General Articles

Defilement Comes from Within :: By Dr. Donald Whitchard

Published on: by RR7

Mark 7:1-23, Hebrews 12:14-15, James 3:6

Summary: It is not the food you eat or religious observation you practice that enables you to claim that you are right with God. Your attitude, behavior, and response to His commands show whether or not your life is defiled before Him.

Worship is supposed to come from a grateful heart and mind, focused on how God’s mercy and grace have taken us off of the road to hell and – by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on our behalf – placed us on the narrow road leading to eternal life. Our submission to Him as Lord and Savior, along with the desire to obey and follow Him, is the hallmark of a life founded on the thanks we owe our gracious LORD for an act of love that He did not have to grant (Romans 5:6-11, 8:31-39).

Music, prayer, and the preaching of the Word in Spirit and truth are all considered acceptable worship before Him. But all too often, worship becomes, in far too many congregations, an excuse for rampant, unchecked emotional fanaticism, disarray, and a lack of reverence that turns off a lot of people and gives the body of Christ a black eye.

On the other side, there is a lack of any kind of reverence and love for God in churches where the spiritual fire went out a long time ago, and the members are going through the motions with no sense of personal interaction with their Lord and Redeemer. Traditions and programs that served a purpose many years ago are still being used lest there be a commotion and outrage over changing or ending it due to the fact that “it’s always been this way.”

Churches have split and even closed because situations like this are not addressed, evaluated, and brought before the LORD to seek His guidance through prayer and the Word and to heed His counsel.

Two major sources of conflict when it comes to worship, outreach, or just because it’s part of the tradition of the church in question are that of celebrating Christmas and Easter. When I was a boy, and up to my young adult years, this was not even on the radar, much less a point of contention. There are godly church members and their respective ministers who see the Christmas season as a celebration of the arrival of Jesus Christ to the earth as a baby in a manger in Bethlehem, the promised Messiah of His people, where we celebrate and honor Him with the songs and specials centered on His Majesty.

A lot of brethren believe just as strongly that Christmas is nothing more than a pagan recognition of a fictional character who gives gifts and is nothing more than a symbol of the commercialism that has engulfed the season, and they see no reason to give it any due. There is also a sense from most of these folks to all but cast the celebrants into hell for even recognizing the holiday.

I handled the issue in my home by telling my children about Saint Nicholas and his Christ-like kindness towards the poor and needy of his time. I have always liked the ornament where the Santa figure kneels before the manger, and I believe that it is the best way to balance everything out.

A lot of people get bent out of shape when it comes to the Resurrection season, or Easter. Again, this was not even an issue when I was a child, and I knew that the rabbit was a character of fiction, and we never sang songs about the critter. I quit eating Easter candy when I got horribly sick from chowing down on a hollow chocolate bunny, and that was decades ago. I knew even before I was a Christian that Easter was the time of year where we celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

Again, there are people who turn on you like a rabid dog if you even mention the word “Easter” around them, and then corner you as they rattle off a history of Babylonian pagan fertility traditions that make the season one of horrendous secular infiltration, or something like that. I have always wanted to ask these zealots if they put that much time and effort into memorizing Scripture or going out and telling someone about the love of Christ that will not let anyone go if they will but bow to Him and surrender their lives to Him.

If this describes you, please calm down, smile, relax, and live the kind of life that makes people eager to hear about the Savior. Oh, and for those of you who sit and debate deep theological issues and make it a point to pour over the different views of salvation, predestination, election, Puritan teachings, ideas of holiness, and admire the design and structure of the fire engine while the building full of people is burning out of control — get your priorities straight and go rescue the perishing like Jesus commanded. You can teach them these things later.

I speak from many years of experience and some regret, but that has been confessed and thrown away by the LORD as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103). I do not dig up the dead.

Churches over the years have unfortunately split and then either died or ended up as totally ineffective and an embarrassment to the cause of Christ.

No doubt, many of you reading this message have either heard of or know of church members getting all bent out of shape about the type of music the church used, or the color of the carpet, pews, age of the preacher, paying the preacher, the preacher’s family, where the piano should be located, or other urgent, dire spiritual issues that could send people to hell for not obeying, or so they thought.

