The Harness of the Lord

God continues to do all that is necessary to bring his children into absolute conformity to his perfect will. After all, haven’t his children prayed for centuries for his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven? Yes, this is a glorious time in which he is working in the Church as his primary channel through which he is pouring out his glory to draw all humanity to himself. I define the Church as all people everywhere and everywhen in whom Jesus resides permanently in his “unbodied” form of Holy Spirit.

 The glorious Church “without spot or wrinkle” is being conformed to the image of God through much tribulation and many fiery trials. In stark imagery, the Church is God’s “battle axe and weapons of war” with which he is subduing kingdoms and overcoming all his enemies. This is his “mighty and strong one” in and through which he has committed—as the Body of Jesus—the work of bringing the entire world—and everyone who has ever lived on it—into submission to the will of God. This is his Overcomer, his “great army” with which he is drawing nations into the Kingdom of God. The Church’s weapons of warfare are not earthly, natural weapons, but they are mighty spiritual and prayer weapons with which God is pulling down unseen strongholds. These are those who are “strong and do exploits.”

(See our companion teaching, Soldiers Training Manual)

But in order for God to fully commit this great and tremendous ministry into their hands, his children must first submit themselves to his discipline, letting him truly be Master of their entire lives. We have long since dealt with the question of open sin, but now God is dealing with the inward rebellion of our wills. Only those willing to be fully used by God are being dealt with in such a manner. Yes, there is a real dealing of God going on within those who are called into the High Calling of God. This is a very real experience, and is the work of the Refiner’s Fire. To those who are going through it, some of its aspects are excruciatingly painful, but very necessary, and the end result thereof is glorious as we are brought into absolute and complete submission to the will of God. (See our companion teaching, “Fire”)

A Vision Given By God’s Spirit

 In a recent minister’s conference, God gave me a vision which I want to share with you concerning this harnessing of our wills. There were more than 30 ministers present in this particular Thursday morning service, and God, the Father of spirits, was present to deal with his sons, to correct them and discipline them to absolute obedience to his will. There was such an awesome awareness of God’s presence that no one could go to the pulpit to speak and minister. There was a reluctance among the ministers to say anything except that which was directly given to them by God’s Spirit.

 And as those servants of Almighty God sat there in his awesome presence—some of them having many years of ministry, some missionaries, all of them capable of getting up and preaching a powerful sermon—I was deeply impressed by the way they responded to the discipline of God. And in the midst of this terrific dealing of God with our spirits, God’s Spirit gave me the following vision . . .

The King’s Carriage

“On a dirt road in the middle of a wide field stood a beautiful carriage, similar to a stagecoach, but all edged in gold, and with beautiful carvings. It was pulled by six large chestnut horses, two in the lead, two in the middle, and two in the rear. But they were not moving; they were not pulling the carriage and I wondered why not. Then I saw the driver underneath the carriage, on the ground on his back, just behind the last two horses’ heels, working on something between the front wheels of the carriage.

 I thought, ‘He is in a dangerous place, for if one of those horses kicked or stepped back, they could kill him; or if they decided to go forward, or got frightened somehow, they would pull the carriage right over him.’ But he didn’t seem afraid, for he knew those horses were disciplined and would not move until he told them to move. The horses were not stamping their feet nor acting restless, and though there were bells on their feet, the bells were not tinkling. There were pom-poms on their harnesses over their heads, but the pom-poms were not moving. They were simply standing still and quiet, waiting for the voice of the Master.

Two Young Colts In The Field

 As I watched the harnessed horses, I noticed two young colts coming out of the open field, and they approached the carriage and seemed to say to the harnessed horses: ‘Come and play with us, we have many fine games, we will race with you, come catch us . . .’ And with that the colts kicked up their heels, flicked their tails and raced across the open fields. But when they looked back and saw the team of horses were not following, they were puzzled.  They knew nothing of harnesses, and could not understand why the horses did not want to play. So they called to them: ‘Why do you not race with us? Are you tired? Are you too weak? Do you not have strength to run? You are much too solemn, you need more joy in life.’ But the harnessed horses answered not a word, nor did they stomp there feet or toss their heads. But they stood, quiet and still, waiting for the voice of the Master.

Again the frisky colts called to them: ‘Why do you stand so in the hot sun? Come out here in the shade of this nice tree. See how green the grass is? You must be hungry, come and feed with us, it is so green and so good. You look thirsty, come drink of one of our many streams of cool, clear water.’ But the harnessed horses answered them with not so much as a glance, but stood still, waiting for the command to go forward with the King.

Colts In The Master’s Corral

And then the scene changed, and I saw lariat nooses fall around the necks of the two colts, and they were led off to the Master’s corral for training and discipline. How sad they were as the lovely green fields disappeared, and they were put into the confinement of the corral with its brown dirt and high fence. The colts ran from fence to fence, seeking freedom, but found that they were confined to this place of training.  And then the Trainer began to work with them, with his whip and his bridle. What a fate for those who had been all their lives accustomed to such freedom! They could not understand the reason for this torture, this terrible discipline. What great crime had they done to deserve this? Little did they know of the responsibility that was to be theirs when they had submitted to the discipline, learned to perfectly obey the Master, and finished their training. All they knew was that this disciplining process was the most horrible thing they had ever experienced.

Submission and Rebellion

One of the colts rebelled under the training, and said, ‘This is not for me. I like my freedom, my green hills, my flowing streams of fresh water. I will not take any more of this confinement, this terrible training.’ So he found a way out, jumped the fence and ran happily back to the meadows of grass. And I was astonished that the Master let him go, and did not go after him. But he devoted his attention to the remaining colt. This colt, though he had the same opportunity to escape, decided to submit his own will, and learn the ways of the Master. And the training got harder than ever, but he was rapidly learning more and more how to obey the slightest wish of the Master, and to respond to even the quietness of his voice.

 And I saw that had there been no training, no testing, there would have been neither submission nor rebellion from either of the colts. For in the field they did not have the choice to rebel or submit, they were ‘sinless’ in their innocence. But when brought to the place of testing and training and discipline, then was made manifest the obedience of one and the rebellion that lay hidden in the heart of the other. And though it seemed safer not to come to the place of discipline because of the risk of being found rebellious, yet I saw that without this there could be no sharing of God’s glory.

Into The Harness

Finally, this period of training was over. Was the colt now rewarded with his freedom, and sent back to the fields? Oh no. But a greater confinement than ever now took place, as a harness dropped about his shoulders. Now he found there was not even the freedom to run about the small corral, for in the harness he could only move where and when his Master spoke. And unless the Master spoke, he stood still.

The scene changed, and I saw the other colt standing on the side of a hill, nibbling at some grass. Then across the fields, down the road came the King’s carriage, drawn by six horses. With amazement he saw that in the lead, on the right side, was his brother colt, now made strong and mature on the good corn in the Master’s stable. He saw the lovely pom-poms shaking in the wind, noticed the glittering gold-bordered harness about his brother, heard the beautiful tinkling of the bells on his feet . . . and envy entered his heart.

Thus he complained to himself: ‘Why has my brother been so honored, and I am neglected? They have not put bells on my feet, nor pom-poms on my head. The Master has not given me the wonderful responsibility of pulling his carriage, nor put about me the golden harness. Why have they chosen my brother instead of me?’ And by the Spirit the answer came back to me as I watched. ‘Because one submitted to the will and discipline of the Master, and one rebelled; thus has one been chosen and the other set aside.’

Famine In The Land

Then I saw a great drought sweep across the countryside, and the green grass became dead, dry, brown and brittle. The little streams of water dried up, stopped flowing, and there was only a small muddy puddle here and there. I saw the little colt (I was amazed that it never seemed to grow or mature) as he ran here and there, across the fields looking for fresh streams and green pastures, finding none. Still he ran, seemingly in circles, always looking for something to feed his famished spirit.

 But there was a famine in the land, and the rich green pastures and flowing streams of yesterday were not to be had. And one day the colt stood on the hillside on weak and wobbly legs, wondering where to go next to find food, and how to get strength to go. It seemed like there was no use, for good food and flowing streams were a thing of the past, and all the efforts to find more only taxed his waning strength.

 Suddenly, he again spied the King’s carriage coming down the road, pulled by six great horses. And he saw his brother, fat and strong, muscles rippling, sleek and beautiful with much grooming. His heart was amazed and perplexed, and he cried out: ‘My brother, where do you find the food to keep you strong and fat in these days of famine? I have run everywhere in my freedom, searching for food, and I find none. Where do you, in your awful confinement, find food in this time of drought? Tell me, please, for I must know!’

And then the answer came back from a voice filled with victory and praise: ‘In my Master’s House, there is a secret place in the confining limitations of his stables where he feeds me by his own hand, and his granaries never run empty, and his well never runs dry.’

And with this, God made me understand that in the day when people are weak and famished in their spirits in the time of spiritual famine, that those who have submitted their own wills to God, and have come into the secret place of the most High, into the utter confinement of his perfect will, shall have plenty of the bread of Heaven, and a never-ending flow of fresh streams of revelation by his Spirit.”

Thus the vision ended.

Interpretation of the Vision

 “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that reads it.” Habakkuk. 2: 2) “Harness the horses: and get up, you horsemen.” (Jeremiah. 46: 4). I’m sure that many of you who can hear what the Spirit says to the Church, have already seen what God was showing in the vision. But let me make it plain. Being born into the Family of God, feeding in the green pastures and drinking of the many streams of the unfolding revelation of his purposes is fine and wonderful. But it is not enough.

 While we were children, young and undisciplined, limited only by the outer fence of the Law that ran around the limits of the pastures, (that kept us from getting into the dark pastures of poison weeds), the Master was content to watch us develop and grow into young adulthood, spiritually speaking. But the time came to those who fed in his pastures, and drank at his streams, when they were to be brought into discipline and training for the purpose of making them mature, adult sons and daughters.

 Many of God’s children today cannot understand why some of those who have put on the harness of God cannot get excited by the many religious games and the playful antics of the spiritually immature. They wonder why the disciplined ones won’t run after every new “revelation” or feed on every opportunity to engage in seemingly “good and profitable,” dead religious activities. They wonder why some will not race with them in their frantic efforts to build great works and great and notable ministries.

They cannot understand the simple fact that this group of followers of Jesus is waiting for the voice of the Master, and they do not hear God in all this outward activity. They will move in their time, when the Master speaks. But not before, though many temptations come from the playful colts.

And the colts cannot understand why those who seemingly appear to have great abilities and strength are not putting it to good use. “Get the carriage on the road,” they say, but the disciplined ones, those in God’s harness, know better than to move before they hear the voice of the Master. They will move in their time, with great purpose, and great responsibility.

And the Lord made me understand that there were many whom he had brought into training who had rebelled against the discipline, the chastising of the Father. And they could not be trusted with the great responsibility of maturity, so he let them go back to their freedom, back to their dead religious activities and revelations and gifts. They are still his people, still feeding in his pastures, but he has set them aside from his great purposes at this time in history. So they revel in their freedom, feeling that they are the chosen ones with the many streams of living water, not knowing they have been set aside as unfit for the great work he is doing at this time.

And God showed me that though the chastising seems grievous for the moment, and the discipline hard to endure, yet the result with all the glory of being in his perfect will far exceeds the suffering we endure. And though some lost even their lives in this training, yet they will share alike in the glory of his eternal purposes.

So faint not, fellow followers of Jesus, for it is God who brings you into the confinement of his will—and not an enemy. It is for your good, and for his glory, so endure all things with praises and thanksgiving that he has counted you worthy to share in his glory! Fear not the whip in his hand, for it is not to punish you, but to correct and train you that you come into submission to his will, and be found in his likeness.

Rejoice in your trials, in all your tribulations, and glory in his cross, and in the confining limitations of his harness, for he has chosen you, and has taken upon himself the responsibility of keeping you strong and well fed, so lean upon him, and trust not in your own ability and understanding. You shall be fed, and his hand shall be upon you, and his glory shall overshadow you, and flow through you as it goes forth to cover the earth. Glory to God! Bless the Lord, he’s wonderful! Let him be Master of your life, friends, and complain not at that which he brings to pass in your life.

Plenty In The Time Of Famine

 For in the time when famine sweeps the land, he shall feed by his own hand those submitted to his perfect will, and who dwell in the secret place of the Most High. When terror stalks the land, those in his harness shall not be afraid, for they shall feel his bit and bridle and know the guidance of his Spirit. When others are weak and frail and fearful, there shall be those who are strong in the power of his might, and lack for no good thing.

 In the hour when the pointless and dead traditions of the religious systems have proven false, and their streams have dried up, then his Chosen ones shall speak forth with the true Word of God. So rejoice, children of God, that you have been chosen by his grace for this great work in these times.

The fence which kept the colts in their own meadows and their own pastures means nothing to the team in the harness, for the gates open to them, and they go forth pulling the King’s carriage into many delightful and wonderful places. They do not stop to eat the poison weeds of sin, for they feed only in the Master’s stable. These fields they trample under their feet as they go forth on the King’s business. And so to those who are brought into absolute submission to his will, there is no Law. For they move in the Grace of God, led only by his Spirit where all things are lawful but not all things are expedient.

This is a dangerous realm for the undisciplined, and many have perished in sin as they leaped over the fence without his harness and His bridle. Some have thought of themselves as being completely harnessed and submissive to him, only to discover that in some area of their lives rebellion and self-will continue to reign. Let us wait before him until he puts his noose around us and draws us to his place of training. And let us learn of the dealings of God and the movings of his Spirit until at last we feel his harness drop about us, and hear his voice guiding us. Then there is safety from the traps and pitfalls of sin, and then shall we abide in his house forever!

———–

NOTE: Adapted and edited from a leaflet printed by a dear friend, Bill Britton, of Springfield, Missouri—gone on a few years ago to the next exciting stage of LIFE’s Journey through the ages of time and eternity.

Bill Boylan
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and Updated February 2023

God’s Bread Recipe

Before I share God’s recipe with you, please read these paraphrased words of Jesus from chapter 6 of John’s Gospel:

                   “I am the Bread of LIFE. If you come to Me and trust Me you will never be hungry or thirsty again. All whom my Father gives Me will come to Me and I will never reject anyone. Trust Me and you will possess the very LIFE of God. I am Living Bread come down from heaven. If you eat this Bread you will have God’s very own LIFE within you. My body is Bread given so that everyone everywhere and everywhen shall have LIFE.  You cannot have God’s LIFE unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood. When you eat my flesh and drink my blood you possess God’s own LIFE and I will raise you up from among the dead on the last day. My flesh is true and genuine flesh and my blood is true and genuine drink. When you eat my flesh and drink my blood you dwell continually in Me and I dwell in you.  Just as the living Father has sent Me, and I live through the Father, even so when you continue to feed on Me–be nourished by Me–you shall live in and through Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven. When you eat this bread you have God’s LIFE within you.”

Yes, Jesus is the Bread of LIFE. There can be no question of that–if we believe the Bible. But did you also know that we–that you–are the bread of LIFE, too? In our unique relationship with the living Jesus, we too become the bread of LIFE for other people. Where do we read this in the Bible?

                    “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Jesus? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.” (1 Corinthians 10: 16 and 17)

Jesus often spoke in parables in order to use natural things to show spiritual truths or to use ordinary things we know about in order to help us understand things that otherwise might be difficult to readily understand. God’s bread recipe is my parable to help you understand how we, too, are the bread of God for people who are hungry for a vital and LIFE-giving relationship with the true and living God through Jesus.

I learned the basic truths of this parable from watching my mother, who for years—from my earliest memories—always made homemade bread and rolls, especially for family gatherings. Even as I write these words, in my mind I can see her at the old round oak table in her dining area working in the large stainless steel bowl she used for years to make her bread and rolls.  Around the table are scattered all the ingredients, with perhaps a grandchild or great-grandchild “helping” my mother make the bread or rolls. I can picture on the viewing screen of my mind all the steps she took to make her bread. So, this is the Parable of the Bread.

As you well know, bread, properly made, is life-giving, tasty, nutritious, and satisfying. However, bread made by someone who does not know how to make it, nor how to follow the recipe, is often far from tasty and nutritious. Sometimes, in these instances, it can even be hard or rubbery, or burned, or doughy. This will often occur because the bread maker was either careless in following the recipe or was in a hurry. The bread I describe in this parable is always perfect bread because the Breadmaker is perfect and always follows a perfect recipe.

Basic Ingredient

As you also know, bread begins as wheat (or some other grain). In this recipe it is always the choicest grain carefully chosen by the Breadmaker and harvested at the exact moment it is perfectly ripe. It is never harvested too early in the season nor too late. The grain is chosen just when the harvest field is at its ripest.  Remember how happy and excited you were when God first chose you—or when you first became aware of his choosing? Or when He first “harvested” you? You were greatly excited and wanted to rush right out to feed the hungry people among your circle of friends and acquaintances—and then go to the entire world with the Good News about Jesus.

But the Breadmaker knows full well the complete bread making process, and he knows that when we are first chosen by him—harvested by him—most of us are seldom ready to go out and feed—really feed—the hungry. First, the grain must be separated from the chaff. That is the threshing process.  The grain must be pounded and ground and hammered in order to separate the chaff from the rich kernel of grain where all the LIFE is. As newly harvested grain, we so often wonder about this threshing process, and even get discouraged, but it is an essential part of the process. After the threshing is complete, we then feel we are ready to feed the hungry. But not yet! There are more steps in the recipe.

Parenthetically, you have doubtless heard or read in the Old Testament of the great temple built by the famed King Solomon. It was one of the most magnificent buildings upon the earth to that point in time. That splendid temple was built upon the site of a former grain threshing floor Solomon’s father, King David, had purchased years earlier.  The greater Son of David, King Jesus, is building another temple in the earth today: a temple far surpassing the splendor of Solomon’s temple. It is the temple made of living building materials—us! And that temple is being built upon a foundation of threshing: a threshing floor purchased with the blood of King Jesus. You can read about that temple throughout the New Testament.

Second Step

Let’s return to the next step in the breadmaking process. Next, we have to be sifted and re-sifted in order to remove all that’s hard, crusty, and gritty in our lives. I believe those things having to be sifted out are those areas of our lives we do not wish to willingly surrender to God, so they have to go through the sifting process in order for us to willingly release them to him. The Breadmaker is determined his bread will be the very best!  Having been sifted, we are now so smooth, and so soft, and so fine. Surely, we think, we must now be ready to feed the hungry. But not yet! Have you ever tried to eat plain flour? We must now be mixed with other ingredients. First, yeast is needed.

Yeast works in the flour by actually causing some of its elements to decay and die so that the nutritious parts can rise and become part of the bread. This symbolizes the work of God’s Spirit in us, causing our old life to die so that Jesus’ new, eternal LIFE might come forth in its place. Yes, the yeast is a symbol of death and decay so that Jesus’ rich, nourishing LIFE can rise within us.

The next ingredient is salt. Do you remember Jesus said we are the salt of the earth? Salt is a preservative, and is another symbol of God’s Spirit Who preserves us until our resurrection when Jesus returns. Tasty, nourishing bread also needs a sweetener. The best sweetener to use in bread is honey. God’s Word, the Bible, is honey to our lives. We need generous portions of it in order that God’s bread may be sweet to the taste of those who eat it.

Next, shortening is needed. Shortening (or oil) often symbolizes God’s Spirit at work in the lives of God’s children. The final ingredient essential to the bread-making process is water. Water symbolizes Holy Spirit poured out in our lives. Do you remember the Bible says God will pour out his Spirit upon all people? It is the LIFE-giving rain of the baptism in Holy Spirit, eternally quenching the thirst of all who drink of it.  

All the ingredients must be mixed thoroughly with the flour by stirring, blending, beating, whipping and pounding. Isn’t the Master Breakmaker thorough? At first, the mixing together is easy, but soon the dough is too solid for the mixing spoon, so we are taken up in the Breadmaker’s hands and in loving, personal attention, he begins to knead, mash, pound, and smooth us. And we begin to feel after this part of the process is finished we are finally ready to feed the hungry. But not yet!

Heat and Solitude

Now we are carefully placed in a deep pan or dish, often covered over, and then placed on a high shelf where it is warm—not hot or cold—and there we are left seemingly all alone, neglected, and forgotten by the Breadmaker.  Have you had times like this in various areas of your life and service to God? A time and place of dullness? Dreariness? A time and place where you feel all alone and abandoned by God? A place where it is neither hot nor cold? A place of semidarkness?

It’s a good thing the Breadmaker first oiled us generously with oil, or we’d become dry, hard, and crusty while we wait there on the shelf in the semidarkness. We feel we are left there for s-o-o-o-o long. It’s like an eternity, and we feel utterly useless and worthless, discouraged and abandoned. But inside, the yeast is at work silently, relentlessly decaying the old life, seething, bubbling, bringing forth the new LIFE of God within us.

Finally, we have risen to the top of the pan and we think we are ready at last. But not yet! The Breadmaker comes to the shelf and the same process is repeated. He mashes us down once again and back we go to the shelf, to that gloomy semidarkness, seemingly forgotten and abandoned once again.  But the yeast within us will not give up. The new LIFE begins to rise again. And again the Breadmaker comes and mashes us down.

More oil is added and again we are returned to the shelf. But that vibrant new LIFE within us continues to rise and we begin to look very pretty and fluffy. Once again we think we are finally ready to feed the hungry. But not yet! The Breadmaker knows how tasteless and non-nourishing we would be in that state, so we are now prepared for the most important part of the bread-making process.

The Baking Process

We are now placed in an oven that has been pre-heated to just the exact temperature. Why did we ever struggle and question so much while we were on that nice lukewarm shelf? It was nothing like this terrible heat! We beg for the Breakmaker to lower the temperature. But he will not, for if he did the bread would flatten. We then beg him to turn up the heat in order to be baked as quickly as possible. But he will not do that either, for if he did we would be burned black on the outside and be doughy and untasty on the inside. He will not remove us from the oven too soon.

The only possible comfort we can feel at this stage of the process is to know the Breadmaker can be trusted to remove us from the oven at precisely the correct moment. Our experience in the oven is designed to burn out all the dross remaining in our lives from the previous stages of the process. Those areas of our lives God wants to cleanse sometimes have to be cleansed by burning.

The momentous time for which we have waited so long finally arrives. We are removed from the oven. We feel we are now ready to be used to feed the hungry. But not yet! There is one more step to the process. Hot bread eaten immediately after it is removed from the oven is not healthy, and is soggy. There must be a period of cooling. So again we wait. But this time the waiting is different, for a delicious fragrance is being wafted through the air. People around us know that fresh bread is about to be served.

The Bread Is Broken

The Breadmaker takes us up in his hands once again. We remember the threshing, the sifting, the blending, the kneading, the rising, the waiting, the heat of the oven, the hungry who await nourishment. Lovingly, the Breadmaker now breaks us in his hands and we finally understand his wisdom and compassion in the long bread-making process. At last, we have become nourishing, LIFE-giving bread for the hungry.

The Breadmaker had done all things well! It has been worth it all! What a privilege to be bread broken for those around us who are hungry for the true Bread of LIFE. What a privilege to be a little like Him who is that true Bread from heaven: The Living Jesus. And as we continually feed upon Him who is the true Bread of LIFE, his LIFE flows through us in the bread-making process, and we are broken and consumed in being bread of LIFE to others. We become one bread with all our brothers and sisters in Jesus, knit together in love as living stones in the temple of God, a part of the vital, LIFE-giving Body of Jesus, the Bread of God, to our hungry world!

And so that is God’s Bread recipe, the Parable of the Bread.

Bill Boylan
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and Updated February 2023

Depression

Psychiatric definition of depression:  “When a person feels sad, blue, unhappy, miserable, or ‘down in the dumps.’  Most of us feel this way at one time or another for short periods.  True depression is a mood disorder in which feelings of sadness, loss, anger, or frustration interfere with everyday life for an extended period of time.”

NOTE:  In this teaching, I won’t be addressing an illness similar to depression labeled “bi-polar disorder.” (formerly called Manic-Depressive Disorder)  In some ways, a number of the symptoms of bi-polar disorder are similar to those of depression.

Most people will occasionally have a “down” day when they feel sad, blue, unhappy, miserable, or ‘down in the dumps.’  Most of us feel this way at one time or another for short periods; That is not depression.  True depression is a genuine medical mood disorder in which feelings of sadness, loss, anger, or frustration interfere with everyday life for an extended period of time.     

Also, I want to make very clear to you that I don’t have the answers to all your questions about why you have depression.  Depression is a very complex illness that often baffles professionals in the fields of psychiatry, psychology, and behavioral science.  I’m only going to be sharing with you a little bit about what I do know, some tips to aid in your own healing, and some thoughts about episodes of depression I have suffered. 

In addition, I want to tell you that I believe with all my heart that God is the Source of all healing, no matter what various means He may use to heal people having depression.  And . . . if you are suffering with depression, God wants to heal you!

Depression is a dread, horrible, debilitating illness that has reached epidemic proportions in most industrialized nations of the world.  Some aptly call it “the dark night of the soul.”  It is a mental and emotional darkness of varying degrees in its victims.  Some have mild depression, some have seasonal depression (SAD), some have situational depression, some have clinical depression, and some have a deep, dark, lingering, depression that causes the most hopeless feelings humans can experience, sometimes lasting for months and even years.  In addition—for followers of Jesus, depression often involves a deep sense of utter abandonment by God. 

Most of the time, people who suffer from any degree of depression feel that they are living in sort of a “dull-grey world.”  If you’ve ever seen the movie “Pleasantville” you know a little bit about what it’s like to live in a world that is all-grey most of the time—a world almost empty of any color other than dull grey. 

Fortunately, by means of anti-depressant medication, counseling, prayer, etc., most depression can be cured, healed, or brought under control within a matter of weeks or months.  It is rare, indeed, for depression to last longer than that—IF the depressed person seeks help.  Sometimes, people will experience different episodes of depression throughout their lifetimes, but with enough information about the nature of the illness and its symptoms, most people can be healed and thereafter maintain their mental and emotional health.

Diagnosis

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) provides the following information to aid in the diagnosis of depression.  The following listing is of the “indicators” of depression; if one experiences 5 or more of these indicators for more than 2 weeks, one is diagnosed with depression:

  • Sleep disturbances – especially sleeping too much.
  • Unusual irritability.
  • Loss of appetite, or overeating; significant weight changes.
  • Difficulty in concentrating or remembering; inability to make decisions.
  • Physical pains that are hard to pinpoint.
  • Loss of self-esteem or attitude of indifference.
  • Loss of interest or pleasure in your job, family, life, hobbies, or sex; loss of pleasure in formerly enjoyable activities.
  • A downhearted period that worsens and won’t go away.
  • Frequent, unexplainable, or uncontrollable crying spells.
  • Feelings of loneliness.
  • Feelings of isolation.
  • Feelings of guilt.
  • Feelings of hopelessness and/or worthlessness.
  • Recurring thoughts about suicide or death.
  • Loss of energy; fatigue.
  • Feelings of extreme sadness.
  • And—for followers of Jesus, there is most often a sense of total abandonment by God.

I don’t pretend to be an expert on depression, nor am I presently a certified or licensed counselor.  But I have experienced 3 distinct periods of depression in my adult life and I know how depression feels and its debilitating effects!  And I know how God has healed me each time!  I’ll tell you more about my depression later.

Furthermore, as a follower of Jesus I have learned much about events, circumstances, and situations which lead to depression—and about how prayer and the obedient “application” of the Bible, the written Word of God, to the depressed person’s life can aid a great deal in healing from depression. 

I advise any follower of Jesus suffering from depression to see your primary health care provider, take whatever medicine is prescribed, see a counselor or therapist if necessary (preferably a fellow follower of Jesus), and, in addition, give some thought to the ideas I will list later in this teaching that might help you see the origins of your depression and help in your complete healing.

Let me make this next point very clear right up front:  Please, please get over your fear of seeing a counselor or therapist for fear they might expose some deep, dark secrets in your life!  That’s what it’s often all about:  exposing deep dark secrets that have caused or contributed to your depression.  God cannot heal any area of our lives that we choose to keep hidden from Him (as if we could really hide anything from God…)  It’s probably some of those deep, dark secrets which are contributing to your depression in the first place. 

Those hidden secrets need exposed and brought out into the light so God can deal with them.  We all have deep, dark secrets.  You’d probably be shocked at some of mine.  But a good and competent counselor will not be shocked at anything; nothing will surprise or shock them; they’ve seen and heard it all.  Get over your reluctance and make an appointment with a good counselor!  Do it today!

Causes

First, I want to state again very clearly that regardless of the causes of your depression, God can and does heal people who have depression!  He heals through either prayer or medicine…or both, but He does heal depression!  He is the Source of all healing; He will heal you! 

Next, I want to tell you that nothing you have done wrong has caused your depression. You don’t necessarily have depression because of some horrible sin you’ve committed.  You don’t have depression because you’re a “weak” follower of Jesus.  You don’t have depression because you are an unfaithful follower of Jesus.  And, God has not given you depression to punish you for something you’ve done wrong!  It’s just a human illness for which you need healing!

Also, you don’t need to be ashamed or humiliated because you’re a follower of Jesus who has depression—and you mistakenly think a “good” follower of Jesus shouldn’t get depression.  Say this out loud to yourself very clearly and carefully:  “I refuse to ‘should’ on myself!”  You have no more responsibility for having depression than you are responsible when you catch a cold or because you are susceptible to migraine headaches.

And…this isn’t just a play on words:  Refuse to see yourself as a depressed person; rather, see yourself as a person who happens to have an illness labeled depression.  There’s a big difference in the two viewpoints.  One viewpoint means you see yourself as a “walking depression” in every area of your life.  The other viewpoint means you see yourself as a “whole” person who just happens to have depression in one area of your life—just as you might happen to have a cold at some time, but you are not your cold.  You are not your depression.

Try to understand your depression in somewhat this way—some people are more susceptible to viruses than other people are; some people have chemical imbalances in their bodies; some people are more prone to certain infections; some people have immune system disorders; some people are more accident prone than others are; some people develop multiple sclerosis; some people have strokes; some people develop diabetes; some people have heart attacks; some people develop cancer.  Some people happen to have depression.

The physical illnesses and diseases I just mentioned are NOT  the fault of people who have them.  Some people have a genetic predisposition to having depression; that genetic predisposition is often triggered by something in one’s environment.  But…you did not cause your depression because of something you have done wrong in your life!

You are simply a person who happens to have depression.  Some people do.  Some don’t.  It’s that simple.  If you can look at your depression in that way, it will serve you well as God begins to heal your depression.

Depression happens to some people simply because we are all mortal, physical, and material human beings subject to sin, Satan, debility, corruption, and death.  It’s not your fault that you happen to have depression at this time in your life!  And—again—God has not given you your depression.

But—this is an important point!—Satan and his minions often oppress people…which can then lead to depression in people having a propensity for depression.  “Oppression” means that if Satan knows you have a propensity for depression, sometimes he will transmit thoughts into your mind that weigh heavily on you in the sense that you begin to fret, worry, feel anger, feel loss, etc.  Oppression is meant by Satan and his minions to terrorize you, to rule over your thoughts and emotions in a harsh, discordant manner.

Then—if and when he gains access to your mind and emotions by means of oppression, that can often lead to depression.  Take heart:  Acts 10: 38 in the Bible says that Jesus heals people who are oppressed by the devil!     

Please understand that much (not all) depression is triggered by a sense of real or imagined loss of some sort.  It may be the loss of a friend, loved one, or pet either by death or separation of some kind.  It may be the “loss” of a marriage by divorce or death.  It may be the loss of a job or a prized “possession.”  It may be the loss of one’s “ministry” as a follower of Jesus.  It may be the loss of self-esteem or self-worth.  It may be the loss of money or reduced income.  It may be having to “downsize” one’s home to move into a smaller apartment or nursing home.  It may be the loss of one’s early dreams for life as the realities of day-to-day life have overshadowed those dreams. 

It may be the loss of a child who has grown up and left home for the first time.  It may be the loss of prestige.  It may be the temporary or permanent loss of one’s good health because of disease, illness, or disablement.  Perhaps you still suffer the loss of innocence or purity you suffered in an untimely or painful way as a child or teenager.  It may be the loss of one’s beauty or good looks due to advancing age.  It may be the loss of rank or advancement because someone else was promoted instead of you.  It may be the loss of romantic, fanciful “schoolgirl” expectations about marriage.  It could be the loss of a sense of security in marriage because of a spouse’s adultery.  Or…any similar loss.

It doesn’t have to be a real, tangible loss either; it can also be an imagined or perceived loss of something, such as a feeling that one has “lost” one’s reputation—whether or not that is really the case.  It could be the feeling of loss of respect by one’s co-workers or by others in one’s profession—such as a lawyer losing a high-profile case and feeling he has lost his reputation and the esteem of his colleagues.

Yes, most depression (again, not all) originates with a real or perceived loss of some type, tangible or intangible.

In a nutshell, here is how a real or imagined sense of loss works.  If you attempt to superimpose real or imagined past losses upon the present, it results in depression in the present.  On the other hand—just by way of information—if you attempt to superimpose the future upon the present, it leads to anxiety and stress in the present—and panic attacks sometimes.  Our past losses (real or perceived) superimposed upon the present = depression.  Our worries about the future superimposed upon the present = anxiety and stress.

So…you (and your counselor) must search for and identify what you feel you have “lost.”  That could very well be the starting point in your healing—the point of diagnosis.  Ask Holy Spirit who lives inside you to help reveal the loss(es) to you and to your counselor; He or she will do so if you ask.  And, of course, ask your counselor to reveal any other causes for your depression.

My Healing From Depression

The story I’m about to tell you of God healing me from depression isn’t one of those hyped instant healings where someone placed their hands on my head, prayed for me, and then proclaimed “Be healed!” while I thrashed around on the floor.  Nope, nothing like that.  But…my healing is just as miraculous as that type of supernatural, instant healing.  Healing is healing, no matter what shape or form it takes, no matter how it happens.

If you’ve never battled depression as I have for many of my adult years, you can’t possibly know the l-o-n-n-g days of depression that just seem to go on and on forever…without end—days of unnamable hopelessness, deep despair, overwhelming worthlessness, total exhaustion, sadness beyond sadness, wanting to give up, obsessive suicidal thoughts…feeling utterly abandoned by God…  

Yes, I’ve battled depression off and on during my adult life—with bouts of varying lengths and intensity.  I may even have had it during my late childhood and teen years, choosing to numb its effects with alcohol.  In those days, depression was seldom diagnosed in adults, much more rarely in children and teenagers.

Clearly, my depression began with perceived losses I experienced in childhood.  The first was when I began to realize how mean and brutal my dad was.  For example, one of my earliest memories is of Dad throwing me down a flight of stairs when I was only about two years old!  Even with my thought patterns underdeveloped at that stage, I remember asking myself in my child mind what was wrong with me that Dad would do that to me.  I felt a sense of loss as a child having no worth—or that something was wrong with me.   

Dad’s brutality continued throughout my childhood with horrible whippings with a leather belt or razor strap, and most of the time I was left wondering what was wrong with me that I deserved that sort of punishment.  Please don’t misunderstand me:  I’m not blaming my dad for my problems and depression; I’ve simply tried to explore and understand what led to my adult depressive episodes.  In actual fact, Dad was a victim of his own harsh childhood.

