- Is Healing For Today... ?
- Divorce... ?
- What About Tongues ... ?
- Does God Answer Prayers... ?
- The Woman Question... ?
[We cannot begin to go into the magnitude of this question
in an article such as this, but we can investigate enough to prove the point.
The bible says, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be
established” (2nd Corinthians 13:1), therefore we will look at our
greatest witnesses, the scriptures.
Isaiah prophesied these words in 53:5: But he was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of
our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah was looking
toward the cross and prophesying about Jesus and the work he would do through
his death, burial and resurrection. Then, in 1st Peter 2:24, Peter
penned these words: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on a tree,
that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye
were healed. Peter was looking back to what Jesus had done for us. Both of these
scriptures tell us that healing was appropriated for us through the stripes of
Jesus.
Jesus told us in John 5:19,”Verily, verily, I say unto
you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do; for
what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Father”. Now if Jesus did
what the Father did, lets see what that might be. Acts 10:38 tells us that Jesus
went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God
was with Him. Notice that Jesus healed those oppressed of the devil. Is the
devil still oppressing people? You bet he is! Therefore we can conclude that
Jesus is still healing.
Third John, verse 2 says, “Beloved, I wish above all
things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth”.
I love this verse because it gives us a summary of God’s will for our lives:
health or healing, prosperity or financial well being, but only according as
your soul prospers. In other words, put God first and the others will follow.
Yes, healing is still for today, so get into The Word. Psalm 107:20 says, “He
sent his word and healed them”.]
[ I
want to look at the touchy subject of divorce. Although a lot of preachers
don’t want to deal with this subject, I think it is imperative seeing that the
divorce rate is the same among church going people as it is with those who
don’t attend church.
When Jesus spoke about divorce in the book of Matthew, he let us know
that divorce was not God’s will. However, he did give fornication as a reason
for divorce. So we can conclude that divorce is wrong except in the case of
fornication. We can also conclude that if it is wrong then it is a sin.
Now let’s look at the good news. If divorce is a sin, then the same
blood that Jesus shed on Calvary to wash all other sins away is also efficient
to wash away the sin of divorce. In the eyes of God sin is sin and the blood
cleanses all.
I am not making this point to give someone a license to divorce, but to
help those who may already be in that position to understand that God still
loves them. Many church organizations have taken such a strong stand in this
area that a person who has been divorced is almost shut outside of the very
place that should be trying to help restore them.
Let’s look at some of the scriptures that have caused some of this kind
of thinking to get into the church;
And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for
fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth
her which is put away doth commit adultery Matthew 19:9).
It is apparent that divorce, except in the case of fornication is
considered adultery. However, many have perceived that the married couple is
living in a state of adultery. Not so, Jesus only said that they were committing
adultery when they married another. Adultery falls under the category of sin, so
it too is a sin that is washed away by the blood when one repents.
People tend to try to hold others in bondage according to their thinking
instead of what the bible really says. For example, some even try to hold it
against someone who was divorced prior to their conversion. In either case,
whether before or after they were saved, God still forgives sin when a person
truly repents.
Let’s look at a scripture concerning preachers (bishops);
A
bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good
behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach (1Timothy 3:2).
This scripture has always been taken by many denominations to mean a man
could not preach if he had been divorced. Read it for yourself, it does not
mention divorce. It does say he must be the husband of one wife. Well, even a
divorced man that is remarried only has one wife, in most states it is the law.
What if we take a different view of this scripture? It says he must be
the husband of one wife. Taken literally, that would mean he must be married. In
that case a single man could not be a Bishop. Also, a preacher who had been in
the ministry for years would have to quit if he lost his spouse. He would no
longer be the husband of one wife.
Could it be that Paul was instructing Timothy to make sure the preachers
were lined up with God’s idea of a family, one man married to one woman?
During the time of Paul’s writing it was not uncommon for a man to have more
than one wife. I believe this to be the case. We can get a little more insight
from Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church:
Art
thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek
not a wife. But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry,
she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I
spare you (1Corinthians 7:27-28).
Paul did not condone divorce nor encourage it, but he did recognize that
there were those who were in that position to which he added, “But and if thou
marry, thou has not sinned”.
It amazes me that a person could have been a murder, child molester,
rapist, or some other vile thing and still be welcomed to take part or even
preach in some churches. However, if they have been divorced, then they cannot
be used.
Jesus shed his blood to wash away all sin. When a person is born again
old things are passed away and all things become new. There are some wonderful
people sitting around in churches. They are just waiting to be used. How about
forgetting their past the way God does and give them a chance?]
Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid
not to speak with tongues. (1Corinthians 14:39 KJV)
I want to look at a subject that
is misunderstood in the church today. Although it is practiced by many, few can
really give a biblical account for its use. I am talking about the subject of
tongues.
I remember reading about tongues when I first was saved. I was seventeen
years old and had absolutely no knowledge of the things of God. I went to the
Pastor of the Freewill Baptist church I attended at the time and asked him to
tell me about tongues. I have never forgotten his answer: “I don’t know
anything about them, so I can’t tell you anything about them”. I respected
what he said at the time; however I grew to have even a greater respect for his
answer after talking with others about the subject.