When I first started preaching in small churches throughout rural Louisiana, I heard about two little congregations that met within ten miles of each other that had split over something they could not even remember. Each had a handful of members that could have swallowed their pride, prayed for forgiveness, come together as one in Christ, and been a representation of what being a follower of the LORD is all about. I do not think they are even in existence anymore, all because of some unknown breach of tradition or argument that did not serve any purpose except to give the devil a reason to smile.

I have presented all of these examples in order to get your mind wrapped around the absurd things people have both practiced and proclaimed in order to justify themselves before God.

The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were the experts in the trivial and tedious when it came to their conception of what it meant to be right before God. They had been originally formed to practice genuine devotion to the LORD through the teaching of the Scriptures and the doctrines set forth in the Law of Moses. They took it upon themselves to be models of holy living before the people and to be examples to follow, especially after the period of exile in Babylon where they had been sent by God as a national punishment for their idolatrous practices and disobedience to God, which is told of in the books of 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and by the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The period of exile had forever purged them of ever wanting to worship idols again.

Like any good intention, the ministry of the Pharisees had become a living symbol of religious ritual, fastidious obedience to the Law, and rigid observance of rabbinic interpretations that were on a par with the Scriptures themselves, in particular when it came to Sabbath observations that verged on the ridiculous and absurd.

In Mark 7, we find Jesus and His disciples preparing to sit down and enjoy a meal together, and we can assume that they took time to wash their hands and face before coming to the table after a day of walking, teaching, and preaching. That is common sense and is in line with the hygienic practices set forth in the Law (Exodus 30:19; Leviticus 13:6, 14, 58; 14:9; Numbers 8:7).

The Pharisees noticed this and began asking the LORD why He had washed according to the traditions of the elders (7:3-4), which was not for the purpose of sanitation but was to be seen as an outward show of piety. The Pharisees would meticulously undergo a washing ritual for reasons such as accidentally touching a Gentile, or a woman who was on her menstrual period, or someone who had come into contact with a dead body or had touched some kind of reptile. The Mishnah, a collection of Jewish interpretations of the Law and tradition, had thirty chapters alone on the proper procedure for washing hands. That is nothing more than religious overkill, yet these officials wondered why the Lord Jesus was not following their lead.

Jesus followed no man-made traditions, but only the will of the Father. Man-made rules, rituals, and traditions have no bearing on Him, nor have any place in His work or His Word. He quoted to them the words of the prophet concerning the false worship performed by hypocrites and all who follow their lead (Isaiah 29:13).

Both King David and Isaiah after him declared that God is never interested in any kind of mock worship where sacrifices are burned but the hearts of sinners are not broken by the weight of their wickedness and the need for redemption (Isaiah 1:10-18; Psalm 40:6, 51:16-17). The same pronouncement against meaningless rituals was made by the prophet Amos during his days (Amos 5:21-28). These religious phonies who stood before the King of Kings, who is worthy of worship and praise, could not see that everything they were doing and saying was meaningless.

This scene prompted rebuke from the LORD, who put their traditions on trial using the Word of God as evidence against them. He quotes from Exodus 20:12 and Deuteronomy 5:16 where God commands that we honor our father and mother, with the punishment for disobedience of this command is to be put to death, as it was seen as abuse and neglect on the part of the children towards their parents who should be cared for in their old age. The tradition of what was known as “Corban” was used by the Pharisees to get around that command by informing Mom and Dad that anything they would have received from the son financially was instead given to God as a gift. It could be written as follows:

“Here’s Mom and Dad in old age, a woman of God and a grand old sage,

The son, who thought he was righteous, in reality was quite obnoxious.

“Money and help? Gee, Mom and Dad, that’s rather odd;

The money I could have used to care for you was given to God.

Sorry I can’t help, I’ve got to go pray, but it was nice to talk to you today.”

He went to offer his pompous words, but God in Heaven of them never heard.

The son said quietly, “Why, can’t they see? There is none holier than me.”

He thought that God he could fool, but all his words were spiritually cool.

The time would come as it always does, when it would be to face God alone.

All his show, all his pomp and words, were selfish prayers never heard.

This pompous Pharisee was shocked to hear that his actions and words caused many tears.

God heard his parents cry and all of the hypocritical lies. He now heard words that caused him fear.

To be in heaven? Sorry, but you are not welcome here. The parents, God welcomed with open arms.

They had eternal life and were forever safe from harm.

The treasures of heaven were theirs to possess.