Another factor contributing to my depression was that at age four, my kindergarten teacher sexually abused me in the boy’s bathroom.  I couldn’t articulate how I felt at the time, but I know it was a feeling that I had “lost” something—my innocence, my “purity”—something like that.  I knew what she had done to me was wrong and that it had “robbed” me of something.

That perception—along with always wondering what was wrong with me that caused Dad to spank me so much and so hard—left me with a deep sense of sadness, “loss” of my childhood, and a deep sense that I wasn’t really worth much as a human being.

Along with those feelings, throughout my childhood and early teens, Dad and his father (my grandfather “Baba”) often told me I would never amount to much, called me dumb and stupid, told me I could never do anything right, called me retarded, and the like.  I didn’t understand why they felt that way about me, but for years I believed what they told me was true.  That’s one of the reasons I began drinking at age nine—just to numb myself from the horrible feelings I had about my lack of worth as a person…that for some reason I was an incomplete person. 

Again, I no longer blame Dad or Baba for what they did to me; I forgave them long ago.  I know this sounds weird, but I actually look forward to seeing them again beyond this mortal journey and talking through all that made them the way they were and the way they treated me.  They know I’ve forgiven them, but we still need to talk through some matters in order to bring final closure.  Long ago, I also forgave that kindergarten teacher for abusing me;  I hope I get to meet her again someday in Heaven and offer her my forgiveness in person.

My first episode of depression in my adulthood occurred as a result of a very bad situation of my own making that occurred in my life at age 33.  Because at first I didn’t know what was happening to me or how to deal with it, I made an aborted suicide attempt; of course, it failed or I wouldn’t be writing these words.

That scared my wife and me enough so that I decided I needed to see a counselor; fortunately, I was employed at the time at a nearby Veterans Administration Psychiatric Hospital with plenty of psychiatrists and psychologists to choose from.  My supervisor was very sympathetic and let me see my counselor whenever it was needed.  It so happens that my counselor at the time, Dr Ching, was a pioneer in a new counseling procedure known as “Cognitive Restructuring.”  That means quite simply, replacing old negative thoughts about oneself with positive thoughts.  Along with Dr Ching’s counseling and with a mild anti-depressant medication I took, the three-year period of depression began to be healed rather quickly.  Within just a matter of weeks after beginning to see Dr Ching and taking a mild anti-depressant, I was completely healed.

I’ll mention more about this later, but it is important for a follower of Jesus having depression to apply the Word of God, the Bible, to one’s life and rely upon the inner empowerment of Holy Spirit to aid in the healing process.  I began to do that with more diligence upon seeing Dr Ching and taking my medication, and it wasn’t long before I was healed.  I give God the ultimate credit for the healing, believing he used Dr Ching, the medication, and the application of his Word, the Bible to my life.  God heals through many means—through prayer, medicine, and counseling, but ultimately He is the Healer.

My second episode of depression began—again—with a very negative situation of my own making resulting in situational depression.  Fortunately, the negative situation changed very quickly, thanks very much to the quick action at the time by my wife to totally change the negative situation.  That episode of depression lasted only about six weeks.  Again, I was depression-free and hoped I would remain so for the remainder of my life.

The third—and longest—episode of depression lasted six long years!  It, too, began with a very bad situation I found myself in…of my own making.   Unfortunately, the relatively mild situational depression developed quickly into a very deep period of depression lasting six years.  I won’t even begin to describe the sense of abandonment by God, the hopelessness, the “darkness,” the sense of aloneness…  Only someone who has had similar depression can even begin to understand what that type of depression is like.

It lasted for six years because—feeling so utterly helpless—I neglected to apply the principles I had previously learned through the years in dealing with depression.  I have even counseled many persons having depression—and have seen amazing results in many instances—but I simply felt so hopeless and helpless this time that I didn’t do what I needed to do to “trigger” God’s healing.

I was treated by three separate counselors at various times, and I took numerous anti-depressant medications (which for the most part made me even more of a “zombie” than I was by the depression alone).  But I neglected to apply many of the principles I learned earlier. I knew what I needed to do, but simply could not bring myself to take any positive action toward my healing.  It was a horrible “catch 22” situation:  the more depressed I was, the more I neglected to apply “healing principles” to my life; the more I neglected to apply those principles, the more depressed I became.   It’s often the case that deep depression such as I was experiencing leads to a hopeless sense of inertia, immobilization, and paralysis where one just doesn’t have the inner resources to move off “dead center.”

Finally, one day during the early part of my sixth l-o-n-n-n-g year of depression, the counselor I was then seeing (a spiritual person, but not necessarily a follower of Jesus) got real angry with me in our afternoon session and said, “Bill, you know what you need to do in order for God to heal you.  If you don’t get off your butt and start doing what you know to do, then I’m through counseling you.  You can just go home and lay on the couch all day and rot!”

Somehow that angry outburst got through to me and I knew that I had to take at least one tiny little step that God could then follow through on and begin to heal me.  I knew that I needed to take a tiny step—do anything—that would serve to “activate” God’s healing power in me.  So… one day I forced myself to get cleaned up and go to the local library and volunteer a couple of hours a week; I secretly hoped they couldn’t use me, but they signed me up right away as a volunteer to work with their “Homebound Program.”  That was the tiny action—the trigger—that God needed me to take so that He could then do what He needed to do in order to heal me.

I stopped taking all my medications “cold turkey” and, instead, began “taking” the Bible as my “medicine,” developing a new, ravenous hunger for the Bible.  I read it for hours and hours each day and night.  Whenever I came to a passage or verse that “spoke” to me I would immediately ask Holy Spirit to use it to heal me, restore me, and transform my life.  I believed (rightly or wrongly) that I would die if I didn’t read, study, and apply the Bible to my life once again.

Also, I began attending church services again; oh, I had been going sporadically, but the services held little meaning for me.  I was simply attending because I felt it might help in my healing process…and because my wife convinced me it was the right thing to do.  Attending church did help.  One Sunday morning, I experienced a “magic moment” when I knew that I knew that I knew I was going to be completely healed and set free from the depression that had enslaved me for six years!  When that magic moment occurred, my healing was speeded up exponentially and it was only a couple of months or so after that when I could say I was completely healed.

Who healed me?  God!  How?  In my case, through prayer, by means of a very “directive” counselor, by renewed attendance at church, and by seriously taking the Bible as my daily medication.

To recap, I’ve had three episodes of depression in my adult life.  It began with deep feelings of “loss” during my childhood—loss of self, loss of worth, loss of feeling I was valued by anyone (except maybe by my mother and sister).  I did not become a follower of Jesus until age 18, so before that time I had no inner spiritual resources with which to deal with the depression.  Also, at age nine I began drinking very heavily and stayed drunk almost daily for the next nine years—in order to numb the feelings of loss.

If I were to attempt to put “in a nutshell” how God healed me of all three episodes of depression, I would say it like this.  First, I learned to forgive anyone and anything that had caused me to feel loss—and anger at the loss.  Then, I had to realize that it seemed like I had a propensity for depression—just like some people have a propensity to be overweight, to develop diabetes, or to have migraine headaches or osteoporosis.  It’s not that I was created by God to be that way, but simply because of the results of my sinful fallen character, I had a propensity to be a depressed person.  I repeat:  God does not cause illness, sickness, accidents…or depression.  They are caused by a “combination” of Satan and by our fallen, sinful condition.

But…I believe that sometimes God allows us to become ill or to have accidents so that He can then heal us for his glory…and his alone!  Also, so that we can learn more about ourselves and about his grace, mercy, and sovereign healing in our lives.  God allows many of his children to be broken at their weakest points so that afterwards we are strong at the broken places—strong with his inner strength!

I praise God for healing me from depression three times in my adult life.  Each healing has resulted in my being able to share with others God’s grace, mercy, and healing power in my life!  Bottom line… well, I haven’t figured that out yet.  But I believe it has something to do with a biblical principle that when we are weak He is strong; when we are ill, He is our Healer when we are Broken; He is the Potter Who puts the broken pieces back together. 

I readily admit I don’t understand all there is to know about depression; I don’t understand why I have had 3 horrible episodes of depression—one of them resulting in six seemingly wasted and lost years.  I just don’t understand.  And I don’t understand God’s healing processes.  But I do know that God is a good God and absolutely everything He does is good (Psalm 119: 68).  I also know that God is love (1 John 4: 8) and everything that happens to me is always filtered through his great and deep love for me.  So…yes, there’s much I don’t understand about my years of depression.  But what I do understand about God’s love and goodness is enough.  

All I know is that I never, ever, ever want to have depression again, and I pray daily that it will never return.

As I hinted earlier, when God healed me from that last long bout of depression, I developed a new, ravenous, voracious hunger for the Bible once again, and since then have read it completely through many more times.  I’m not trying to impress you—simply to inform you about the supreme importance of the Bible in my life and for my healing and health.  I simply cannot live this mortal life I have been sent here to live without the Bible.  I crave it more than food!   

There’s a song that sort of sums up what I have written about my healing from depression; it’s entitled “I Will Go On.”  I wish I could sing it to you, but I can’t, so here are the words:

                                “I repent [change my mind] for the moments I have spent
                               Recalling all the pain
                                And failures of my past.
                               I repent for dwelling on the things
                                Beyond my power to change–
                                The chains that held me fast.

                                CHORUS:

                                I will go on.
                                My past I leave behind me.
                                I gladly take His mercy and His love.
                                He is joy and He is peace.
                                He is strength and sweet release.
                                I know He is and I am His.
                                I will go on.


                                I give up the bitterness and hate;
                                And blaming men and fate
                                For all my discontent.
                                The guilt and pain I empty from my cup
                                So God can fill it up
                                With peace and sweet content.

                                Chorus

                                I accept the promise of the dawn–
                                A place to build upon,
                                To make a brand new day.
                                I will begin convinced that Jesus lives;
                                Assured that He forgives
                                And that He’s here to stay.

                                Chorus

There you have it, dear friend struggling with the dark night of your soul.  Take heart!  There is sweet release and peace.  Day is dawning.  Deliverance will come.  You will be free of the depression.  You will go on!

See a health care provider.  If you need medication, take it.  See a good and godly counselor, if at all possible; otherwise, any caring counselor can help even if he or she is not an authentic follower of Jesus—they still want to work with you within your faith-system to help you get well.  Read the LIFE-giving Bible and obediently apply it to your life.  Keep a journal, writing down important events in your recovery process.  Trust Holy Spirit Who lives within you to “rise up” and help you find total and complete recovery from your depression.  I assure you:  you will be well and whole again! 

Prognosis:  Your Healing from Depression

To begin using the Bible in your healing, please read Hebrews 4: 12 in the New Testament.  This reference teaches that the Bible actually gives LIFE to those who read and obey it.  I can’t explain how that happens, but the Bible is, in actual fact, God’s LIFE-giving “medicine” for healing and wholeness.  Moreover, the Bible is full of power.  I can’t explain that either; the Bible is God’s instrument of super-natural power in the life of the follower of Jesus (any “pre-follower,” too) who reads and obeys the Bible, the Word of the Living God.  Only the Bible can plunge like a “sharp sword” deep into our psyches and spirits to diagnose the losses that have led to our depression.  There are other biblical references that teach much the same, but we won’t look at them at this time.

Now, let’s turn to a specific biblical reference that will help us see how the Bible “works” to aid in our healing from depression.  I invite you to turn to only one pertinent reference (there are many) that we will use to show you how reading and obeying the Bible works in our healing processes.  That reference is Psalm 37.

The reference begins by urging us not to fret or be envious (of evil doers or evil doing).  For purposes of this teaching, let’s think of the evildoing as something or someone that has “robbed” us, causing our loss.  To fret is to have something (our loss) eat away or gnaw at us;  a loss that wears us down because we continually focus on it day after day, almost to the exclusion of everything else going on in our lives.  If we continually fret about our losses day after day, week after week, it eats away at us, gnaws at us, and wears us down. 

We must turn our fretting over to Holy Spirit by a conscious act of our will—by a quality decision—by a firm resolve—asking Him to super-naturally empower us from within to stop the endless cycle of fretting—to “let go” of the losses and not dwell upon them any longer.  To trust God that He will “make up” for our losses in a miraculous manner, turning “bad” past losses into “good” present or future results.  Some of that letting go may involve forgiveness of someone else or yourself. 

Forgiveness is not something you necessarily feel; it is an act of your will; it is something you do.  Forgiveness doesn’t necessarily set the forgiven person free (if it’s someone besides yourself you must forgive), but it sets you—the forgiver—free!  Forgiveness is not about the other person; it’s about you.   You can free yourself of many past losses by the simple act of forgiving yourself or others.

Next in Psalm 37, we find envy.  Envy is a feeling of discontent and ill will because of another’s “gains” of advantages or possessions while we have suffered losses.  We mistakenly compare ourselves with others and what they “have” with what we don’t have.  It’s the age-old matter of not being able to “keep up with the Joneses.”  It’s seeing others doing well while we feel we are suffering losses.  The Joneses will always be a part of our mortal lives here on planet earth.  We must learn to ask God to help us see that the “riches” we have in Jesus are far more than anything the Joneses possess or could ever hope to possess.  That’s not an ethereal, spiritual play on words; it’s a truism that we must learn to recognize and accept our “riches in Jesus” if we are authentic believers in God and in the truths of the Bible.

Next, Psalm 37 says we must trust in the Lord.  What exactly does that mean?  Trust is a many-faceted word used throughout the Bible.  It means to have a firm belief in the reliability, trustworthiness, honesty, integrity, and justice of God and his revealed truth in the Bible.  It means to have confidence in God without fear of the outcome simply because He is God.  It means to trust that God is good and that all He does is good (Psalm 119: 68).  It means we believe without reservation that He is faithful to carry out all his good purposes (not ours’) in our lives. 

We are to “feed on” his faithfulness, that is, we are to daily meditate upon and dwell upon his faithfulness.  How do we do that?  We are to read, meditate upon, and study the Bible daily—and apply it to our lives by obeying what we read.  As we do that, our sense of loss is slowly diminished as we see that God truly is good and everything He does (or allows to happen) in our lives is for our good.

Next, in Psalm 37  we are to “delight ourselves” in the Lord.  What does that mean?  We are to understand that our relationship with God should give us joy and pleasure.  One earmark of depression, of course, is that we often feel very sad—sometimes over something specific, but sometimes it is a generalized feeling of overall sadness for which we can’t necessarily pinpoint the cause:  we’re just sad and have no joy at all.  Most of the time we feel that life has no reason for pleasure.  It takes an act of our wills—again, a quality decision, a firm resolve—that we will find something (even a very small thing) in our relationship with God that we can delight in—that we can find joy and pleasure in. 

It may be something as insignificant as making ourselves take a moment to find joy in seeing a beautiful bird in our backyard.  Maybe, it’s just a fleeting moment of joy that quickly goes away, but those moments will build up as we find them—perhaps only one fleeting moment a day or perhaps a few each day.

The same holds true for pleasure.  If we will look for brief moments of pleasure and acknowledge their reality, they, too, will have a cumulative effect in overcoming our depression.  Find a moment of pleasure in your relationship with your spouse or children; find a brief few seconds of pleasure in seeing a beautiful baby in the supermarket.  Then find another moment of pleasure…and another…and another.  Let them build up.

At this point, I encourage you to start keeping a written journal of such moments of joy or pleasure so that when things seem so sad you can hardly stand it, you can turn to your journal and remind yourself that you have found just a few moments or seconds of joy and pleasure.  As mentioned above, such moments that you have felt and recorded in your journal will have a cumulative effect in driving back the darkness of the depression.  It won’t happen overnight (in some cases it does, but not always).  Let your journal be a written record of your arduous climb up and out of the deep pit of depression. 

Yes, make a quality decision that you will find moments of joy and pleasure in your life, record them in your journal, and it will help to drive away the deep darkness of your depression.  Of course, continue taking your medication and working with your counselor.

Next, Psalm 37 tells you to commit your way to the Lord.  The word “commit” means to actually take your burdens of depression and sort of “roll them over” from your weak shoulders onto God’s strong shoulders.  Again, this takes moment-by-moment acts of your will to do that.  For example, take a specific loss you are feeling or a specific thing or event that causes you to feel sadness, and then in a moment of time, roll that specific loss, thing, or event from your shoulders over onto God’s shoulders.  Actually, picture yourself in your imagination doing that.  Actually “see” yourself rolling it over from your bent shoulders onto God’s strong shoulders. 

Then, when you have accomplished that (and it might take a very hard effort on your part to do),  be sure to note the event in your journal, noting the exact time and date you rolled it over onto God’s shoulders.  Keep a cumulative written record as you do this; maybe you can only come up with the inner strength to do it once a day or even once a week, but when you do, note it in your journal so when that particular loss comes back to haunt you, you can know on a certain date and time you rolled it over onto God’s shoulders and it’s a “done deal.”  Also, keep records in your journal of other positive events in your journey, such as a date and time when you forgave someone, etc.

Do not record negative events in your journal, only good, positive events!

Verse 7 of Psalm 37 encourages us to rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.  What does that mean?  In terms of the depression, it means to take time now and then just to stop working so hard to overcome the depression; it means to take a period of inactivity when you just sort of “give up” working so hard to come out of the depression.  It’s like stopping at a “rest stop” on the interstate highway system.  It’s when you just put your mind in neutral and “take a break” from the depression.  During that rest stop or period of inactivity, you are giving Holy Spirit (Who lives within you in your spirit) a brief period of time when you sort of “free Him up” to do some of his own work inside your mind and emotions to further set you free from the depression.

As to waiting patiently for God, it means that during your rest stop, you are essentially giving God permission to do some work of his own inside you that He sometimes can’t do because there’s so much turmoil and frantic activity going on inside you that you are simply not giving Him an opportunity to do what He needs to do to help you overcome the depression.  It’s simply giving yourself a “time out” to allow Holy Spirit to do some things inside you that He ordinarily “can’t” do because you’re not giving Him a “chance” to do so while your mind is churning and going “100 miles an hour” and you just can’t seem to stop. 

Give yourself a rest period, and while you’re resting simply wait for God to work in you whatever miracles He needs to perform to help in your healing from the depression.  Jot down in your journal what you feel God does when you are resting—even if it seems to be very insignificant.  Again, these episodes of resting and waiting on God will have a cumulative effect in your healing.

Finally, Psalm 37 encourages you to cease from anger and wrath. Depression is often caused by anger and wrath we have toward real or imagined loss, past situations over which we had no control, people whom we feel have caused us to incur or suffer loss.  The Bible says that anger itself is not sin; it’s merely one of the many emotions God has created in us.  However, the Bible says we should not go to bed at night still harboring anger.  We simply need to go ahead and let ourselves feel the emotion of anger (we can’t deny our feelings), give vent to it, express it, but then let it go before we go to sleep at night.  Anger, left unresolved, can burn inside us, leading to bitterness and crippling of our mental and emotional wellbeing.  Again, the emotion of anger in and of itself is not wrong; the Bible simply cautions us not to sin while we are angry. 

If we let anger fester in our conscious and subconscious minds (especially during the night while we sleep) it can grow and grow and just overwhelm us the next day.  Again, by an act of your will, by a conscious choice, by a quality decision, by a firm resolve, let the anger go before going to bed each night.  You can do it, but sometimes it will be one of the hardest things you will ever do.

When we are depressed, sometimes it’s hard enough just to make a decision to get out of bed, to eat, or even to go to the bathroom.  For example, one depressed client of mine attempted to explain to me that no matter how urgently she sometimes needed to go to the bathroom, she just couldn’t make the decision to go—sometimes resulting in her wetting herself; yes, depressive indecision can get that bad!  But down inside you—at the core of your being—there is that little spark of life where you can make decisions like I have noted above.  You can do it.  You must do it.  For your own wellbeing, you must draw upon that little spark of life down inside you and make such quality decisions as I have described above.  Being able to make such decisions, along with taking your medication, and working with your counselor or therapist will go a long way in cooperating with God to rid you of the depression. 

I’m not writing about “gritting your teeth” and conjuring up the inner strength to make such quality decisions; that won’t work.  You may feel that you’re just too “dead” inside to make such decisions, but deep down inside you there is a tiny “spark of life” from where you can make such acts of your will, such quality decisions, such firm resolve.  You can do it by drawing upon God’s strength within you!

There is one other element I want to suggest you bring into play as you work toward your healing from your dark night of the soul; I’ve already alluded to it.  Jesus lives inside you in his “unbodied form” of Holy Spirit.   He took up permanent residence within you when you became his authentic follower.  Often, when we are depressed, He just remains deep within us in sort of a “dormant” state because we are too ill to even acknowledge his presence within us.

Holy Spirit is a strong “untapped resource” we can call upon to help us be healed of the depression.  The Bible says that He is a “power source” within us which we can tap into to help us in our healing.  Again, it’s very difficult to make any decision when we are depressed, but we must make a quality decision to ask Him to empower us to help us overcome the depression.  He will do so, but we must ask Him to do so; He will seldom, if ever, do anything within us that we do not ask Him to do. 

Try daily to make a quality decision to ask Him for assistance in your healing.  Simply say something like this:  “Holy Spirit, I know you live inside me and want me to be healed of this depression as much as I do.  Please empower me to make the decisions I need to make and the actions I need to take; please empower me to read and apply the Bible to my depression; please empower me to take my medication; please empower me to cooperate with my counselor.  You are the ‘power of God’ within me.  I ‘release’ you to empower me in any way you want to help heal me of this depression.”      

There you have it:  how to apply the Bible to aid you in your healing.  Take your medication.  Cooperate with your counselor.  Keep a written journal.  Read, apply, and obey the Bible.  Ask Holy Spirit to empower you in ways that will aid you in the healing process.  Draw on that spark of life deep within you to make quality decisions that will bring you out of your depression.  Pray, even if sometimes it’s only a one-word plea to God for help.

Helpful Tips For Healing

Now I want to give you some practical tips that will help you “free up” God the Holy Spirit to heal your depression.

First, it is vital that you take some small step to begin to crawl up and out of the dark pit of depression you find yourself in.  Any small step will do—just some small move off dead center that you would not ordinarily do while you are depressed.  What do I mean?  Well, for example, if you’ve been lying in bed or on the couch in the back bedroom for days, weeks, or even months, make a quality decision that you will do whatever you need to do so that you lay down one hour less tomorrow.  Or, if it’s a decent day outside, go out into your back yard, and just take 5 or 10 deep breaths.  Or, get up and make yourself a cup of tea—anything that you would not ordinarily feel like doing while you are depressed.

Why make one small move like that?  Well, that’s an outward “sign” that inwardly you are “releasing” your faith toward God, allowing Holy Spirit to rise up from within you where He lives in your spirit and begin to empower you from within to begin climbing out of the pit of depression.  Whatever small move you make will serve as a “trigger” to “unleash” Holy Spirit from within you and activate the healing power of God.  Just do anything to start moving and get you off the “dead center” of depression.  Such a small move or decision serves as a “point of contact” for you to tap into Holy Spirit’s power within you.  It’s like the simple act of turning on a light switch “releases” tremendous electrical power to light up a darkened room.

I’ve alluded to the following hints and tips for your healing above, but now I want to try to put them together in a meaningful way as sort of “steps” you can follow to cooperate with God in your healing.  God heals through the “twin streams” of both prayer and medicine.  Continue seeing your health care professional and/or counselor; continue taking your prescribed medication.  But…begin to look at these other means God will use to heal you as well.

First, you need to make a steady and persistent application of the Bible to your life.  Here are some tips about how to do that—tips that have worked with me and with many others whom I have counseled who have depression.  How can you do that?

Purchase a little packet of 3 x 5 cards.  Then, as you read your Bible from day to day and a verse or reference sort of leaps out at you and gives you some hope, either write down that reference on a 3 x 5 card or write out a “positive” thought for yourself based on the Bible reference.  So…you are going to be writing on 3 x 5 cards either actual Bible references word-for-word, or you’re going to be writing positive, personalized thoughts based on Bible references. I call either of these “Bible Decrees, Bible Declarations, or Positive Proclamations.”         

Here’s an example of what I mean.  Look up Jeremiah 29: 11 in your Bible.  Either write it down word-for-word (from a modern English version of the Bible) or write yourself a positive thought based on that verse.  Here’s how such a thought might read on your 3 x 5 card:  “God’s thoughts are to give me a future with hope beyond this depression!”

The next step is my “prescription” for you.  Carry such 3 x 5 cards with you throughout the day (or make multiple copies to affix to your bathroom mirror, to keep in your vehicle, to keep on your desk at work) and then 3 to 5 times each day say the words on the card OUT LOUD.  There are important medical reasons why you must say them aloud 3 to 5 times every day, but I won’t go into those reasons in this teaching; it’s just important to know you must say them out loud.  As you accumulate more and more cards, break them down into sets where you only carry 6 to 8 cards with you at any given time; maybe have 6 cards you’ll read aloud on Monday, 6 more on Tuesday, and so on.   Eventually, you might have 30 or 40 cards (or more), but use only 6 to 8 of them each day.  “Take” your “prescription cards” OUT LOUD regularly and consistently every day just like you take your prescription medication.

My second tip for you concerns prayer.  Maybe you are so depressed that you can’t even pray.  That’s okay…for now.  But find no more than two people (friends, your Pastor, etc.) whom you can ask to pray for you—and whom you know will do just that!  Someone to pray for you regularly and consistently for God to heal you from your depression.  They must be two people who are very positive people, not pray-ers who are negative.  I’m sure you know the type of negative people I mean.  Ask them to report to you at least once a day (in person, by telephone, or by e-mail) what they have prayed about that day and perhaps what God has “told” them about you while they have prayed (if you and your praying friends believe in that sort of thing…that God “speaks” to people).  It’s important that they are in touch with you each day and tell you specifically what they prayed about for you that day.

Next, if you’re not already doing so, please, please find a good, concerned, compassionate counselor to work with you.  It would be best if the counselor is a Bible-believing counselor, but that’s not absolutely necessary if you can’t locate one.  The very best type of counselor would be a follower of Jesus who uses a method of counseling labeled theophostic counseling, but there aren’t as many of those types of counselors as there are other types.  Incidentally, you can find out if there’s a theophostic counselor near you by going to www.theophostic.com on the internet. 

 My next tip for you is to find someone ( Jesus-believing friends, a pastor or priest, etc.) who is willing to share Communion (the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, the Table of the Lord—whatever you choose to call it) with you regularly and consistently—preferably a minimum of once a week.  Each time while you are taking Communion, either specifically ask God yourself (or have those who are with you) to apply the “healing benefits” of Communion to your depression. 

My final tip is to find someone who will be willing to pray for you and place their hands on you for healing according to the principles found in James 5: 14 – 16 in the New Testament portion of the Bible.  Someone who will be willing to do that for you regularly and consistently, again, a minimum of once a week.

Understand this final point:  once God has healed you of the depression—for most people who have once suffered with it and been healed—very often the depression will still sort of “linger” around you or “hover” around you attempting to come back.  I can’t explain that phenomenon, only that it has happened to me and to many others I have worked with towards their healing.  Don’t be fearful when that happens; just be vigilant and be aware that it can and might happen.  Just don’t let it “get it’s foot in the door” of your life again.

I don’t have all the answers about healing from depression.  I don’t even have many of the questions!  I don’t know why some people are healed more readily and more quickly than others.  I simply believe that God heals people from depression, and that He will heal YOU!   

I assure you that if you will do all that I mentioned in the above paragraphs, you will be healed of your depression!  I know.  I have had 3 episodes of depression in my adult life.  God has healed me of all three of them.    I remain totally free of depression today and by God’s grace I will continue to be free, whole, and well!

This approach will also work with a pre-follower of Jesus, but it will generally take longer because a pre-follower is generally not as sensitive and “open” to the work of Holy Spirit or to the life-giving power of the Bible, prayer, Communion etc.  Holy Spirit is not limited in any way from working in the life of a pre-believer, however.

By the way…this is an important point:  if you have family members or friends who have never had depression, don’t expect them necessarily to understand what you’re going through.  If they have not had depression they most likely won’t understand your suffering.  Get help outside your circle of family and friends.  Consider yourself fortunate if you do happen to have family members and friends who are sympathetic; if so, they may try to help, but in most cases they can’t.  Get some outside help!

Unfortunately, often family members and friends will say things to you like:  “Hey, just get over it; you can do it.  Snap out of it!  Just be more positive about things.  Look on the bright side of things.  Think more positive thoughts.  Stop being around negative people who bring you ‘down.’”  You will hear lots of statements like that; just ignore them.  Such family members, friends, and acquaintances mean well, but they just don’t understand your depression.  Don’t even try to explain your depression to them; if you do that, many times they will simply think you are a negative “whiner.”

Well, there you have it:  the definition of depression, it’s diagnosis, its causes, the story of how God has healed me from depression on three separate occasions, and—finally—your own prognosis of how God is going to heal you from your depression, with some tips for you to use in cooperating with Him in your healing.  God is a loving, good God who wants to heal you of your depression even more than you want Him to!  He will heal you!

[I am adding this updated note in February 2022: There is mounting evidence that in a very real sense Depression is not really a mental or emotional illness, but is, rather, a physical illness, just as diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. are physical illnesses. Let me explain… The brain is a physical organ of the body, just as the liver, heart, and other organs are physical. Neuroscientists who study the brain are finding that very often Depression is caused by a problem with the brain’s chemistry or electrical impulses. Scientists are finding that various medications effectively treat that imbalanced chemistry and those electrical impulses. The mind (from where we get the term “mental” illness) and emotions are invisible aspects of our humanity; for example, the brain is the “seat” of the mind and emotions, but the brain is not the mind itself or the emotions. Thus, it can properly be said that Depression is a physical illness, not a mental illness, and various medications can effectively “heal” or “mend” those chemical imbalances and short-circuits in the brain’s electrical impulses. These are relatively new findings by neuroscientists, and all the evidence is not in yet, but their findings are very promising for the medical treatment of Depression–along with psychotherapy and counseling.]

Bill Boylan
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and Updated January 2023

Truth

2,000 years ago Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor who sentenced Jesus to die on a Roman Cross, asked Jesus: “What is truth?” (John 18: 38) Jesus had previously claimed of himself: “I am . . . the truth.” (John 14: 6) Speaking about truth on another occasion, Jesus emphasized that when people embrace and come to know truth, they become genuinely, wonderfully free! (John 8: 32) Truth alone doesn’t set people free; rather, it’s knowing the truth that sets people free.  Let’s consider Pilate’s question, “What is truth,” and attempt to answer it—at least in part.

We can begin with a simple dictionary definition: “truth (trooth) n. the quality of corresponding to, or being in accordance with, experience, actual existence, facts, or reality.” That’s an acceptable working definition for most purposes but it doesn’t go far enough for what we need to understand about truth for this teaching.  By means of God’s gift of faith to us, we who are followers of Jesus believe He is truth. We do not magically convince ourselves He is the truth. We do not self-hypnotize ourselves into believing He is the truth. We do not grit our teeth and somehow force ourselves to believe He is the truth—thus causing Him to become the truth because we want very much to believe it. No, God gives us a gift of faith so that we experience Jesus as truth.

Outside of God’s giving a person a gift of faith to believe Jesus is the truth, that person cannot simply decide of his or her own will that Jesus is the truth. It doesn’t happen that way. Yes, because Jesus resides permanently in me I believe He is the truth, the entirety of truth, and nothing may be found in Him which is not truth, but I cannot convince you of that; only God can do that. Jesus is “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” In Jesus, there are no half truths, no partial truths, and no “false” truths.

A person first believes by faith that all truth “resides” in Jesus—that all truth is embodied and personified in Him (Ephesians 4: 21)—and having first believed it to be so, then one experiences it to be so. After a person initially encounters the Living Jesus and comprehends by faith that He is the truth, then all genuine truth a person subsequently encounters will merely substantiate Jesus’ sweeping claim to be the truth.

In addition, the Bible claims of itself that it is truth (for example, Psalm 119: 142; John 17: 17). The Bible claims that as it “enters” our minds and spirits (by hearing or reading), it enlightens us for our journey through this life. (Psalm 119: 105) Furthermore, the Bible claims the Author of the Bible, Holy Spirit, guides us into all truth (John 16: 13). The Bible is the complete, final, written Word of God; Jesus is the Living Word of God. (Revelation 19: 13); the two can never contradict one another because they are one.

We see a great circularity in these matters. When we receive Jesus (the Living Word) into our lives by faith, we begin to experience truth; we experience truth by means of Holy Spirit (Jesus’ “unbodied other self”) enlightening us with the truth contained in the book of which He is the author. As we incorporate into our lives more of the truth found in the Bible, the written Word of God, we come to experience more of Jesus, the Living Word of God. And so the circle of our growth and development—and our comprehension of truth—continues . . .

Since Jesus is the truth (which we believe by faith), it logically follows then that any “portion” or “type” of truth must ultimately find its source, substance, and consummation in Him and be an integral, intrinsic, and inherent part of his person, character, and nature.  He is the whole of truth. Any truth, no matter where or in what guise or under what “label” it is found, whether it be major or minor, secular or religious—that truth is but part of the whole and must ultimately point to and find its source in Jesus in all aspects and in all respects.

Whether it be religious truth, political, medical, scientific, historical, business, industrial, astronomical, educational, psychological . . . whatever—if it is “true” truth, somehow the discoverer of that truth will find a way in which it points to Jesus . . . always.  If it cannot be found to point to Him directly—or perhaps in some inexplicable indirect way that only God’s Spirit of Truth can make happen—then it is not authentic truth, no matter how good it may sound, no matter how “true” it may look, or how plausible it may seem to be.

But if it is authentic truth, it will ultimately point to Jesus—and glorify Him. And . . . it will serve to truly emancipate the person who has found—and has come to know—the truth!

There is one major challenge to this matter of knowing the truth. I can best illustrate it in the following manner. Let’s say, for example, that all truth in existence “weighed” 1,000,000,000 tons and could be gathered together and placed in a single, gigantic box. In such a case, at best any individual human or group of humans could know only an infinitesimally small “portion” of the whole. For illustration, let’s say one person could know perhaps a quarter pound of that entire 1,000,000,000 tons of truth.

Challenges occur when one person (or group of persons) takes their small portion of the entirety of truth and claims that wee portion constitutes the entire 1,000,000,000 tons of truth. That can never be—simply because we humans are finite and limited in our capacity to understand and comprehend infinite truth. 1,000,000,000 tons of truth simply cannot be “fitted” into a “container” designed to hold only a quarter pound.

 I realize this is a faulty illustration and could be challenged in many ways; I use it merely to point out the folly of any one person or group of persons claiming the have a “corner” on the truth or claiming they somehow possess all the truth. No, only Jesus embodies the entirety of truth in his own infinite person, nature, character, and being.

Let us never be afraid of “new” truth simply because it does not seem to “fit” into our current “truth container.” If the new truth is “true” truth, it will find it’s own way to become clear to us and “fit” into the person of Jesus. If it is untrue, it will dissipate before the enlightenment of truth. We must not feel we are “God’s guardians” to protect and preserve truth; truth has inherent power and strength which will always prevail over that which is untrue. In the end, truth wins!

