Archives For rajesh

Six Prayer Requests for Persecuted Believers

October 11, 2013

In several recent messages on Wednesday nights, Pastor Mark Minnick has instructed us to pray six prayer requests for persecuted believers:

1. Deliverance from Persecutors 

2Th 3:1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: 2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

 —Sometimes believers wonder whether they should pray for deliverance for persecuted brethren. This passage makes clear that it is right to pray for them to be delivered.

2. Unfailing Faith in the Midst of Sufferings

Luk 22:31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

—Satan is the ultimate source of all persecution that believers experience. Jesus prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail when he would be tried; we should pray for unfailing faith for persecuted believers.

3. Boldness to Give the Gospel to Persecutors

Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. 

—Although Paul was in prison when he wrote these words, Paul asked that believers would pray for him to have boldness in his bonds so that he would continue to be a faithful witness in spite of his sufferings for the faith. We need to hold up persecuted brethren in prayer that they would be bold to give the gospel to their persecutors in spite of their suffering.

4. Patient Endurance of Suffering for Doing Well

1Pe 2:19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. 20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 

 21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

 —Peter teaches us that God desires that believers would patiently endure the sufferings that they experience for doing what is right, even as Jesus did. Through praying that persecuted brethren would be like Christ in suffering (without reviling or threatening), we can help suffering brethren endure persecution in a way that is acceptable to God (see also 2 Thess. 1:4-5). 

5. Joy in the Midst of Suffering

Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. 

—Jesus taught that believers must rejoice and be exceedingly glad when they suffer persecution for His sake. We can help them do so by praying for them to have the joy of the Holy Spirit even in the midst of much affliction (cf. 1 Thess. 1:6). 

6. Love for Enemies Who Persecute Us

Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 

—Jesus proclaimed that we must love our enemies and relate to them in loving ways in keeping with our being true children of our Heavenly Father. We should pray that suffering brethren would have a proper love in the Spirit for those who afflict them. 

Learn more by listening to Prayer For The Persecuted Part I (September 4, 2013, Mark Minnick, 2013 Sermons); Prayer For The Persecuted Part II (September 18, 2013, Mark Minnick, 2013 Sermons).

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Mount Calvary Baptist Pulpit, Prayer
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Should Christians Pray That Suffering Would Come?

October 10, 2013

Someone told me recently that he had heard that some Chinese Christians pray that persecution would come to the Church in the U.S. I also saw a presentation that includes a statement from a prominent American Christian leader that communicates that he has prayed fervently that suffering would come. Should Christians pray along these lines?

No Biblical Teaching Supports Praying That Suffering Would Come

Those who pray that suffering would come to believers may typically do so out of a desire for the Church to be purified and for believers to grow spiritually. Some may think that David’s prayer in Psalm 139 supports such praying:

Psa 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

These verses, however, do not support praying that believers would suffer; at best, they would only support a believer’s praying that he himself would be tried.

Although desiring the purification of the Church and spiritual growth of believers is commendable, I am unaware of any teaching in Scripture that supports believers praying that believers would be persecuted or that suffering would come.

Explicit Biblical Teaching That Teaches Us to Pray for the Opposite Experience for Believers

Not only does Scripture not support praying that suffering would come, but also it clearly teaches that what we should pray for is exactly the opposite experience for believers:

1Ti 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 

Paul informs all believers that they should pray for all authorities with the aim that believers would lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty—it is impossible for believers to do so when they are suffering persecution!

Furthermore, Paul also teaches us that we should pray for deliverance for believers who are already being persecuted:

2Th 3:1 Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: 2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

Clear apostolic teaching in both of these passages, therefore, teaches us that we should not pray that suffering would come on believers

Other Considerations That Argue Against Praying That Suffering Would Come

Moreover, persecution does not bring about spiritual growth for any of the believers who lose their lives through it. Nor does persecution necessarily lead to the purification of the Church—it sometimes leads instead to the eradication of believers in a specific area because of the unrelenting actions of wicked authorities.