The moral here is not hard to confess: never put your parents in distress.

Jesus concluded His teachings on defilement and traditions, telling everyone that defilement is produced from the heart of a wicked person, not a particular diet, nor a religious practice (7:18-23).

If you want to be cleansed once and for all from the defilement sin has placed on you, give your life to Jesus Christ today. He will turn no one away who comes to Him for cleansing, forgiveness, and redemption. That’s always Good News.

donaldwhitchard@gmail.com

www.realitycityreverend.com

Join me for “The Reality City Daily Review” weekday mornings at 10:00 CST on YouTube (USA). It will then be posted on Facebook and on my website. My main area of discussion will be on the basics of the Christian faith but will also deal with prophetic issues and other topics as the Lord impresses upon me to handle.

 

Watch How Bible Truth Overcomes Deception: Part 1 :: By Gene Lawley

Published on: by RR7

As I am prone to reflect over the past, a mental activity that seems to capture the aged, I have to admit a desire to clarify what I believe and why, even again to myself. Pushing that thought is the evidence of false prophets and doctrines coming to the forefront in these last days, just as the Scriptures have projected.

Paul warned Timothy, even in those days, of what was coming: “But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them” (2 Timothy 3:13-14). Timothy had learned the truths of the Scriptures from his mother and grandmother, but essentially, he learned from the Word of God those foundational principles which could sustain him in the midst of evil. And so it is today, as well, for it is evident that evil forces are magnified against the Lord and His followers in our time.

Pressing me to recount these things are four verses that stand out. Jude 1:3 brings me back to base one, saying, “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” That body of faith he speaks of came from his half-brother, Jesus Christ, and the Apostles, not from the deliberations of later men. And the Scriptures are where we find that body of faith.

God spoke to Jeremiah, saying, “And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Next, Jesus was talking with the woman at the well in Samaria, saying, “God is spirit, and they who worship Him, must worship Him in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). Worship not with things made by hands, nor with false motives, but in truth. Identify God rightly that worship may be in truth, as the Scriptures make Him known.

Then, may my hope be not wishful thinking, but as Hebrews 6:19 describes it: “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil.” It is not at all like God giving His only Son for our salvation, then turning away to abandon His investment. Paul assures us otherwise in Philippians 1:29, saying, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

Finally, not being satisfied with uncertainty but being as diligent as I can to find the truth with clarity, I consider 1 Corinthians 14:6 as very important: “For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?”

Since having “discovered” Proverbs 9:10, the foundation of my theological positions has a more clearly defined standard. That verse says, “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Fear of God is sometimes expressed as, “But for the fear of God, I would have done ….” So, it is a very worthy bulwark against evil, and also a safety hatch for the wary.

It is defined, for me, as the recognition of One of reverence and justice—the attributes of love and of justice, or judgment. Then, it makes sense of that second part of the Proverb, “knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Having these thoughts, first, brings a biblical doctrine into understanding, particularly where the Scriptures take a turn that seems to be contrary to an idea of what God is like. A simple and common example of such things is that “God is love; therefore, how could He send anyone to hell?” When one does not factor into the equation God’s attributes, man’s conclusions go haywire. Bible truth tells us that man goes to hell by refusing to believe and accept Christ’s gift of salvation.

As I have thought some about where I stand in the great sea of “doctrine followers,” I have to conclude that I am a “Berean Bible Believer” in the likeness of Acts 17:11:

“These [Bereans] were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” (The original KJV uses the words “more noble” rather than “fair-minded” in the verse, which I think is better.)

By “searching the Scriptures,” they were seeking the whole counsel of God, which is basic to finding the Bible’s doctrinal truths.

“Knowledge of the Holy One” is to recognize that all of God’s attributes must be applied to a question of doctrinal truth. Objecting to or leaving one out as “not to be considered” is a direct offense to the sovereignty of God.

Numbers 23:19 tells us of basic attributes of God, in that “He is not a man that He should lie, nor the son of man that He should repent” or change His mind. It is also important to realize that God and Jesus do not contradict themselves.