While it is true we can know Jesus personally and intimately, we can never know all there is to know about Him because He is infinite and limitless—whereas we are finite and limited in our comprehension and understanding of the truth. He is—and always will be—the unlimited Creator. We are—and always will be—limited created beings. The unlimited truth found in Jesus will always be beyond our limited comprehension and understanding.

Let us never judge one another in matters of the limited truth about God each of us understands and comprehends; we each possess only an infinitesimally small portion of the whole. Rather, let us listen to one another, share with one another, and accept one another—letting our shared and pooled truth lead us to Jesus, and through Him, to God the Father.

I encourage you always to seek out and find truth wherever it may be found; the more you discover, the more you will come to know Jesus whom to know is Life—true LIFE—and the more emancipated you will become in your journey toward being all God created you to be!

Your life is a journey. Embrace Jesus who is the truth and you will discover that God has wonderful purposes in store for you as you walk hand in hand with Him from truth to truth toward your bright, golden future.

Bill Boylan
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and Updated March 2023

Solid Foundation

It’s just plain ol’ common sense: if someone begins to construct a building that will stand firm and last a long time, they should always begin with a solid foundation. If you don’t have a solid, strong foundation, whatever you construct on that foundation will fall apart and collapse.  God is engaged in the lifelong process of “constructing” or “building” you into a mature, full-grown son or daughter of his. And . . . He’s also building his Church using “living building stones” ( That’s us!) as we read in various places in the New Testament.

When you were born again, born anew, born from above) as a new Jesus-creation, you started out as a “baby” follower of Jesus. At the atomic second you were born again, God permanently lodged Holy Spirit deep within your spirit and began the lifelong process of growing, developing, and maturing you into an “adult” believer and “fitting” you as a “living building block” into his Church.

Oh, you were already fully and completely saved 2,000 years ago, but at the precise moment you were born again, you received that salvation no matter what chronological age you were when you were born again; you started out as a new “baby” follower of Jesus. Then it takes a lifetime after a person is born again to grow from a baby into a mature, adult follower of Jesus. To fully develop his newborn children, God always begins with a strong, solid foundation. And, to build his Church He is also building on a firm foundation—Jesus.

 In the Bible, on one occasion Jesus addressed that very issue of building on a solid foundation. In the 6th chapter of Luke in the New Testament, here is what Jesus said:   “Whoever comes to Me, hears my sayings, and obeys them is like a person building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the water beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was built on a strong foundation of rock. But the person who hears my sayings and does not obey them is like a person who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the floods beat vehemently and immediately the house collapsed.”   Yes, Jesus is presently “building” both your new life and his Church; He wants to ensure your life and the Church are being built on a firm, solid foundation. What is that foundation? First, let me tell you what it is not.

 For many years I taught various Bible topics and biblically based subjects which I honestly believed at the time to be the most foundational or most fundamental teachings in the Bible. These were various biblical subjects I honestly believed my students needed to know as being foundational to their spiritual lives—subjects such as prayer, being effective witnesses, reading the Bible, attending church, tithing to God, living a clean life, etc . . . subjects like that: all of them good in and of themselves, but they were not God’s foundational truths taught in the Bible.   Yes, I’m sure you recognize the types of subjects—and more—to which I refer.

Religious bookstores are replete with books and leaflets about the “Christian basics,” such as those I mentioned above. Such materials are touted on religious radio and TV all the time. Most of them are very good, but they are not the foundational teachings found in the Bible. Remember, the good is always the enemy of the best!  Most of those subjects are good, but they are not the best. Most of them don’t provide a solid biblical foundation upon which followers of Jesus can build their lives, grow in grace, and—most important—make meaningful and lasting changes in their thinking and behavior throughout their mortal lives. Okay, that’s what the foundations are not.

Here’s what the foundations are. Please open your own Bible and read Hebrews 5: 11 – 6: 2. You’ll just have to trust me at this point when I say: there is no other place in the entire Bible where you will find any other references to faith’s foundations. Of course we know that Jesus is the bedrock foundation of our faith (1 Corinthians 3: 1 – 14). Notice how that reference alerts us to be careful how we build upon that foundation. The foundational teachings given in Hebrews 6: 1 and 2 must be built upon Jesus, the only solid, firm foundation in the universe. If you can find any other foundational teachings in the Bible, please notify me.

Depending upon which version of the Bible you prefer, (and the English sentence construction of the verses) there are either six or seven foundations of the faith taught in Hebrews 6: 1 and 2; I choose to believe there are seven of them. Seven seems to be a good Bible number, often symbolizing totality, completeness, or wholeness. The seven foundations of the faith in Hebrews 6: 1 and 2 put us well on our way to wholeness and completeness. They are the starting point—the foundation—for God to build both our individual lives and his Church.

The seven foundations of our faith are: Repentance . . . Abandoning Dead Works . . . Faith . . . Baptisms . . . Laying On Of Hands . . . Resurrection From The Dead . . . Eternal [age-lasting] Judgment. These are the seven foundational truths I’ll be sharing in this teaching. If you feel these are not really the foundations of faith you believe in, well, you can simply stop reading and perhaps read another one of our teachings on this web site that might interest you more; there are over 100 of my teachings to choose from.

If you’re an older follower of Jesus, your immediate response might be: “Why? Why do you feel I need to study these foundational truths, Bill? I’ve been a Jesus-believer for ________ (you insert the numbers of months or years). Why should I go back to ‘kindergarten’ and study foundational truths again?”  Read 1 Corinthians 3: 1 – 14 again. What have you been building upon the foundation of Jesus Christ in your life since you became an authentic follower of Jesus? Ask yourself what “wood, hay, and stubble” and “gold, silver, and precious stones” symbolize in these verses.

What do these six things symbolize in your life? What foundation have they been built upon in your life? You alone can answer such questions.  At this point I encourage you to take a long, hard look at Matthew 7: 24 – 27, too. Let me share with you some thoughts I’m having as I ponder those verses. Jesus is teaching here about obeying or disobeying his teachings; if we obey, we are changing, growing, and developing—building our lives upon a solid foundation.

If we disobey his teachings, we are building our lives upon sand. Three calamities befall those who build upon sand: rain falls, floods inundate, and winds blow. Remember Hurricane Katrina which devastated the southern Gulf Coast in 2005? Rain may expose a leaky covering, floods might reveal a weak foundation, and winds could reveal a faulty superstructure. Are you catching any of my thoughts with your “inner being”? Are you perceiving and comprehending them? Jesus said those who have ears to hear will hear, and those who have eyes to see will see . . . When the storms of your life are raging, upon what type of foundation are you building to withstand them—and overcome them?

Unfortunately, because of our relative abundance and gross materialism to distract us from a deep relationship with God, there are many European and North American followers of Jesus the past couple of generations who have never grown, changed, and developed very much into Jesus’ likeness and image as most followers of Jesus do in other, less fortunate, parts of the world. Why is that the case?

There are many answers to that question—more than I can cover in this teaching—but a small part of the answer is that perhaps early in their newly created lives they were somehow distracted by seeking “instant gratification” in their lives and thus bypassed these foundational truths in Hebrews 6: 1 and 2, going on to build the superstructure of their lives upon shifting, sinking sands, so to speak. We want so many things in our lives to happen instantly, often causing many new followers of Jesus to want to bypass taking the time to build upon a solid foundation. That’s only a partial answer to the above question, but at least it’s something to think about . . .

 The more they attempt to change and grow, the more frustrated they become because of their lack of progress. It’s like building a skyscraper which keeps sinking because it doesn’t have an adequate foundation. Have you seen a photo of the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy? It doesn’t serve the purpose for which it was intended because it was not built upon a solid foundation. Some followers of Jesus don’t serve the purposes for which God intended them because they have not built their lives upon a solid foundation anchored to the bedrock foundation, Jesus.

In our world, it is often sad to know “special needs” persons who have adult bodies but whose minds have never developed beyond the level of children. It is even sadder to know people who have been followers of Jesus for many years who have not changed, grown, and developed in their spirits and souls and in their relationship with God; they may have been followers of Jesus for 10, 20, 30, 40, or 50 years, but they remain spiritual infants or babies. Or, sometimes I call them “eternal teenagers” because they simply have not grown beyond their spiritual teen years.

You know the type of Jesus’ followers I’m writing about; there are many of them. It seems like every church congregation has at least a few of them. They’ve just never grown up as followers of Jesus! They’re still babies, children, or teenagers spiritually, still speaking Jesus-believer “baby talk” and behaving like children . . .  God expects—requires, demands—that we change, grow, develop, and mature spiritually. He requires us to grow into the image and likeness of Jesus—who is God’s Pattern Son, his Firstborn, Son, his Prototype Son: the only Begotten Son who is the True Image of God. (2 Corinthians 3: 18)

 The major reason many followers of Jesus are not growing into Jesus’ image is that they have missed learning—truly learning, assimilating, practicing, and obeying—the foundations of the faith. It is not enough merely to learn them mentally; we must translate head knowledge into action and into meaningful and lasting behavioral changes in our lives.  If you are somehow stalled in your own spiritual growth and development, perhaps these lessons about the foundations of faith will be especially helpful to you. If you are a relatively new follower of Jesus, they are a must. If you’ve already studied them and put them into action—if you are already building upon them—well, we can all stand a good refresher course now and then just in case we’ve missed or overlooked something.

So . . . here are the seven foundations of the faith as taught in Hebrews 5: 11 – 6: 2.

FOUNDATION NUMBER ONE

 Okay, are you ready? Let’s go. Foundation number one: Repentance. Whew, even the sound of that particular word evokes all sorts of negative images in the minds of many people, doesn’t it? Those negative images are wrong. Honestly! They really are. The concept of repentance has been given some pretty bad, untrue publicity by Hollywood movies, by some fictional novels, by well-intended hellfire and brimstone preachers, by some religious TV personalities, and by some poor teaching about repentance in the Bible.

Here’s just one just one bad example among many of what I’m talking about. The other evening we watched the movie “Evan Almighty.” There’s one scene in the movie where a freshman Congressman, Evan, tells another, long-time Congressman, Mr Long, that he needs to repent. You could just see on Mr Long’s face what he was thinking when Evan tells him he needs to repent; it was a totally negative image of repentance that Mr Long had in his mind. To him, the very thought of repenting was humiliating, ugly and distasteful—something he wasn’t about to do, especially in front of other people. That’s because his idea of repentance was incorrect.

There are two words (and their derivatives) used in the Hebrew and Greek languages of the Bible which have been translated “repent” or “repentance” in English. The most basic meanings of those Hebrew and Greek words are to change one’s mind. That’s it. That’s all repent means—to change one’s mind. Maybe right now you’re thinking that it means a lot more that that, but it doesn’t! It simply means to change one’s mind. It does not mean to cry, to moan, to sob and weep at a church altar or in a tent revival meeting, to be extremely sorry for wrongdoing, to promise never to do something again, to promise to turn away from sin. Nope. None of those. It means to change one’s mind. Period!

 That’s a real basic definition. Let’s expand it a little to give you just a bit more of a feel for what it means. Here’s an expanded, amplified meaning: Repentance is to live in a continual state of changing mental awareness whereby we see life and reality more and more as God sees them, and think more and more like God thinks. How do we reach such a state of awareness and comprehension?  

By continually reading and studying the Bible and letting Holy Spirit point out what we need to change our minds about. It means that—based upon the Bible’s teachings—we are constantly changing our minds throughout our lifetimes so that we develop godly minds and think more and more like God thinks. There are many references in the New Testament that teach this concept; I’ll let you look up those references for yourself. The spiritual life of a follower of Jesus is a continual, lifelong state of repentance, of changing our minds.

Repentance is NEVER just a one-time act a person commits in order to be saved! It’s a lifelong process of changing our minds. Also, it does NOT mean deliberately “doing penance” for a period of time after we repent or continuing to be “penitent” for a period of time after we have repented. The concepts of Penance and Penitence are man-made traditions not found anywhere in the Bible! Oh, after we have repented of a particular sin, transgression, or wrongdoing, there may be a period of remorse or regret; there may be a time when we feel contrite; that’s pretty normal for most people; that’s okay.

No Penance Or Penitence

But, nowhere does the Bible teach there should be a volitional period of penance or penitence after we have repented (changed our minds) about something. So, go ahead and feel remorse or regret or contrition if you have sinned and repented of it. That’s pretty human. But don’t feel you need to spend a time of penance or penitence to make the repentance “stick,” or to prove to yourself or others that you’re truly sorry; that’s simply not taught anywhere in the Bible.

You may be asking, “Bill, isn’t it almost blasphemy to teach we can think like God thinks?” I’ll let you answer that question for yourself after you read and ponder just a few references from the Bible: Romans 12: 1 and 2; 1 Corinthians 2: 16; 2 Corinthians 10: 5; Ephesians 4: 23 and 24; Philippians 2: 5; and Hebrews 8: 10. Don’t all such references say teach either directly or by inference that we are to develop the mind of Jesus? How do we develop the mind of Jesus so we think like He thinks? By constantly repenting—constantly changing and renewing our minds based upon what we read and study in the Bible!

Three Basic Reasons To Repent

There are three basic reasons (actually there are many, many reasons) why we need to develop a lifestyle of repentance. I want to make this point first—before we go any further: God doesn’t change our minds for us, and our minds don’t change by means of some sort of spiritual magic. No! We change our own minds using the inner power of Holy Spirit God has already placed within us. Once we change our minds, then Holy Spirit empowers us from within to change our attitudes and our behavior—based upon our change of mind.  You may ask, “Isn’t that some sort of brainwashing by God?” As a matter of fact, yes, it is brainwashing. I don’t know about you, but I need my brain washed and cleaned up!

Here are those three reasons why we need to repent—change our minds. First, God commands us to repent. You can read about that in Acts 17: 30 and 31. Repentance is not optional. Does God have the right to command us to repent? C’mon now. Who’s in charge? Who has the final word? Yes, the Almighty God who’s in charge of everything—the Creator of the entire universe and of you—has the right to command us to repent. It’s not a suggestion. We are commanded to change our minds. And, when God directly commands us to do something, it’s probably best if we obey Him. Disobedience can land us into all sorts of negative situations.

Reason number two: Please refer to Romans 2: 4 for this one. We need to practice changing our minds because God is a good God—not a bad God. God is always good and never bad. (also see Psalms 119: 68) One significant flaw in the lives of many followers of Jesus is that they really don’t think God is inherently and intrinsically good. If we really believed that God is good—everything about Him, everything He does—our lives would change dramatically.

When we really begin to see that God is altogether good—not a stern, judgmental, vindictive tyrant sitting on a cloud just waiting to throw thunderbolts at us—we will just naturally want to change our minds in order to be more like Him. What thinking person doesn’t want to be genuinely good? Not to be “goody-goody” or “holier-than-thou,” but just good: loving, upright, honorable, honest, clean, reliable, wholesome, dependable . . .

There are some followers of Jesus and church congregations that seem to feel a need to constantly remind people how bad they are; they feel need to keep hearing about the severity and judgment of God—his “badness”—all the time in order to get them to repent. They almost have a mindset about morbidly dwelling on what they consider God’s “badness” rather than God’s goodness.  

Such well-intended (but wrong!) followers of Jesus seem to feel a need to constantly dwell on “hell fire and brimstone,” on the horrible judgments of God, on all the bad things that happen to people, on the awful calamities that people experience because they are “lost and undone” sinners. They feel that constantly reminding people of their sins will drive them to God. That approach has never worked well, doesn’t now, and never will.

 The Bible is very clear in Romans 12: 3; it is the goodness of God that leads people to repentance, not his “badness.” Most people know they are sinners without us who are followers of Jesus constantly harping on their sin and its consequences. See John 16: 7 and 8, which makes it quite clear that Holy Spirit is very capable of convicting people of sin all by Himself, without our feeling we need to assist Him in that endeavor!

What’s reason number three? Read 2 Corinthians 7: 10. It says “Godlike sorrow produces repentance.” You might ask: “Does that mean I have to weep and moan and be sorry for something?” Nope, not necessarily, although sometimes there’s nothing wrong with a good cry and being sorry for something we’ve done wrong; as mentioned above, it’s okay to feel remorse, sorrow, and contrition. That’s not what this reference is saying, however.  It’s saying: If you have sorrow like God’s, you will change your mind.

What is sorrow like God’s? When is God sorrowful? Well, for starters He’s sorrowful when He sees how we hurt ourselves and are often negative about ourselves. He’s sorrowful when we choose not to live up to our full potential as his sons or daughters. He has sorrow when we hurt and are in pain . . . when our relationships become broken or fragmented . . . when we hurt ourselves and others physically or with the strange, negative mind games we sometimes play with one another . . .

Yes, God sees all those things in our lives—and more—and it causes Him to be sorrowful—not angry. That reference is about how God feels toward us at times. Sometimes we need to see ourselves as God sees us—how we’re often our own worst enemies and cause ourselves so much pain and harm. Sorrow about things we say and do—from God’s viewpoint—causes us to repent.  This is not referring to a human type of sorrow which is usually only a mere emotion or feeling and doesn’t result in lasting and meaningful changes in our lives; in contrast with human sorrow which doesn’t produce true and lasting repentance, when we have godly sorrow it does produce meaningful and lasting changes in our behavior.

Those, then, are three main reasons provided in the Bible why we regularly and consistently need to practice the process of changing our minds . . . day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year throughout our entire mortal lives on planet earth.  At this point, your “homework assignment” is to stop where you are and turn to our companion teaching on this web site entitled: Change Your Mind. Honestly, stop what you’re doing and study that teaching before you come back to this one. Please . . .

Okay, that ends our teaching about Faith’s Foundation Number One: Repent—if you’ve read my companion teaching, Change Your Mind. If you haven’t read that teaching, then my teaching—for you—is not complete. If you haven’t read that teaching, you’ve missed out on an entire body of teaching about this subject and you will not have a complete view of what repentance is all about. You will have missed out on fully understanding the first foundational truth. Please read that teaching before you go any further!

FOUNDATION NUMBER TWO

Let’s move right on to Foundation Number Two: Abandon Dead Works.  What are dead works? Why does God want us to abandon them? Someone might even ask, “Who cares—if they’re already dead works? What harm can something do if it’s dead? I guess the simple answer to such questions is “God cares” and commands us to abandon dead works; that alone makes it important that we obey Him in this matter.

Again, what are dead works? Most biblical scholars define dead works as useless religious acts. I think that’s a pretty good working definition. After all, the Book of Hebrews was written to Hebrew people who had been practicing bloody animal sacrifices and elaborate religious rituals for hundreds of years. So . . . basically this reference says to the Hebrews (actually Hebrew followers of Jesus): “Stop practicing all those sacrifices and rituals; you don’t need to do that anymore!”

Why not? The New Testament is replete with references teaching that Jesus is God’s sole, complete, final, and supreme sacrifice for all the sin of all humankind. For everyone. Everywhere. Once for all time. Once for all people! Those other sacrifices the Hebrew people had been killing for hundreds of years were no longer necessary; they became useless and purposeless the moment Jesus of Nazareth died at 3: 00 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon approximately 2,000 years ago. Whoops! You thought He died on a “good” Friday, didn’t you? That’s another story altogether.

If you’re interested in pursuing the story about Wednesday vs Friday, I invite you to read another companion teaching on this web site: “72 Hours Of History!“

“Well,” you might be thinking, “that’s okay for those Hebrew people who had been practicing animal sacrifices for hundreds of years before the time of Jesus-—up to the moment of his death, but what’s that got to do with me 2,000 years after his death? I haven’t been offering God any bloody, animal sacrifices.”  I guess to answer that type of question I’ll answer with some other questions: “What types of empty sacrifices, useless religious acts, and elaborate rituals are you performing in order to get God to be pleased with you and to accept you better?

What might you be doing to try to impress God about what a fine follower of Jesus you are? What might you be doing to make God love you more? Isn’t that what many of the religious acts we practice are all about?”  C,mon now, be honest with yourself. Maybe that’s not how some of your religious acts got started, but that’s what they often become as time passes. What can I do to please God and cause Him to accept me or love me better? There is nothing—absolutely nothing—no sacrifice or religious act—you or any other human being can perform in order to please God.

Stop it! Abandon dead works! God has totally, completely, no strings attached . . . accepted Jesus’ perfect sacrifice on your behalf and there are no acts or behavior you can perform which will add to Jesus’ sacrifice and cause you to become more acceptable to God. Right now, right this moment as you read these words you are as fully accepted by God—in and through Jesus—as you will ever be for all time and eternity.  

You see, in and through Jesus, God’s love for you will never be fuller than it is this very instant. Your standing with God will never be more solid than it is right now. Your acceptance by God is as complete just now as it will ever be. Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf is finished, never to be added to . . . ever. God’s attitude toward you flows from his love, grace, and personal commitment as a loving Father to your highest good.

Any anger or punishment which might have been directed at you or due you was poured out—and emptied—upon Jesus on the cross, instead of upon you. God’s requirement for a sacrifice for your sin was paid in full by Jesus—and, any wrath God may have felt against you was completely poured out on Jesus and completely dissipated. You are no longer subject to God’s wrath!—if you have accepted your salvation by the shed blood of Jesus.  

That’s why God wants you to abandon dead works. Stop performing useless religious acts. They’re no good. They’re not necessary. God’s done it all for you. It’s all taken care of. Your sin-debt is paid in full. You’re wasting precious time. It’s purposeless. There are better things to do with your time, talents, and treasures God has given you. There is absolutely nothing you can do (or not do) that will cause God to love you any more or less than He does right this instant.

When Jesus cried out “It is finished!” just as He died, what do you think He meant by that? He meant just that: “It is finished!” It’s done. It’s complete. It’s total. The God-Man has made a complete finished sacrifice on behalf of all humankind—never to be duplicated, added to, or supplemented. So . . . abandon dead works. Quit performing useless religious acts and rituals in order to please God or make Him love you more.  

On one occasion John the Baptizer pointed at Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1: 29) Did Jesus take away the sin of the world when He died on the cross—or didn’t He? Did He take away all of your sin (past, present, and future) when He died on the cross? If He did, then there’s nothing more you or I or anyone else can do to add to his total and complete act of taking away all sin for all time. It’s up to you whether or not you believe that and place your faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for you.

Right now I’m going to write something I’ve never before said or written; I’ve thought it, but I’ve never said it or printed it. There are reasons I haven’t done so, but I choose not to tell you those reasons right now. Here it is: There are only two viable religious acts to be found anywhere in the Bible (after Jesus’ finished sacrifice on the cross on our behalf) which God commands us to perform; they are (1) the Lord’s Supper (the Eucharist or Communion) and (2) baptisms.

I honestly can’t find any others, and, believe me, I’ve been searching the Bible for many years.  If we’re performing any other religious acts (besides those two) in order to please God or to make ourselves more acceptable to Him in terms of our finished, completed salvation, then we need to abandon them; they are useless religious acts.

God is as pleased with you this very moment as He will ever be for all time and eternity. He accepts you right now as fully and completely as He ever will throughout all time and eternity. There are no acts you can possibly perform which will add to his full pleasure and acceptance of you, or his love for you. So . . . you must abandon dead works.  “Bill, are you saying we should not perform any good works as believers in Jesus?” No, I’m saying the Bible teaches we should abandon useless religious acts and works. By all means, God wants us to perform useful, good works.

But, on the other hand He commands us to abandon any useless works which we perform in an effort to become “better” saved or “more” saved. Potentially, we’re already as completely and as totally saved as we’re ever going to be—even in the next “stage” of our journey after death.  We have been saved from the PENALTY of sin (past tense); we are being saved from the POWER of sin (present tense); and we will be saved from the PRESENCE of sin (future tense). But it’s all based upon that once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus, not upon anything we do or don’t do in terms of good works which we feel might add to Jesus’ finished work.

Let’s spend a few moments looking at some of those good works God wants us to perform since He fully accepts us because of what Jesus did on our behalf. I’ve already mentioned two of them God commands us to perform: Communion (or the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, the Memorial Meal—whatever you choose to call it) and baptisms. Those are two of the good works God requires us to perform.  

What are some others? First, look at Ephesians 2: 8 – 10. Verse 10 tells us that after we are saved by God’s grace, we should perform good works as a result of our salvation . . . as a natural outgrowth of our salvation. But the good works God mentions in verse 10 are unspecified good works which God planned ahead of time for us to perform. How can you determine what those good works are . . . specifically? Well, that’s between you and God; you must ask Him what they are. He has custom-tailored your good works for you and mine for me. I don’t know what yours are, but God will tell you if you ask Him. Have you asked Him?

Let’s leave Ephesians 2 and let’s look again at 1 Corinthians 3: 1 – 15. This is a touchy one. Some of our works are useless, dead works and will be “burned” like wood, hay, and straw. By the way, this has nothing to do with burning in hell; don’t get sidetracked here. And, some of our works will be good, useful works and emerge as gold, silver, and precious stones (all three of which are “created” by and become “valuable” by means of intense heat and pressure). Which is which? Which of our works burn up? Which become more valuable and beautiful by means of fire and pressure? I won’t presume to tell you. Again, you’ll have to ask God which are which.

Somehow, which works are which are connected with our faith—or lack of it. See 1 Peter 1: 7. And, what we do or don’t do in terms of our good works clearly follows us into the next stage of our journey through the ages of time as implied by Revelation 14: 13.  Somehow I feel I’m not doing a very good job here of contrasting “good works” with “dead works.” It’s because the Bible really doesn’t spell them out as clearly as you might think. Oh, we’ve each been taught a behavioral “list” of do’s and don’ts which we carry around with us in our minds and consciences, but most of our lists are of our own making and have little or nothing to do with what God considers good works and dead works.

And the only way to find out what’s on “God’s list” for you is to ask Him. Remember, He lives inside of you in unbodied Spirit form and is your teacher, counselor, instructor, trainer, and guide as you make your daily choices and decisions in life. Yes, you can learn much about good works and dead works from the Bible, but ultimately it’s God inside you who illuminates and interprets the Bible for you personally.  All I can teach you is that you must abandon dead works and useless religious acts. On the other hand, God wants you to heartily perform “live” good works and useful religious acts. You must decide which is which.

Here are some other references and tips which might be helpful in your decision-making process about determining which good works God wants you to perform. Remember to consistently maintain an attitude of repentance (of changing your mind) so you always remain teachable and open to God’s delicate, quiet, whispering voice inside you.  He transmits his thoughts from your spirit (where He lives inside you) into your mind in the form of thoughts and creative ideas that form in your mind. That’s not how He always “speaks” to us, but that’s how He most often speaks. Learn to listen to his voice. Over time, you’ll learn to know if it’s Him speaking to you, transmitting his thoughts into your mind from where He lives in your spirit, or . . . if it’s simply your own thoughts. Learn to hear the voice of your Shepherd as noted in John 10 four times.

 The 12th chapter of Romans is chock-full of teaching about good works. Notice that the chapter begins, however, with an appeal by God for you to renew your mind (by changing it . . . repenting) so that you may understand God’s will for you in terms of the good works which are listed later in the chapter. And we’re also encouraged right up front not to have an exaggerated opinion of ourselves in terms of the good works we do; we must be very humble about any good works God gives us to perform. It’s always easy for pride to enter the picture.  Look at that lengthy list of good works from verse 4 clear to the end of the chapter. I’m not going to re-list them for you. I suggest you take some time and just simply write down the ones you find, and then begin to ask God which might be some specific ones He wants you to practice. The chapter closes by stating that ultimately we overcome evil with God’s good (works).

Look at John 9: 4. Jesus is talking here about works we need to do while it is daylight. Night is coming when we won’t be able to do good works. I’ll let you decide what “daylight” and “night” mean in this reference. Don’t get way out in left field. It has nothing to do with hell, tribulation, the “end-times,” antichrist . . . all that kind of stuff. Just ask God what it means for you . . . now.  

Turn to Acts 13: 2. Some of the followers of Jesus in the local church located in the ancient city of Antioch were worshipping God and fasting. Now there’s something think about: have you done any fasting lately? Just asking. While those followers of Jesus were worshipping God and fasting, Holy Spirit said . . . . Has Holy Spirit “said” something to you lately? Just asking. Anyhow, Holy Spirit said, “Set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” What work have you been set apart and called to while you’ve been worshipping God and fasting? Just asking.

 Here’s a tricky one: Philippians 2: 12. This says we are to work out our own salvation. Whoa! Wait a minute. “Bill, didn’t you just say a few paragraphs ago that we couldn’t work toward our own salvation?” Yes, that’s what I said. How are you going to reconcile the two seemingly opposing views? All I can do is encourage you to ask God to explain to you what this reference means. It’s a paradox: we are already completely and totally saved, but we are still supposed to work out our own salvation; ask God to help you figure out the paradox.  

Turn to 2 Timothy 3: 16 and 17. Here God tells us that the Bible is given to us for instruction and teaching, for reprimand, for correction of error, and for training in righteousness. Why? So that a follower of Jesus will be complete and proficient, well-fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work. Do you think the Bible is important in your training and development? In your quest to discover what good works God wants you to perform? Are you having difficulty in determining just what good works God wants you to perform? Are you reading and studying your Bible regularly? Do you think there’s any connection between whether or not you read and study your Bible and discovering what good works God wants you to perform?

Let’s conclude this rather brief safari through part of the Bible with Colossians 3: 23. Whatever you end up deciding which is which about good works and dead works . . . Whatever you determine it is that God wants you to do in terms of good works . . . However you get that all sorted out . . . work at it heartily as something done for the Lord and not for other people.  

How much of what we do is done to please or impress other people? How much of what we do is somehow to gain acceptance or praise from other people? How much of what we do is done to please our parents or some other significant person—even though they may have died years ago?! Whatever you come up with about what dead works are and what good works are, abandon the dead ones and work heartily at the good ones—as something done for God and not for other people.

I hope it’s clear enough now. We’re commanded to abandon dead works—useless religious acts. But we’ve also seen that we are to perform “live” works—good works. One of the reasons we are to abandon dead works is so there is more “room” in our lives for the good works God wants us to perform.  Leviticus 26: 10 contains, in principle, an interesting “credo” I have lived by for many years. We need to clean out the old, useless religious acts in our lives to make room for the new, useful good works God wants us to perform.

What are those good works? That’s between you and God to discover as you read and study your Bible and ask Him to show you which good works are tailor-made just for you. But start by cleaning out the old, dead ones.  But our emphasis herein is on abandoning the dead works, not upon performing the good works; the complete biblical subject of performing “live” good works is a whole other teaching in and of itself—a subject I won’t spend any more time on in this teaching.

Remember, we must abandon performing any useless religious works or acts of any type which we mistakenly believe will “add” to our salvation—or impress God—or please God. The penalty for our sin has been paid by Jesus once-for-all. God’s requirements that we fulfill his laws are completely taken care of. It is not fiction—it is not religious mumbo-jumbo—to state that the complete righteousness of Jesus has been “credited” to our sin-debt account and the “accounting books” about our lives are clear of any entries.

 God has fused you and Jesus into such an inseparable union that when God looks at Jesus He sees you; when He looks at you He sees Jesus. All of Jesus’ spiritual “assets,” so to speak, have been merged into your life and “credited” to your account. Thus, when God looks at you, He does not see you alone. He sees you and Jesus united and fused as one. Since Jesus is totally righteous, God sees you as totally righteous. You are constituted as one with Jesus, sins all paid for: you are complete in Jesus!

In one amplified version of the New Testament, Colossians 2: 10 puts it this way: “Since you are absolutely filled with Jesus—and since Jesus is absolutely filled with God—then you are complete!”  That’s why we need to abandon dead works. They’re not necessary anymore. They’re useless. You’re wasting valuable time doing something you don’t need to do anymore. Jesus has taken care of it. Any religious acts you feel you need to perform, He has performed on your behalf. Stop performing useless religious acts!

Again, notice one other point in Ephesians 2: 8 – 10; we are not saved by our good works, but we must not ignore good works, for one of the purposes for which God has saved us in order that we might do good works. Because God has saved us—because we are his workmanship—we should ask God what good works He wants us to perform . . . and where He wants us to perform them . . . and with whom . . . and when . . . and in what circumstances.  

Yes, God has purposed ahead of time—before the foundation of the world—that there are good works for each of us to perform in his great epic of creation, redemption, and the restoration of all things. But we need to clean out the old, dead works—our useless religious acts—in order to make room for the new, good works.

 One final thought—just to leave you thinking very seriously about this command of God’s for us to abandon dead works. Read Matthew 7: 21 – 27 about various types of “mighty works” done by some people who wanted God’s approval.  There is much I could teach about in this reference, but I’m going to focus on verse 23.

Here’s what Jesus is saying to you in that verse—in plain, amplified, modern English: “Sure, now you come clamoring for my recognition and approval. Back off! In the first place, you didn’t even bother asking Me what works I wanted you to perform, but just went ahead and performed some on your own. I never put my prior stamp of approval on your works, but now you want me to commend you for what a good job you did. Huh uh! You’d have done a much better job if you had asked first for my approval, and then did as I instructed you—instead of just going ahead and performing works on your own. Remember, the good is always the enemy of the best! When will you ever learn?”

 What useless, dead works were these people performing simply because they did not bother to ask Jesus about them first—before they went ahead and performed them? Yes, we need to ask God what good works He wants us to do. And then we need to obey what He tells us. Many people don’t know what God wants them to do because they don’t ask Him; it’s as simple as that: Ask. Listen. Do.

FOUNDATION NUMBER THREE

 Beyond our five senses, deeper than our mind, beyond our own thoughts, deeper than our consciousness or subconsciousness . . . lies an inner, limitless expanse of faith “residing” in our spirits. What is faith? How many definitions of faith have you read or heard in your life? Confusing, isn’t it? I’m not going to spring anything new on you. The best definition I’ve found anywhere is right where some people least expect to find it.

Where might that be? Surprise! Surprise! Right in the Bible!  Follow me carefully here. I want you to turn to a reference in your Bible, but not in the old King James version; that version was written almost 400 years ago. English is a “living” language, which means the language is constantly changing and growing. In some respects, 20th century English is much different from what it was 400 years ago. Having said that, please turn to your own Bible’s definition of faith. It is Hebrews 11: 1.

 Here’s that definition of Hebrews 11: 1 in modern English: Faith is being confident of what we hope for—the evidence of the reality of phenomena we cannot perceive with our five senses. Let’s analyze that definition. Before we do, though, please turn to Romans 4: 18 – 21 and read that reference, too; it’s about Abraham’s faith being a “model” or “prototype” for our faith. It’s one of the Bible’s own examples of how faith in Hebrews 11: 1 “works.”  

Notice that Abraham had given up hope by reason of his five senses, but he hoped by faith; he was confident—his faith did not weaken. He didn’t waver by unbelief or distrust, but was strong and empowered by faith to trust that God would keep his word and do what He had promised. That is why his faith was credited to his account as right standing with God. That’s just a little bit about what this reference teaches us about faith. There’s more, much more.

 From the instant you were conceived, everything you have ever learned or experienced has come to you through your five senses; think about that: besides your genetic, biological being—your entire self-ness—that which makes you “you,” has all occurred as a result of data entering you from outside you through your five senses. Your five senses are how you perceive all the data coming into you from your external world.  