That Pastor’s name was ‘Big Will Isaac. He has since gone on to be
with the Lord, but he will always hold a dear place in my heart. He did not try
to explain away something he didn’t know about. He did not give me his opinion
about it. He was honest enough to say I don’t know and that is what I have
never forgotten.
Times have changed a lot since then. Today we have so many more study
aids. We have Christian television and the World Wide Web. Information is
readily available at the touch of a button. So why is there still so much
confusion about tongues? I believe it is because we still are taking man’s
word on the subject instead of God’s. Let’s get into the word and see what
He has to say about tongues.
Our first glimpse on the subject is found in the book of Isaiah:
Whom shall he teach knowledge?
and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them
that are weaned from the milk, and
drawn from the breasts. For precept must be
upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a
little, and there a little: For with
stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people (Isaiah
28:9-11).
Isaiah prophesied that God would speak to his people with other tongues.
He also made it clear that this doctrine would be based upon the word and
understood by those that would be mature in their understanding.
Speaking in tongues is not of the devil as some have said it to be. It is
not some spooky phenomenon that one is to shy away from. No, actually it is
something God desires for every one of his children according to Peter:
Then
Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that
are afar off, even as many as the Lord
our God shall call (Acts 2:38-39).
I want to break this subject down to make it more
easily understood. Every person starts out in the family of God the same way.
Each one of us must be born-again. In other words we must invite Jesus to come
into our hearts and be our Lord. At that moment the Spirit of God comes into our
spirit and recreates it. Our spirit is reborn.
Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he
is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are
become new (2Corinthians 5:17 ).
Man is born of the Spirit when he receives salvation. Jesus told the
woman at the well that it was a well of water springing up into everlasting life
(John 4:14). Having been born of the Spirit that person is on his way to heaven.
He is now the righteousness of God in Jesus.
A lot of people stop right here with their salvation experience. They
think that they have received all God has to offer. Actually, they are just
entering in to what God has for them. Let me give you a natural example.
Not long ago there was a new restaurant that opened in Paintsville. The
restaurant had a private opening for families of their employees before it
opened publicly. The guests were allowed to enter the building under the name of
their relative that worked there. Once inside they were allowed to have whatever
was on the menu. All they had to do was ask.
What if some of the guests just walked through the door, sat down in the
lobby, looked around, and said this is great? Would they enjoy all the benefits
sitting out there in the lobby? Of course not! The restaurant has a kitchen full
of delicious food just waiting on them to ask for it.
So it is with the kingdom of God. The blood of Jesus is what gets us in.
Salvation is just walking through the door. In John 10:9, Jesus tells us that he
is the door through which we are both saved and find pasture. The pasture is all
the good eating God has for us when we ask. Don’t stop at the door. Matthew
6:33 says to seek first the kingdom of God and then all these things shall be
added to you. Salvation comes first, but God has so much more.
Back to Top
Have you really
ever thought about why we pray? Do
we believe God is really listening or do we pray just to make ourselves feel
better? Do we pray to try to make
ourselves sound good before people and God or are our prayers from our heart?
Are the words that we pray empty or full of faith?
Praying is our communication line to God.
It is during our time of prayer that we talk to God and he also talks to
us. It is here that we learn how to
recognize the voice of God. Our
prayer time brings us into an intimate relationship with him.
But how do we know that God is really listening?
First John chapter 5 verses 14 and 15 says this: "And this is the
confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will,
he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that
we have the petitions that we desired of him."
This verse gives us a wonderful insight on how to make sure that God
hears our prayer. We must ask
according to his will.
Now here is the next question. How
do I know the will of God? The
answer is simple. God's word is his
will. Now I know this is probably
not the complicated answer you wanted to hear.
We have been taught to think that we can never know the will of God.
However, nothing could be farther from the truth.
God's desire is for us to know his perfect will for our lives.
He would never have told us to ask according to his will if we could not
know his will.
Now there are certain situations in which you may not know God's will
concerning them. I'm talking about personal situations here such as seeking a
new job or maybe even which church you should attend. However, we can find God's will concerning most of our
situations by simply looking in the Bible.
When I can find God's will in the Bible, then I can pray the prayer of
faith. Unfortunately, instead of
searching our Bible to find God's will, Religion has taught us to pray:
"If it be thy will". If
God's Word is specific concerning a promise to us and we pray, "If it be
thy will", we are actually praying a prayer of doubt.
Remember the above verse told us to ask according to his will.
The prayer that God answers is the one that's based on faith and faith in
his word. The Bible declares that God watches over his word to perform
it. Therefore, it only makes sense that
if we pray according to his word, God will hear us and answer our prayer.
For ye are all the children of God by faith in
Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on
Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is
neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:26-28
I want to look at the woman’s
role in the Church. Traditionally women have not been esteemed very highly,
especially in the Appalachians. They have been placed in a subservient position
based mostly on a misunderstanding of the word.