“Rightly dividing the Word of Truth” is a principle of value when determining the meaning and application of a Scripture, as in its placement in the timeline of God’s plan for the ages or in relation to other passages. One of the notable examples of failure in this area is the doctrine of Preterism, where all things prophetic happened in the first century. Hardcore followers of this doctrine believe that when Jesus talks to the original twelve disciples, He always teaches prophecy of the future as being experienced by those twelve disciples. The truth is that when Jesus speaks of future events beyond the generation of those original twelve, He is speaking in the sense of His eternal foreknowledge of the events, and “this generation [that] shall not pass away until all these things are fulfilled” is the one which exists at that future time.

There is absolutely no way the events that Jesus foretold, or even as the Apostle Paul did likewise, can be squeezed into those vague times of that first century. If the crucifixion of Christ was in 33 A.D., it would leave only 37 years until the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple at 70 A.D. The multitude of end-time events would have to be stacked in layers to have all of them happening during that short time.

Consider for a moment what might have been the result had Jesus come back at His second time in that first century. Here is how Jesus foretold His future second coming:

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:29-31).

This is coming after the future tribulation period and will include the raptured saints (elect) from all parts of heaven, not earth. When did the Rapture happen, then the seven years of tribulation, in those 37 years before 70 A.D. arrived? Did anyone report on this happening in that first century, either in the Scriptures or in secular history reports? Certainly not! One of the basic principles that enter into Bible interpretation is common sense. If the various events that are being crammed into that 70 A.D. event could be done without violating any of the other factors of Bible truth, one would still have to deal with common sense and a question of just what God’s ultimate purpose might be. A chronological format of the whole Bible lends dramatically to its understanding and interpretation.

There is a caution with common sense that must be considered. It must spring out of that Proverb 9:10 introduced earlier, which says, “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom,” for man’s wisdom will not satisfy the requirements of God’s blessing. When someone comes forward with a pre-conceived idea that seems to make sense, and he attempts to find authority for it in the Scriptures, he is “outside, looking in” instead of “inside” with God’s wisdom and “looking out” to its application. That is the essential meaning of Proverb 9:10b, “And knowledge of the Holy One is understanding,” in regard to its application.

The clamor of “Calvinist thinking” today that proclaims, “God chose me, and I had nothing to do with it,” seems to make sense, for God is definitely sovereign. So, can’t He do whatever He wants to do? Am I, then, a heretic for proclaiming that God cannot violate any of His attributes of character? While God is a God of love, He is also a just God who cannot tolerate sinfulness in any shape or form. So, when a parable’s teaching is summed up, as in that Matthew 22:1-14 parable of the wedding feast, with this statement, what must be the conclusion: “Many are called, but few are chosen?” Weigh that against 2 Peter 3:9, which declares, “God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance!”

Believing the gospel and receiving the gift of salvation are the essential elements of obtaining eternal life, and they call for a willingness to be acted upon by mankind. God’s secret weapon is the embedded knowledge of right and wrong in the human conscience. Everyone has it, as detailed in Romans 2:13-16, and mankind is held accountable and responsible to God for his response to that knowledge in regard to his destiny. Thus, God invites by conviction, and man responds—yes or no.

The acronym describing Calvinism, TULIP, stands on certain Scriptural truths that are foundationally established. The T represents “Total Depravity of mankind” and is an unwavering truth from Adam’s fall, yet remember that embedded knowledge of right and wrong that he received when he disobeyed. Calvinists seem to ignore its place in God’s method of “awakening the dead man,” as mentioned above. The U-L-I are dependent on faith for their effectiveness. “Unconditional election” requires no qualifications of persons but only the willingness of the person. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:10, “Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” This identifies the elect as those who are so in God’s foreknowledge who will believe and be saved when they hear the gospel.

“Limited atonement simply means that only those who believe will receive atonement for their sins. Belief is the only requirement. “Irresistible grace” applies only to those whom God, in His foreknowledge, will accept Christ when told of Him. It is obvious that there are those who do resist His grace and end up in hell…because of their unwillingness to believe and be saved. Remember the two roads? One is narrow, and “few there be who find it.” The other is broad, and it is well-traveled.

“Preservation of the saints” is a truth of the Scriptures totally in the hand of God, for Peter writes of the status of the believer being “kept by the power of God unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last day” (1 Peter 1:5). And there are many more such statements in the Bible.

There is my understanding of those Bible truths, having considered the whole counsel of God and observed the integrity of the character of the Holy One.

In Part 2, we will look at other deviations from the truth and compare them with what the Scriptures tell us.

Contact email: andwegetmercy@gmail.com