Yes, everything outside your skin comes to you through your five senses. In other words, by means of your five senses you have “constructed” the person living inside your skin whom you call “me” (and whom others call “you”) out of the quadrillions and mega-quadrillions of bits of data you have received from outside your skin since the instant you were conceived.  

Wait a minute, though, doesn’t the Bible’s definition say faith perceives as real fact what is not revealed to the senses? Yes, it does say that. So where does faith come from? It comes from inside of us. Faith comes to us from God who lives inside of us in his unbodied Spirit form. For purposes of illustration at this point, let’s say that in manner of speaking faith is another “sense” (not the traditional sixth sense, however) that receives data from inside our skin rather than from outside our skin.

The Bible says in Romans 12: 3 that God has given every human being a certain “measure” of faith as an unmerited, free gift. Ephesians 2: 8 and 9 addresses the same matter. You have a certain measure or portion of faith. I have a certain measure or portion of faith. Another way of putting it is that God has given each of us an appropriate amount of faith. None of us can say we don’t have faith. We all have faith.

The important point is in how we “use” our faith.  Some people place their faith in money . . . or cars . . . or in other people . . . or in dead, manmade religious works . . . or in houses . . . or in Hollywood . . . or in their intellect or knowledge . . . or in reason and logic . . . or in their evolutionary, humanistic, or relativistic worldviews . . . or in famous people in sports or government . . . or in their own physical beauty . . . or in nothing at all. And, some people place their faith in God. That’s what this third foundation is all about in Hebrews 6: Faith in God. The differences in how people use their faith lie in the object of their faith, not in the faith itself. Faith is faith. And God has given each of us an appropriate amount of faith. How are you using your faith? What’s the primary object of your faith?

Yes, Holy Spirit who lives inside each of us “transmits” reality (by means of faith) to our “inner person” from the inside where he lives in our spirits; this is in addition to our perception of the material, physical reality which comes to us from the outside by means of our five senses.  There’s another way in which faith is transmitted to us, too. Yet, it originates from the same Holy Spirit who lives inside each of us. Faith also comes from the Bible. Look at Romans 10: 17. Who caused the Bible to be written? Holy Spirit. So . . . faith comes from the Bible, too. As we read and study it—and obey it—Holy Spirit makes it “alive” and real to us.

That’s how we know the Bible really is the written, living “Word” of the Living God—not by means of our five senses, but by means of our greater, inner “sense”—faith! The Bible is unlike any other book ever written; it is actually full of super-natural, dynamic power and is LIFE-giving as Holy Spirit uses it to “grow” and strengthen our faith. (see Hebrews 4: 12, especially in The Amplified Bible)  

Yes, from inside of us Holy Spirit makes the Bible come alive as we read, study, and obey it. He’s the one who causes the Bible to actually become “food” for our inner persons. See Matthew 4: 4. He’s the one who causes the Bible to be more than mere paper and ink. By faith it is a power-full, living book Holy Spirit uses to help transform and “grow” our lives. By means of our faith-sense, the Bible actually imparts God’s own eternal, self-existent, uncreated, abundant LIFE to us.

Only by faith can we really know that the Bible is the actual infallible, inerrant, Living and Written Word of the One true and Living God. Oh, I can try to explain to you by logic or reason that it’s unlike any other book ever written on this planet—that in some mysterious way it is LIFE-giving and full of power, but that really won’t mean anything to you. No, you can only discover for yourself—by your faith-sense—that it is THE Word of the true and Living God! That cannot be “proved” in any other way than by faith.  

Don’t even try to understand the Bible by logic, reason, your intellect, or by any of your five senses; it just won’t make any sense if you do. Don’t ever try to prove to someone who is not a follower of Jesus that the Bible is God’s Word. People who try to understand the Bible that way only end up believing it’s not God’s Word, doubting it, “disproving” it, and explaining it away in their own minds. It’s a “spiritual” book and can only be known as God’s written Truth by your faith-sense originating in your spirit.

Why do we need faith in addition to our five senses? We need faith because it is the only “sense” with which we can perceive God and the invisible realm of the Spirit. For example, Hebrews 11: 6 says that whoever comes to God must believe God is. Faith is the means by which we believe God is and by which we can “see” into the invisible realm in which He lives.  Some call that invisible world RealRealm, as contrasted with the world in which we live and move and have our mortal beings: ShadowLand. ShadowLand is—well—just a dim, murky, shadowy world compared to the vast, limitless, bright, invisible realm of RealRealm in which God lives in his eternal state of being.  

Education, science, logic, reason, philosophy—each of these has to do with the five senses, and they all have their places in God’s grand scheme of things. But our five senses cannot “find” God or “prove” He exists. Only by using our “faith-sense” can we believe God is and believe the Bible to be God’s Word. How do we have faith in God, as our third foundation states? God who lives inside of us in the unbodied form of Holy Spirit gives us faith to believe He is. That’s the only way we can really know and experience a vital, living relationship with God.

You see, God is Spirit (John 4: 23), meaning He is “composed” of invisible “spirit-substance.” In contrast, we are “composed” of visible, physical and material “substance.” Anyone or anything which is spirit cannot be perceived or known by the five senses—only by means of faith. That’s why we need the faith God has given to each of us; it’s the only means by which we can know Him. Faith is the connecting link between the visible material universe (ShadowLand) and the invisible spiritual universe, the Kingdom of God (RealRealm).

Yes, there is an entire “alter universe,” so to speak, known as the Kingdom of God. It is an invisible Kingdom within us, and it is also an invisible Kingdom outside of us: a Kingdom greater, larger, and more real than the physical or material universe we know by our five senses. That unlimited, invisible Kingdom of God can be known and understood only by means of faith. Simultaneously, it’s both “smaller” than time and space and “larger” than time and space.  

Also, the Bible is the other “gateway” or connecting link through which we can cross back and forth between RealRealm from ShadowLand. It is the Bible “mixed” with our faith that allows us to see into the unseen, hear which cannot be heard with our physical ears, touch the untouchable, and experience that which we cannot experience with our five senses.

 Also, the only means by which we can really know Jesus—God the Son—is by faith, too. Look up Acts 20: 21. Jesus isn’t here on earth in the flesh anymore. We can’t perceive Him by means of our five senses. The only way we can believe in Him and know Him personally is by our faith-sense. We weren’t here when He was here on earth in person, so we can’t really “know” by our five senses that He ever was here. Oh, there’s plenty of historical evidence that He was here, but we generally believe such evidence with our five senses and they don’t “prove” He was here. Only our faith-sense can do that.  

In our world and universe (ShadowLand)—which is a physical, material world and universe—we perceive everything by our five senses; we all grew up learning to rely almost 100% upon our five senses. Through our own life experiences, through our education, through our relationships with other people, we came to believe that if we can’t know or experience something with our five senses, it either doesn’t exist or isn’t real. We say, “Seeing is believing!” meaning if we can’t perceive something with our five senses then it isn’t real.

  That’s why it’s relatively difficult for many people to know and believe God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, and the Bible. Because they can’t be known by our five senses in the same way we know and perceive most material reality—and they keep “looking” for God with their five senses and with their own intellect and reason. They won’t find Him using their five senses. We haven’t been conditioned to trust our “faith-sense” like we’ve been conditioned to rely upon our five senses. It’s not that faith isn’t as real as our five senses; actually, it’s more real! We simply don’t know how to use our faith, rely upon it, exercise it, focus it—like we do our five senses.  

When God dispenses the appropriate amount of faith to each of us, it comes to us at first in sort of a vague “form;” for most of us when we became new followers of Jesus, at first our faith is unfocused and undifferentiated. God wants us to exercise it and focus it towards Him. He wants us to train ourselves to use our faith properly.

Let me try to explain it this way. Light takes various forms. Light in a common household light bulb is unfocused; it’s called radiant light, meaning it radiates out from its source equally in all directions; it’s not focused in any manner. On the other hand, there is light such as laser light which is very narrowly focused into a compact, powerful beam which can be pointed or focused in a specific direction. God wants us to learn how to focus our faith like laser light—pointed specifically at Him. He doesn’t want our faith to spread out randomly in all directions (and thus lose some of it’s radiant “power”). Rather, He wants our faith to be narrowly and powerfully focused towards Him.

Let’s continue on with some general teaching about our faith. We know a little about how our five senses function. We know a little about auditory nerves, olfactory lobes, tactile nerve endings, taste buds, etc. But what do we know about how faith works and functions? More than you might think. How do we know? From the Bible. From Holy Spirit communicating to us from within us and showing us how to apply the Bible to our lives.  For example, we have already pointed out that God gives each of us an appropriate amount of faith. The Bible teaches that we must “exercise” that faith just as we exercise our muscles and minds. We exercise our faith by “releasing” it toward God and “attaching” it to Him: by believing in Him, trusting Him, “seeing” Him revealed in the Bible, praying to Him, obeying Him, listening to Him with our “inner ears,” seeing Him with our “inner eyes,” etc.

As we exercise our faith in those ways, our faith is honed, sharpened, and focused; it becomes more use-able. God becomes more “responsive” (in a sense) to our prayers, to our trust, to our use of our faith. Not that we manipulate God with our faith or that He is some sort of cosmic servant who responds to our every whim; no, nothing like that! It’s just that as we open up our inner selves and use our faith more often and in a more focused manner, we become more and more aware of just how the entire, invisible, spiritual realm of faith operates. We become more aware of “spiritual laws” and how they operate, just as we have become aware of how natural laws operate in the material universe.

Just as we read, study, experience, and learn more about our physical, material universe by “exercising” our five senses, we perceive and comprehend more and more about God and our non-physical, non-material, invisible, spiritual universe (RealRealm) by exercising our faith-sense. By our five senses we are aware of our connectedness with other people, with planet earth, with the material universe.

In contrast, by our faith-sense we are aware of our connectedness with another universe—the limitless expanse of the Kingdom of God, RealRealm—which transcends the material universe.  We’ve read that one of the things God wants us to do with the amount of faith He has given us is to have faith in Him. God has given us the appropriate amount of faith so we may direct and focus it toward Him and thus believe in Him, know Him personally, and trust Him—but not with our five senses. With our faith! Believing in Jesus means we have a firm, steadfast reliance upon Him—by faith.

 There are other uses to which God wants us to put the faith He has given us.  First, we use our faith to believe that Jesus paid the supreme penalty for our sins and restored us to a proper relationship with God. See Romans 3: 25. What Jesus did on our behalf happened in historical time and space 2,000 years ago. We weren’t there at the time of his cruel death and the empty tomb. We didn’t see those events, experience them, or hear them at that time; our five senses are unable to “prove” that Jesus gave his life and shed his blood for all humankind, including you and me—and then arose from the dead. Only faith can “prove” inside of us that Jesus actually did what He did; we cannot know the reality of it by any other means.

 Closely tied to that aspect of our salvation is the simple fact we could not even believe the simple Gospel—God’s Good News for all people—without our faith. The only way we can “believe” the Gospel is by faith. God’s Good News is not good news when perceived by the five senses. Actually, for the most part it is irrational and illogical nonsense to our five senses; it’s foolishness. But faith makes it possible for us to understand it’s the greatest, most power-full Good News ever proclaimed to humankind! (see Romans 1: 16)

Well, those are only a few examples of how we are to use our faith: to believe in God, to believe in what Jesus did for us, to believe the Bible is God’s Word, and to believe, comprehend, and understand God’s Good News about our full and complete, eternal salvation.   I very, very seldom—almost never—quote poetry or music in my writings, but if you were right here in our home office with me as I compose these words, I think I would probably sing you a song.

Since I can’t sing it to you, I’ll write some of the words. Why? This song was the precise, divine instrument God used at what I call a “magic moment in time” to cause me to give my life to Jesus and to begin to understand the nature of faith; it’s very personal to me and I sometimes cry when humming or singing it to myself. Here are some of the words of that song:

Oh, how well do I remember how I doubted day by day
For I did not know for certain that my sins were washed away.
When the Spirit tried to tell me I would not the truth receive;
I endeavored to be happy and to make myself believe.

But it’s real! It’s real! Oh, I know it’s real!
Praise God! The doubts are settled and I know, I know it’s real.

So I prayed to God in earnest—
And not caring what folks said—
I was hungry for God’s blessings, my poor spirit must be fed.
When at last by FAITH I touched Him,
Then like sparks from smitten steel–
Just that quick salvation reached me.
And Praise God, I know He’s real!

But it’s real! It’s real! Oh, I know it’s real!
Praise God! The doubts are settled and I know, I know it’s real.

Dear readers and friends, that’s what faith has done for me! And I’ve lived by faith for many years now. Oh, there’s always an interplay between my five senses and my faith. That’s true of all of us. Just like there’s always an interplay between ShadowLand and RealRealm. After all, we’re human; we’re a “blend” of both material beings and spiritual beings. But beyond my human senses, logic, reason, education, and intellect, faith is the means of my direct connection with God and with all that comprises the limitless, boundless, eternal Kingdom of God.  

We are not human beings having spiritual experiences; we are spiritual beings having human experiences!  I could teach you much more about living by faith, about reaching out to other people by faith, about “seeing” into invisible RealRealm by faith, about being “co-creators” with God by faith, about dealing with dark, unseen forces by faith, about being aware of angels by faith . . . yes, there’s more, there’s more. And it’s all by faith.

 I’m not suggesting that any of us demean or minimize the five senses. They’re a necessary part of our mortal life here on planet earth. That’s just what life is all about. I use my five senses; I believe in education, the intellect, logic, reason—all of those are necessary parts of our lives and the world we live in—ShadowLand. For example, I have a great deal of formal, higher education for which I am very grateful to God; I never denigrate or minimize education, reason, logic, or human intellect.

But in addition let us also determine to live and move and have our being in that realm beyond the five senses—by faith!  For one final thought about our faith as being foundational to our spiritual growth and development, I invite you to turn to Colossians 2: 6 to ponder and meditate upon. I even recommend you memorize that verse as a key reference in your repertoire of faith references in the Bible. Yes, faith is absolutely essential to our growth and development while we live our mortal lives “in Him,” as this reference points out.

FOUNDATION NUMBER FOUR

Ok, let’s now move on to Faith’s Foundation number four: baptisms. I don’t know what version of the Bible you generally use, but in the original Greek language of the New Testament, that word “baptisms” in Hebrews 6 is plural, not singular.  How many different types of baptisms can you find in the New Testament? There are four or five that I can count—maybe more, depending upon how one understands certain references. Does that surprise you? Did you think there was just one baptism mentioned in the New Testament? Generally, when the average person thinks of baptism, he or she thinks of baptism in water. But there are more baptisms than just being baptized in water.

 How many can you come up with? I come up with these—give or take one or two: (1) baptism in water. (2) Baptism in the Body of Christ. (3) Baptism in the sufferings of Jesus. (4) Baptism in the Holy Spirit. (5) Baptism in fire. There may be more, there may be fewer, depending on how you count them or how the various references read when translated from the original Greek language.  

The point I’m making is this. If the reference is plural in Hebrews 6 (and it is), then we need to stretch our thinking beyond what we usually think of when we think of baptism. C’mon now, wasn’t your first thought about water baptism when I mentioned the fourth foundation of the faith? If you’re like most people, it was. But we need to think beyond that to the other types of baptisms that are part of the fourth foundation of our faith found in Hebrews 6.

Let’s keep going. This reference in Hebrews 6 teaches us that we must consider baptisms (plural) as being part of the very bedrock foundation of our Christian faith. I’m going to try to somehow lump all these together and show you how all four or five baptisms (or less, or more) might actually be component parts of one baptism that should happen to all followers of Jesus when they are baptized in water.  I think God intended for all these baptisms to occur simultaneously-—all at once—when we are baptized in water. But . . . because we humans tend to categorize life into separate experiences on separate occasions, now—2,000 years after Hebrews 6 was written—we have done just that type of categorization concerning baptisms.

We have taken an awesome “total package” of experience which God probably intended to occur all at once and we have separated these various aspects of one baptism into different experiences which we now think are the norm. The norm is actually one “composite” baptism for followers of Jesus, but we have separated that one baptism into four or five baptisms instead of one, all-encompassing baptism. Confusing so far? I hope not. I’ll do my best to straighten out the entire matter before we conclude studying about foundation number four.  

A great deal of the confusion about foundation Number 4, baptisms (plural) can be avoided if we understand what the word means in the Greek language in which it was written in the Bible. In every instance, the word “baptism” means “immerse,” “plunge,” “sink down into,” “go completely under,” “saturate.” That’s it. That’s all the word ever means in the New Testament. Nowhere in the original Greek language of the New Testament does the word ever mean “sprinkle,” “dip,” “pour,” “spray,” “wet,” “drizzle,” or any other similar meaning. In the New Testament, baptism always means to totally immerse, submerse, or saturate. Always!

When did followers of Jesus begin to sprinkle new believers with water—or pour water on them—instead of immersing them—as the Bible clearly teaches? When did infant baptism begin to occur, for example? When did baptism by pouring a few drops of water on someone begin to occur?  

I’m generalizing and vastly oversimplifying with this answer to those questions, but baptism by non-immersion began to occur around the year 325 A.D. when the Roman Emperor, Constantine, decreed a royal edict which proclaimed: “Ok, everyone in the entire empire—men, women, children, and babies—will now become followers of Jesus—whether you like it or not or whether you want to be or not. By my royal edict, next Monday everyone in the empire will become followers of Jesus by imperial fiat. If you don’t, you’ll be punished!” Yes, in a nutshell, that’s sort of what really happened.

In order to obey the Emperor’s edict and get everyone baptized quickly, some of those who were already followers of Jesus bowed to Constantine’s pressure, dreamed up “holy water,” and began to sprinkle whole groups of people—sometimes entire villages at once, whether or not they were actually followers of Jesus—just to obey the Emperor. You may find that either sad or humorous, but that’s essentially how it all began—with notable exceptions, of course.  Then, since approximately 325 A.D. when the Church first got into the “numbers game” of counting to see how many “members” it had on its membership rolls, it could quickly increase its numbers and keep them inflated by baptizing babies and infants and counting them as members.

For example, if your particular church baptizes babies and infants, take a count of how many people are actually present for your services from week to week in comparison to the numbers on your legal Church membership rolls. They’re probably counting as members all those dipped or sprinkled babies, thus inflating the membership numbers. Just something to think about . . .

Most of the confusion might never have occurred—maybe—if most followers of Jesus had stuck to their convictions and continued to baptize only by immersion, which is what the Greek word, baptizo, always means.  But I’m not on a one-man crusade to undo history and rewrite it. What’s done is done, and God is sovereign over the affairs of his Church and human history. We can only forge ahead with the understanding we presently have. My studied opinion is that the only followers of Jesus who should be immersed are persons who have a responsible awareness of what is happening to them at the time they are immersed; that certainly includes children of various ages who responsibly know what they are doing when they ask to be immersed.

Would I baptize babies or infants? Have I done so? Yes, as long as whoever presents the infant for baptism understands it’s not a magic ritual that somehow “saves” the baby or infant. If people are honestly persuaded in their own minds and spirits that they need to have a baby or infant baptized, that’s okay. I’m happy to do so. But the “sponsors” must understand the baby or infant should be taught that he or she has a responsibility to grow up, receive Jesus as their personal Savior, and live a committed to Him. Whatever views we hold about baptism, we must understand it is merely a beginning, never an end.  Whew, I’ve probably “beaten a dead horse” enough as far as the definition and implications of baptisms (plural) taught in Hebrews 6. I left a lot of room for discussion. But let’s not argue, okay?

The New Testament is abundantly clear that new followers of Jesus should responsibly choose to be baptized in water. Read Matthew 28: 19 and 20 and Acts 2: 38. Throughout the Book of Acts and early Church history up until approximately 325 A.D. (with some exceptions), when someone responsibly chose to become a follower of Jesus, they chose to be immersed in water. That certainly appears to be the norm for the experience of new followers of Jesus.  

What does water baptism accomplish? I used to think I knew all the answers to that simple question; I’m not so sure I do anymore. I’ve been studying that question for many years now—and have been practicing water baptism for just about as many years. At the very least, it’s a solemn and meaningful initiation rite into the Church, the Body of Jesus. At the very most, it’s an integral and necessary beginning to the lifelong process of receiving one’s salvation and then growing in Jesus which we embark upon when Jesus enters our lives in the unbodied form of Holy Spirit. Should you be baptized in water? You betcha! That’s all I’ll say about baptism (immersion) in water.

The Bible teaches more than one baptism. It’s my studied opinion that God intends for all of the baptisms in the New Testament to occur simultaneously as one awesome, total experience, but we are the ones who have pigeon-holed them into separate experiences. That is only my studied opinion, and I am keenly aware that all the data is not in yet. I have much to learn. But at least let me try to explain my present understanding.  

Jesus began to build his Church 2,000 years ago. It’s not complete yet. He’s still building it. He’s building it out of living building materials—out of people. Jesus is the Source of his Church; it flows out of his very being—out of his life, death, resurrection, and present ministry in the Church by means of Holy Spirit. Jesus is the “head” of his Church and people comprise the “body.” Yet, the head and body cannot be separated. They are one. If we are authentic followers of Jesus, we are part of that awesome Body which God is building throughout the earth—everywhere and everywhen.

People become a vital part of the Body of Jesus by means of being immersed in it. For example, read Romans 6: 1 – 12 about how we are immersed in Jesus’ Body. When we are immersed in water, we are simultaneously connected in some miraculous manner with Jesus’ Church, his Body. When we are immersed in water, it’s like dying with Jesus and being buried with Him. When we come up out of the water, we are “resurrected” (in a sense) into new life in his Body, the Church. Yes, at the time of our immersion in water, we are also immersed in the Church. That immersion in the Church is sort of like a “second” baptism although it occurs simultaneous with our water baptism.

 I recently wrote the following words in another context: “Under normal circumstances, a person cannot be considered to be a vital, growing follower of Jesus unless he or she is actively involved in the total life, service, and witness of a visible, local expression of [the Church] . . . ” If you have been baptized into the Body of Jesus (when you were baptized in water), you need to be an active part of that Body; it’s not optional—if you’re an immersed believer. There is no such thing as a “lone ranger” follower of Jesus living and operating outside a local expression of the Body of Jesus. If you claim to be a follower of Jesus, you must be vitally and actively connected with a local segment of Jesus’ Church, or you probably shouldn’t claim to be a follower of Jesus.

Well, what about another one of the baptisms: being immersed in Holy Spirit? Remember, I mentioned that baptisms is plural in Hebrews 6. We’ve already looked at two of them: water baptism and baptism into the Body of Jesus. What in the world does baptism in Holy Spirit mean? A couple of key references for this subject are Luke 24: 49 connected with Acts 1: 5 – 8. Being immersed in Holy Spirit is like being “clothed” or “saturated” with Holy Spirit. He comes upon us, covers us, immerses us, empowers us—and fills us (see acts 4: 31 and similar references), in order for us to be witnesses on behalf of Jesus.

In other words, we’re completely saturated with Holy Spirit when we’re baptized in Him.  In another sense, when we are immersed in Holy Spirit (who already lives inside us in our spirits), He is sort of “unleashed,” “unharnessed,” or “loosed” from our spirits into our souls (our minds) so that He is freer to do more in us and through us and as us.

 Oh, we could get into such matters as “speaking in tongues” and other super-natural, power-full gifts of Holy Spirit (for example, see 1 Corinthians, chapters 12, 13, and 14). Or, we could teach about the fruit of Holy Spirit as we read in Galatians 5: 22 and 23. But that’s not my purpose here. The main reason for being baptized in Holy Spirit (which should occur simultaneous with baptism in water) is so we will be effective, super-naturally empowered witnesses for Jesus­­—with the supernatural gifts of Holy Spirit operated through us as required . . . the best gift for the occasion, so to speak.

If you’re interested in exploring the super-natural, power-full gifts of Holy Spirit, I invite you to read our companion teaching on this web site: “Gifts Of Holy Spirit.” It’s not a complete teaching on the subject; it’s more of an outline or synopsis of the gifts of Holy Spirit and how He operates them in our lives.  I have also written about them in my book about Holy Spirit, entitled Friends Forever, available at amazon.com.  

Speaking of witnesses in the paragraph above, here’s a quick sidebar . . . There’s no such word or concept in the New Testament as, for example, when people say: “Let’s go witnessing,” or “I witnessed to a friend today.” No, the word “witness” in the New Testament is always a noun, never a verb. We are witnesses; we are never commanded or instructed to go witnessing. Think about it. Immersion in Holy Spirit is to turn us into living witnesses for Jesus, not to go out witnessing. If you can understand that concept in your mind and spirit, it will revolutionize how you relate to people concerning God’s Good News about Jesus. Just relax and be a witness; stop trying so hard to do witnessing. We are human beings, not human doings. That’s just some extra teaching I threw in for free . . .

 Ok, so immersion for a follower of Jesus is in water, in the Body of Jesus, and in Holy Spirit. Baptism in water so as to be identified and marked as a follower of Jesus, baptism into the Church so as to become an active and vital part of Jesus’ Body, and baptism in Holy Spirit so as to be an effective witness for Jesus.  There are two more baptisms taught in the New Testament. One of them is baptism in fire. Read Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3, and John 1 for that teaching. I won’t teach any more about it in this teaching because I have written another teaching about our baptism in fire. I invite you to turn to that other teaching and read it before continuing with this teaching; it is titled “Fire!” and is found elsewhere on this web site.

 What other baptism is there? Baptism in Jesus’ sufferings. Whoa! That’s a big one! We don’t talk much about that subject these days—at least not among North American and European Christians. Travel most anywhere else in the world (outside of Europe and North America) where there are other followers of Jesus, however, and you will instantly understand what it means to be baptized in Jesus’ sufferings.  

For starters, turn to Matthew 20: 22, Matthew 26: 39, and Luke 12: 49 and 50. Focus on the two words “cup” and “fire.” Then turn to Romans 6: 3 – 5 again and ask yourself what it means to be baptized into Jesus’ death. Did Jesus’ death involve suffering? Let me just put it to you this way: Approximately 400,000 Christians around the world will suffer and be killed for their faith this year! Approximately two in every two hundred of God’s workers (missionaries) will be killed this year. Ask yourself if any of those fellow followers of Jesus hae been immersed in Jesus’ sufferings.

 Let me sum up my teaching about the fourth foundation of our faith found in our text in Hebrews 6: 1 and 2: baptisms. First of all, any time you see the English word “baptism,” remember it’s an English-ized translation of the Greek word, baptizo, which always and ever means immerse, saturate, plunge, sink under, etc. It never means pour, sprinkle, dip, etc. If you can make that necessary adjustment in your understanding, you’ll be well on your way to a healthy understanding of baptisms.  Have you been immersed, truly immersed? Have you been baptized?

FOUNDATION NUMBER FIVE

 If it had been my choice (and not God’s) I would not have picked this fifth foundation. If it had been up to me to choose one of the most important foundational subjects a new follower of Jesus should understand, I wouldn’t have chosen this one in a million years. At least I wouldn’t have until I began to study the subject in depth a few years ago. Boy, were my eyes ever opened about how important this one is. What is the fifth foundation of the faith taught in Hebrews 6? Laying on of hands.  A few years ago I reached out to lay my hands upon a man in the audience where I had been teaching. He shouted at me: “Get your damn hands off of me!”

Wow, was he ever angry! Here’s what happened. I was teaching at a sizeable gathering; after I concluded my teaching I began to ask God on whom He wanted me to place my hands for the reasons we’ll be studying in a few minutes.  Last minute change: As I was beginning to type this very paragraph you’re now reading, I intended to finish my story about the man who shouted at me; now, that’ll have to wait for another time . . .  

You see, as I began my input into the computer in order to finish the story, Holy Spirit “spoke” to me (from inside me where He lives in my spirit) and said, “Bill, I’m going to teach this fifth foundation directly to your family of readers.” I responded, “Yes, I know that; I always trust You to be the real teacher—through me.”  “No”, he replied, “that’s not what I mean. What I’m going to do is set you aside completely and teach this subject without teaching through you.” That hurt my pride a little, but I asked Him to explain what He meant.

 Here’s what He told me: “Bill, all I want you to do in the space remaining for this subject is list some biblical references I’ll furnish you. As your readers look up the references, I’m going to really hammer home some clear teaching about the laying on of hands. Some of your readers won’t bother to examine the references, but those who do research them will find some profound changes occurring inside them. They’ll be greatly enriched! They’ll learn more about laying on of hands directly from Me to them . . . more than you could ever teach them. Just leave everything to Me.”

 I replied: “Okay, Holy Spirit, you’re in charge! This is a little different approach for me (actually a whole lot different–), but I choose to obey You.”  Here are those references Holy Spirit furnished me to pass on to you; please read, study, and pray about them in their contexts; take some notes; using a good concordance of the Bible, look up some other references to laying on of hands, too, if you want to; these few I’m furnishing you are simply the ones Holy Spirit told me to give you. Expect Holy Spirit (Who lives inside you) to teach you some life-changing truths—directly from his heart to your heart! He must really want you to get a good grasp of this subject since He has decided to teach you directly.

The only point I want to make is that throughout the Bible, often the act of laying on of hands had to do with “anointing” someone (or something) in order to do what God wanted done:

  • Genesis 48: 8 – 16
  • Numbers 27: 18 – 23 (compare with Deuteronomy 34: 9)
  • Mark 10: 13 – 16
  • Mark 16: 17 – 20
  • Acts 6: 1 – 7
  • Acts 8: 14 – 19
  • Acts 9: 10 – 18
  • Acts 13: 1 – 4
  • Acts 19: 1 – 6
  • 1 Timothy 5: 22
  • 2 Timothy 1: 6

Boy, that was a short lesson on my part, wasn’t it? I’m glad Holy Spirit taught you directly. What an exciting privilege for you. You now know some fantastic stuff about laying on of hands. Be sure to obey what you’ve just learned!

FOUNDATION NUMBER SIX

I love the way the word “Anastasia” sounds to my ear when it’s pronounced as the Germans or Russians pronounce it. It has a mysterious, yet clear ring to it when pronounced the way they do. Are you asking what in the world this has to do with any of the seven foundations of the faith. Anastasia has everything to do with this subject.  Here’s why. Anastasias (with an “s” at the end) is the Greek word which is most commonly translated into the English word “resurrection” in the New Testament. Why is the subject of resurrection so important? Why does God consider it the sixth foundation of the faith in Hebrews 6?

For starters, look at it this way. The death of Jesus, all by itself, was just another death by the common Roman method of crucifixion, another end of a good person’s life. The Romans crucified hundreds of thousands of people throughout the Roman Empire. After He was killed, Jesus of Nazareth would have likely sunk into oblivion and been totally forgotten, but for one thing: He came back to life! He was resurrected! He was raised from the dead by the power of God’s Spirit! Oh, maybe the world might have remembered some of his teachings and wise sayings, but without having come back to Life, Jesus would have been just another dead religious teacher, his body buried somewhere along the pathway of history.

 Everything ever written about Jesus has been written since his resurrection. It is the resurrection of Jesus which sets Him apart from all other religious leaders in all of history: they’re still dead. He’s alive! Take away Jesus’ resurrection and Jesus’ church and the Kingdom of God collapse. Your faith is in vain. Nothing about Jesus would be worth discussing or writing about if He is not alive at this very moment . . .  

Why is resurrection so important? Billions and billions of people have lived and  died on planet earth. Did they just die—and that’s it? Is that all there is? Is death the end of it all? Thousands of years ago, an ancient biblical figure named Job asked that question: “When people die, will they live again?” (Job 14: 14) Hundreds of years after Job died, Jesus answered Job’s age-old question: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, although he or she may die, will live again.” (John 11: 25)

Sometimes I visit two cemeteries not far from my home. My great-grandparents, my grandparents, my uncle, my parents, my sister, my sister-in-law, and other relatives are buried there. Is that it? Are they just going to lay there forever? What’s it all about? Also, I have a dear friend who will likely die within just a few days; I’m going to visit him tomorrow morning—probably for the last time. After he dies, will I see him again?  Jesus’ death, his burial, and his resurrection are three golden threads tightly interwoven and divinely inter-connected in God’s eternal purposes and plans for you and me. The three events cannot be understood apart from one another, for together they exhibit some of the infinite plans and purposes of God for all humankind.

Previously, I have written about how we are “one” with Jesus’ death and burial. We are somehow vitally fused with Him, too, in his resurrection: we are one in his resurrection, too. Far away in the depths of my spirit today I have a very real awareness—by faith—that I was “there” to die with Jesus and was buried with Him. I was “there” with Him, too, in his resurrection.  And that’s what we will now study together for a few moments: how we literally and actually rose from the dead with and in Jesus. We will touch upon amazing forces and events which were set in motion that bright day when Jesus strode forth from death’s dark tomb, the New Man, the Man from Heaven, the First-Born Son of a new race of beings! That’s us . . . that’s us!

 Back to anastasias. What does the word mean? It means to awaken from sleep. It portrays a simple picture of awakening in the morning and getting out of bed after sleeping during the night. That’s what resurrection is: to awaken from the sleep of death and get up. It’s really that simple. It won’t matter how long any of us sleep the sleep of death; we’ll awaken in the “morning” and get up.  1 Thessalonians 5: 23 is only one of many biblical references that clearly teach we mortal humans are created with three “components”: body, soul, and spirit.

I’m condensing a great deal of teaching with this next statement: when we die, our spirits instantly return to God, but our bodies and souls (our “personhoods”) sleep the sleep of death. When we are resurrected at Jesus’ return, our sleeping bodies and persons instantly awaken to be reunited with our spirits.

There’s a lot of speculation about when and how we’ll awaken, what we’ll look like, how “old” we’ll be in our new, glorified bodies—stuff like that. I won’t go into any of those subjects. I’m actually condensing approximately 40 hours of teaching about the resurrection in these few pages, so all we’ll be studying are a few of the highlights; there just isn’t space for more at this time without writing pages and pages and pages.  In brief, it seems clear to me from the Bible that when we die our spirits return to God, while our bodies and our soul-selves sleep in the grave, awaiting God’s summons for us to awaken from our sleep of death and get up some bright morning.

 The Bible teaches that the person sleeps in death after the spirit has returned to God—the person as well as the body sleeps, because the person and the body cannot really be separated. My “personhood” is not just in my brain; it’s in every cell of my physical body, too. The Bible doesn’t limit death to the body alone. When one sleeps at night it is the person who sleeps, not just the body. There is no consciousness in truly sound sleep. All dreaming occurs in the twilight area between consciousness and deep sleep.

The sleep induced by general anesthesia for surgery is a good example of the deep sleep of death.  When we fall asleep in death it is comforting to know the sleep obliterates the interval of time between the moment of death and the moment of resurrection. To our consciousness, the moment of our resurrection will seem to instantly follow the moment of death—whether we’ve slept in death a thousand years, a few centuries, or only a few days by solar time. As far as your consciousness is concerned, the next fraction of a second after you die you will be awakened in your resurrection. Yes, death brings instant awakening to full consciousness in your resurrection.

