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It occurred to me again today that we are ‘called out ones’ –being called out of ordinariness, out of average, out of sleepiness into alertness, out of pew-warming and a mono-ministry system (priest/pastor—laity), out of complacency into serious motivation for the Kingdom of God.

You probably know that the word ‘church’ in our English bibles is a (poor) translation of the Greek ekklesia  which simply meant assembly, a  totally non-religious word in biblical times and literally meant ‘called out ones’.

That’s us. Called out of traditions that void the word of God. Called out for growth and maturity in love, hope, faith, hearing the Holy Spirit teaching us. Called out for effective praying in the Spirit, for joy, patience and long-suffering.

Called out for bearing witness everywhere we go to the limitless worth of Jesus. Called out to bring the good news and not judgment to a world fast abandoning all moral restraints yet in terrible bondage and destined for an agonising eternity.

Called out to heal the sick and to set the oppressed free!

[There’s this blogger called Jeff whose posts carry many valuable insights.

Here’s an example . .]

People believe all sorts of stupid things. If people didn’t believe stupid things, we wouldn’t have arguments. We do argue, therefore someone is believing stupid stuff.

The Bible claims to be The Truth. “Thy word is truth” says John 17:17.

Of course, if you don’t believe the Bible, you won’t believe the Bible’s claim to be truth. Some call this circular reasoning: I believe the Bible because the Bible says it is true, which is why I believe it.

It is circular reasoning, which is why you’ll get nowhere arguing “the Bible is trustworthy” to someone who doesn’t think it’s trustworthy.

The main reason I believe the Bible is true, and should be trusted when it claims to be true, is because I’ve spent a lot of time with people.

I have an overriding assumption about life: People are stupid.

This is a key point to grasp about life. It’s also key to remember you and I are people. I am stupid. You are stupid. We’re all stupid.

That being the case, I don’t trust people. I find people hard to believe. My brain seeks someone to believe who is trustworthy. People are not trustworthy. Therefore, I must believe someone who isn’t a people.

God is not a people, therefore, God seems like a good person to trust. So, how do I know the Bible is the trustworthy-God’s book? Why not the Koran?

This has a long answer. I’ll summarize: I’ve read the other books claiming to be God’s words. They sound too much like people.

Now the fact that I find the Bible to be a giant exception to people writing should not convince you to believe the Bible. Remember, I’m a people and therefore I am stupid.

I can’t even elaborate on what I mean by saying “the Bible doesn’t sound like people.” But it doesn’t to me. There are too many things in there that no person would say. Too many predictions that people could never make. Too much sense that I know people can’t possibly attempt to make.

The Bible stands out by itself. I have read many books. I know what people write. The Bible is no humanly written book. (Yes, human authors did the job of picking up pen and paper, but I believe the words are God-breathed words that the human writers wrote down. Yes, I’m one of those whacky Fundamentalists who believes in inspiration.)

Again, you have to make that call to trust the Bible or not for yourself.

Very few people who reject the Bible have ever read it. (Many who supposedly “believe” it have also not read it, which is frightening.) Even fewer have taken the time to understand it. Most are rejecting the Cliff Notes version they heard by some biblically illiterate old woman in Sunday School 37 years ago.

In conclusion, I believe the Bible is the Word of God and is trustworthy. I base this on the following facts:

1) People are stupid.
2) I don’t trust people.
3) The Bible is all together different from what people write.
4) The Bible is not written by people and is therefore trustworthy.

Don’t take my word for it, I’m stupid. But before rejecting God’s Word, have you even endeavored to understand it? Have you read it? Are you rejecting what people say about the Bible, or what the Bible actually says?

I believe the Bible is trustworthy. I believe God’s Word is right. If you disagree, I’m not shocked, because my underlying assumption is that you’re stupid. I also assume you think I’m stupid, which is why we both must take God’s Word seriously.

By jeff    https://antiitchmeditation.wordpress.com/2015/03/10/why-i-believe-the-bible-is-gods-word-because-people-are-stupid/

Please join me in looking at this passage in the Gospel of Matthew (chapter 18).

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child and had him stand among them. Then he said to them, “I can guarantee this truth: Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes me. Mt 18:1-5

It is clear that the ‘little ones’ in this gospel are the disciples of Jesus, as indeed the term “these brothers of mine” also—his disciples. To ‘enter’ the kingdom they are to humble themselves like ‘this little child’. This makes them vulnerable as they proclaim the good news—sent as sheep among wolves, as harmless as doves. However, in this ‘no rights’ mission, the missionaries (the disciples) even have their own ‘guardian angel’ with immediate access to the Father (Mt 18:10-11). They have resources of enormous power behind them.