Conclusion

Explicit biblical teaching and other relevant considerations, therefore, teach us that we should not pray that suffering would come. Praying for suffering and persecution to come is not biblical.

We should pray instead for the Church everywhere to be able to lead quiet and peaceable lives that are fully sanctified and dedicated to God. We should also pray for deliverance for brethren who are being persecuted.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Prayer, Theology
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Six Key Points about the Character and Chronology of the New Heavens and the New Earth

October 6, 2013

In a message on Isaiah 65:17-19 this morning, Pastor Mark Minnick presented six key points about the character and chronology of the new heavens and the new earth. These points provide clarity of understanding about this glorious subject.

The new heavens and the new earth will endure eternally, as will Israel as well (Is. 65; 66:22).

The character of that whole domain [the new heavens and the new earth] will be righteousness (2 Pet. 3:13).

The new heavens and the new earth will follow the destruction of the present heavens and earth (2 Pet. 3:10-13). They will not be a renovation of the present heavens and earth.

The new heavens and the new earth follow the Tribulation, the Millennium, and the Great White Throne judgment (based on the sequence of Revelation 20 and Revelation 21:1).

There will be no death in the new heavens and the new earth (Rev. 21:4). You cannot have new heavens and the new earth without the death of death.

The new heavens and the new earth will feature the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven (Rev. 21:10ff.).

He also clarified that “Isaiah 65:18-25 tell us that He is creating and will create a New Jerusalem in the present earth.”

For more information, listen to the message Created for Joy here.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Mount Calvary Baptist Pulpit, Theology
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Was the Philippian Jailor Saved by Hearing a One-Sentence Gospel Message?

October 5, 2013

Was the Philippian jailor saved by hearing a one-sentence gospel message (Acts 16:31)? A sound handling of the passage answers this question definitively.

The Evangelistic Record (Up to Acts 16:31) of the Jailor’s Salvation

Following the miraculous events that took place (Acts 16:26), the Philippian jailor asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (16:30). They responded, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (16:31).

Some believe that the jailor was saved by hearing only this one sentence. Many more seem to reflect this same view by using this one verse as if it was a one-sentence gospel message.

For example, a person argued with me years ago that the jailor was saved without testimony to the resurrection to the Jesus. He based his view on the fact that the passage does not say anything about Paul and Silas’ bearing testimony to the resurrection.

Biblical considerations from the rest of the passage as well as from other passages show that these views are unsound. These considerations become clear from various indications in Acts 16 and 26.

Indications from the Rest of Acts 16 of Additional Testimony beyond Acts 16:31

Following Acts 16:31, Luke writes, “And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house” (16:32). We know therefore that Paul and Silas testified more from the word of the Lord than just what verse 31 records.

Because Luke does not tell us what that additional testimony was, some may still argue that whatever else they said was additional testimony that was not necessary for him to hear to be saved. We can be certain, however, that this is a wrong handling of the passage because Acts 16:31 itself does not testify to either the crucifixion or the Resurrection of Jesus—truths that are essential parts of the gospel message (Cf. 1 Cor. 15:3-5).

The following verses implicitly confirm the interpretation that verse 32 signifies the communication of vital truths. Luke tells us that the jailor was baptized (16:33), but he does not tell us how it came about that he knew that he was to be baptized and consented to doing so. Plainly, we are to understand that Paul and Silas bore testimony to him to do so.

Furthermore, Luke concludes his record of this evangelistic encounter by saying, “And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house” (16:34). Although it is possible that Luke intends for us from this statement to believe that these people believed in Jesus as God, it is far more likely that this statement reflects their salvation through belief in testimony about God the Father’s raising Jesus from the dead and through their subsequent confession of Jesus as Lord (cf. Rom. 10:9-10).