Incidentally, we’ve read and heard much the last few years about so-called near death experiences when people leave their bodies, travel down long tunnels, meet relatives and friends who have died, experience being engulfed in a bright light, etc. In my thinking, those are not near death experiences; rather, they are future-visions of actual death experiences in which the persons experiencing them have actually died—and then “instantly” awakened in the future at their resurrection. That’s why it seems to them only moments after their death that they begin to have those experiences.  

Please understand that is mere speculation on my part, but it seems more reasonable to me and seems to better “fit” what I understand of death and resurrection from the Bible—never having experienced either of them yet! I have no idea why such visions of death experiences happen to some people; however, I believe they are real. I just happen to think they’re visions of actual death experiences rather than near death experiences—based upon my present understanding of what the Bible teaches about such matters.

Let’s return to the subject of death being mere sleep. The best biblical example is that of Jesus’ friend, Lazarus. He had been dead for four days (John 11: 17), but was awakened from the sleep of death by Jesus. As far as we know, Lazarus had no consciousness during those four days—rather, he was in the deep sleep of death. Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus is sleeping, but I will awaken him from his sleep.” (John 11: 11) If you want to know a little of what your own resurrection will be like, this incident about Lazarus is the pattern or prototype—not in every detail, but somewhat of a prototype or pattern. He was simply awakened by Jesus.

The following is not a point I would argue with anyone, because there is so much about the subject of resurrection we simply don’t know since it hasn’t happened yet to any of us who are still living this mortal life. It seems clear to me the Bible teaches there will be two resurrections (or maybe they’re just sequentially two points on a continuum). Here are some references you can study yourself and see why I feel that the Bible teaches there will be two resurrections:

  • First resurrection: 1 Thessalonians 4: 14 – 17; 1 Corinthians 15: 49 – 53; Revelation 20: 4 – 6.
  • Second resurrection: John 5: 28 and 29; Acts 24: 14 and 15; Ezekiel 37: 1 – 14; Revelation 20: 4 – 15.

I’ve taught again and again and again through the years (in person and in print) that we are in Jesus. We are fused and connected with Him in his death and burial. You must come to see you are also in Him in his resurrection, too.  Old things passed away when we became one with Jesus in his death and burial; now, behold!, all things become new in our being one with Him in his resurrection. Just as certainly as Jesus was raised from his sleep of death by the power of God’s Spirit, from the vantage point of eternity we are already risen with Him, Children of the Resurrection! (Luke 20: 36)  

We must understand clearly the resurrection is not merely a hopeful, comforting event which will occur sometime in the distant future. The great fundamental fact we must comprehend is that the resurrection is above all else a Person, and that Person is none other than our Lord Jesus who died, who was buried, and who rose again!

 The day will come for each of us when family and friends will place our bodies in a coffin (or our ashes in an urn) and bury us under the ground or at sea (or burn our bodies like they do in some cultures). I cannot believe that such an event is gross, morbid, distasteful, or horrible to any person who has identified himself or herself with Jesus in his death, burial, and resurrection. It is but a brief interval of peaceful sleep which the Bible calls being “asleep in Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 4: 14)  Your resurrection in Jesus is the difference between meaningless, dark, and dreadful death with no hope beyond the grave—and true LIFE incorruptible and eternal. He who died and was buried is forevermore alive. He is risen. Hallelujah, He is alive and we shall live also!

There is a concept taught in the Bible having to do with the Feasts celebrated by the ancient Israelites (and by many Israelites yet today). It is a concept containing many metaphors and symbolic word-pictures about our resurrection. The concept is that of “First Fruits.” The ancient Israelites celebrated three major Feasts annually (those same feasts are still celebrated to some degree by certain modern Israelites—and even by some followers of Jesus).  The three major Feasts are the Feast of Passover, the Feast of Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. (Exodus 23 and Leviticus 23) Also celebrated during or “within” those three major Feast-events were seven “minor” events: three during Passover, one during Pentecost, and three during Tabernacles.

 Jesus “fulfilled” the first Feast by being the Passover Lamb who was THE sacrifice and whose blood was shed for the sin of all humanity. At the conclusion of the first Feast, Passover, the ancient Israelites would take one sheaf of newly ripened grain and wave it before God as the first sign of a ripening harvest to come. With the waving of that first sheaf of grain, the Israelites were reminded of the fact that a great harvest was soon to be gathered in.  1 Corinthians 15: 20 and 23 calls Jesus the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep in death. At his resurrection, He was “waved” before God signifying a great harvest to follow. What is the great harvest to follow? We are! Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains a single grain. If it dies, however, it springs forth into an abundant harvest of grain.” (John 12: 24)

But . . . the New Testament teaches we who are “in” Jesus are also a type of first fruits of the coming harvest (James 1: 18 and Revelation 14: 4). Jesus is the first fruits, but we are also part of that first fruits because we are “in” Him.  I’m only touching upon the highlights of the marvelous teachings found in these three major Feasts (including the seven minor events contained within them). We won’t have space to teach anything at all about the second major Feast, Pentecost. Maybe some day . . .  The third major Feast, Tabernacles (sometimes called the Feast of Ingathering, too), contained three “minor” events: the Feast of Trumpets, the Feast of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

The Feast of Trumpets suggests to us that there will come a time when those who are asleep in Jesus will hear a trumpet call resounding so loudly from the portals of eternity that the dead in Jesus cannot help but be awakened from their sleep (1 Corinthians 15: 52).  Ancient Israel had two (sometimes three) growing seasons, each one ending in a great harvest. I’ve already mentioned waving the sheaf of grain (Jesus) to signify a great harvest to follow (us) at the end of the first growing season.

The great harvest during the last Feast, the Feast of Ingathering, is when all people who are asleep will be “harvested.”—all those in addition to those who have been sleeping in Jesus. (John 5: 27 – 29) It is the great harvest at the end of the ages of time when all persons will be summoned to the judicial courtroom of God, there to give an account of what relationship (or lack of one) they have had with Jesus.

Jesus, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep in death. Then those who are in Him, the following first fruits. Finally, the remainder of humankind who sleep in death. When all is said and done, it all rests upon one person, Jesus, and upon one event: Jesus’ resurrection. He is the resurrection and the Life. Those who believe in Him, though they are dead, shall live!  Earlier, I referred to a couple of nearby cemeteries which I sometimes visit. I don’t do so in order to be morbid or sad. They’re quiet, serene places at the eastern edge of the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota.

To the west, the beautiful hills begin their climb to the heights. To the east, the rolling Dakota prairies begin their long march to the Missouri River and beyond.  The soft winds whisper through the pines and the prairie grasses. The sun and rains and winter snows gently caress the mown grasses of the cemeteries. They are peaceful places situated on gently sloping hillsides—places full of rich memories and comforting thoughts I have of loved ones who have fallen asleep before me.

My memories are rich and full as I contemplate those who have preceded me in the great mysterious adventure we call death. From God’s eternal perspective not limited to time or space, I know they have already awakened (in a manner of speaking) from their long sleep and are already basking in the golden glow of God’s bright splendor on heaven’s rich table lands. They wait for me to join them there some bright morning.  On the gravestone of one of my ancestors—a great-great-uncle whom I never knew and who died at an early age—there is this faded inscription, almost unreadable now from the ravages of winds and storms and the passing years:

“Another link is broken in our family band,
But a golden chain is forming in a better land.”

In Jesus, we are one with Him, one with all those who have preceded us in the sleep of death, one with all those who live now, one with all those who will yet live in Jesus. We all march on inexorably through the passing centuries to our final time of sleep. But some bright morning, we shall see the Lord of Harvest face-to-face when He summons us to come forth and awaken from the long, long sleep of death. Yes, because He lives, we can face all our tomorrows and the inevitability of death, knowing it is merely a falling asleep followed by an “instant” awakening.

 I have not written these words in an attempt to convince you of the reality of your resurrection. Either you are in Jesus and believe you will be resurrected, or you do not believe you will be resurrected. Neither have I written in order to reaffirm my own faith in the resurrection; I settled that issue in my own spirit and mind many years ago. My own resurrection is as real to me as living this mortal life is real to me. In some ways my resurrection into an immortal life in RealRealm is even more real than the mortal life I now live in ShadowLand.

No, I have not written fervently and at length about the sixth foundation of faith, Resurrection, simply because it is one of the seven foundations of our faith taught in Hebrews 6. It is a subject each of us needs to settle in our own minds and spirits before we can proceed to additional teaching as we read in Hebrews 6: 3. If you don’t believe in Jesus’ resurrection and in your own, I ask you this question: “Why even bother considering yourself a follower of Jesus?”

If there is no resurrection, there is no Church; there are merely a lot of nice sayings by a person named Jesus of Nazareth who lived and died and who was buried many centuries ago. If there is no resurrection, his body has since turned to fine dust and has been dispersed to the four corners of the earth by the relentless winds of time.  No resurrection, no living Lord Jesus. No Church. No reason to pretend. No reason to play at being a follower of Jesus in whom Jesus lives. No Holy Spirit who lives inside us, energizing, empowering, and motivating us to live in Jesus and follow Him. If there is no resurrection, none of it makes any sense; it is all nonsense and religious foolishness. As the Bible puts it, if there is no resurrection, our faith is in vain and we are of all persons most pitiable. (1 Corinthians 15: 19)

Dear reader, you need to settle this issue in your own spirit and mind. Is Jesus alive today? Is He alive in you? Does He live in other people? Is He the Resurrection and the Life? Is He your resurrection and your Life?

FOUNDATION NUMBER SEVEN

 This is a heated, contentious, controversial one: Eternal Judgment.  Yes, it’s a controversial subject, one which has created divisions, anger, hostility, vicious writings, cries of “heretic”—and worse—throughout the centuries of church history. I hope my approach to the subject will be a balanced and moderate approach, one which will serve to unveil some of the wonderful, eternal plans and purposes God has in mind for you.

I’m going to try very hard not even to let you know what my own views are; some of my readers already know my personal views on the subject, but the majority of you do not.  If you honestly are absolutely breathless to find out and feel you just can’t live one more moment without knowing my own views in full (just kidding . . . ), I encourage you to read our companion teaching on this web site: Beyond The Far Shores Of Time.

Much of what I will write about this subject for the next few pages will be the first time I have ever put it in writing in this format. I have prayed much about how to present the material as I have studied and re-studied it for over 40 years just for this teaching. I simply want to ensure that you gain some balanced, mature insights into a controversial matter.

As I’ve already implied, I will not impose any particular viewpoint upon you, will strive to present four major, prevailing views followers of Jesus have held for centuries—and then let you decide which, if any of them, you espouse.  I already anticipate receiving some widely differing e-mail responses—some branding me as a heretic, some claiming I’m “right on,” and some asking me to remove my web site from the worldwide web for even daring to present viewpoints which are not those of the e-mail senders. Nevertheless, I’ll forge ahead and present the four major prevailing views to you.

 Long ago, I made this strong commitment to God: It is my determination to remain open and flexible to move into new realms in God as He gives me enlightenment, whatever the cost! I proclaim those words aloud almost every day. Writing about the seventh foundation of faith in the specific manner in which I’ll be doing it is—for me—one of those “new realms.” I shall do my best to share it with you in a balanced and moderate manner.  You may not want to hear it. You may not believe me. But I want to tell you an astonishing truth right up front: not all followers of Jesus on this planet believe exactly the same as you do, but they’re still followers of Jesus! I know, I know . . . that’s a real shock to you. I’m sorry I had to be the one to break this news to you, but you’d have probably found it out sooner or later, anyhow.

 You see, we who are followers of Jesus tend to feel that other followers hold the same views we do—that is, if they’re “real” followers of Jesus as we are . . . C’mon now, be honest. Don’t we all tend to think a little bit like that? In one area or another of our biblical beliefs? Sure we do. We all hold to certain Bible teachings or biblical doctrines we believe are absolutely true, and if other people don’t believe them the same way we do, we suspect they just might not be genuine followers of Jesus as we are.

 In fact, we even tend to congregate with other followers of Jesus who think as we do. It’s less unsettling that way. In some respects, that’s why we have many denominations and non-denominational denominations—so we can be around other people who hold similar views. After all, it’s kind of uncomfortable being around other people who don’t think and talk quite as we do. For some people, it’s actually threatening to be around followers of Jesus who are “different.” We tend to want to be around people who think, talk, and act like we do—and who even carry the same type of Bible we do—in the same type of zipper Bible case.  

We think to ourselves: “Let’s see, Jesus lives in me and Jesus is the truth; therefore, my truth about Jesus, about God, about the Bible, about salvation must be the truth, too.” I’m not making fun or being critical. That’s just one of the ways the human mind works. We tend to develop a case of spiritual “tunnel vision” and discount or minimize opposing or contrary views held by other followers of Jesus or other churches as not being the “real” truth like we believe. There’s even a web-shaped group of cells in our brains called the reticular activating system which tends to actually filter out incoming sensory information which doesn’t “fit” our thinking or beliefs.

We say to ourselves, “Okay, maybe (name someone) or the (name another Church or group) are followers of Jesus. . . kinda . . . sorta . . . but not really like we are; after all, we really believe the Bible—all of it—and they don’t—at least not like we do.” I’m being serious here…about a serious problem. God’s universal Church contains far more people than we think it does, and there are far more people who are followers of Jesus than we believe there are. They may dress differently, think differently, worship differently, use a different version of the Bible (and believe some of it differently), and talk differently . . . but they’re still followers of Jesus in all aspects and in all respects just as we are.  The Church of Jesus is comprised of everyone everywhere and everywhen in whom Jesus lives in his unbodied Spirit “form.”

Let me give you one example of the spiritual tunnel vision I mentioned earlier. I know of one particular group comprised of numerous followers of Jesus around the world who teach and seriously believe that if you read or study any version of the Bible other than the 1611 King James Version, you cannot possibly be a follower of Jesus! There is a local group of those followers of Jesus that meets in a church building only a few blocks away from where I live; yes, they honestly believe if you don’t use only the King James version of the Bible as they do, you cannot be an authentic follower of Jesus.  

Let’s see, I’ve got at least six or seven different versions of the Bible in my bookcase about two feet away from where I’m sitting right now. Not one of them is the 1611 King James Version. Hmmm, where does their kind of thinking leave me? Is it really possible that I’m not an authentic follower of Jesus because I don’t rely solely upon the King James Version of the Bible? Maybe that belief is a bit extreme, but in a less extreme way, what do you believe that causes you to think maybe—just maybe—someone else isn’t really a follower of Jesus because he or she doesn’t believe exactly as you do?

 If you feel that way, as author J. B. Phillips once put it, “Your God is too small!” You need to realize there are millions of other followers of Jesus who are not made in your image. God is in the process of creating people in his image, not in your image or in the image of other people who believe as you do. And God’s image certainly encompasses a great many more people than does our image. God’s universal Church is a Church of infinite variety.  What does it mean to be created in God’s image? It means we are visible representations of the invisible God. God’s invisible image in us is as diverse as there are billions of people, all different in their comprehension of God, Jesus, the Bible, the Holy Spirit, the Kingdom of God, God’s judgments, etc.

 Yes, we need to see beyond our own limited beliefs and doctrines and understand that the Body of Jesus is much larger than our own little worlds we move around in from day to day. God has an innumerable company of sons and daughters who are as much his children as you are and as I am. And the Body of Jesus is comprised of many different parts, some of those parts holding widely differing views. Nevertheless, it’s one composite, many-membered body, with Jesus as the Head!

 Whew! “Why in the world,” you ask, “is Bill writing all this stuff?” Thanks for asking. Here’s why. You need to understand there are differing views about many biblical subjects, all held by true, legitimate, honest, authentic followers of Jesus. One particular view—maybe the very belief you embrace—may be only part of the whole truth. Don’t ever be naïve enough to feel that the small limited portion of truth you comprehend and embrace is the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  (Note: I strongly urge you to read another one of my teachings, titled “Truth,” which speaks to this issue of what truths we believe.)

You need to be tolerant enough to let others hold their views about various biblical subjects without condemning them and excluding them from God’s family of Jesus’ followers. Oh, I’m not saying you need to believe exactly what others believe. But, please, do them the courtesy of “letting” them hold and espouse their views just as you do yours. Their views may be as true, authentic, legitimate and honest as yours. And I’m not talking about certain groups which are clearly cults—way outside the mainstream community of followers of Jesus.  

Each authentic group of Jesus’ followers (and each individual follower) has it’s own states of awareness and its own levels of understanding. Our spiritual awareness is based upon such factors as genetic makeup, lifetime conditioning, cultural biases, family traditions, who teaches us the Bible and why, and with what groups we are involved for fellowship and ministry. Do you readily see how each of us comes to various biblical subjects with different states of awareness and levels of understanding?

 Oh, we have the same God. The same Jesus. The same Holy Spirit. The same salvation through the shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The same Bible in most respects, but differing views, doctrines, and beliefs.  I want to share with you some different views about one controversial doctrine or view—the seventh foundation of our faith—Eternal Judgment. “But,” you ask, “how can there be differing views? Doesn’t there have to be just one view that’s the correct one?”  

The only way I can attempt to answer that without going into a lot of detail is with this simple illustration. The person, character, and nature of God is like that of a many-faceted diamond. It’s the same diamond, but there are many facets to it, each facet just a little different from the other facets. Yes, the same God, the same means of salvation, but differing perceptions of Eternal Judgment depending upon the vantage point from which we approach the subject.

 We each have different levels of understanding, different states of awareness, different “filter systems,” different reticular activating systems in our brains, different backgrounds, we come from different eras, we hold different understandings of the meanings of words. Yes, we have many, many types of differences—often leading us to differing conclusions about many matters.

Let’s have God be God, Jesus be the Savior, truth be truth, and Eternal Judgment be eternal judgment, but let’s recognize and acknowledge we don’t all hold the same views of how it all turns out in the end. As long as God, Jesus, Holy Spirit and the Bible are central to our understanding and personal experience, then whatever views we hold about Eternal Judgment are as legitimate as the views held by any other group of followers of Jesus.

 Here are the four prevailing views about Eternal Judgment held by the majority of Jesus’ followers for the past 2,000 years.  Yes, there are four major views about Eternal Judgment which followers of Jesus all over the world have held in one form or another and to one extent or another for 2,000 years. I’m going to be oversimplifying them and generalizing a little, but here’s a summary of those four views; I’ll bet you believe one of these four views:

  1. Authentic followers of Jesus die and go to heaven. Pre-followers of Jesus die and go to hell where they are punished for their sins by being burned “alive” and punished forever in the never-ending fires of hell.
  2. Authentic followers of Jesus die and go to heaven. Pre-followers die and go to hell which burns forever, but the pre-followers themselves don’t burn forever; instead, they are punished for their sins by being annihilated by the fires; they are destroyed and cease to exist. The fires of hell burn forever, but the people in hell don’t burn forever.
  3. When authentic followers of Jesus die, they first go to a separate, intermediate place of purging by fire before eventually going to heaven after their sins are purged out of them. During that purging process, any sin remaining in their lives when they died is burned out of them before they go to heaven. Pre-followers die and go to hell where they are punished for their sins by being burned “alive” and punished forever in the never-ending fires of hell.
  4. Authentic followers of Jesus die and go to heaven. Pre-followers die and go to the Lake of fire where they are punished for their sins. But, the fires of that Lake eventually purge their sins out of them, after which they then go to heaven. Their time spent in the Lake of fire is to refine, correct and rehabilitate sinners, not merely to destroy or torment them. When all the pre-followers in the Lake of fire have finally had all their sins burned out of them (no matter how long it takes, but not forever), they will be “transferred” to heaven, and hell’s “unquenchable” fires will then die out for lack of “fuel.”

 How in the world do well-meaning, rational, thoughtful, intelligent, serious followers of Jesus get four differing views about Eternal Judgment from the same Bible and, often, from the same references in the Bible? How can that possibly happen? Good question. I’ll attempt to answer that later, but first I want to examine what the four views have in common.  

First, all four views teach that authentic followers of Jesus die and go to heaven. One of them teaches they go there through an intermediate “step”: a place of purging. Okay, all four views are pretty close on that point, wouldn’t you agree?  Second, all four views teach that pre-followers go to hell (or the Lake of fire?) when they die. Okay, they’re still pretty much on the same sheet of music. All four are still pretty much in agreement.

Third, all four of the views believe that pre-followers are punished for their sin. All four viewpoints still remain pretty close to one another. So far, the four points are still somewhat the same.  Now the views begin to diverge, but two are still the same. Views 1 and 3 hold that pre-followers are punished “alive” and tormented forever. Hey, it’s amazing that so many people over 2,000 years of time can be in agreement on at least that much. Not a bad track record. Not bad at all.

The second part of viewpoint number 2 is even reasonably tolerable to those who hold viewpoints 1 and 3. Recently, some major religious periodicals and even some new books by widely respected Bible scholars have mentioned that views 1, 2, and 3 are closer to each other than they are far apart. Many of those who hold viewpoint number 1 have even been talking the last few years about fully accepting into their fellowship some of those who hold viewpoint number 2. That’s good. They’re talking to each other and coming to some agreement. They wouldn’t even have considered doing so a generation ago, but lately there’s been some open and meaningful dialogue between representatives of the two viewpoints.

Where does that leave us now? Viewpoints 1, 2, and 3 are reasonably close to one another. The first part of viewpoint 4 agrees with the first three views. It’s that second portion of viewpoint 4 which creates difficulties. But even at that there are some biblical scholars who have written books lately in an attempt to bridge that final gap. The gap is not completely bridged, but people are at least talking about their differences without shouting and calling one another heretics.

 Well, having written all that, let’s go back now and examine the actual words “Eternal Judgment” in Hebrews 6: 2, a basic biblical text on this subject. Almost all modern English versions of the Bible use those two words: “eternal” and “judgment.” The differences in awareness between the various viewpoints lie in how those words are translated, interpreted, and understood. Whenever we read and study the Bible, we must always consider translation, interpretation, and understanding!

In terms of translation, the Greek word for “eternal” is aionios which comes from the root word, aion, which is where we get the English word “eon,” meaning an extremely long, indefinite period of time—but not never-ending. The word can be perceived that way, or it can be perceived as “eternal” in the usual sense of that word—unending time. It can be translated “age-lasting” or “eon-lasting,” or it can be translated “eternal,” meaning forever and ever and ever without an end.

It’s perfectly legitimate to translate it either one of those ways.  It can be interpreted as “lasting for eons of time,” or “lasting for unending time.” It can be understood as enduring for a long period of time—eons of time, which will end at some point in the future. Or, it can be understood as never-ending time: forever, which will never end.  Each of those opposing views about the translation of aionios, its interpretation, and how it’s understood—each view is legitimate and “correct” depending upon it’s proponents’ backgrounds, teachings, and underlying beliefs. Yes, both views are correct, and neither are incorrect.

I  believe (from what you understand of the Bible) that people who die as pre-followers will be punished for their sins by burning forever, you’ll hold to one translation, interpretation, and understanding of “eternal” as being correct.

On the other hand, if you believe (again, from what you understand of the Bible) that people who die as pre-followers will be punished for their sins, but only for as long as it takes to cleanse their sins from them in the fires—not necessarily forever—then you’ll believe another translation, interpretation, and understanding of “eternal” as being correct.  Are you following me so far?

I didn’t ask if you agree or disagree, only if you’re following my train of thought so far. I’m not asking you to either agree or disagree with one or the other of the two views. After all, that’s what the controversy is all about. Likely, you already hold one of those views.  Now let’s examine the word “judgment” in Hebrews 6: 2. In the Greek language the word is krima. In the New Testament, krima is translated variously into English as “condemnation,” “damnation” and “judgment,” depending on the context. “Judgment” is a good translation in Hebrews 6: 2. Not much disagreement over that.

But we also need to look at the interpretation and the understanding of the word, “judgment,” just as we looked at the translation, interpretation, and understanding of the word “eternal.” Judgment can be interpreted as having a number of meanings, depending on the context in which it is used. It can mean a legal decision or sentence handed down by a judge. It can mean an obligation resulting from a court order. It can mean the ability to form opinions about a matter, as in “He used good judgment.” Finally, it can mean wise understanding or rational good sense. In the Bible, in many instances the word “judgment” does not necessarily equate with “punishment” or “destruction.”

What about one’s understanding of the word? If you believe (from what you understand of the Bible) that judgment means a final sentence given by God, the Judge, for someone to be punished forever you’ll understand it to mean one thing. If you believe (again, from what you understand of the Bible) that God’s righteous judgment decrees a lengthy rehabilitative or corrective sentence—but does not necessarily mean punishment lasting forever, you’ll understand this scenario to mean something different. It’s like someone being sentenced to punishment in the “prison of Hell,” but eventually being released from prison after a lengthy period of rehabilitation.

I invite you to read another teaching on this website that might throw some light on the matter of God’s judgment: Justice and Judgment

Okay, where are you in your translation, interpretation, and understanding? If you believe that pre-followers of Jesus will die and burn in hell forever, you’re right. If you believe they’ll die and burn in hell only for correction leading to rehabilitation, you’re right. If you believe they’ll go to a hell which burns forever, but they will be burned up or annihilated, you’re right.  It all boils down to those three simple processes: translation, interpretation, understanding.

None of those three basic positions I’ve just mentioned in the paragraph above can be “proved” conclusively like certain phenomena can be proved scientifically. It just can’t be done. Oh, you may feel your view is proved conclusively to you and to those who hold the same view, but it really isn’t provable to others in the true, scientific sense of the word “prove.”

Science can prove the law of gravity. It can prove laws of velocity or electrical or thermonuclear matters. It can prove laws governing flight. It can prove many things in the physical or material universe. But we cannot prove—or disprove—with the same conclusiveness and finality—any of the four major viewpoints about Eternal Judgment. You can’t do it. I can’t do it. God will have the final word on the matter of eternal judgment.  At some point in the future, God will wrap up this entire disputed and misunderstood matter of eternal judgment to his satisfaction, not ours. I like the way one version of the Bible seems to address God’s final goals for all humankind in 1 Corinthians 15: 24 – 28. Read that a half dozen or so times in a few different versions of the Bible. I especially like the way The Living Bible puts it.

I’ve presented you the four different views held about a very controversial biblical subject. You decide which one you believe, but remain open and willing to move into new realms of truth, awareness, and understanding as God gives you enlightenment. Love God. Accept his great love for you through the saving, reconciling work of Jesus on your behalf. Trust him. Allow him to live his life in you, through you, and as you. Let God have the final word about this thorny subject, and in the meantime, try not to be judgmental of other followers of Jesus who don’t hold the same viewpoint you do.

One major struggle throughout the centuries of humanity living on planet earth is for God to free our souls (minds) from narrowmindedness and shortsightedness. God is still waiting for us to take the shackles off our minds and see Him without limitations. He is still waiting for us to see Him as He is—Jesus the Magnificent, Jesus the Conqueror, Jesus the Coming King, Jesus the “Giant,” Jesus the Everlasting Father, Jesus the Wonderful Counselor, Jesus the Coming Prince of Peace, Jesus the Wonder of the Ages of Time and Eternity!  

We’re still on the subject of Eternal Judgment or Judgment of the Ages of time in Hebrews 6. I just shared with you the four, major prevailing theories about the subject. And, they are theories! What’s a theory? It is a speculative idea about how something might happen or about how an event might occur; it’s an idea that hasn’t been proved yet. Unless and until one of those four theories actually happens—unless and until one of them is “proved” by actually occurring in space and time, they remain only theories.

 As much as you may believe your view is the correct view—as much as I may believe mine is the correct one, they are not . . . not until one of them (or perhaps a combination of them—or maybe even something altogether different than what any of us expect) actually happens! Yes, only when eternal judgment actually begins to take place will we know the reality and truth of the experience. Until then, no matter how much we believe we can “prove” one of the views from the Bible, all four of them remain only theories . . . until eternal judgment happens.

Until God wraps up this epoch of the human drama by means of eternal judgment, the four theories must remain theories: viewpoints, speculations, ideas, conjectures, suppositions, opinions, or beliefs. But none of the four theories can yet be “proved” as being irrefutable, undeniable fact!  That’s why we need to be tolerant of other views which might not be the same as the ones we hold and espouse. We must accept other people as being authentic followers of Jesus—even though they may hold a particular view or belief contrary to what we believe.

A person is a follower of Jesus solely because the living Lord Jesus lives in her or him in the unbodied form of Holy Spirit, not because of what the person believes about eternal judgment, or the judgment of the ages. Please learn to accept the fact that other followers of Jesus don’t necessarily believe everything exactly as you do. That’s just the nature of who we are as humans and as followers of Jesus.

 In the Body of Jesus, there is glorious unity in diversity and magnificent diversity in unity!

One final thought and that’s all I’ll teach at this time about eternal judgment as the seventh foundation of our faith. Eternal judgment is based upon righteous, divine justice—the justice of God. (see Genesis 18: 25) Generally speaking, when we humans think of justice or judgment we think about punishment, vengeance, and retribution. Unlike those human concepts, God’s justice and judgment as taught throughout the Bible is predicated upon his all-knowing righteousness and mercy, and flows from God’s all-encompassing love and Jesus’ perfect and complete sacrifice for all persons.

God’s justice is continually working out all things for every person’s highest good. So . . . be open. Be tolerant. Accept fresh enlightenment. Let’s not rule out possibilities beyond our own finite, limited understanding and comprehension. Trust God to work out all things according to his specific plans and purposes for all humankind.  In English, the word “judgment” often has negative implications as we mentioned above. But, it is not so in the biblical Hebrew and Greek languages. In the Bible, judgment—when it’s specifically about God’s judgment—is how He runs the entire universe—including all humankind—in a righteous, fair, equitable, and just manner, ultimately resulting in a “right state of affairs” and restoration for his entire creation—including all humankind.

I will share with you this one final thought about judgment; it might give away my own position, but here it is: God’s judgment is never about destruction or punishment; it is about ultimately setting everything right!

Ok, let’s move on from there and attempt to tie together the teaching about the seven foundations of our Christian faith as noted in Hebrews 6. We started out by my stating that Hebrews 5: 11 – 6: 2 is the only reference I can find in the entire Bible in which God categorically lists the basic foundational truths all of us need to know before we can go on to advanced teaching.  I’m going to take a few moments right now and just sort of work through that reference in Hebrews 5: 11 – 6: 2, paraphrasing and amplifying the verses, explaining them, and summarizing them a little as we move along. I know you can read them for yourselves, but I thought this approach might shed a little more light on the passage.

 The reference begins by stating “There are some truths which are hard to explain to certain people because they haven’t disciplined themselves to listen well with their inner ears of the spirit; they have become lazy listeners. They just don’t work very hard at the business of learning spiritual truths and becoming full-grown sons and daughters of God.  The life of the follower of Jesus is a highly disciplined life; one cannot be spiritually lazy and expect to grow and mature as a follower of Jesus. It just doesn’t work that way. It’s true we don’t have to work to become a follower of Jesus. But to become a full-grown son or daughter of God—after one has become a follower of Jesus—does take discipline and a lifetime of strenuous spiritual exercise.

It’s unfortunate that so many followers of Jesus have remained spiritual babies or infants because those persons could be teaching others and helping others to grow and mature in Christ. Because such persons are spiritually lazy, they keep having to re-learn the foundations of their faith over and over again, never quite grasping their clear meaning or making those seven foundations an integral and intrinsic part of their lives. They keep requiring baby bottles and baby food instead of solid food.  Such persons don’t ever seem to grow spiritually, remaining mere infants—unskilled, inexperienced . . . always talking spiritual baby talk and living “baby” lifestyles. They should be eating solid, spiritual food, growing up, and teaching others, but, instead, they’re still unable to tell the basic differences between what is good and what is evil.  Remember, I’m paraphrasing these verses in Hebrews . . .

Grow up and get on with your spiritual lives and your spiritual growth. Move on to solid food. Learn—really learn—the foundations of the faith. Digest them. Let them become a vital part of who you are as a growing, vital Jesus-believer. If you’ll do that once and for all, then you can proceed to advanced teaching. Then you will be in a position to teach other people the foundations of the faith, too, so that, together, we can all proceed to advanced teaching which will cause us, finally, to become mature, responsible followers of Jesus. That’s what God wants: full-grown daughters and sons who eat solid food, not sons and daughters who remain spiritual babes and infants all their lives”.

Well, that’s sort of a condensed, amplified and expanded version of a commentary and paraphrase of Hebrews 5: 11 – 6: 2. I hope that’s served to shed a little more light upon what I’ve been teaching for 50+ pages of text.  Now, let’s simply list those seven Foundations of our Faith one final time: (1) Repentance (changing our minds), (2) Abandoning dead works. (3) Faith toward God. (4) Baptisms (plural). (5) Laying on of hands. (6) Resurrection from the dead. (7) Eternal judgment. Okay, have you got them? If I gave you a “pop quiz” right now, could you list them without having to look them up? Can you give a brief definition of each of the seven? Can you briefly explain them to a new or infant follower of Jesus? Can you find them in your Bible?

Are you experiencing each of the seven foundations of your faith (except for the seventh one, of course)? Do you daily practice those that need to be lived out in your life? Are they part of who you are as a child of God? Have you experienced each of the baptisms? Do you continually change your mind (repent) as God brings matters to your attention that need changed in your life? As God points them out to you, are you continually abandoning dead works and practicing live, vital, good works, instead? Do you practice laying on of hands? Do you live by means of faith as well as by means of your senses and reason? Are you experiencing your new resurrection life in Jesus?

 If you can answer “Yes” to questions such as those, then my teaching has not been in vain; I’ve fulfilled my responsibilities as a teacher. I congratulate you upon your completion of this lengthy teaching. You’ve been a good student. I appreciate you. Now you can proceed to advanced teaching. You can now move on to maturity and wholeness (holiness) in Jesus. You’ve built a good, solid foundation for your Christian life.

In closing, I want to share with you just a few other references about foundations found at various places in the Bible.

 Here’s the first one, Psalms 11: 3: “If we don’t build our lives on a solid foundation what can [God-believers] do or what can they ever hope to accomplish?!”  Proverbs 10: 25: “When the tornadoes of life sweep down upon us, they carry away the wicked, but those who have God’s righteousness have an everlasting foundation.”  1 Timothy 6: 19: “We need to build our lives on a solid foundation for our future, so that we may have God’s very own LIFE for all the ages of time and, later, in the eternal state of being.”  2 Timothy 2: 19: “But the firm foundation laid by God stands sure and unshaken, bearing this inscription: ‘The Lord Knows Those Who Are His.’ Let everyone who belongs to God depart from wrongdoing.”  I encourage you with all my heart to build your life solidly upon the only sure foundation to be laid throughout all time and eternity, the Lord Jesus!

Bill Boylan
leservices38@yahoo.com

Revised and updated March 2023

Soldiers Training Manual

For

God’s “Prayer Warriors”

Terms and Rules of Enemy Engagement

Our Arsenal of Major Weapons of Our Warfare

“Know Your Enemy” is a concept taught in a book entitled The Art Of War, written 2,700 years ago by a famed Chinese military general named Sun Tzu. This ancient book is still studied in our United States military academies and war colleges. It simply means that in warfare we must learn as much as we can about our enemy’s basic character, mission, strategies, preferred tactics, and battle plans in order to defeat him. We must always correctly identify our enemy and his tactics before engaging him in battle. If we fail to do so, we can easily lose any battles.