So, when He sent the disciples out he said:

if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” Mt 10:42

Now look with me at Matthew 11 and the status of John the Baptist:

“Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who is not offended at me …………. I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Mt 11:3—6, 11.

John, despite his greatness, a greatness underlined by no less than Jesus himself, could not see the true nature of the kingdom—it was withheld from him, God having another destiny/work for him. Otherwise he would have recognised Jesus’ works predicted by the Old Testament prophets, he would have ceased making his own disciples (see John 4:1—3) and he, John, would have followed Jesus as well. There is the strong implication in Mt 11:6 that John was offended by Jesus—he “stumbled over” Jesus. Perhaps he expected the anointed of God to be like the OT prophets or like himself—ascetic, politically outspoken, aggressive and bringing God’s epoch-making judgment which John so passionately proclaimed to the great crowds—all Jewish remember—who flocked to hear his astounding message.

Jesus had a different agenda and a totally separate manner and John must have been acutely aware of this.

“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, whom I love, and in whom I delight. I will put my Spirit on him, and he will announce justice to the nations (Gentiles). He will not quarrel or shout, and no one will hear his voice in the streets. He will not break off a damaged cattail. He will not even put out a smoking wick until he has made justice victorious. The nations (Gentiles) will have hope because of him.”   Mt 12:18-21

Thus amazingly, John is seen by Jesus to be outside the kingdom of heaven! John will not live to see the kingdom come in power. He won’t be a witness to the dying and rising of Jesus or the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. So the ‘least’ in the kingdom of heaven is (surprisingly) ‘greater’ than even John. John knew nothing of the New Covenant.

Yet we must each ask “but have I entered this kingdom?

In Matthew 5 the verb is passive—it’s about how one is called least or great—not how one considers oneself to be ……

Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least [i.e., by Jesus, by God!] in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Mt 5:19

‘These commandments’ means Jesus’ take—his yoke—on how God intends the Torah to be interpreted—not the Torah as spelled out by the Pharisees or their modern equivalents.

We must ask ourselves “am I living in his kingdom? Am I yoked to Jesus of Nazareth?”

 My God, how serious all this is for us—how we must desire to be, and turn around our lives to be, what looks to mere men, the least in a kingdom. This is so utterly different, and so painfully non-institutional. Such a reversal of everything we have assumed. Are we willing?

Here is a call to find ourselves only in Christ and to be intimately and totally immersed in Him and in His New Covenant which he has made with the Father.

 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 1 John 3:20–22

Our hearts can be misled—but God knows all! He is wonderfully greater, much greater, than our hearts! We must trust God regardless and not trust our feelings. He knows we are not perfect. If we are walking in the light, the blood of Christ continually cleanses us even though we may not feel perfect. Good news, eh?

Yet some preachers suggest that if our hearts condemn us, our prayers will not be answered and so we are not healed. But John is assuring us that God is greater than our feelings. He sees all where we see only in part and his love and grace are freely offered to us. And we are assured that our hearts need not condemn us, John making this plain for us who: believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

Again some writers will say that forgiveness and healing were “potentially” provided in Jesus’ sacrifice for us, but go on to suggest healing is somehow dependent on the sick one confessing their sins. But an examination of the Gospels shows that Jesus healed countless people without them having to confess their sins or repent.

There is no record of Jesus requiring anything from people whom he healed. For example he did not look at the epileptic boy and ask if there were any sins standing in the way. No, he spoke the word and the boy was healed after sharply scolding the disciples’ failure (Mat 17) of unbelief. At least the disciples didn’t blame the boy.

Neither is there any record of the spirit-led apostles demanding a clean slate from people before their healing.

One Australian writer on healing the sick asks the question with reference to James 5:15: “How did those praying know if the sick person had sin in his life?” He then claims the next verse “tells us”— as if James writes that this is so. But James is in no way here suggesting that the elders will know if the sick person had sin.

And who is without any sin anyway? If that was a pre-condition for our healing, no one would be healed or saved.

But in fact, James says “IF they have committed sins . . . . . .”. This makes it clear that James is not saying that the sickness is the result of sin. It is also clear that the healing of the sick one is described as preceding the forgiveness of sins, if any, and not as a condition for healing. Note also, that here James does not even mention repentance.