Indications from Acts 26 of Additional Testimony to the Jailor beyond Acts 16:31

In addition to the additional considerations present in Acts 16, Paul’s testimony in Acts 26 about his evangelistic practice throughout his Christian life points conclusively to additional testimony given to the jailor beyond what Acts 16:31 records. Paul told King Agrippa that his obedience to his heavenly vision of the glorified Jesus (Acts 26:12-18) comprised his testifying to key truths to everyone everywhere from the beginning of his evangelistic ministry up to that very day:

Act 26:19 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: 

 20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. 

 21 For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me. 

 22 Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: 

 23 That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles. 

These verses make clear that Paul certainly challenged the jailor to “repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance” (26:20). We also can be certain that Paul testified to the jailor about both the suffering and the resurrection of Christ (26:23). 

Because Acts 16:31 does not specify that Paul told the jailor to repent, we know that Acts 16:31 is not an exhaustive record of the gospel testimony that he received. Similarly, because Acts 16:31 does not specify that Paul testified to the jailor about the crucifixion and resurrection, we can be certain that it does not tell us all that he heard to be saved. 

Conclusion

Because we know conclusively from several considerations that Acts 16:31 is not an exhaustive record of the gospel testimony that the jailor received, it is illegitimate to say that he was saved by hearing only the statement recorded in Acts 16:31. Moreover, based on essential biblical teaching about the gospel message, we can be certain that Acts 16:31 is not a one-sentence gospel message that by itself communicates all the truth that a sinner needs to hear to be saved.

A sound handling of Acts 16:31 shows conclusively that the Philippian jailor was not saved by hearing a one-sentence gospel message.

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Evangelism, Gospel, Interpretation
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God’s Rebuke of Sensuality among Those Who Worship Him

October 2, 2013

Scripture is our only infallible source of information about God’s perspectives concerning people who engage in worship and the actual nature of that worship. In Ezekiel 33, He reveals to us vital principles about how He should be worshiped through His assessment of the presence and nature of the sensuality among those who worshipped Him at that time.

Among the Jews who were exiled in Babylon, there were those whose worship was not what it appeared to be (33:30-33):

Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD. 

 31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. 

 32 And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. 

 33 And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them. 

God made known to Ezekiel that his fellow Jews were maligning him even while they were exhorting one another to come hear his ministry of the Word of the Lord that he was proclaiming (Ezekiel 33:30).

These seeming worshipers were intermingled with true worshipers and mimicked the worship of the latter. They came as the others did and sat before him as the rest of God’s people did (Ezekiel 33:31).

They listened intently to Ezekiel’s proclamation of God’s words (Ezekiel 33:31a-c), but the true nature of their supposed worship of God was revealed by their failure to heed God’s words (Ezekiel 33:31d). God exposed them as hypocritical worshipers who did not do what He said because although they professed great love for Him, they were actually motivated by their lustful hearts and their pursuit of personal gain (Ezekiel 33:31e-f).

God then called Ezekiel to perceive what was taking place in the hearts and minds of such people: “And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument.” (33:32). The Hebrew word rendered as “very lovely” (that modifies the word song) uses a word (‘Əgavah) that is used in a negative sense in Scripture for “sensual desire” that is “condemned” (Holladay, 264).

Ezekiel thus was to them like a song characterized by sensuality that was ministered by a person having a beautiful voice and playing a stringed instrument skillfully (33:32a-b). Implicit thus in this statement is these people’s appetite for sensual songs and God’s condemnation of that fleshly proclivity.

This statement revealed the essential problematic sensuality of these supposed worshipers of God. Because of that sensuality, God’s words did not profit them in bringing about obedience to Him in their lives, just as hearing a sensual love song sung by one with a pleasant voice accompanied well on an instrument does not.

Through this comparison, God was not condemning those who have lovely voices or can play stringed instruments with great skill–He is the One who gifts people with these priceless gifts. His statement indicts the people who were hearing Ezekiel’s ministry of the Word with the same fleshly orientation of heart as they would hear sensual songs.