Many battles throughout history have been lost because they were fought against the wrong enemy or against an enemy about whom not enough was known. To truly know our enemy is to know both his weaknesses and his strengths. Strengthen yourself in Jesus (Philippians 4: 13) to experience his inner strength, and—from that position of strength—prepare to strike at our enemy’s weaknesses. To tackle and defeat any enemy, in some respects we must learn to think like the enemy. Simply put, our task is to thwart the enemy’s advances and force his retreat.

 I hope the thoughts and references in this Soldiers Training Manual will help you know our enemy better. Do not foolishly presume to begin any battle without first assessing the strength of our adversary. Find out all you can know about our enemy: his character, his “fighting style,” his tactics, his troop strength, his “equipment,” his “field of battle,” his plans for offensive and defensive action, etc.  That’s just good battle planning on your part. Learn and know all you can about our enemy, for he is a formidable warlord. Yes, you must learn the rules of war; the first rule to learn about war is that there are no rules—at least as far as our enemy is concerned.

[NOTE: I want to point out that this is a t-r-a-i-n-i-n-g manual. Please don’t simply read it and then forget it. It’s designed to be much like a brief correspondence course you might take or like a training manual at your place of employment.

 Please, please, use it for t-r-a-i-n-i-n-g: study it, refer to it often, take notes. If you’re not going to study it and trust Holy Spirit to teach you about how to engage in prayer-warfare, then don’t bother even reading this Manual.]

Okay, let’s continue . . . Beyond simply knowing your enemy, I hope the thoughts you find in this Soldiers Training Manual help in some way to train you to engage in the battle itself; even the bravest and most knowledgeable of soldiers must be trained. Our enemy is a master at warfare and, unfortunately, many Jesus believers, brave though they may be, are often untrained and ill-equipped to engage our enemy in battle.

 I encourage you to study this Manual with even more intensity than the men who studied the maps of Iwo Jima before our troops hit the beaches of that Pacific island during World War II. To live in ignorance or deny that we are engaged in actual prayer warfare with our spiritual enemy is the most naïve and dangerous thing a follower of Jesus can do. This Soldiers Training Manual is based solidly upon what the Bible—taken as a whole—teaches about our enemy, Satan.

 I know it is human nature to first read through all the written text in this Manual and then—maybe—look up the biblical references I have cited near the end of this Manual—maybe. Actually, it is human nature to read only the written text and then completely neglect looking up all the biblical texts I have cited. But I tell you truly, you will not learn what God really wants you to learn from this Manual unless and until you look up all the biblical texts, put them together as a whole, and then form your own conclusions about the truthfulness of what I’ve written in this Manual.

Do not simply take my word for what I have written; look up the biblical texts! If you do not, you will lose any “power” God wants to give you through his written Word; God’s power is not transmitted through my written words, only through His Written Word, the Bible . . . The Bible, God’s Word (not my faulty, limited human words) is one of the three offensive weapons in your arsenal—along with prayer and faith.

Fear Not!

 At the very beginning of this Soldiers Training Manual, I want to encourage you in one matter right “up front”: Do not be afraid of our enemy and his minions! God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power . . .!” (2 Timothy 1: 7). Fear of our enemy is nonsense. Fear of demons is foolish. With the Spirit of the Living God in us, we are impregnable to the powers of darkness. You know your Bible: “Greater is Holy Spirit in us, than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4: 4) The overwhelming “almighteousness” of God flows in and through us—as Jesus in his unbodied (non-corporeal) form of power-full Holy Spirit!

 All we need to do in battle with our enemy is maintain, live, and “walk in” the abiding consciousness of triumph, the awareness of victory, the power of mastery over our enemy. He is already a defeated foe, and in and through our Lord Jesus we already have the victory! We battle with Satan from the position he is already a defeated foe, and we already have victory through Jesus. Please understand that important fact at the very beginning of your study of this Manual. Fear Not! Actually, we’re not so much engaged in full-fledged battles as we are in “mopping up operations” after the battles. The Battle has already been won by Jesus!

Having said that, please remember that during our mortal lives here on planet earth all of our journeys all too often have some dark places we must pass through. We are wounded. We bleed. We suffer. It is the price we pay to remain alive during our earthly pilgrimages in order to engage in battle with our enemy. Our mortal, earthly pilgrimages are often accompanied by pain as well as pleasure. The more we love and live, the more we might suffer. Just because our battles are prayer-battles doesn’t mean they are not real; we are engaged in real battles!

The wounds we suffer in prayer-battles are in some ways more ugly than those that occur in an earthly soldier’s firefight. To lose a leg is nothing compared to losing heart; to be crippled by shrapnel need not destroy your soul or spirit, but to be crippled by shame, embarrassment, and unknowing may. You will be wounded by our enemy. He knows the wounds of your past, and, as you engage in prayer-battle with him, he will try to wound you again in the same places. But these wounds are different; these are honor-wounds.

There is no equivalent now for a Purple Heart for a prayer-warfare, but there will be one. One of the most humbling moments that await us will come at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. Jesus will rise from his throne and begin to call those forward who were wounded in prayer-battle for his Name’s sake and they will be honored, their courage rewarded.  

This is the “Calvary Road” of sacrifice Jesus calls us to trod with Him, “sacrificing” ourselves in prayer for others just as He sacrificed Himself for us. Great love requires great courage in battle. We will be wounded. Some might die untimely deaths, knowing full well nothing is really untimely with God. But Fear Not! At the end of our journey . . . at the end of our brief pilgrimage . . . at the end of the day . . . We win! The Battle is not ours’, but the Lord’s!

There is an agelong struggle between God’s followers and the powers of the evil one. This calls us to a commitment to steadfast battle, a mixture of victories with setbacks, but a consummate triumph at Jesus’ return to earth. He will return as He promised! In the meantime, as we engage in battle with the enemy, we will make intermittent gains mixed with some setbacks and retreats.  That’s just the way it is as we live our mortal lives during our earthly pilgrimage, but we will be victorious in the end: through his virgin birth, through his sinless life, through the cruel death on the cross, through the Resurrection of Jesus, through his ascension, through his present ministry, through the inner empowerment of Holy Spirit, through Jesus’ coming again in glorious victory!

Know Our Enemy

The first thing we need to learn are all the names and titles of our enemy. The listing below discloses ALL the names and titles of our enemy found in the Bible. They clearly reveal and disclose that he is the invisible, quintessence and personification of evil; he is consummate evil; his battle tactics lie behind and motivate much (not all) human evil. Yet—because humans have a measure of so-called free will—no human can ever claim “the devil made me do it,” a very popular expression in our society not long ago.

The following names and titles fully disclose our enemy’s character, mission, strategies, tactics, personality, and motives; remember, in many cultures one’s name or title discloses much about who the person really is—a person’s name is what that person is really like:

 Satan. Serpent. Dragon. Murderer. Tempter. Lion. Father [originator] of Lies. Deceiver. Ruler of this World. Accuser of Jesus believers. Prince of the Power of the Air. Devil. Beelzebub [a pagan deity whom the Jews ascribed supremacy among evil spirits]. Thief. Adversary. Seducer. god of this age (or world). Destroyer. Killer. Strong Man. Ruler of Demons. Wicked One. Evil One. Belial [lawless one]. Slough Foot. (Did you catch that last one? I just threw that in to see if you were alert about what you’re reading! It’s not in the Bible. It’s an expression an old friend of mine uses to describe Satan . . . )

Yes, our enemy’s names and titles readily reveal and disclose who he truly is—what he’s actually, unequivocally like. Dear reader, our enemy is literally and unquestionably a dark, dark being—much like the Darth Vader character in the Star Wars movies, but exponentially much darker in character and nature. He is subtlety itself—keen, vigilant, and tireless, having many resources. But . . . he very often overreaches himself greatly, sometimes not remembering that the High King of Heaven bends all purposes to his own, working through all things evil to turn the ends of all things back to good and to God Almighty!

 Please understand Satan is a vulnerable and fallible created being. He is not God! His limited power does not even begin to approach or equal that of Almighty God. He does make mistakes. He cannot see the “big picture” as only God can. There is no great, timeless, cosmic battle being waged between Satan and God, with the final outcome somehow in question! The real battle—the titanic battle—is between humans (empowered by Holy Spirit) and Satan.  At the very outset of engaging in battle with our enemy, one danger we face is that our enemy can very cleverly masquerade as just the opposite of his dark nature; he and his minions often masquerade as “angels of light”! (2 Corinthians 11: 14)

You see, that’s why sin, wrongdoing, and transgression appear so enticing and have such an appeal to our five senses. Our enemy takes what is actually “dark” and extremely harmful to us, and makes it appear to be “bright” and delightful and good for us, just like he caused that “forbidden fruit” in the Garden of Eden appear to be desirable and pleasant to the five senses of Adam and Eve. (Genesis 3: 6)

 Satan very skillfully makes sin, wrongdoing, autonomy, rebellion, and independence from God appear very enticing and delightful to the five senses! When people believe his enticing lies, they mistakenly choose to become radically autonomous, independent, and separate from God! Since the creation of humanity, most people have believed Satan’s lies that they can live full, complete, and satisfying lives without a vital “connection” and ongoing relationship with the Living God Who created them.  The enemy commander is a created, invisible, unbodied, spirit being with no face or form—as are all evil, unclean spirits—demons, his soldier-minions. They are living phantasms—wraiths.

They cannot be present everywhere at one time, they are not all-powerful, they are not all-knowing—as only God is. They are sovereignly limited by God in all their activities; they are “on a leash,” so to speak, and can only go so far as God permits. They were specifically created to be that way. A reading of the first two chapters of the Old Testament Book of Job readily discloses valuable “military intelligence” in that regard.

Satan and his minions cannot move forward and backward in time, nor can they see into, nor predict, the future—as only God can do; they are bound to the present just as we humans are. Satan and his minions are not prescient. They cannot be everywhere at once, as only God can be. But, it seems they do have a very sophisticated, almost instantaneous, worldwide “communications system.” They cannot read the thoughts of humans, as only God can do.  

They definitely cannot anticipate the tactics of God and his Spirit-directed and empowered sons and daughters. However, I am quite certain they are extremely skilled at reading all human body languages and all other nuances of human behavior; they cannot read our minds and our thought-lives. But, they certainly can hear what we speak and pray aloud. Watch what you say!

The cartoon-like caricatures of the devil in a red suit with horns, a long forked tail, and a pitchfork are imaginative, childish nonsense. No one but God and Jesus have ever “seen” him as he really is, although throughout church history, various people claim to have seen what appear to be apparitions of Satan and demons; how can an artist who hasn’t seen him dare presume to paint pictures of him? For example, just this evening I watched on television a preview for a new horror movie about demons. It portrayed an ugly-looking demonic beast attacking an unsuspecting human. Where did the artist get his ideas about how a demon looks? From medieval artistry, tradition, and mythology! Satan and his demons are invisible to humans. Period!

Two Worlds In Conflict

 Without going into a lot of detail (rather, just a little information to sort of whet your appetite to learn more about the matter), I want to mention this: not only are our enemy commander and his minions themselves invisible, they live and move and have their being in a dimension which is invisible, too, but in many respects more real than the natural, material, physical domain in which we live. The Bible clearly teaches that we live our brief, mortal lives here in “ShadowLand” or “DarkWorld” which is only a dim, murky, opaque, physical and material reality perceived by our five senses compared to the very real, but eternal and invisible domain in which God, angels, Satan, and demons live.

ShadowLand is a place of ruined glory. Here where we live and move and have our mortal being is only a dim shadow of what it ought to be. It is only a shadow of heaven, a shadow of itself, where we often find ourselves longing for the True Light which shines very dimly here. We know instinctively that we do not belong here, that we belong in a Better Place—a place of Light—for which our hearts cry out for release, for restoration, for homegoing.

 T. S. Eliot once wrote, “We shall never cease from our explorations, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive at where we started . . . and know the place for the first time.” Yes, we all journey toward our True Home which we once left. Again, as T. S. Eliot once stated: “I have had a tremor of bliss, a wink of heaven, a whisper, and I would no longer be denied; all things proceed to a Joyful Consummation.” That “Joyful Consummation” is found in 1 Corinthians 15: 24 – 28. In the Greek language, the “end” (telos) in the 24th verse is “the final consummation.”

 If I were to ask you to turn to the end of the Bible, you would most likely turn to Revelation 22. Actually, that is not the end of the Bible. No, 1 Corinthians 15: 24 – 28 is the true “end” of the Bible. That is the final—the Joyful—consummation of all things! Just as Malachi is really not the end of the Old Testament. No, the Old Testament actually “ends” with the Book of 2 Chronicles. All the remaining books of the Old Testament actually “fit” within the chronology of the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, the latter being the true “end” of the Old Testament.

In contrast to where we live in ShadowLand, I call that dimension in which God, Satan, and demons live RealRealm. I’m not writing about some science fiction figment of the imagination, but of a very real, literal realm which we simply cannot perceive with our five senses—and which we do not know a great deal about. RealRealm is a “place” of scintillating, bright Unseen Things which cast shadows here. It is a place of AngelSpeak, where Morning Stars sing together: where all of RealRealm and the entire created universe resonate together in unimaginable harmony of Music beyond music.

One example of the brightness of RealRealm is when Jesus was transfigured on the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus gleamed with the glory of RealRealm. His clothes were shining, glistening, and exceedingly white. His countenance was bright, streaming forth the Light of Heaven. (Mark 9: 2 – 13; Luke 9: 28 – 36). For some of Jesus’ disciples, it was just a brief glimpse into RealRealm.

Occasionally, humans today get a “glimpse” into that domain by means of visions, “angelic visitations,” or when that “great cloud of witnesses” spoken of in Hebrews 12 “draws near” to earth, but we simply don’t know very much about that realm . . . well, because we can’t see it . . . After all, for humans “Seeing [relying on our five senses] is believing.”   Satan is the NightBringer who has brought deep spiritual darkness to ShadowLand. By contrast, Jesus is the LightBringer Who has stepped out of the scintillating white light of eternal RealRealm—through GreatGate—to bring true spiritual Light to mortal ShadowLand. The Bible and the Holy Spirit are that true spiritual Light.

From where we live in ShadowLand, the Bible alone is GreatGate that lets us “see” into or “connect” with RealRealm. Still, even with the Bible, we see only murky glimpses into that Realm. Here are just a few biblical references that refer to that invisible domain: Romans 1: 20; 2 Corinthians 4: 18; Colossians 1: 15 and 16; 1 Timothy 1: 17; and Hebrews 11: 27.

 If you’re interested in knowing more about the overall subject of both literal and spiritual light, I invite you to read one of our companion teachings on this web site: Let There Be Light.

Behind the Scenes

 Let me furnish you just one example (among many!) found in the Bible of what goes on “behind the scenes,” so to speak, in RealRealm; what really goes on in that invisible realm where the real battles need to be fought. For example, it’s one of the reasons why Paul prayed in Ephesians 1: 18 that our “inner eyes” of faith would be opened so we could really “see” into RealRealm—see what’s really going on behind the scenes.

Here’s just one example of a biblical glimpse behind the scenes into RealRealm. In finite, historical time and space, when Jesus was born in a cave-stable on the outskirts of the village of Bethlehem, anyone just passing by and glancing in at that scene would have observed what appeared to be a normal human birth—a young woman giving birth to a male son. That’s how it would have appeared to an observer here on earth in finite time and space. But here’s what it seems likely was really going on behind the scenes in infinite RealRealm, in that unseen world:

                   Now a great wonder appeared in heaven [in RealRealm]; a woman [Mary] clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a tiara of twelve stars. She was pregnant and she cried out in her birth pangs, in the anguish of delivering her baby [Jesus].

          And another wonder was seen in heaven. There was a huge, fiery-red dragon [Satan], with seven heads and ten horns, and seven kingly crowns upon his head. His tail swept across the sky and dragged down a third of the stars and flung them to earth. And the dragon stationed himself in front of the woman who was giving birth so that he might kill the baby as soon as it was born. [Remember King Herod’s attempts to kill the young child, Jesus? That attempt was orchestrated by Satan behind the scenes.]

          And the woman gave birth to a male son who is destined to rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her newborn baby was caught up to God and his throne . . .   Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels went forth to battle with the dragon, and the dragon and his minions fought, but they were defeated. And there was no longer any room for them in heaven. And that huge dragon was cast down and out of heaven. He was that age-old serpent who is called the Devil and Satan—who deceives and seduces all humanity; he was forced out and down to the earth, and all his minions with him . . .

          Then the dragon was enraged with the woman and he went away to wage war against the rest of her offspring [believers in Jesus]—those who obey God’s commands and hold fast to the testimony of Jesus.” (Revelation 12: 1 – 5, 7 – 9, and 17)

I don’t pretend to understand even a small part of that brief biblical glimpse into RealRealm, nor will I make a futile attempt to explain it to you. Nor will I argue with anyone who believes that it’s actually part of a future, “end-time” scenario in ShadowLand, having nothing at all to do with Jesus’ human birth in Bethlehem.  All I want you to see is a little bit of what might have been going on behind the scenes in infinite, eternal RealRealm when Jesus was born in finite, historical space and time. Friends, we are battling against an unseen, invisible foe.

3 Weapons In Our Arsenal

Our major weapons against this rather formidable foe are prayer; our skillful use of the Word of God, the Bible; and our faith.  The Bible, faith, and prayer help us see beyond the veil—GreatGate—that separates ShadowLand and RealRealm so we can better know our enemy. There are great and terrible forces from RealRealm at war against us in our world. Praise God that He allows us to see into that invisible world from time to time so we can know our enemy’s character, strategies, and tactics, and engage in victorious warfare against him and his minions! Through Jesus, the victory is ours! By means of our faith-sense we must learn to become extremely “sensitive” to dark beings and events which inhabit that invisible realm.

A Fourth Formidable Weapon

 There is another form or method of prayer that is all too often overlooked and not used. It is the power-full prayer weapon of “praying in the spirit.” (1 Corinthians 14: 14 and 15) Yes, it is a power-full weapon of warfare, but used by only a relatively few prayer warriors in light of the overall population of Jesus-believers. Why is that? It seems clear to me from my understanding of the Bible and common human experience that Satan has deliberately caused many followers of Jesus to look askance at this weapon, to feel it was “only for the early, first-century believers,” that it is no longer valid in our day and age, that is a “minor” gift of Holy Spirit that is too often abused and misused by “wild-eyed, holy roller” Pentecostal or Charismatic believers, etc.

 If I were Satan, I would certainly attempt to undermine the use of this weapon of praying in the spirit, making it appear to be a useless weapon—when, in fact, it is a very power-full weapon in our arsenal.  All I can say to you is that is a weapon available to any authentic Jesus believer who chooses to use it in prayer warfare. One doesn’t have to have some initial or introductory “ecstatic experience” in order to implement its use in one’s life. One simply needs to make a quality decision, an act of one’s will, to cooperate with Holy Spirit in its usage. However, often people first begin to use this gift after having had an experience called “The Baptism In The Holy Spirit.”

Holy Spirit who lives within the spirit of every follower of Jesus is perfectly willing to “operate” the gift of praying in the spirit from within any Jesus-follower. To pray in the spirit is to tap into invisible RealRealm and use AngelSpeak in one’s prayers—a pure, untainted, unspoiled heavenly language understood by God and angels, but not by Satan and his minions.  One other thought about prayer in general needs addressed herein, but I will not go into a great detail. It is the simple matter of the “power” of our spoken words as we are engaged in the process of prayer.

Let me state the matter simply and succinctly: Our spoken words can generate either life or death in others! The Bible is replete from Proverbs to James to Revelation about the power of our spoken words for good or ill. There are hundreds of biblical references about such matters. Let us be very careful with our use of words spoken aloud as we engage in prayer warfare for and on the behalf of others and as we speak with others about prayer matters.

 In every situation, when we open our mouths to speak aloud—at that instant in time we are faced with a decision which words to choose: words which will create life and beauty in ourselves and others. Or, words which will create death and ugliness in ourselves or others. Every situation. Every time we choose to speak aloud.  For more complete information about the use of our words, see our companion teaching on this web site entitled “Speak The Word.”  I state this as simply as I can: In prayer-warfare, our prayer must not be sussurant; it must be spoken out loud in order for Satan and his minions to hear what we are praying and proclaiming! It’s okay for non-warfare prayer to occur in our minds or thoughts (as subliminal speech) or sussurant, but warfare prayer must be boldly spoken aloud!

The Weapon Of Faith

Continuing on with our third weapon, faith (in addition to prayer and the Bible), please turn to a reference in your Bible, but not in the King James version; that version was written almost 400 years ago. English is a “living” language, which means the language is constantly changing and growing. In some respects, early 21st century English is much different from what it was in the early 1600’s. Having said that, please turn to your own Bible’s definition of faith. It is Hebrews 11: 1.

Here’s that definition of Hebrews 11: 1 in modern English: Faith is being confident of what we hope for—the evidence of the reality of phenomena we cannot perceive with our five senses. Let’s analyze that definition. Before we do, though, please turn to Romans 4: 18 – 21 and read that reference, too; it’s about Abraham’s faith being a “model” or “prototype” for our faith. It’s one of the Bible’s own examples of how faith “works.”

Notice that Abraham had given up hope by reason of his five senses, but he hoped by his faith-sense; he was confident—his faith did not weaken. He didn’t waver by unbelief or distrust, but was strong, enlightened and informed by faith to trust that God would keep his word and do what He had promised. That is why his faith was credited to his account as right standing with God. That’s just a little bit about what this reference teaches us about how our faith works. There’s more, much more . . .

From the instant you were conceived, everything you have ever learned or experienced has come to you through your five senses; think about that: besides your inherited genetic, biological being—your entire self-ness, your person-ness, your me-ness—that which makes you “you,” has all occurred as a result of data entering you from outside you by means of your five senses. Your five senses are how you primarily perceive all the data coming into you from your external world.

Yes, everything outside your skin comes to you through your five senses. In other words, by means of data entering you through your five senses you have “constructed” the person living inside your skin whom you call “me” (and whom others call “you”) out of the quadrillions and mega-quadrillions of bits of data you have received from outside your skin since the instant you were conceived. Of course, we must always take into account our biological and genetic heritage, too, when we’re considering how we each have developed as unique individuals.

Wait a minute, though, doesn’t the Bible’s definition (Hebrews 11: 1) say faith perceives as real fact what is not revealed to the five senses? Yes, it does say that. So where does faith come from? It comes from inside of us. Faith comes to us from God who lives inside of us in unbodied (non-corporeal) Spirit form.  For purposes of illustration at this point, let’s say that in manner of speaking faith is another “sense” (not the traditional sixth sense, however) that receives data from inside our skin rather than from outside our skin by means of our five senses.

The Bible says in Romans 12: 3 that God has given every human being a certain “measure” of faith as an unmerited, free gift. Ephesians 2: 8 and 9 addresses the same matter. You have a certain measure or degree of faith. I have a certain measure or degree of faith.  Everyone has faith. Another way of putting it is that God has given each of us an appropriate degree of faith. None of us can say we don’t have faith. Every human ever born has had an appropriate degree of faith. The important point about the faith each of us has is how we “use” our faith.

Holy Spirit who lives inside each of us “transmits” spiritual reality (by means of faith) to our “inner person” from the inside; this is in addition to our “outer person” physical and material reality which comes to us from the outside by means of our five senses.  There’s another way in which faith is transmitted to us, too. Yet, it originates from the same Holy Spirit who lives inside each of us. Faith also comes from the Bible. Look at Romans 10: 17.

Who caused the Bible to be written? Holy Spirit. So . . . faith originates from the Bible, too. As we read and study it—and obey it—Holy Spirit makes it real to us.  That’s how we know the Bible is the “Word of God,” not by means of our five senses, but by means of our greater, inner “sense”—faith! The Bible is unlike any other book ever written; it is actually the world’s only “living book” full of power, and is LIFE-giving as Holy Spirit uses it to “grow” and strengthen our faith. (see Hebrews 4: 12, especially in The Amplified Bible)

 Yes, from inside of us Holy Spirit makes the Bible come alive as we read, study, and obey it. He’s the one who causes the Bible to actually become vital and necessary “food” for our inner persons. (See Matthew 4: 4) He’s the One who causes the Bible to be more than mere paper and ink—as are all other books. By means of our faith-sense, the Bible is a power-full, living book Holy Spirit uses to help transform and “grow” our lives—and which He uses as a sharp, two-edged sword to help us do battle with our enemy.

Why do we need our faith-sense in addition to our five senses? We need faith because it is the only “sense” with which we see through GreatGate into the invisible dimension of RealRealm. For example, Hebrews 11: 6 says that whoever comes to God must believe God is.  Faith is the only means by which we believe God is and by which we can “see” into the invisible realm in which He lives. Empericists (people who believe all knowledge comes only from the five senses) teach that the five senses provide no evidence of God; they’re right: only by our inner faith-sense can we know God, Jesus, the Bible, and Holy Spirit!

 Education, empiricism, science, logic, reason, intellect, and philosophy—each of these has to do with the five senses, and they all have their places in God’s grand scheme of things for human life on planet earth. God created our five senses.  But our five senses cannot “find” God or “prove” He exists. Only by using our faith-sense can we believe God exists and believe the Bible to be God’s Word. Again, where do we get our faith in God? God who lives inside of us in the unbodied form of Holy Spirit freely gives each of us faith to believe He is. That’s the only way we can really know and experience a vital, living relationship with God.

You see, God is Spirit (John 4: 24). Anyone or anything which is “composed” of spirit cannot be perceived or known by the five senses—only by means of our faith-sense. That’s why we need the faith God has given to each of us; it’s the only means by which we can know Him. In addition to the Bible and prayer, faith is one of the connecting links (through GreatGate) between the material universe (ShadowLand) and the spiritual universe, the invisible Kingdom of God (RealRealm).

There is an entire, totally other, “alternate universe,” so to speak, known as the Kingdom of God (RealRealm). It is a Kingdom within us, and it is also a Kingdom outside of us: a Kingdom greater, larger, and more real than the physical or material universe we know by our five senses, but “small” enough to be within us, too. That unlimited, invisible Kingdom of God within and around us can be known and understood only by means of faith.

In addition to the Bible and our faith-sense, prayer is also the other GreatGate or connecting link through which we can enter and exit RealRealm from ShadowLand. It is the Bible “mixed” with prayer and our faith that allows us to see into the unseen, hear which cannot be heard with our physical ears, “taste” that which cannot be tasted, “touch” what cannot be touched, and experience that which we cannot experience with our five senses alone.

 As stated above, in our world and universe (ShadowLand)—which is a physical, material world and universe—we perceive everything by our five senses; we all grew up and live our mortal lives learning to rely almost 100% upon our five senses. Through our own life experiences, through our education, through our relationships with other people, we came to believe that if we can’t know or experience something with our five senses, it either doesn’t exist or isn’t real. We believe that if we can’t perceive something with our five senses then it isn’t real.

The challenge for us in doing battle with our enemy is that he and his minions cannot be known by our five senses in the same way we know and perceive most material reality. We haven’t been conditioned to trust our faith-sense like we’ve been conditioned to rely upon our five senses. It’s not that our faith-sense isn’t as real as our five senses; actually, it’s more real.  In many cases, we simply haven’t trained ourselves how to use our faith, rely upon it, exercise it, focus it—like we have done with our five senses.

When God dispenses the appropriate degree of faith to each of us, it comes to us at first in sort of a vague, diffused “form.” For most of us when we became new followers of Jesus, at first our faith is “weak,” unfocused, and undifferentiated. God wants us to exercise it and focus it toward Him and RealRealm. He wants us to train ourselves to use our faith properly.

Let me try to explain it this way. Light takes various forms. For example, light in a common household light bulb is unfocused; it’s called radiant light, meaning it radiates out from its source equally in all directions; it’s not focused in any manner. On the other hand, there is light such as laser light which is very narrowly focused into a compact, powerful beam which can be pointed or focused in a specific direction. God wants us to learn how to focus our faith like laser light—pointed specifically at Him. He doesn’t want our faith to spread out randomly in all directions (and thus be “weakened” and lose some of its “power”). Rather, He wants our faith to be narrowly and powerfully focused towards Him.

 We know a little about how our five senses function. We know a little about auditory nerves, olfactory lobes, tactile nerve endings, optical apparatus, taste buds, etc. But what do we know about how faith works and functions? More than you might think. How do we know? From the Bible. From Holy Spirit communicating to us from within us and showing us how to apply the Bible to our lives and how to wage prayer warfare.

For example, we have already pointed out that God gives each of us an appropriate degree of faith. The Bible teaches that we must “exercise” that faith just as we exercise our muscles and minds. We exercise our faith by “releasing” it and focusing it toward God: by believing in Him, trusting Him, praying to Him, obeying Him, “listening” to Him with our “inner ears,” seeing Him with our “inner eyes,” etc.  

As we exercise our faith in those ways, our faith is honed, sharpened, and focused; it becomes more use-able and more power-full. God becomes more “responsive” (in a sense) to our prayers, to our trust, to our use of our faith. Not that we manipulate God or that He is some sort of cosmic servant who responds to our every whim; no, nothing like that!  It’s just that as we open up our inner selves and use our faith more often and in a more focused manner, we become more and more aware of just how the entire, invisible, spiritual realm of faith operates. We become more aware of “spiritual laws” and how they operate in both ShadowLand and RealRealm, just as we have become aware by means of our five senses of how natural laws operate in the material universe.

Just as we read, study, experience, and learn more about our physical, material universe by “exercising” our five senses, we perceive and comprehend more and more about God and the non-physical, non-material, invisible, spiritual universe (RealRealm) by exercising our faith-sense. By our five senses we are aware of our connectedness with other people, with planet earth, with the material universe. In contrast, by our faith-sense we are aware of our connectedness with another universe—the limitless expanse of the Kingdom of God—which transcends the material universe and yet is within us.  So . . . we have the Bible, prayer, and our faith-sense to connect with RealRealm and engage in battle with our enemy.

Continuing with our disclosure about Satan and demons, It’s important for us to know that Satan is not able to create something out of nothing as only God can do. He is incapable of any truly creative act. Rather, he can only twist, disfigure, mar, and alter what is already present in any given circumstances, persons, or objects. Be wary of ascribing to our enemy miraculous creative powers that only the One, True and Living God possesses—especially in any fanciful, imaginative “end-time” scenarios your or others might fabricate without any factual basis in the Bible.

Continuing on, our enemy commander-in-chief and his minions are decidedly not “fallen angels” or dead humans who have somehow “morphed” into demonic beings—as a lot of fiction writing, television shows, and movies have deceived many humans into believing such fanciful notions about their origins. They were created “as is” to play specific parts in God’s sovereign, overarching, eternal plans and purposes for his entire creation—just as angels were created “as is” in the same manner and also for God’s eternal, sovereign purposes.

For a fuller disclosure of Satan’s origin, please see our companion teaching on this web site titled “Satan: From Beginning To End.”

 The enemy commander and his minions were totally disarmed and soundly defeated by Jesus at the cross-event (actually, perhaps at the time He was born, but that’s somewhat speculative . . . ), and we who are followers of Jesus are engaged in a military mopping up operation against them in order to prepare the earth for the Kingdom of God to be fully established and culminated at Jesus’ second coming as King of kings and Lord of lords. Again, in military terms, we are God’s Kingdom militia, using prayer—and skillfully wielding the Bible, and exercising our faith—as power-full offensive weaponry to give us present victories over our enemy and his soldier-minions.

In a sense, those who are prayer warriors . . . Bible warriors . . . faith warriors . . . are God’s Rangers, trained prayer warriors stealthily infiltrating behind the enemy’s lines, ranging time and space with the “eyes” of faith and “wings of prayer”; by faith, Rangers roam throughout ShadowLand, always protecting their loved ones and their churches. They covertly traverse the realm of the worldwide Church, keeping things safe from the assaults of the enemy; they furtively move through time and space in prayer, seeking “hot spots” where the enemy has assaulted individuals and churches, and striking at various weak spots of the enemy. Their “inner radar” is always on “scan,” seeking where they are needed by God to pray, to use their Bible-weapons, and exercise their faith. Rangers are mostly unknown, and certainly unheralded, by those whose lives they protect daily in prayer warfare.

The Ranger “award ceremony” will be held when Jesus returns in power and glory and unveils them to the world, heralding and honoring the “fighting” and suffering they have engaged in for Jesus through the centuries of time since Genesis 4: 26 when humankind (after Adam and Eve) offered up its first prayer toward God. (1 Corinthians 3: 12 – 15; Revelation 5: 8; 8: 3 and 4)

Prayer also leads the way to the ultimate destruction of our enemy’s kingdom of darkness at the victorious, second coming of Jesus. Our enemy has no power over us except that which God sovereignly permits and we knowingly or unknowingly relinquish to him. Since the enemy and his “soldiers” are spirit-beings, our most powerful weapons against them are ardent, triumphal prayer (and sometimes fasting); deftly and skillfully wielding aloud the Word of God, the Bible!; and faith by which we can “see” our enemy. Yet, in another sense, prayer-warfare is not so much a weapon as it is the very battle itself . . .

How To Wield The “Sword Of The Spirit”

 What exactly do I mean when I say we are to wield the Bible skillfully as an offensive weapon against Satan and demons? Let me give you one simple example. When I engage in prayer warfare, I often turn in my Bible (remember, the Bible is God’s power-full, super-natural LIFE-giving book!) and open it to specific references that seem to “fit” the matter about which I’m praying.  For example, let’s say I’m praying about a friend who is struggling with addiction to pornography. I will pray aloud something like this:

                    “God, cover me and protect me with Jesus’ blood as I pray right now. I put on your full armor. I take up the ‘sword of the Spirit,’ the Bible. [at this point, I might actually hold up the Bible or point to it, “getting right in Satan’s face,” so to speak].  I am relying upon the power of Holy Spirit who lives inside me. Satan, you are trying to destroy [Bob or Sam or whoever] with your temptation of pornography; I forbid you to do that. The Bible says in James 4: 7 [I’ll read the passage aloud] to resist you and you have to flee. I command you in the Name of Jesus cease trying to tempt [insert name]. You must flee from him; it says so right here in God’s Word. Satan, Jesus said in Luke 10: 19 [again, I’ll read the reference aloud] that I have power over you through Jesus; I tap into that power and tell you to leave [insert name] alone.

           I hereby break the power of your temptation. I banish you. Flee now. Leave [insert name] alone! Holy Spirit, now release your inner power from within [insert name] so he will be able to continue to resist temptation in that particular area of his life. Help him to memorize 1 Corinthians 10: 13 so he can successfully use it’s LIFE-giving power aloud to resist future temptation in this area of his life. I pray this in Jesus’ power-full and victorious Name!”

There you have it—just one simple example of how to wield the Bible aloud in prayer as an offensive weapon against Satan and his minions. Does this method of prayer warfare always work? Yes . . . sometimes. No . . . sometimes. But we must keep working at it . . . by faith, by use of the Bible, and by prayer.  Speaking of speaking aloud, in the next couple of paragraphs I will write something you may find either objectionable, weird, or theologically unsound, but at various times throughout my teaching career I’ve been labeled all three of those epithets, so I’m going to go ahead and write the following few paragraphs anyway . . .

