Saturday, August 10, 2013

DISCERNING TRUTH

Bobservations Column
by Pastor Bob Lawrenz

It tells us in the scriptures that a prophet is not with honor, except in his own country, among his own people, and in his own house. The households, the Tribes, and the Israelites as a whole did not respect the prophets God sent. Nothing in the scriptures indicates that any of the prophets had a bad reputation to overcome. Yet, the prophets were all killed because the people didn’t like being convicted by God’s Word spoken to them. Jesus’ above words are repeated in all four Gospel accounts, so it must be important. You can find them in Matthew 13:57; in Mark 6:4; in Luke 4:24; and in John 4:44. 

 While all of these verses are attributed to our Lord, only three of the four are printed in red in our red-letter edition Bibles, and all four are worded differently. Such are the dynamics of human language. In this case, we must realize that the four Gospels were written to four different audiences. Matthew wrote to the Jews, Mark to the Greeks, Luke to his friend Theophilus, and John to you and me perhaps in personal, everyday language.

If we do not understand what someone is saying, they might say, “Wait, let me put it to you another way.” Stating the same thing different ways allows more people to grasp what we’re talking about. Underlying every word is the true meaning of a statement, but we need to be careful about listening to a single person’s spin on teachings from God’s Word. This was the heresy of the Gnostics, that only they had the truth.

Jesus taught us, “…the words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63) Words carry weight, and Jesus’ words carry the weight of our blessed Creator. Words bring the spirit of an idea into an audible language.

If we are not being pushed in Jesus’ direction by the words we hear, then we are cautioned by God’s Word to be discerning and use wisdom. He tells us that Satan is a liar, and the father of lies. The Holy Spirit dwelling inside every Believer, will set off alarms if what we hear draws us away from our Savior. Listen closely to what you hear….. be discerning, because the Bible will reaffirm itself in more than one passage, or chapter.












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