Unquestionably, Ezekiel was not preaching a sensual message to them; he apparently then had an appealing, pleasant speaking voice, good vocal production, and great skillfulness in his speaking for God. These sensuality-oriented worshipers were drawn to these elements of his ministry, but they did not have a heart for hearing from God to do what He was saying through Ezekiel.

This account warns us that we must come to hear the ministry of God’s Word with a true and sincere heart to obey Him. To have such a heart to hear from God, we through the Spirit must mortify all manifestations of the sensuality that our flesh is irredeemably bent toward. Otherwise, even hearing a true prophet of God preach His words in His house will not profit us, and our worship will be spoiled by the same sensuality for which God rebuked those among His people who came with that ungodly orientation to hear Ezekiel’s prophetic ministry.

 

For help with issues concerning CCM, please see the many resources that I have compiled: Resources That Provide Answers to Key Issues Concerning CCM 

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Exhortation, Exposition, Music
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The NT Key to a Fuller Understanding of the Golden Calf Incident

September 29, 2013

The NT provides fuller understanding about many key OT people and events, including Creation, the Exodus, and the ministry of Enoch. In a striking way not specifically revealed in the OT, First Corinthians 10 gives believers the key to a fuller understanding of the Golden Calf incident and its contemporary relevance.*

Prior Revelation about the Golden Calf Incident

Prior to First Corinthians 10, at least five passages give us explicit revelation about the Golden Calf incident: Exodus 32; Deuteronomy 9; Nehemiah 9; Psalm 106; Acts 7. A thorough analysis of these passages shows that the incident was a profoundly important event in sacred history (see the previous articles in this series, which are listed below, for more information).

Fittingly, this prior revelation, however, does not reveal a key facet about the event that is necessary to know in order to understand it fully. God gives us that key through vital Pauline teaching in First Corinthians 10.

First Corinthians 10 and the Golden Calf Incident

Of the two NT references to the Golden Calf incident, Acts 7:39-41 only indirectly pertains to believers today because it is part of Stephen’s defense before the high priest and other Jewish people who accosted and persecuted him (Acts 6:9-7:60). The reference in First Corinthians 10:7, however, is in epistolary teaching specifically directed to Christians.

Because Paul explicitly cites the Golden Calf incident in important epistolary teaching to believers, we know that properly understanding it and its application to us is vital. Moreover, Paul states both before (1 Cor. 10:6) and after (1 Cor. 10:11) his reference to the incident (1 Cor. 10:7) that the account is exemplary for us and was recorded for our instruction.

We must take pains, therefore, to study all the passages about the incident carefully and thoroughly. When we do so with First Corinthians 10, we discover at least three key aspects of the incident that pertain to believers today and need more attention.

Christian Liberty and the Golden Calf Incident

Paul wrote First Corinthians to believers who were facing many problems in the church at Corinth. First Corinthians 10 is part of three chapters (1 Cor. 8:1-11:1) that he wrote to address problems that the Church was facing with issues concerning Christian liberty.

A key feature of the Golden Calf incident was its essential character as an instance of religious syncretism. Paul’s use of that account in First Corinthians 10 to warn Christians must alert us to the profound potential dangers posed by some disputed practices among believers that many regard as involving similar religious syncretism.

Invoking Christian liberty as justification for such practices without bringing to bear pertinent truths from the Golden Calf incident puts contemporary believers at profound spiritual risk. No discussion of such issues about Christian liberty is legitimate if it does not account fully for Paul’s teaching in First Corinthians 10 concerning the relevance of the incident for Christians.

Meat Offered to Idols and the Golden Calf Incident

In First Corinthians 10:7, Paul commands all believers not to be idolaters. He cites Exodus 32:6 as a Scriptural record of some highly privileged people (cf. 1 Cor. 10:1-4) who became idolaters in the Golden Calf incident:

Exo 32:6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. 

1Co 10:7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 

By citing this aspect of the incident in his command, Paul made clear that their eating, drinking, and playing on this occasion were all part of their idolatry.