 As soon as possible after I get out of bed every morning, I say OUT LOUD these words (or something similar—I don’t have them memorized or say them by rote) as part of my prayer-warfare strategy for the day: “Good morning, Holy Spirit! I turn total control of my life over to you for the next 24 hours; You are in absolute charge of my life today.”  Continuing on, I also say OUT LOUD: “Satan, I know you or one of your minions are listening; I place a hedge of protection around me, my family, and my loved ones [at this point I name out loud all my family and loved ones] for the next 24 hours; I place a ‘wall of fire’ around us. You cannot penetrate that hedge—that ‘wall of fire’—without God’s specific permission. I am surrounding us with God’s favor as a shield.” (Job 1: 9; Zechariah 2: 5; Psalm 5: 12)

 In addition, I also say OUT LOUD every morning: “Thank You, God for always being totally present with me. Thank You for sharing with me today your very own uncreated, self-existent, eternal, abundant LIFE with me today by living inside me in the unbodied form of Holy Spirit.  You are a good God who loves me deeply and always has my highest good in mind. Everything—all!—that will happen to me today will always be filtered through your eternal love for me. I love working with You in transforming and changing my life to become wholly (holy) complete in Jesus.”

Finally, I also say OUT LOUD every morning: “God I cast all of today’s burdens on you. I ask you to give ‘rest to my soul.’ I will live soaked in your supernatural peace all day today. I know You will be with me and in me all day today in the ‘unbodied ‘form’ of your Holy Spirit.” (Psalm 23: 3; John 14: 26 and 27; John 16: 33; Colossians 3: 15; 1 Peter 5: 7)

Returning to our general teaching about prayer, if our prayer should seem to “fail” on a given occasion, we must never let temporary failure discourage us from exercising prayer, the Bible, and faith in engaging in battle with our enemy. Temporary failure must not cause us to retreat; instead, it should cause us to advance on the battlefield.  If it becomes necessary to temporarily retreat, never retreat with any sign of fear! Never! Retreat as if you dare the enemy to pursue you. The ability to remain calm and at peace in the midst of both battle and retreat will, alone, make you a worthy prayer-soldier. God alone can give you such calmness and peace arising from Holy Spirit who lives within you.

 As we engage our enemy in warfare, we will often have questions about why certain things might be happening to us and to others for whom we pray . . . while we are praying. To answer such questions would take an entire other teaching. Suffice it to say that part of the answers to such questions is for us to always realize with steadfast certainty that God will never permit anything to happen to us or to others that is “against” our eternal wellbeing and our ultimate good—and that is not “filtered” through God’s timeless and eternal love for all humankind!

God cannot ever act apart from his eternal love and righteous, divine justice for all humanity, because his core character is Love, Goodness, and Divine Justice!  Psalm 119: 68 boldly proclaims that God is [always] good and never bad. And, all God does is good. Genesis 18: 25 asks the rhetorical question, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth execute fair and righteous judgment?” The answer is, “Yes, God always executes fair and righteous judgment.” If you hold fast to those certainties as you engage in battle with our enemy and his minions, through the power of the Living Lord Jesus within you, you will emerge victorious from the battle . . . Remember, God the Father has delegated to Jesus all power in heaven and on earth! (Matthew 28: 18)

Our good God—whose core character is love, goodness, and divine justice—has absolutely everything in his control, and there is absolutely nothing that is out of his control!  His eternal love and his righteous divine justice—tempered with mercy and grace—are the driving forces underlying everything He does throughout his vast creation. If those statements are not true, then God is not absolutely sovereign over the entire creation. If He is not absolutely sovereign over the entire creation, then He is not Almighty God!

The listing of biblical references toward the end of this Manual—they must be taken as a whole!—clearly teaches that Jesus has already defeated our arrogant, malevolent enemy and his warrior-minions and completely disarmed them. Further, they teach that Jesus has already “overcome the world,” the domain of our enemy. He has already invaded, overcome, defeated, and disarmed all the enemy’s “principalities, powers, strongholds, and dominions.”  

Yes, our enemy’s defeat and disarmament have already happened, but not yet . . . He has already been soundly defeated, but not yet completely . . . until Jesus returns in glory as victorious King of kings and Lord of lords. Our true Stronghold from which we emerge each day to do prayer-battle is our Omnipotent Redeemer, our Master, Jesus, our Impenetrable Fortress and the Rock of all Ages!

God’s Kingdom Is Here Now . . . But Not Yet

Let me explain the “already, but not yet . . . ” concept in the paragraph above in this manner. The Bible clearly teaches, for example, that followers of Jesus are already “complete in Christ.” (Colossians 2:10) Yet, the Bible also clearly teaches that we are not yet complete in Christ (2 Corinthians 13: 11)—that we must continue to grow and mature and become “complete” as believers. That is the concept of “already, but not yet . . . ” It is a paradox.

On the one hand, God, The Alpha and Omega who inhabits eternity, sees the beginning from the end (and everything in between), and from that perspective in eternity regards us as already complete in Jesus. Yet, in our day-to-day practical experiences in time and space “before” we arrive in the next age upon our resurrection when Jesus returns to earth, we are still growing into completed believers; we are not yet “complete” believers.

It is the difference between God’s infinite vantage point and perspective from the RealRealm of eternity (unlimited by time and space) and our finite perspective from where we live our present, mortal, limited lives in ShadowLand, limited by time and space. Thus it is with our enemy’s defeat: it is already complete, but not yet . . .   As to the principle of “already, but not yet” as it applies to the Kingdom of God, please refer to Colossians 1: 12 and 13 where we read that God has already delivered us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of Light.

 But . . . we are not yet fully entered into the Kingdom of Light until King Jesus victoriously returns in power and glory. At the present time—by means of prevailing prayer, skillful use of the Bible, and exercising our faith we are actually pitting God’s coming “world system” (the Kingdom of God) against the present world systems (the kingdoms of darkness) and their inherent worldviews which lie in the power of the evil one. However, God’s Kingdom is prevailing now . . . and will ultimately prevail!

The Kingdom of God is not something yet to be created and offered to humankind in the distant future. As long as God has been King over the created order, there has been a Kingdom of God “over” and “above” all creation. On the other hand, until the King—God the Son—personally returns and establishes His throne and dominion on this planet, from our ShadowLand perspective the fully realized Kingdom of God is in the future. Yet, in another sense the Kingdom of God is always “parallel” to this world’s governments—including Satan’s “government.” And the Kingdom of God is presently within us who are new-creation sons and daughters of the King.

 The Kingdom of God is always both present and prospective (future). God is now restoring humankind in two areas of our lives: our relationship with God, and the rulership of God. The Kingdom is being realized now—presently—in both partial and personal ways as it is spread through all the earth by the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through the Church and its individual prayer warriors. But . . . the Kingdom will be realized finally in consummate and conclusive ways only at the return of Jesus and his Kingdom reign over all the earth. What little we experience of his triumph now, in part, will be fully experienced at his coming.  

Jesus said there is “violence” in the agelong process of bringing God’s Kingdom fully to earth. (Matthew 11: 12) What did He mean by that? He meant that the Kingdom of God makes its penetration into this world by a kind of violent entry opposing the human status quo and Satan’s worldviews in each generation. The upheaval of the status quo is not caused by political provocation or armed conflict, but by the Holy Spirit’s power working in people.

Opposing Worldviews

I may be stretching a point now by merely mentioning my thoughts about worldviews in the following few paragraphs—without also providing ample evidence to support my thoughts; I do believe, however, that there is sufficient historical evidence to support my thoughts, but space does not permit me to say much more about this next point. Here goes . . .

In every “generation of believers”—or perhaps in a more general way, in every century or so since the Old Testament Exodus-Event, there have been one or two prevailing “worldviews” which have been initiated and propagated by Satan to infiltrate and deceive the Church of Jesus.

What is a worldview? It is our personal presuppositions about God and the universe—and everything in it—which underlie all our decisions and behavioral actions. It is our overall, personal “view” of God and of all his creation, including earth and humankind.  A biblical worldview is when we learn to think God’s thoughts and perceive the entire creation as He does by reading, studying, and obeying our Bibles—when we “put on” the mind of Jesus, when we learn to think his thoughts.

To name one example only of a anti-biblical, Satanic worldview, during the latter part of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century, the so-called rational thinking of the “Age of Enlightenment” Or “Age of Reason” became a strongly held worldview which made many destructive inroads into the worldwide Church (such as, for example, “Deism” instead of the One True and Living God of the Bible), thus weakening the Church of some of its power.

 Such “enlightening” views did much to discredit the Church’s supernatural origins, led people to believe the biblical accounts about Jesus were fairy tales or myths, sought to discredit the authenticity and validity of the Bible, excluded the miraculous intervention of God in the affairs of earth, etc. As only one example among many, during the “Age of Enlightenment” or “Age of Reason,” many of the world’s so-called “Secret Societies” were first formed, drawing many Jesus believers away from the Bible and the God of the Bible.

 Those Secret Societies and worldviews are still seducing Jesus believers—such societies as the Masons, Rosicrucians, esoteric cult-like religious groups, the Ku Klux Klan, and the like.  In it’s most basic form, what happens when Satan foists such worldviews into human culture and society is that he simply “exchanges God’s truth for a lie,” as we read in Romans 1: 25.

It’s just that simple, and Satan is very skilled at what he does. He’s a consummate liar. It’s one of his most effective battle plans against the Church and individual Jesus believers, as his lies infiltrate and permeate the thought processes and worldviews of many unsuspecting Jesus-believers, distorting and weakening their biblical worldviews. He and his minions constantly pick at our minds with spectral fingers, probing for weaknesses in our biblical worldviews.

As another example of his battle plans, during the 20th century and continuing right up until this present time the concepts of the “Theory of Evolution” first set forth by Charles Darwin in the 19th century came to fruition around 1940 (when Darwin’s theories were reinvigorated by some new genetic research) and have made many inroads into the Church—again, thus weakening the 20th century and early 21st century Church. For example, many followers of Jesus have tried to modify Satanic evolutionary views by espousing so-called “Theistic evolution,” which is an oxymoron.

Many of Jesus’ followers don’t yet realize how very, very serious prevalent and destructive evolutionary worldviews are, both within and outside the Church. My own view is that the theory of evolution (which led to naturalism, humanism, moral relativism, and modern empiricism) is one of the most clever and deceptive lies Satan has ever foisted upon humankind!  

It’s tenets have infiltrated and permeated all areas of culture and society: economics, music, entertainment, science, politics, religion, medicine, philosophy, etc., and have led to the insidious, pervasive, naturalistic, humanistic worldviews of moral relativism and empiricism.  It has displaced the biblical, Judeo-Christian worldview that was held throughout “Christendom” (the western world) for many centuries. Under the tenets of naturalism, humanism, moral relativism, and empiricism, there are no “absolutes” because there is no God.

 On the other hand, the good news is that I believe the theory of evolution may be Satan’s “last-ditch,” all-out effort to deceive the world because he senses his time may be short. In a manner of speaking, he has “taken his best shot,” and it is doomed to failure like all his other worldviews . . .

 For an excellent modern docu-movie about the theory of evolution’s effect on world culture, I encourage you to view the CD of the movie “Expelled.” It’s a fascinating look into how the theory of evolution has made tremendous inroads into all modern thought—into all modern cultures and societies.

 Modern worldviews based on Enlightenment, Reason, Evolution, Naturalism, Humanism, and Empiricism have also removed from the thinking of most Jesus-believers the core biblical teaching that we are engaged in genuine warfare with a real enemy. The modern “enlightened” worldviews of many followers of Jesus have simply removed prayer warfare as a practical category, and so it shouldn’t surprise us that we simply cannot “see” spiritual strongholds after we first say we believe they don’t really exist. If we deny there are battles to be fought, well, Satan simply goes on his merry way wreaking havoc throughout time and space.

In fact, if you polled many modern, “enlightened” followers of Jesus they would respond that such warfare really doesn’t exist; they would say it’s just unenlightened thinking based upon a misunderstanding of what the Bible “really” teaches about the “presence of evil” in the world.  The enemy’s lies are so pervasive that many followers of Jesus have come to believe they are true. He has spread lies that there isn’t such a thing as prayer-warfare. “There is no warfare” is the subtle—but very pervasive—lie sown by the enemy, a lie so familiar that we don’t even see behind the lie to the father of lies. For too long he has penetrated the ranks of the Church and we haven’t even recognized him!

Yes, sadly, many followers of Jesus have completely jettisoned a biblical, “warfare” worldview. Oh, they may feel that as a biblical doctrine there is such a personage as Satan, but they feel what we know of him is essentially mythological. He has been deleted from their thinking and day-to-day consciousness.  In reality, Satan has cleverly and silently infiltrated our ranks dressed as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11: 14 and 15; Galatians 1: 8)

As just one small example, did you know that the great old prayer warfare hymn, “Onward, Christian Soldiers,” has been removed from the latest versions of many denominational song books? In some respects, many Christians have simply acquiesced, surrendering to the enemy without a single shot being fired!

Continuing on with this discussion of opposing worldviews, let’s examine how they originated in the first place. Of course, we know the clear focal point of origin in time and space occurred in the Garden of Eden when Satan first questioned the godly worldview held by Adam and Eve; I won’t elaborate on that scenario in this Manual.

Such opposing worldviews gained impetus in historical time and came to the forefront during the time of the Tower of Babel and Noah, and, later, at the biblical Exodus-event between the true and living God and the Egyptian god-man who ruled over the first great world empire. The Pharaoh was considered to be god because of his soul’s “divine union” with the sun. He was considered more than mere man, and more than nature. He was considered the ultimate Sun-Man or Sun-God.

 But when the true and living God of the Hebrews came on the scene and confronted Pharaoh, God became Pharaoh’s nemesis—an enemy that rigorously defied his claim to deity. That’s when the true battle between Satan and humankind intensified in all it’s fury, the titanic battle which we are continuing to wage with Satan to this very day many thousands of years after the Exodus-event.  

The Exodus-event was the ageless collision of the forces of good and evil with the world’s first “evil empire.” People who would not kneel in homage and reverence to the true God began to accuse Him of being the product of a condemning moral code (the ten commandments) propagated by foolish people who in their weakness must create an imaginary God that is beyond themselves.

 Yahweh (Hebrew title for God) was condemned in the old world as the foolish, false creation of weak people who were simply unable to survive or rule by the “power of the universe” (think Oprah who on her daily program slowly and insidiously changed the word “God” to the substitute word “Universe” . . . ) and by their own hand.  It was a conflict of decision, of decided faith or non-faith. And it was on this ground of the unknowable that the battle between worldviews heightened and intensified in its raging fury. I say “unknowable” because God will always remain the ultimate Mystery, known only by our faith-senses. Faith, alone, in the Unknowable is forever the final step during this mortal pilgrimage.

 Thus rampaged the battle between a godly world view of faith and Satan’s worldview that regards Yahweh’s (Jehovah’s) very existence as a hated and mortal threat to man’s moral autonomy. The very idea of an omnipotent and holy God is an attack upon the ground of what godless people hold most dear: Them-selves. Me. I. Myself. They proclaim, “I’m in charge of my own life. I don’t have to account to some imaginary God.”

 That latter view holds that evolved Man himself should be the ultimate measure of good and evil . . . while followers of Jesus believe that a holy and righteous God has given humans the commandment that we must worship Him with all our hearts, minds, and spirits, abide by such laws, and claim no moral sovereignty for ourselves. One side claims that they themselves are God as Man, the ultimate expression of what is good and true.  The other side simply chooses to worship and serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus who steadfastly proclaims that we must worship no other God but Him.

Satan from the beginning has always held out to humans that they themselves are the all-embracing absolute of good and evil, the decider of their own destiny by the strength of their own arm. He leads people to reject the concept of an invisible, omnipotent God who created humanity and then revealed Himself to humanity, a God who established codes of conduct that could not be altered. Humanity has always faced the choice to serve the one true and living God or the false god-man.

 Enlightenment is not new. An Age of Reason is not new. Naturalism is not new. Humanism is not new. Evolution is not new. Oprah’s (a television personality of the late 1990’s and earth 2,000’s) widely held view of the nebulous universe as a “living being” (instead of God) is not new. They are all simply ancient worldviews that have been around since the Tower of Babel and Noah and the Egyptian kingdom (the latter being the first “evil empire”), and have been “dressed up” and newly packaged at various times through human history to contest a biblical, godly worldview.

 Finally, in connection with this matter of one’s worldview, we need to think about the following . . . Based upon such biblical references as Psalm 24: 1 (compare 1 Corinthians 10: 26 and 28), for centuries the God of the Bible was seen by Jesus’ followers and pre-followers alike (at least in general terms) in the western world as absolutely sovereign over the universe and planet earth and all it’s affairs.  

But in the past 125 years or so (since the beginning of the so-called “Age of Enlightenment”), many followers of Jesus have been deceived by Satan into believing that Jesus is an “absentee King” who is concerned exclusively with building His Church until He returns to earth.  Such followers of Jesus teach God is not doing anything else on the earth except working in and through his Church. Every other pursuit followers of Jesus might engage in (such as politics, music, business, secular education, etc.) is considered to be sinful and “worldly.”

They see Jesus as having the authority and right to rule, but as having yielded to Satan temporary powers to subjugate the world and its peoples. In reality, Jesus is—and always has been and will be—the absolute and sovereign Ruler of the entire creation and planet earth, and Satan a defeated foe. One’s worldview about this issue is of paramount importance, because it affects what one believes and practices in every area of life. Here, “in a nutshell,” is the contrast:

           If You see God (Jesus) absolutely Sovereign over the earth and its people:

  • Your commission is to subdue the earth and build godly nations through evangelizing and discipleship.
  • You see biblical beliefs and values as leavening and influencing all areas of life, replenishing the earth and blessing all humankind.
  • All of this world is God’s, and every activity is to be seen as ultimately a spiritual work of God.
  • Reformation, renewal, and restoration are expected if a nation is obedient to God’s Word.

          If you see Satan sovereignly ruling the earth and its people:

  • Your commission is merely to concentrate on “saving souls” from this evil world.
  • You see Christian culture and the Church as a counter-culture, an isolated, persecuted minority in an evil world.
  • Church activity is primary and spiritual, while “worldly” pursuits are secondary and secular, and we are to be involved in any pursuits outside the Church only out of sheer necessity.
  • Reformation is impossible since things must get worse and worse because Satan is in control of this earth and its peoples.

 Now, please take a few moments to read and meditate upon Romans 1: 25 and 2: 8. The ultimate end result of a worldview based upon the theory of evolution, naturalism, humanism, moral relativism, and empiricism is to produce a world of people who are sin-seeking, self-seeking, and self-centered rather than God-seeking and God-centered.  When that happens, the world’s governmental systems end up first with “socialism” (possibly with some sort of dictatorship) and then with total anarchy, leading to a reign of chaos and further rebellion against God—if the onslaught of those worldviews is not stopped by the Church’s prevailing prayer and offensive action. As the last verse in the Old Testament Book of Judges puts it: “Everyone does what is right in his own eyes!”—without any personal responsibility to the God who created them.

I could share many other types of deceptive and destructive worldviews that have surfaced and come against the God and God’s people in almost every century for the past 5,000 years.  I am personally convinced that such dark, prevailing worldviews have been initiated by our enemy primarily to infiltrate, deceive, and weaken God’s people, specifically, and the Church, in general, robbing them of their power and witness to the world! I could go into much more detail about this matter, but perhaps these few paragraphs about worldviews will serve to whet your thinking and help you engage in more effective prayer-warfare against such strategies of Satan.

 In respect to Satan foisting his worldviews upon us, it is always God’s will to “root out” of us (by prayer, the Word of God, and the inner power of Holy Spirit) the prevailing worldviews of whatever age we live in, i.e., our “present evil age” and replace them with a godly, biblical worldview. (The word “deliver” in Galatians 1: 4 is “root out.”) Perhaps we can say a KingdomView rather than any type of worldview.  See the paragraphs later in this teaching where I discuss the step-by-step process of exactly how Satan deceives people . . .

Anti-Christ!

 One other matter needs addressed in general in this Soldiers Training Manual, but I will not go into great detail; this is the subject of antichrist. If you are even slightly aware of eschatology or so-called “end time theology,” you know that many “end-time teachers” predict that a time will come (perhaps soon) when a person named “the Antichrist” (called “the Beast” in the book of Revelation) will arise on the world scene and inflict all sorts of terrible atrocities upon people living in a brief time-frame before Jesus’ return.

Some have even predicted that God has told them where and when the antichrist will be (has been?) born and how he will rise to power before the “great tribulation.” All one need do is look through any copy of two major Christian magazines, Christianity Today (now re-named CT) and Charisma, to see what I write is true about the end-time scenarios which have been fabricated about the antichrist.

 Let me put it to you as simply as I know how: The Bible does not teach that there is a coming Antichrist! It is a lie. It is a total fabrication. There is not a coming person called “the Antichrist”! I won’t take the time to discuss how that lie got started by the “Father of Lies” . . .  The word “antichrist” appears only 4 times in the Bible: 1 John 2: 18; 2: 22; 4: 3; and 2 John 7. These references teach that there are many antichrists. Who is an antichrist? It is any person who denies the existence of the Father and the Son. Moreover, it is anyone who believes Jesus did not come in the flesh.  So . . . anyone is an antichrist if they do not believe in the existence of the Father and the Son and if they do not believe that Jesus came in the flesh.

 Moreover, these texts indicate that demonic spirits are behind such beliefs. That is to say, “antichrist spirits” deceive people into believing such lies about The Father and Jesus . . . To use a simple example: if you have a neighbor who does not believe in the Father and the Son and who does not believe Jesus came in the flesh, your neighbor is anti-Christ.  He’s been deceived into those beliefs by an antichrist spirit. Millions of people have been—and are—antichrists.

There is no one, great, evil Antichrist to come before Jesus returns to earth! It’s that simple . . . In fact, those who teach about a coming antichrist during the so-called end-times do most of their teaching about the antichrist from the Book of Revelation. Would it surprise you to learn that the word “antichrist” does not appear anywhere in the Book of Revelation?!

 In every age, such deceiving antichrist spirits blind the eyes and minds of people to the truth about the God the Father and Jesus the Son. What bothers me personally is the number of professing followers of Jesus who have been deceived into such false thinking—false views about the “Trinity,” false views about Jesus’ Incarnation, and false views about Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven.  It’s bad enough that pre-followers of Jesus believe such falsehoods about God, but it’s vastly more destructive when “non-believing followers of Jesus” believe such lies and deceptions. We must continually engage in prayer-warfare against such deception and lies.

There’s another interesting aspect about antichrist which I’ll just throw in for free… It’s kind of speculative, but I feel there’s some biblical basis for it. There’s kind of an interesting “play on words” in the original Greek language in which these texts about antichrist were written. It goes something like this . . . If you should come to me and say that you are a fellow believer—that Jesus lives in you—inside you “in your flesh,”—and I deny that to be true because you’re not my “brand” or “type” of follower of Jesus or you don’t believe exactly like I do, then I am—in effect—saying, “No, I don’t believe that Jesus has come into your flesh in the unbodied form of the Holy Spirit because you’re not quite my type or ‘brand’ of follower of Jesus.”

That means that I am “anti-Christ” about you—that I am denying Jesus has come into your flesh because you’re not my “brand” of Jesus’ follower. It’s something to think about . . .  Finally, under the subject of antichrist, some (not all) counterfeit Christian religions as a whole would qualify for the title antichrist, also, but not necessarily all the individuals espousing or embracing such a religion.  I hasten to state, however, that not all such counterfeit Christian religions are patently false; some are merely incomplete in terms of acceptable “orthodox” biblical teaching and doctrine. As well as engaging in outright lying, Satan and his minions sometimes simply don’t tell the “whole truth and nothing but the truth” to gullible persons.

The antichrist is not a single person. It’s more like a sickness, a plague, which assails people and tries to destroy them. It’s a “spirit of wickedness” which sometimes wields extraordinary power over various individuals. It’s a spirit of immense evil which arises to work its wicked will on various humans. Very often this vile spirit finds refuge among well-intended, but theologically wrong, followers of Jesus who teach of a coming great “beast” or individual who they claim will be the antichrist appearing on the world’s scene shortly before Jesus returns. Such teachers have deceived many followers of Jesus who are all too quick to believe the sensationalism being taught about the antichrist.

I haven’t yet written a full teaching on this subject of “AntiChrist;” all I have so far are some notes I’ve been jotting down for a few years. If you’re interested in visiting me about this matter and sharing some of your own thoughts, please contact me via our “Contact” icon on our web site or by e-mail and let’s visit a bit.

 Back to our general subject at hand: the nature of Satan and demons . . . Since the time when God called Abraham and commissioned him and his “seed” (physical and spiritual descendants) to bring God’s blessings to all humanity, God-believers are part of a worldwide, military divine resistance movement. As prayer-soldiers in that movement, we are driving back the enemy’s kingdom of malignant evil in preparation for God’s Kingdom to be fully consummated on earth.

The Kingdom of God on earth was brought to the fore and began to be fully unveiled when Jesus was here the first time. He is continually establishing and spreading his Kingdom through the work of his Church and “kingdom-believers.” The Kingdom will finally be consummated on earth when Jesus returns. Meanwhile, as King Jesus’ Kingdom increases here on earth, to that extent Satan is roused to wrath; he seeks always to keep us from the knowledge of God and his spreading Kingdom, for then he knows we are defenseless before him.

The Church

 Speaking of the Church, let me mention something about the overall role of the Church in the type of warfare I am describing. First, let me define “Church” so we are clear on what I mean when I use the word.  The Church is comprised of all people everywhere and everywhen in whom Jesus dwells by means of Holy Spirit, Jesus’ unbodied other Self.  Turn to Matthew 16: 18 where Jesus says ” . . . I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades [the power of the realm of the dead] will not be able to hold out against it.”

In the old King James version of the Bible the wording of this reference is such that a person reading the reference might mistakenly get the word-picture in their mind that the “gates” of Hades are on the offensive against the Church, and the Church will barely be able to hold out defensively against Hade’s onslaught. Not so!  The actual word-picture is just the exact opposite.

The Church is on the offensive and the gates of Hades are on the defensive, unable to hold out against the Church’s onslaught! Quite a difference, isn’t It? Yes, the Church is God’s strong, offensive “weapon” against the powers of the realm of the dead (Satan’s domain) and Satan will go down in utter defeat against that power-full, victorious onslaught! The Church on earth is not dead or dying. It is alive, victorious, thriving, and growing by means of the indwelling Spirit of God!

For example, by the end of the first century—approximately 70 years after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension back to heaven—there was approximately 1 follower of Jesus for every 35 persons in the “known world.” Today, 2,000 years later, there is approximately 1 follower of Jesus for every 7 people in the entire world! (When I use the term “follower of Jesus,” I mean all those people comprising what we loosely term “Christendom;” who am I to judge who is and who isn’t an authentic follower of Jesus throughout Christendom? If I were to make such judgments, that might make me an “antichrist!”)

 From 1 follower of Jesus for every 35 people 2,000 years ago to 1 in 7 people today. That sounds like victorious progress to me. No, the Church is not dead or dying. It’s alive and well. It’s still on the victorious offensive against our enemy and his minions. It will be a strong, beautiful Church without spot or wrinkle presented and wedded to Jesus when He returns to earth.

Back again to the subject of prayer warfare . . . There are no distance-limitations in prayer warfare. We can do prayer-battle anywhere on this planet (or in the atmosphere) and in RealRealm from wherever we are located. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that we do not war against evil in other humans, but against invisible spirit-beings who have clearly defined spheres of authority on the earth and in earth’s atmosphere.

Watch What You Say . . . And Who You Say It To!

 It is an extremely serious mistake, when—instead of conducting prayer warfare directly against Satan and his minions—we mistakenly choose to fight and war against him indirectly by fighting other humans with either physical means or by slander, libel, rumor, lies, gossip, and backbiting.  In fighting directly with other humans instead of with evil spirits, we play right into the hands of the enemy’s strategies and tactics, advancing his dark kingdom instead of God’s!

Satan causes many a wagging tongue to spit poisonous lies in order to exploit such persons to his own advantage. Never permit yourself to be among those who spread lies in such a manner. Never be involved in slander, libel, rumors, lies, gossip, and backbiting; you will do so to your own detriment and ruin . . . and to Satan’s military advantage!

This brings up a point we must not overlook, but which I will not address in detail; we’ll take just a glimpse at the following matter. It is clear that our enemy is a liar, the originator of lies, the consummate liar. But we don’t tend to think of him as that in our day-to-day thought lives. Not every thought that is in your mind originates with you. Some, of course, originate with Holy Spirit. But . . . some originate with our enemy, too. Those thoughts he seduces us into thinking will always be lies, some very subtle and devious, but lies, nevertheless. We are being lied to by our enemy and his minions throughout our waking moments and even in our dreams sometimes.

In our pride-filled enlightenment, naturalism, moral relativism, and empiricism, we are often too “modern” to take such matters very seriously, but we must not be unaware of such schemes by Satan (2 Corinthians 2: 11). In our so-called enlightened worldviews, we tend to look at such matters as being merely psychological or sociological phenomena. A genuinely enlightened thinker named William Gurnell once wrote: “It is the image of God reflected in you that so enrages [Satan]; it is that at which the demons hurl their mightiest weapons.”

There is a whole lot more going on in our thought patterns and minds than most of us have been led to believe by our “enlightened” theology. True biblical theology teaches very clearly that Satan is a liar and skillfully “broadcasts” his thoughts into our minds. Period!  We must always bear in mind we are engaged in prayer battles with invisible forces we can’t see or fully understand—not engaged in battles with other humans.

If we’re to succeed in our warfare, we have to see “behind” the humans involved and fully trust in God. He’s the only one who can give ultimate victory in our battles with the enemy! Don’t be trapped into spending your time fighting against human enemies; a strange thing happens when we mistakenly spend our time fighting human “enemies;” when we do that, we fail to recognize and know who is our real foe; we end up fighting the wrong enemies, sometimes even ourselves!

Definitions

 In biblical references to Satan and demons, “principalities” denotes the enemy’s sphere of jurisdiction; it is not a geographical term. “Powers” represents the enemy’s limited authority—limited by the sovereignty of God. “Might” is the limited strength of the enemy. “Strongholds” are concentrations of the enemy’s soldier-minions.  “Dominion” represents the enemy’s governed sphere of influence. “Hosts of wickedness in heavenly places” refers to the enemy’s invisible activities in the atmosphere surrounding the earth. “Rulers of the darkness of this age” means the enemy’s sphere of activity anywhere the liberating light of the Gospel of God does not shine. The “kingdom of darkness” is slowly, but inexorably being displaced by God’s Kingdom of Light.

I won’t go into this “sub-subject” in detail, but I want to point out that it seems that the Bible—taken as a whole!—teaches that Satan has a complex military command structure. Satan is the commander-in-chief, so to speak. Directly under his command is a higher level “general staff “(again, using military terminology). The next “level of command” is a field officer staff. Finally, there is a staff of lower ranking officers, “non-commissioned” officers, and many “legions” of “foot soldiers and cavalry,” so to speak. (See Luke 8: 30 as one example)

In this regard, I might point out that at the time of Jesus, a Roman legion consisted of anywhere from 3,000 to 6,000 foot soldiers with additional cavalry under the command of a Tribune. A “cohort” was comprised of 300-600 soldiers, and a “century” was comprised of 100 soldiers under the command of a Centurion. Satan has a large “army” which will some day go down in utter and decisive defeat under our prayer-onslaught against him and his foul legions!

Next, in a non-military manner of speaking, it can be said that Satan is the “administrator” or “governor” of the world’s systems (the “kingdoms of this world”—see Luke 4: 5 and 6 where Satan tempted Jesus). He has limited but powerful control of the world’s systems and their prevailing worldviews; Jesus calls him the “ruler of this world” (John 12: 31; 16: 30). We are to engage in prayer-warfare against him in order for his limited control to be steadily and consistently diminished and relinquished to the Kingdom of God under Jesus’ reign and control.

Spirit, Soul, And body

Yes, we are to engage in warfare for the control of the world, but we must also understand there is another sphere of warfare taking place on a much “smaller” scale. Paul wrote there is constant warfare occurring inside all of us who are Jesus believers—in our “smaller,” inner world. (see Romans 7: 15-20; 2 Corinthians 10: 3-6; 1 Peter 2:11) That warfare is occurring in our souls as God continues the process of transforming us, re-creating us, and restoring us into his image.  The word soul in the Bible generally describes our minds, our personalities, our emotions, our wills, our person-ness, our “self-ness,” our “me-ness,” our consciences, characters, etc. Our souls and our spirits are not one and the same!

When the Bible uses the word heart in a symbolic sense, it generally means both our spirits and souls combined. Do not confuse the biblical words soul and spirit, thinking they are one and the same. They are not; they are distinct and separate parts of our tri-une being.  The salvation of our spirits is over and done with; it’s a settled, completed, accomplished fact. But the salvation of our souls (minds, personalities, etc.)—well, that’s another matter altogether. A matter involving a lifetime of intense prayer-warfare—and study and obedience to the Bible’s teachings.  For a fuller teaching about the matter of our souls and spirits, see our teaching, “Whole In One.”

By the way, the commonly accepted term “spiritual warfare” is a misnomer. Contrary to what many followers of Jesus write, and speakers teach, we are, instead, engaged in “soul warfare” and “body warfare” (the latter as evidenced by disease, illness, sickness, and disabilities.)  Yes, our enemy can attack our bodies as well as our souls—but only with God’s specific permission.

We are not engaged in spiritual warfare, per se! I encourage you to drop the term “spiritual warfare” from your lexicon; it is a misleading term. Instead, use “prayer warfare.”  We are engaged in soul warfare, body warfare, and prayer warfare against our own dark natures, and, yes, against unbodied, nonphysical, darkened, evil, unclean spirit beings who whisper in “voices” inaudible to the human ear thoughts of lies, fear, hopelessness, rebellion, independence from God, autonomy, and suicide.

 Yes, there certainly are dark, malignant forces which war against our soul’s growth and development, but, in a sense, our greatest enemy is our sinful, “old nature” selves—not Satan, not evil spirits. As the old comic strip character, Pogo, once put it: “We have met the enemy, and they is us!”  The vast majority (but not all) of our problems, struggles, setbacks, losses, heartaches, addictions, dependencies, harmful and destructive habits, co-dependencies, neuroses, psychoses, schizophrenia, depression, despair, fear, hate, bitterness, revenge, rage—you name it—these are all matters of the regressive effects of sin, rebellion, and radical autonomy in our souls, not matters of the human spirit.

If we are authentic followers of Jesus, the salvation of our spirits is a finished, accomplished fact. It is our souls that need transformation, change, renewal, and restoration as we spend our lifetimes growing, developing, and maturing in Jesus, becoming more and more like Him Who is the express visible image of the invisible God.  The devil doesn’t make us do things. He tempts us (tests us) to commit sin, lawlessness, wrongdoing, and rebellion against God’s plans and purposes for our lives. Then, we engage in such wrongful, sinful behavior and transgressions by our own wrong choices and decisions.