James seems to simply take it for granted that the person’s sins will be forgiven when the elders pray the prayer of faith. This sounds like the good news and is remarkably like Jesus’ declaration to the paralytic “Take courage, son your sins are forgiven” (Mat 9).

Sometimes in our desire to help people, to see them healed, we might think there is some unconfessed sin that prevents their healing, especially when our efforts seem powerless. We might even say to the sufferer “there’s sin in your life that stops your healing”. That of course usually adds substantially to their suffering and sends them on a futile quest to find what that sin could possibly be. That is very hurtful.

For us to make such an assumption, we are thinking it must be something in the sufferer that renders us disappointed with the outcome. Are we perhaps trying to hide our failure to heal and to shift the responsibility from ourselves? If sinlessness was a condition for healing, no one would be healed or saved. But this is not about us and “our ministry”! Jesus calls us to heal the sick person, whatever their condition—it is the love and grace of God, for not one of us deserves it. As disciples, we have the responsibility—he commands us to do it. We obey Jesus because he deserves it, not because the sick person deserves or the one ministering healing deserves the blessing. Still, love, patience and kindness for the sick is never out of God’s mind . . . . . .

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails . . . .

Why are some people not physically healed through prayer and even die prematurely? Some friends have said to me “perhaps we need to see the big picture—the one which God alone can see”. And “God’s ways are so hidden to us”.

 Now that sounds nice and spiritual. But are God’s ways so mysterious and unavailable to us?

No. God has already has given us the “big picture” in sending His Son to us. “In these last days he has spoken to us by His Son!” (Hebrews 1:2). There are many things in God’s big picture and these he does not keep from us, his friends! He makes his ways known to his friends. Let’s see what the apostle Paul says in 1 Cor 2:9-10 . . .

“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him. For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. (NASB)

Many preachers just quote verse 9 and leave out verse 10. This is terribly wrong.

Verse 9 is from the prophet Isaiah (Isa 65:9) who looked forward to its fulfilment. Now it is fulfilled! Now we have a better covenant with better promises.

The Lord Jesus calls us “no longer servants for the servant does not know what his master’s plans are, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you” (Jn 15:15). We, in the New Covenant, in Jesus, are His family, His friends.

So, He does not keep from us the bigger picture of what He has in store for us. They are revealed to us …. “even to the depths of God”. What a privilege! And what a responsibility! His big picture is to save us—from our sins and from our sicknesses and deliver us from oppression and set the captives free (Mat 8:16—18, Luke 4:20—21). That is the big heart of the Father. It is why Jesus came. It is why he suffered for us. And it is why he calls us to heal the sick and do what he did—by the Holy Spirit.

Wait a moment. Can you really imagine Jesus praying for a paralysed person like this: “Father if it is your will, heal this paralysed man?”

Of course, that would be utterly foreign to the Gospel accounts.

No. “Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil” (Acts 10:38). Please note that Jesus never prayed for the sick. He did not need to ask the Father whether it was God’s will but he consistently spoke to the sicknesses and diseases and commanded wholeness. God has revealed his will to us.

This power and authority he has given to his followers and that has never been withdrawn. As Jesus was in the world, so must we, his followers be.

In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus told a parable comparing the kingdom of heaven with a man who sowed good wheat seed in his field but an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat. However the farmer stopped the workers from rooting out the weeds “because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest.” At harvest time then they can first collect the weeds to be burned, and then gather the wheat into the barn.

But His disciples came to him and asked Him to explain the parable. He answered,

“The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man.  The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear. (Matthew 13:37—43)

So Jesus explains in his parable that the field is the world, and not the “church” as many wrongly assume.

That “the church” is not in Jesus’ mind here is clear. In fact, there are only two references to “church” in the gospels and both are in Matthew’s Gospel and neither mean what we mean today by the word “church”. And apart from these two, Jesus said nothing about “church”. Rather he spoke continually about the Kingdom of God and our relationship with His Father. How faraway we are in our thinking from Jesus!

Actually, the word “church” has a pagan, not a biblical origin as it comes from the Greek mythological goddess of magic, Circe, (Greek Κίρκη Kírkē). However the Greek word ekklesia which means “assembly” or “gathering” has been mistranslated in most English bibles and consistently rendered “church”, conveying a religious organisation, something not envisaged in the New Covenant scriptures.

So this parable has nothing to do with a local assembly of Christian believers who are “called out” of the world to be different—people of the Kingdom—“shining like the sun”! There, they must deal with a person who refuses to repent from open sinning and exercise discipline, even separation from the gathering, as the apostle Paul taught.