In Genesis chapter 2 God made man a help meet. Adam called his help meet
woman because she was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. Notice that she
was not inferior to Adam. She was part of and equal with the man. It was not
until after she and the man disobeyed God that he was placed over her in
authority.
Unto
the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in
sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband,
and he shall rule over thee (Genesis 3:16 KJV).
There is an overlooked clue in this scripture. The last part says thy
desire shall be to thy husband. God did not say that all men would rule over all
women, he said that the husband would be over his wife. Even at that, this
scripture cannot be taken out of context. This
authority was based on the man being subject to God and the things of God. Then
the man could properly be head over the wife:
But I would have you know, that the head of every
man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is
God (1Corintians 11:3).
Now I want to look at the scriptures that have caused much of the
controversy over women in the church. We will start by looking at 1Corinthians
14:34-35:
Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not
permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as
also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their
husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
Before we can get and understanding of whom Paul is talking about, we
have to look at the original Greek text. The Greek word used in this text for
woman is gune (pronounced goo nay). It is the same word used for wife. This
lines up with verse 35 that says they should ask their husbands.
If we take this scripture literally, then all we can conclude is that
women are not allowed to speak in church. For all that say Amen to that I have
some questions. Do you allow your women to sing? Are they allowed to fellowship
by speaking to one another? Do you allow them to pray with their mouths? Do they
give testimonies? Do they speak when trying to get the children to behave? If
so, then you are out of order in your church. To be silent means exactly that.
Did God mean that the women were so inferior that they were not allowed
to even speak in the church? I don’t believe so. Scripture must be interpreted
in the light of other scripture and also the setting in which the event took
place.
Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthian church in response to reports he
had received about contentions. The Corinthians were adamant about the things of
the spirit; however they could also tend to get out of order due to their
exuberance. Apparently the women were asking questions during the service to the
point of interruption. Paul’s response was for them to keep silent and ask
their husbands at home.
Paul could not have meant for all the women to be silent. What about
those that did not have a husband? No, Paul was talking about those that had
husbands. They were to respect their husband as head and get their information
from him.
Look at 1Timothy 2:11-12: Here
we have a similar situation. However this time there is a little more to it. Not
only should the woman be silent, she is also not allowed to teach or usurp
authority over the man.
Let
the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to
teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
Once again we must look to the meaning of the Greek word for woman. It is
used for both woman and wife. Who was the woman learning, in subjection to? Was
a woman not allowed to teach at all? Who was she trying to usurp authority over?
Was she not allowed to speak?
Timothy was a young Pastor to whom Paul was giving instructions
concerning public worship services. Paul’s instructions were aimed at the
wives. They were to be in submission to their husbands. If they were trying to
instruct their husbands in public they were not recognizing them as the
authority.
We know that Paul could not have meant that a woman could not speak or
teach in a church setting because of what he wrote in 1Corinthians 11:5-12:
But
every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her
head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were
shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a
shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. For a man indeed
ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as
he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For the
man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created
for the woman; but the woman for the man. For this cause ought the woman to have
power on her head because of the angels.
Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the
man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of
the man, even so is the man also by the
woman; but all things of God.
Paul had no problem with a woman praying and prophesying as long as she
had power on her head. This was a reference to being under the authority of the
man.
I must confess that coming from my Baptist
background I had a struggle with the woman issue. All I knew was what had been
taught in my denomination. Women were never called on to pray and they sure
never preached. However I made up my mind that if it was in the word then it had
to be so.
Paul said that a woman could pray and prophesy so
I wanted to see if there were any other places where God used women. I began to
look and here are some things that I found:
And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was
of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;
And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from
the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she
coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to
all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem (Luke 2:36-38).
Anna was my first discovery in the New Testament. Luke called her a
prophetess. He also tells us that she never left the temple. She was there day
and night fasting and praying. She walked in on Mary and Joseph’s dedication
of the baby Jesus. After giving thanks, the bible says she spake of him to all
them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. In other words “She preached
Jesus to them”.
There it was plain as day. How could it be possible for a woman to be a
prophetess and not prophesy? In order to prophesy, pray, and give thanks in the
temple she must have been allowed to speak.
Then there were the daughters of the great evangelist Phillip. In Acts
chapter 8 God used Phillip mightily in a city wide revival. In chapter 21 of
that same book, Paul and company came to Phillip’s house. Luke records that
Phillip had four daughters which did prophesy.
In Romans 16:1 Paul gives a recommendation to Phebe a servant of the
Lord. The word servant in the Greek means deacon. In the context used here it
means deaconess.
I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a
servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: That ye receive her in the Lord, as
becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of
you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also (Romans 16:1-2).
A study of the word will reveal Paul commending many other women for
their work to the Lord and to himself. If Paul did not approve of women
teaching, preaching, or even speaking, why would he allow himself to be
accompanied by them?
God does not look at gender. He will use anyone who will yield to his
spirit. The bible does give the outline for government and behavior in the
church; however when it comes to the move of His Spirit, God is no respecter of
persons.
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