Moreover, the reference to their eating and drinking in Exodus 32:6 is not pointing to ordinary eating and drinking that took place after they worshiped the calf. Rather, it refers to their eating and drinking food and drink that they had offered to the idol.

Based on First Corinthians 10:7, we understand that the Israelites’ eating and drinking what was offered to the idol and their playing afterwards are all key information that must warn us to flee from idolatry (1 Cor. 10:14). We must accept, therefore, that the profound danger that idolatry poses for believers involves much more than a believer’s personally doing homage to an idol by bowing to it or engaging in some other related actions that involve only the believer’s body and no other external objects.

What Paul then explains in the rest of First Corinthians 10 reveals just how this is the case with a believer’s partaking of meat offered to idols. In this concluding material, he gives us the profound revelation that is the key to a fuller understanding of the Golden Calf incident.

Fallen Spirits and the Golden Calf Incident

Paul teaches that believers “know that an idol is nothing in the world” (1 Cor. 8:4) and that food in and of itself does not commend us to God (1 Cor. 8:8). He later reiterates both truths through two questions (“What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?” [1 Cor. 10:19]).

What Paul says next brings out the horrific spiritual reality of what takes place when people offer sacrifices to idols:

But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils (1 Cor. 10:20). 

Paul reveals that Gentiles who sacrifice to idols in reality offer sacrifices to fallen spirits and not to God! Although neither an idol nor what is offered to it has any innate spiritual qualities to it individually, people who combine the two in a worship context in reality worship fallen spirits—regardless of whether they intend to or not.

Worse yet, not only do they worship the fallen spirits, but they also have fellowship with them! Eating meat offered to an idol in a worship context thus puts those who eat that meat into direct contact with demons.

Moreover, Paul teaches that it is not possible to partake of both the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils (1 Cor. 10:21a). Nor is it possible to partake both of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons (1 Cor. 10:21b).

These statements make clear that believers who engage in worship that features any such religious syncretism are incapable of worshiping the Lord aright. True believers who do engage in such actions must fear provoking the Lord to jealousy (1 Cor. 10:22) because they are not stronger than He is, and He will surely chasten them for doing so.

When these considerations are brought to bear on our understanding of what happened in the Golden Calf incident, we learn that all that the passages record of their shameful debauched behavior after they had eaten and drunk what was offered to the idol was not merely human deviancy on display. Rather, their playing (Exod. 32:6; 1 Cor. 10:7), singing (Exod. 32:18; Acts 7:41), and dancing (Exod. 32:19; Acts 7:41) in unrestrained ways that brought them into shame with their enemies (Exod. 32:25) was the deviant behavior of people who had come into direct contact with fallen spirits and been influenced by them to engage in that shameful debauched behavior! 

Moreover, we understand better God’s profound anger with the people on that occasion—they had provoked Him to wrath because their religious syncretism brought them into direct fellowship with demons. Because His people had become profoundly “contaminated” in that manner, He ordered that many of them be executed (Exod. 32:26-29) and would have destroyed them all had not Moses interceded for them (Exod. 32:11-14).

Conclusion

Based on the points covered above, any sound treatment of the Golden Calf incident and its relevance for believers today must account for its being a record of demon-influenced immoral behavior by spiritually privileged people that resulted from their engaging in purported worship of the Lord that included religious syncretism. We must allow God’s profound displeasure with His people on that occasion to underscore Paul’s use of that incident in First Corinthians 10 to warn us to take heed that we not fall similarly in matters concerning Christian liberty because we think that we stand (1 Cor. 10:12).

As I hope to show in future articles, this fuller understanding of the incident has profound relevance for contemporary debates about the propriety of incorporating debauched pagan elements into worship of the Lord.

 *If you have not done so, please read the previous articles in this series before reading this article:

1. Toward Fully Understanding the Golden Calf Incident

2. More Insights about the Golden Calf Incident

3. Leadership Failure and the Golden Calf Incident

4. Religious Syncretism and the Golden Calf Incident

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Discipleship, Exposition, Music, Theology
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Does God Tell Ordinary Believers What to Do Today?

