15:26

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” – John 16:13-14

This other Helper, the Spirit of truth, He will be send by the Father and will dwell with us and be in us, He will teach us all things and bring to remembrance all that Christ taught us, He bear witness about Christ, and He will glorify Christ, taking what is Christ’s and declaring it to us. This Spirit of truth is directly related to us keeping the commandments out of love, which also is how we abide in Christ, so the fruit comes by abiding in Christ, by and through the Holy Spirit who indwells us and causes us to abide in Christ. As Jesus ends this dialogue, He says a few things about asking, once more;

“In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” – John 16:23-24

“In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” – John 16:26-27

What is it that we ‘ask of God’? The same Holy Spirit, who leads us to all truth, and through whom we produce the fruit of the Spirit. We must ask for greater measures of the Spirit to lead us to greater truth and produce more abundant fruit in us. We must continue to spend time in prayer, engulfed in the Spirit of truth. Not that we should focus on the Holy Spirit at the expense of Christ, but rather, the Spirit will draw us back to the Word which He gave to us, and will point us to Christ, the subject of all of Scripture.

In this we shall produce fruit and grow as believers, so lets stop fighting with ourselves to ‘work’ and ‘grow’ in our own ability, lets stop looking to ourselves to be good Christians, lets stop despairing with ourselves for not being good enough. Lets look to the Spirit, and seek His help in producing within us the fruit of the Spirit! Lets become people of prayer!

Triune Yehovah

I just wrote this, and I’m not a good critic of my own work, so I thought I’d post it here and welcome any input I get.

Triune Yehovah
Hear, Oh Israel, your God, Yehovah;
Yehovah God is One.
God, three in One, just as the clover;
Father, Spirit, Son.
Yet this most Holy God sublime,
Remains complete as one;
Undivided substance Divine;
Father, Spirit, Son.

Oh Father, who made heav’n and earth,
Who sits upon His throne,
Who always was and had no birth,
Ever He is sovereign.
Oh Father, who sent His Son to die,
To take the sinner’s place;
Oh Father, how blessed am I,
To taste of Your sweet grace.

Oh Son, Christ Jesus, child sublime,
Left His heav’nly throne,
Who for us entered into time,
To buy us for His own.
And He, the Father’s own begotten,
Incarnate Word of God;
He died and rose to life again,
And bought us with His blood.

Oh Spirit, holy breath of God,
Lord and giver of life,
Does from the Father and Son proceed,
To end our sinful strife.
The Spirit indwells all the believers,
That we be born again,
That all of God’s Elect shall leave as
Heirs with God’s own Son.

Now these three, Father, Spirit, Son,
As persons distinctly three,
Are equally God, in substance One,
Not Personality.
Not three gods but one in Trinity;
As person, not just one,
But three persons in Unity;
Father, Spirit, Son.