September 27, 2013

For most of the past year, I wanted to participate in door-to-door evangelism through my church but was not able to because I could not figure out a good way to resolve the scheduling difficulties that I faced with doing so. As a result, last year was the first year that I did not engage in that ministry on as regular a basis as I have in all my previous years of being a believer.

This past Saturday, I really wanted to go out and evangelize Spanish people in the neighborhoods of my church. I ended up not going out because it rained most of the day and because I was not able to find someone to go with me.

On Sunday morning, I woke up and read my Bible, as I usually do. After doing so, a thought came to my mind while I was getting ready to go to church—a thought that was not at all connected with anything that I had read in Scripture that morning.

I was amazed that this thought came to my mind because I had not prayed about this matter and had not talked with anyone else about it. In fact, I had not even given any thought that morning to the subject matter that the thought concerned!

As soon as it came into my mind, I realized that I now had a good solution to the scheduling difficulties that for some time now had made it unworkable for me to participate regularly in visitation ministry through my church. I thanked God for graciously giving me direction about this matter that was really important to me!

Thanks to this insight, I was able to go on visitation this past Sunday afternoon for the first time in many months. I even shared with my evangelism partner how this solution had come to my mind and provided me with a feasible way to participate in this ministry when I am not able to go out at other times during the week.

I marvel at the simplicity of the solution that God gave to my situation—a solution that had never occurred to me in all my thinking about how to resolve the problem. I have no doubt in my mind that God told me what to do to solve my problem.

Furthermore, He did so without my praying about it or getting counsel from anyone else. He also did so without my getting any direction from Scripture about solving such a problem.

Does God tell ordinary believers what to do today about specific matters that Scripture does not address? I believe that He who lives within us can and does do so, as He sees fit!

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Evangelism, Testimony, Theology
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Guitar Music for “Faith of Our Fathers”

September 24, 2013

Here is a PDF of the melody notes, first stanza, and basic chords of Faith of Our Fathers played in the key of G. Because the song has 8 basic chords in it, it is a good song for advancing beginners to use to learn how to strum and pick a song that is a little more advanced than songs that use only three chords..

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Guitar Music
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Religious Syncretism and the Golden Calf Incident

September 23, 2013

In three previous articles, I treated various broader aspects of the Golden Calf incident, such as the basic teachings of the passages concerning the incident and some of their various applications to believers today.1 This post focuses attention on the Israelites’ religious syncretism in what took place on that infamous occasion.

Israel’s Knowledge of God before the Incident

Through the plagues that He brought upon Egypt, God judged its gods (Exod. 12:12) and showed to His people as well as to others that He was the one and only true God (cf. Exod. 8:10; 9:14; 10:2; 14:4, 18; 18:11). He then gave the Israelites who came out of Egypt clear teaching that they were not to make any idols or images (Exod. 20:4, 23), as the Egyptians and other peoples did (cf. Exod. 23:24).

Furthermore, He instructed the Israelites about the feasts that they were to keep to Him (Exod. 23:14-19). He made known to them as well the altars (Exod. 20:24-26; cf. Exod. 27:1-8; 30:1-6) that they would build to Him and the sacrifices that they would offer upon them as part of their worshiping Him (Exod. 20:24; 29:1-30:38).

Israel’s Religious Syncretism in the Incident

Before the Israelites, therefore, engaged in the Golden Calf incident, they had been thoroughly instructed by God about what they were and were not to do in worshiping Him. Nevertheless, in the absence of Moses, the people congregated around Aaron and demanded that he make for them an idol (Exod. 32:1).

Aaron not only cooperated with them in making the idol (Exod. 32:2-4; 35), but he also made an altar before it (Exod. 32:5a). Moreover, he declared that the next day would be a feast to the Lord (Exod. 32:5b).

When the people, therefore, rose early the next day and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings and sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play (Exod. 32:6), they purportedly were supposed to have been observing a feast to the Lord. In reality, however, they were engaged in religious syncretism that robbed God of His glory (Ps. 106:20-21) and was idolatrous worship that greatly provoked the Lord (Neh. 9:18).

Their feasting that purportedly was supposed to have been to the Lord was in actuality the rejoicing in the works of the hands (Acts 7:41) of people who had turned back to Egypt in their hearts (Acts 7:39). Their singing and dancing in what was supposed to have been a feast to the Lord (Exod. 32:17-19) was in fact not worship of the Lord at all but the unrestrained debauchery of people of whom even their enemies were ashamed (Exod. 32:25)!

God’s Rejection of Their Religious Syncretism

While the people were supposedly observing what was supposed to have been their observing a feast to the Lord, the Lord informed Moses of the heinous sinfulness of what they actually had done and were doing (Exod. 32:7-8). God rejected their religious syncretism and purposed to annihilate them for their idolatrous perversion of His worship (Exod. 32:9-10; 1 Cor. 10:7).

Aaron had brought very great sin (Exod. 32:21) upon the people through the leading role that he played in their perversion of the worship of the Lord (cf. Exod. 32:25). God was intensely angry with both the people and him and would have destroyed them all had Moses not interceded for them (Exod. 32:11-14; Deut. 9:19-20).

God’s Gracious Dealings with Them in spite of Their Sinfulness in the Incident

In His great compassion and mercy, the Lord did not annihilate them nor forsake them in the wilderness (Neh. 9:18-19). In fact, He continued His goodness to them in leading them, instructing them, providing for them, and using them for His own purposes in spite of the great sinfulness of what they did in the Golden Calf incident (Neh. 9:19-25).

Conclusion

The Israelites thoroughly perverted the worship of the Lord on this occasion through their incorporation of an element of pagan worship (the idol) into what was supposed to have been a feast to the Lord. The heinous sinfulness of their religious syncretism should cause all believers to take heed not to incorporate elements of debauched pagan origin into any aspect of their worshiping the Lord.

1If you have not done so, please read the previous articles in this series before reading this article:

1. Toward Fully Understanding the Golden Calf Incident

2. More Insights about the Golden Calf Incident

3. Leadership Failure and the Golden Calf Incident

(See all the articles in this series under point 11 here)

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Discipleship, Exposition, Music, Theology
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God’s Comfort for Believers Who Have Lost Christian Loved Ones

September 22, 2013

Scripture provides several passages that comfort believers who have lost Christian loved ones. God desires that His bereaved people have His comfort through their richly feeding on these passages.

The Death of a Believer is Precious in God’s Sight

An unnamed psalmist declares that the death of a believer is precious to the Lord: “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints” (Ps. 116:15). Knowing that the death of our believing loved ones is precious to our Lord, we can take heart in the midst of our great sorrow.

God Wants Believers to Have Hope Concerning Their Christian Loved Ones Who Have Died

Paul makes known that God wants believers to have hope in their sorrow over their believing loved ones who have died because God is going to bring them back with Jesus when He send Jesus back:

1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Comforting ourselves with these words, we will not sorrow without hope, as do those who are unbelieving, because we will certainly see our believing loved ones again!

Jesus’ Prayer is Answered Each Time a Believer Dies!

Paul taught that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord: “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). Every believer who goes into the Lord’s presence does so as an answer to Jesus’ prayer:

“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24).

Our believing loved ones who have gone into the Lord’s presence are now beholding Jesus’ glory that the Father has given Him! Their doing so is the Father’s answering the prayer of His Son!

Although we sorrow and grieve greatly over our departed loved ones, we rejoice also that their deaths were precious to the Lord, that we have confident expectation that we will see them again, and that our Father has answered His Son’s prayer and given His Son the desire of His heart by taking our loved ones to be with Him! May our Heavenly Father use these thoughts on these wonderful passages to encourage many of His children who are grieving over the loss of loved ones who have gone to be with the Lord.

 

 

Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.

In Discipleship, Theology
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