The devil and his minions are merely formless voices with which they insidiously whisper into our thought-lives their foul accusations, temptations (tests), and deceptions. But, even though he merely accuses, tempts, and deceives us, for too long we have often blamed the devil for our own challenges and thus have avoided facing up to them and making the positive inner changes in our souls (minds) we ourselves need to initiate with the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

3 Most Effective Tactics

 Among the multitude of our enemy’s nefarious tactics among all humans—the Bible, history, and the chronicles of common human experience readily disclose that three of our enemy’s most effective tactics primarily directed at followers of Jesus are accusations, temptation, and deception.  If we are honestly attempting to please God in all we do . . . If we are praying for the indwelling Holy Spirit’s daily assistance as we work in cooperation with Him at the inner changes God wants us to make . . . If we are regularly and consistently reading and studying our Bibles and applying what we read and memorize to our everyday lives . . . If we are regularly and consistently meeting and fellowshipping with other followers of Jesus for mutual strength and encouragement . . .

If we are doing those things—and more—yet we still feel inner accusations in our souls that we are falling short of accomplishing God’s plans and purposes in our lives, that we are not “worthy” of God’s love, grace, and forgiveness—that means that most likely we are being accused by our enemy, insidiously whispering to us that we are not living up to God’s full potential for our lives and are not “worthy” of his loving attention. He also accuses us by causing us to dwell upon past sin in our lives—sin that has been forgiven and forgotten by God.

 If we are dwelling on such matters, we can overcome that tactic of the enemy by deftly wielding the “sword of the spirit” aloud as it’s found in 1 John 2: 1 and 2 (and other related biblical references), engaging in prayer-battle to overcome the enemy’s accusations.

 Satan’s second major strategy is when we are tempted in areas of our lives (generally, we are tempted in those areas of our lives where we have an inherent weakness or propensity to sin), then we always have two choices in dealing with the temptation: 1. We can say “Yes” and yield to the temptation, or 2. We can say “No” and resist the temptation.  If we choose to say yes to the temptation, here’s the process of what is occurring. Satan is tempting us in a weak area of our lives or an area of our lives in which we have “hardened” our hearts; it is not the temptation itself that is sinful. Generally, sin, wrongdoing, and transgression are merely symptoms of a hardened heart. It’s the hardened heart that is the real sin . . .

Satan does not—and cannot—cause us to sin. All he can do is tempt us to sin . . . and he is very skilled at that task. When he tempts us, if we choose to sin as a result of the temptation, such a choice is made of our own volition based on our own hardened heart and our own lusts and desires.  Yes, it is our own lust and evil desires—arising from a hardened heart—that cause us to yield to the temptation. When that lust and evil desire are conceived by the temptation, it gives birth to sin in that area of our lives. And that sin leads to [soulical] death. The deadening process of sin is: conception . . . birth . . . death. (See James 1: 13 – 15) The most powerful biblical reference to use when dealing with temptation is 1 Corinthians 10: 13.  Here’s how that reference reads in The Amplified Bible:

                    “For no temptation (no trial or test regarded as enticing to sin, no matter how it comes or where it leads) has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to all humans [that is, no temptation, trial, or test has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as a person can bear]. But God is faithful to [His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted, tested, tried, and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation [test or trial] He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.”

I urgently encourage you to read, meditate upon, and memorize this powerful biblical weapon in your arsenal, so it is always available at a moment’s notice for you to proclaim aloud when Satan or his demons tempt you in weak areas of your life.

(Note: With rare exception, any time you see the word “tempt,” “temptation,” or “tempted” in the New Testament, you can almost always substitute the words “trial,” “test,” or “testing” for those words. Not always, but most of the time. In the following few paragraphs about the subject of temptation, you can readily substitute the words “trial,” “test,” or “testing.”)

 Why does God allow our enemy to tempt or test us? 3 brief reasons: 1. Strengthen our wills, 2. Reveal our weak areas, propensities, and proclivities to sin—where our lusts and evil desires lie, and, 3. Teach us how to more skillfully engage in battle with our enemy.  Let’s take a few moments to examine our enemy’s tactics and strategies of temptation—in the pursuit of “knowing our enemy” even better.

3 Aspects Of Temptation

 Jesus faced 3 aspects of temptation when He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness (see Luke 4 and related references in the other 3 Gospels). First, He was tempted in his soul (his mind, his personality, his will, his character, etc.) when Satan tempted Him to turn stones into bread; when Jesus replied that humans cannot live by bread alone, but by every word of God, that response was in relation to his soul’s (mind’s) growth and development. We must regularly and consistently apply the Word of God, the Bible, to our soul-lives in order to grow, develop, progress and mature as Jesus-believers, just as Jesus applied the Scriptures in order to grow in his human life.

 Second, Jesus was also tempted in his spirit when Satan tried to persuade Jesus to worship him instead of God (remember John 4: 23 which tells us people must worship God “in spirit”). Satan also tempts us to worship him instead of God, primarily through idolatry—anything manmade which supplants God in our worship—and continually presenting us with false gods for us to worship instead of the One true and Living God. (See later pages in this teaching Manual for more thoughts about idolatry and worshiping false gods.)  Finally, Jesus was tempted in his body, when Satan encouraged Him to test God by throwing Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple—to see whether God would save Him from physical death.

 These 3 aspects of temptation dovetail perfectly with the Bible’s teaching in 1 John 2: 16 which claims that all that is in the world (Satan’s limited sphere of influence)—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are not from the Father, but are of this world-system which is in the process of passing away.  First, in 1 John 2: 16 the “lust of the flesh” is our five human senses, logic, and reason (our “sinful nature”) without the underlying influence of the Spirit of God at work in our minds and personalities. It is seeking to fulfill our five senses in an overindulgent manner. This is the same as when Jesus was tempted in his mind and personality.

Second, the “lust of the eyes” are those things we “see” and perceive with our five senses that lure us away from the worship of the one true and Living God. We “see” and perceive idols or false gods we have constructed or been presented with either intentionally or by default which serve to lure us away from our worshipful relationship with the true, living God. The lust of the eye is to have greedy longings in our minds which cause further greed and covetousness.  

Third, the “pride of “life” is when Jesus was tempted by Satan to take his own life by throwing Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple. It is when we don’t highly prize and value our lives and bodies, not regarding that our bodies are the true “temple” of God in which Holy Spirit has taken up residence. It is to trust our own inner resources and ourselves rather than trust in God’s inner resources within us in the “form” of Holy Spirit.

Because God is vitally concerned about our whole person (body, soul [mind], and spirit) being re-created, re-integrated, and restored into his image in us, He allows temptation in all three of those components of our beings—bodies, souls, and spirits—to aid us in that re-creation and re-storation process.

I want to briefly address the matter of God’s restoring us from where his image in us has been marred, “blackened,” and disfigured. When we humans restore something, that restoration most often involves merely restoring something back to its original condition. But . . . in contrast, when God restores humans, He always restores us to a far greater condition than we were to begin with! In the Bible, his restoration ranges from twice as good . . . to four times as good . . . to seven times as good as something was at the beginning! See the last chapter of the Book of Job which exemplifies God’s restoration process. God always restores “above and beyond” what is necessary; more than what is necessary; greater than what is necessary; better than what is necessary; that’s just Who He is; that’s just God’s nature . . .  I encourage you to read another teaching on this website:  Restoration.

(Also–as .previously mentioned–see our companion teaching, “Whole In One.” That teaching goes into much more detail, explaining in detail the actual processes by which God is re-storing us into His image.)  Satan’s third major strategy, to deceive us, means to attempt to ensnare a person in a trap and to make a person believe what is not true. Our enemy’s attempts at deception began with Adam and Eve when he made them question what God had said to them; he caused them to question God’s words to them. Ever since that fateful moment in the Garden of Eden, his main strategy of deception has been to make people question the word of God.

Today, since we now have God’s “completed” Word, the Bible, his strategy of deception has been to make people question the truths of the Bible. Of course, it is understandable that pre-believers would question the Bible. But it is a very sad state of affairs when our enemy deceives followers of Jesus into questioning and neglecting the Bible. We who claim to be followers of Jesus play right into the enemy’s hands when we question that the Bible really is the written Word of God and neglect its daily application to our lives. (See Acts 17: 11)

 I urge you to read Matthew 22: 29 in the context of how our enemy seeks to deceive us. It states very clearly in the words of Jesus that we are deceived when we don’t know the Bible or the power of God. One of the reasons believers in Jesus fall into deception is they don’t know (by intimate and personal experience) the Word of God, the Bible . . . and the power of God. Can it be any plainer? We become susceptible to deception when we don’t know the Bible and God’s power in our lives. Period!  God permits us to be accused, tempted, and deceived at our weakest points so that afterwards when we have overcome them we are strong at the weak places!

 Yes, our enemy’s three major strategies are to accuse followers of Jesus, to tempt them, and to deceive them. They are not his only strategies, but they are certainly his major ones.  There is one more strategy—a fourth one—a “minor” one—I want to address before moving on. I will explain that fourth strategy with the following fictional story:

                    “Rumor has it, the devil held a garage sale. On a table he laid out all the tools he uses against Christians, each marked with its price. Lust was there, and gossip. Pride was there, too. Yes, and hardened hearts. But one tool was priced higher than all the rest. It was a plain, dull, shopworn tool, yet it cost more than every other tool taken together. ‘What is this thing,’ a shopper asked the devil, ‘and why is it so expensive?’  ‘Ah,’ the devil replied, ‘this—how I cherish this—this is the most effective tool I have. When all other tools—temptation, accusation, deception, lust, envy, greed, pride, hardened hearts—can’t make a dent in a believer, when nothing else can find a crack in a believer’s armor, this tool does the trick without fail. I have beaten down more Jesus believers with this one tool than with any other one on this table.’  ‘Well, what is the tool?’  ‘Discouragement!'”

Continuing on with the manner of our prayer-warfare against Satan and his minions, in Ephesians 6: 11 the Bible itself teaches us that we are to take offensive action against the enemy’s schemes. 2 Corinthians 2: 11 admonishes us not to be ignorant of our enemy’s plans and purposes, so that he cannot gain a military advantage over us.  How do we take offensive action against our enemy? By prayer, by deftly wielding the “sword of the Spirit,” the Word of God, and using our faith. How do we keep him from taking advantage of us? By knowing the Bible—by reading and studying it daily . . . and applying it to our lives.

 To the extent we neglect reading, studying, and applying the Bible to our daily lives, to that same extent we give our enemy advantage over us! Sometimes he doesn’t even have to “take” advantage over us; sometimes we simply “give” him advantage by default when we do not know our Bible and how to use it as the sharp offensive weapon of warfare!

Victorious Overcomers!

 In addition to prayer, the Bible, and faith, we are also called to overcome our enemy as taught in Revelation 12: 11: “We overcome him by the blood of the Lamb and by our testimony to the Word . . . ” * In addition to prayer and faith, we also wage war against our enemy and overcome him by the use of our powerful offensive weapon, the “sword of the Spirit,” which is the Word of God, the Bible. * (This is an acceptable alternate rendering of “by the word of their testimony . . .”)

 The sword of the Spirit, the Bible, is a keenly sharpened blade that our enemy and his soldier-minions cannot withstand. Those who courageously and skillfully wield the sword of the Spirit are skillful swordfighters—mighty to the utter destruction and rout of the enemy forces. Remember how Jesus dealt with the enemy during his temptations in the wilderness?!

He quoted the Scriptures (which He had memorized) aloud to Satan. (See Matthew, chapter 4) How much of the Bible have you memorized since you became a follower of Jesus? How often do you quote it aloud to Satan? Just asking . . .  All biblical references to our being overcomers are found in John 16:33; Romans 8: 37, 12: 21; 1 Corinthians 15: 57; 1 John 2: 13 and 14; 4: 4; 5: 4 and 5; Revelation 2: 7, 11, 17, 26; 3: 5,12, 21; 12: 11; 17: 14; 21: 7. The concept of overcoming is a major study in itself, not within the scope of this Manual.

Military Intelligence

Along with the weapons of prayer, overcoming, the skillful use of the Bible, and exercising our faith on the battlefield, there is another “weapon” which is often overlooked by those doing warfare with our enemy. It is our “weapon” of “military intelligence!” No warfare can succeed without timely and accurate military intelligence. What is this weapon? It is the supernatural weapon called the gift of discerning of spirits. (See 1 Corinthians 11: 10 and 1 John 4: 1)

How is this weapon of military intelligence to be used? First, where do we obtain the weapon? It is available to every follower of Jesus. Jesus gives us the weapon, and Holy Spirit who lives inside us operates the weapon. A common misnomer is that this gift is the gift of discernment. There is no such gift as the gift of discernment. No, it is the gift of discerning of spirits. By definition, discernment alone is merely to have heightened human understanding or intuition about a matter. Stop thinking and saying “gift of discernment.” Remove it from your lexicon and speech patterns; it is misleading. There is no such gift!

The gift of discerning of spirits is supernaturally operated in us by Holy Spirit so we can “see” through GreatGate into the invisible spirit world (RealRealm) and know what type of spirit is operative in a given situation. This gift is not mere human intuition, insight, or heightened understanding. It is a supernatural gift from God and cannot be conjured up by our human wills.

There are three “categories” of spirits. 1. There is Holy Spirit—plus angels, seraphim, cherubim, etc. 2. There are Satan and his evil spirits and their strategies and tactics. 3. There is the human spirit. The gift of discerning of spirits is operated in us by Holy Spirit so we can know in a given situation which of those 3 “types” of spirits is active and operative.  We must learn how Holy Spirit operates that gift within us so we will know the battle plans, tactics, and military operations of our enemy in a given battle situation. We must wholly depend upon God to manifest this gift in given situations. We cannot conjure it up at will or when we feel it is needed.

 According to 1 John 4: 1, we are to test which spirits are operative in a battlefield situation. To test means to engage in a process of examination or questioning; to ferret out, to perceive, to differentiate, to recognize the difference, to distinguish, etc.  In brief, it means that we must come to rely upon Jesus living in us (in his unbodied Spirit form) to inform us of what we need to know in doing prayer battle with the enemy and his minions. To do that, we need to come to progressively know Jesus’ voice when He speaks to us from where He dwells inside our human spirits.

See the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John (and related biblical references) which teaches us about our Commander-in-Chief’s voice, discerning the differences between his voice and other, competing, voices, Jesus’ “voice” generally comes to us (not always, however) as very quiet thoughts (“a still, small voice”) which are “transmitted” into our minds from where Holy Spirit lives in our spirits.

 We must progressively learn to differentiate our own thoughts from the thoughts Holy Spirit transmits into our minds—and from those Satan seeks to transmit into our minds.  Yes, we must have timely, clear, and accurate military intelligence as we prepare to do battle and as we engage in prayerful and overcoming battle with the enemy and his soldier-minions. That intelligence is the supernatural gift of discerning of spirits operated by Holy Spirit living within us!

A few biblical examples of the operation of the super-natural gift of discerning of spirits are as follows . . . Ezekiel chapter 1 informs us that the prophet Ezekiel actually saw the similitude of God on his throne surrounded by cherubim. In Acts 7, as he was being stoned to death, the first Christian martyr, Stephen, saw into heaven where Jesus was standing at the right hand of the throne of God to welcome him to heaven. In Genesis 28, Jacob saw a vision of angels and was strengthened and encouraged by what he saw. In Luke 1, Zacharias saw an angel of the Lord standing beside the altar. Finally, in 2 Kings 6, Elisha the Prophet prayed that his servant’s eyes would be opened; his eyes were opened and he saw a hill filled with the super-natural chariots of God. Many other biblical examples could be given, but I’ll let you look them up for yourself.

 here are a couple of other types of military intelligence I want to briefly touch upon; one I’ve already mentioned is when Holy Spirit simply allows us to peer through GreatGate into RealRealm to see what’s going on behind the scenes in a given battle situation. I’m not sure that’s a particular “gift” of Holy Spirit that is operative or simply something Holy Spirit does on certain occasions to let us know what’s going on behind the scenes while we are engaged in battle. If nothing else, it’s certainly linked with the super-natural gift of prophecy.

 There is one other way we can “see” behind the scenes into RealRealm and that is through the “gift” of a Seer. This was a gift of Holy Spirit quite operative at various times in the Old Testament, but which became sort of subsumed or “replaced” by the gift of prophecy. (See 2 Samuel 24: 11; 2 Kings 17: 13; and 1 Samuel 9: 9—and numerous other Old Testament references for information about Seers.)  

The super-natural gift of a Seer sort of fell into disuse as it was “swallowed up” or replaced by the gift of prophecy, but I’m not so sure it was ever done away with completely. In fact, in various sectors of the worldwide Church today, the gift of a Seer has begun to re-emerge.  In it’s basic essence the gift of a Seer is to allow someone to “see” through GreatGate into RealRealm behind the scenes of what is occurring in time and space here in ShadowLand. The person-gift of Seer and the generalized gift of prophecy both give us “revelational insight” into RealRealm.

At any rate, let’s use any type of updated military intelligence at our disposal as we prepare to do battle with our enemy and as we actually engage in battle with him and his minions.  No weapon our enemy forms against us shall ultimately succeed (Isaiah 54: 17) because, through Jesus Christ, our Commander-in-Chief, we have been given power over all the power of the enemy: Psalm 68: 35; Isaiah 40: 28 – 31; Micah 3: 8; Luke 9: 1; 10: 19; Acts 1: 8; 1 Corinthians 4: 20; 2 Corinthians 12: 9; Ephesians 3: 20; 6: 10; 1 Thessalonians 1: 5; 2 Timothy 1: 7. These are all useful references to memorize and quote aloud when engaging in battle with our enemy.

Satan’s Origin

In the first listing below, I have deliberately omitted references in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 which many scholars feel teach Satan’s origin. I do not hold that view. In summary, here is why I do not hold that view. I hold that Satan never was a shining angel called Lucifer. In fact, as we pointed out earlier, the Bible says Satan masquerades as a shining angel of light (2 Corinthians 11: 14; the word transformed in most Bibles is the word masquerades).

I hold a non-traditional view that these passages in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 are about Adam, not Satan! In Isaiah 14, the title Lucifer is the Hebrew word helel and the Greek word phosphoros (from which we get English words such as phosphorous and phosphorescence), both meaning Bringer (or Conveyor or Giver) of the first bright Light of the Morning. When the Bible here identifies Adam as the Light Bringer, it means more than that; it means Adam was the first human to live in light and the first to bring the bright light of God to others.

Adam was originally designated by God to bring the radiance of God to all creation on this planet and to the universe beyond. Notice verse 16 says it’s a man to whom Isaiah is referring. This same title is given to the God-Man, Jesus, the Last Adam, in Revelation 2: 28 and 22:16. Adam was (past tense) at one time designated by God to be the Son of the Morning, The Light Giver, The Light Bringer, the Bright and Morning Star.

Jesus, the Last Adam, now (present tense) is the Light Bringer, the Son of the Morning, the Light Giver, the Bright and Morning Star, enlightening all humankind with the Light of God. Yes, Jesus is the Last Adam, but also the Firstborn Son of an entirely new race of beings.  Jesus is not named the “Second Adam” in the Bible, as many mistakenly refer to Him. You need to remove the term “Second Adam” from your lexicon. It is theologically misleading.  As mentioned earlier, for a full expose and more complete information about Satan, as previously mentioned please see our companion teaching “Satan: From Beginning to End.”

 The listing immediately below is of every biblical reference to the enemy commander. Please ensure you take all these references together as a whole (!) before arriving at any conclusions about his origin, nature, jurisdiction, and activities. I hope you will choose to devote a great deal of personal time to studying these references. If you find any additional references I have omitted, please add them to your list, and then let me know:

  • Genesis 3: 1-5, 13-15
  • 1 Chronicles 21:1
  • Job 1: 6 – 12; 2: 1 – 7; 12: 16; 15: 21; 16: 9; 31: 35
  • Isaiah 54: 16 and 17; 59: 19
  • Zechariah 3: 1 and 2
  • Matthew 4: 1 – 11; 5: 37; 6: 13; 9: 34; 10: 25; 12: 24 – 29; 13: 19, 24 – 30, 36 – 39; 16: 22 and 23; 25: 41
  • Mark 1: 13; 3: 22 – 27; 4: 15; 8: 33
  • Luke 4: 1 – 13; 8: 12; 10: 18 – 20; 11: 4, 15 – 20; 13: 11 – 16, 31; 22: 3, 31
  • John 8: 44; 10: 10; 12: 31; 13: 2, 27; 14: 30; 16: 11; 17: 15
  • Acts 5: 3; 10: 38; 13: 10; 26: 18
  • Romans 16: 20
  • 1 Corinthians 5: 5; 7: 5; 10: 10
  • 2 Corinthians 2: 11; 4: 4; 6: 15; 10: 4; 11: 3, 12: 2; 14; 12: 7
  • Ephesians 2: 2; 3: 10; 4: 27; 6: 10 – 18
  • 1 Thessalonians 2: 18; 3: 5
  • 2 Thessalonians 2: 9 – 12; 3: 3
  • 1 Timothy 1: 20; 3: 6 and 7; 5: 15
  • 2 Timothy 2: 26
  • Hebrews 2: 14
  • James 4: 7
  • 1 Peter 5: 8 and 9
  • 1 John 2: 13 and 14; 3: 8 – 10; 4: 4; 5: 18 and 19
  • Jude 9
  • Revelation 2: 9, 10, 13, 24: 3: 9; chapter 12; 13: 2, 4; 20: 1 – 10

A few paragraphs below is a listing of every biblical reference to evil, unclean demonic spirits. But, included in the listing following this paragraph you are now reading are phenomena noted in the Bible as well as phenomena which are not specifically mentioned in the Bible, but which history and common human, biblically based, experience have shown to be demon related, influenced, or inspired:

  • seances; sectarianism; occultism; reincarnation;
  • “trance” hypnosis (not “regular” hypnosis); “astral tripping”;
  • divination; psychic practices; apparitions; psychic predictors (such as Nostradamus); psychic or demonic speaking in tongues; ritual killing;
  • occult or “black” astrology (not all astrology, however); “mystery” religions;
  • witch doctors; shamanism; mediums; wizardry; soothsaying; sorcery;
  • new age spiritualism (actually an ages-old type of demon-inspired spiritualism 0pposed
  • to the worship of the one True and Living God); “Oprah-ism”;
  • sacrificing children to fire; some (not all) esoteric religious practices;
  • “Black” and “white” magic (not magic intended merely for entertainment purposes;
  • conjurors; those who practice legerdemain intended to deceive;
  • ghosts; poltergeists; necromancy; “cutting” and self-flagellation;
  • fortune-telling; religious cults; lifeless religious ritual, tradition, and teaching;
  • divination by reading tea leaves, bones, or animal entrails; casting spells;
  • anti-biblical “life-force” healing; pornography; auguries and omens;
  • religious mythology; polytheism; “Jesus Only” (non-Trinitarian) teachings;
  • worshipping the dead; transmigration of souls;
  • deviant and perverted sexual practices such as homosexuality, sadomasochism, and
  • pedophelia, etc;
  • false prophets who claim to prophesy from God;
  • witchcraft (including Wiccans, warlocks, etc.); “vampirism”;
  • those who “worship” the earth and Nature—”Mother Earth,” “the earth goddess,” etc.
  • and many others, too numerous to continue listing here . . .

 All of the phenomena noted in the listing above certainly disclose how pervasive and worldwide such demonic influences are throughout every society and culture in earth’s history and in our times, as well.

  While demonic influences may not be directly responsible for some of the phenomena noted above, nevertheless, they are certainly indirectly responsible for much of it.  As noted earlier, please ensure you take all these references together as a whole before arriving at any conclusions about the origin, nature, jurisdiction, and activities of evil spirits. I can only hope and pray that you will choose to devote a lot of time and attention to studying all these references.

I have deliberately omitted numerous biblical references to idolatry and worshipping false gods because of the vast number of such references throughout the Bible, but it is clear that most, if not all, idolatry (whatever shapes or forms it takes) and worshipping false gods (including counterfeit “Christian” religions) is inspired by evil, unclean spirits. Idolatry—by common definition—is to ardently or excessively give one’s devotion to any object; it is any false notion or idea that causes errors in thinking or reasoning.  If you find any additional references I have omitted from the listing, please add them to your list, and then let me know:

  • Exodus 22: 18
  • Leviticus 19: 26, 31; 20: 6 and 27
  • Deuteronomy 18: 10-12; 32: 17
  • Joshua 13: 22
  • Judges 9: 23, 37
  • 1 Samuel 6: 2; 15: 23; 16: 14 – 23; 18: 10; 19: 9; 28: 2 – 24
  • 1 Kings 22: 21 – 24
  • 2 Kings 17: 17; 19: 7; 21: 6; 22: 24; 23: 24
  • 1 Chronicles 10: 13; 21: 1
  • 2 Chronicles 11: 15; 18: 20 – 23; 33: 6
  • Job 4: 15; 15: 21; 16: 9
  • Psalm 106: 37
  • Isaiah 8: 19; 19: 3 and 14; 29: 4; 37: 7; 44; 45; 47: 9 – 15; 57: 3
  • Jeremiah 13: 14; 27: 9 and 10; 29: 8 and 9
  • Ezekiel 13: 6, 7, 9, 18, 20 and 23; 21: 21 – 23
  • Daniel 2: 2,10, 27; 3: 7; 4: 7, 11, 15; 5: 7 and 11
  • Hosea 4: 12; 5: 4
  • Micah 2:11; 3: 6; 5: 12
  • Zephaniah 1: 5
  • Zechariah 10: 2; 13: 2
  • Malachi 3: 5
  • Matthew 4: 24; 5: 37; 6: 13; 7: 22; 8: 16, 28-34: 9: 32-34; 10: 1, 8; 11: 18; 12: 22-30, 43-45; 15: 22-28; 13: 19; 24 – 30, 39; 15: 22-28; 17: 14 – 21; 25: 41
  • Mark 1: 21 – 28, 32 – 34, 39; 3:11 and 12, 15, 22, 30; Mark 5: 1 – 20; 6: 7, 13; 7: 25-30; 9: 14 – 29; 38, 39; 16: 9, 17
  • Luke 4: 33 – 36, 41; 6:18; 7:21, 33; 8:2, 26-39; 9: 1, 37 – 42, 49, .55; 10: 17-20; 11: 14-23, 24 – 26; 13: 11-16, 32
  • John 6: 70 and 71; 7: 20; 8: 48, 49, 52; 10: 20 and 21
  • Acts: 5: 16; 7: 42 and 43; 8: 7; 13: 6-12; 16: 16 – 18; 19: 11 – 20
  • Romans 8: 15, 38 and 39; 11: 8
  • 1 Corinthians 2: 6, 8, 12; 10: 10, 20 and 21; 15: 25-28; 12: 10
  • 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5; 11: 4, 15
  • Ephesians 1: 19-23; 6: 12
  • Colossians 1: 13, 16; 2: 10, 11, 15
  • 1 Thessalonians 5: 8
  • 2 Thessalonians 2: 2
  • 1 Timothy 4: 1
  • 2 Timothy 1: 7
  • James 2: 19; 3: 15
  • 1 Peter 3: 19, 22
  • 2 Peter 2: 4
  • 1 John 4: 1 and 3; 4: 6
  • Jude 6;
  • Revelation 9: 12; 16: 13, 14; 18: 2, 23; 21: 8; 22: 15

 Yes, let’s learn to know our enemy and his strategies as fully as possibly, and let’s cooperate with Holy Spirit in our training about how to successfully engage in battle with him. With that knowledge, we have full assurance from God that we can effectively engage our enemy in the “battle of the ages” and emerge completely victorious from the fray. We have God’s promises of utter and total victory in and through our Lord Jesus!  Take heart, embattled and weary prayer-warrior, “for whoever is begotten of God is VICTORIOUS over the world; and this is the VICTORY that conquers the world: our faith.” (1 John 5: 4 and 5)

                   “We give all thanksgiving to God who always makes us VICTORIOUS conquerors through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Corinthians 15: 57)

                  “OH, sing to the LORD a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand [Jesus] and His holy arm [Jesus believers empowered by Holy Spirit?] have gained Him the VICTORY.” (Psalm 98: 1)

                  “Blessed are You, LORD God of Israel [and the Church], our Father for all the ages of time. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the VICTORY and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and You are exalted as head over [all creation].” (1 Chronicles 29: 11)

NOTE: Now that you have finished studying this training Manual, I readily confess to you that it is woefully incomplete; we humans just don’t know all there is to know about any subject. I probably know about 1/10th of 1 percent of what there is to know about our enemy and prayer warfare. If I wrote another 50..or 100 pages . . . or more, my knowledge would still be incomplete.

We can only write and share with others based upon our current levels of understanding and states of awareness—both of which change as we change, grow and develop as Jesus believers. Anyhow, here it is; I can only trust that it has helped you in some way to know our enemy better and to more skillfully engage in battle with him.

Bill Boylan 
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and Updated March 2023



Revised and Updated January 2019

Jesus In Every Book of the Bible

Jesus Himself said that the entire Bible is really all about Him. Where did He say that? Read the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Luke. Yes, Jesus says that in one way or another the entire Bible is about Him.

The Old Testament is the prologue about Jesus. the four Gospels are biographies about Jesus, and the remainder of the New Testament is the epilogue. The Old Testament conceals the New Testament, and the New Testament clearly reveals (or unveils) the Old Testament. When reading the Bible for the first time, I usually recommend that people first read the four Gospels, then go clear back to the beginning in the Book of Genesis. Then re-read the four Gospels, continuing on with the remainder of the New Testament. I’ve done that for many years now–and I clearly see Jesus in every book of the Bible!

If a person searches wholeheartedly to find Jesus in every book of the Bible, that person will find Him. In the Old Testament portion of the Bible, He doesn’t stand out as clearly as He does in the New Testament portion of the Bible, but He can be found therein if a person searches for Him. Of course, the entire New Testament portion of the Bible is all about Jesus, and He is seen there very clearly and distinctly on almost every page. Thus—as I’ve taught many times—the entire Bible is about Jesus.

To help me personally find Jesus in every Book of the Bible, the following listing has been very helpful. As far as I can determine, this listing was first written by Oral Roberts, the famed healing evangelist of the 20th century. I have “tweaked” his listing a little, clarifying and adding to it here and there. It gives me sort of an outline to use as I study the Bible and look for Jesus in every book.  I don’t necessarily recommend you memorize this listing (unless you enjoy memorization), but the listing can serve as a handy companion as you read and study your Bible.

Here’s that listing:

  • Genesis: He is the Creator and Sustainer of everything, including all humanity, who are destined to govern and manage all Creation with Him.
  • Exodus: He journeys with us through our Red Seas, and in the wildernesses of our lives, He is our Living Water and Bread from heaven, our Passover.
  • Leviticus: He is God the Son, our High Priest, interceding on our behalf with God the Father.
  • Numbers: He is our Pillar of Cloud by day and Fire by night, leading us ever onward through our earthly journey.
  • Deuteronomy: He is our Prophet, greater than Moses, God’s Spokesperson for our lives.
  • Joshua: He is the Great Captain of our Salvation, empowering us to defeat all our spiritual enemies.
  • Judges: He is our Deliverer.
  • Ruth: He is our Near-Kinsman who redeems us.
  • 1 & 2 Samuel: He is our Chief Prophet and King.
  • Kings and Chronicles: He is the good and benevolent King of our lives, knowing each of us by name.
  • Ezra: He is the Faithful Scribe, interpreting the Father’s will for us.
  • Nehemiah: He is the Rebuilder of the broken-down walls of our lives.
  • Esther: He is our Close Relative, our Near-Kinsman faithfully working behind the scenes in our lives for our good.
  • Job: He is the One who suffers with us in our trials and testings by fire.
  • Psalms: He is the Good Shepherd, guiding, leading, refreshing, and comforting us, caring for our every need.
  • Proverbs: and Ecclesiastes: He is Knowledge and Wisdom embodied and personified.
  • Song of Solomon: He is our Heavenly Bridegroom, our true and faithful Lover.
  • Isaiah: He is our Suffering Savior, the Prince of Peace upon whose shoulders rests the government of all creation.
  • Jeremiah and Lamentations: He is the One who weeps for our welfare.
  • Ezekiel: He is the One who rides the starry heavens and touches down on planet earth.
  • Daniel: He is the Fourth Man in the fiery furnaces of our lives.
  • Hosea: He is our Heavenly Husband, faithful forever to his sometimes rebellious wife, the church.
  • Joel: He is the One who restores many-fold all that life destroys and steals from us.
  • Amos: He is our Burden Bearer.
  • Obadiah: He is Mighty to save us.
  • Jonah: He descends with us to the depths of our “hells”.
  • Micah: He is our Messenger proclaiming peace to us.
  • Nahum: He is our mighty Avenger.
  • Habakkuk: He is the One who refreshes and revives us.
  • Zephaniah: He is our Savior.
  • Haggai: He is the One who fully restores us when we succumb to sin.
  • Zechariah: He is our Fountain poured forth for cleansing from sin.
  • Malachi: He is our Sun of Righteousness, arisen with healing in his rays.
  • Matthew: He is the Long-Promised Messiah.
  • Mark: He is our Worker of miracles, signs, and wonders.
  • Luke: He is the Son of Man, totally human.
  • John: He is the Son of God, totally God.
  • Acts: He is the One who pours out his Spirit on all people.
  • Romans: He accepts us as though we have never sinned, births us into his family, and freely gives us his own righteousness and eternal LIFE.
  • 1 and 2 Corinthians: He is the Resurrected One, freely bestowing his gifts to his Church.
  • Galatians: He is the One who redeems us from the curse of the law.
  • Ephesians: He is our Living Head of his Church.
  • Philippians: He is the One who supplies all our needs and fills us with joy.
  • Colossians: He is the One who ever lives fully present within us.
  • 1 and 2 Thessalonians: He is our coming King of Glory.
  • 1 and 2 Timothy: He is the One Mediator between us and God.
  • Titus: He is our Faithful Pastor.
  • Philemon: He is our Friend closer than a brother.
  • Hebrews: He is the One who spilled his blood to establish a new covenant with us.
  • James: He is our Great Physician, healer of spirit, mind, and body.
  • 1 and 2 Peter: He is our Chief Shepherd who gathers all his sheep into one fold.
  • 1, 2nd, and 3rd John: He is Love.
  • Jude: He is our Mighty and Eternal King.
  • Revelation: He is in the midst of his church, King of kings, Lord of lords, the beginning and ending of all–worthy of all our worship! 

As mentioned earlier,I don’t recommend you attempt to memorize this listing (unless you enjoy memorizing long lists), but keep the listing handy as you read and study your Bible from day to day. The listing will help you locate Jesus in every book of the Bible. After all, that’s what the Bible is all about: Jesus!

Bill Boylan
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and Updated February 2023

Hidden Scroll

The sun began to slip below the far horizon, it’s many-hued rays fanned out across the darkening sky. Turning and gazing back from the high, wind-swept, rocky promontory where they paused momentarily, the six dust-covered, weary travelers could see myriads of scattered spots of refracted sunlight sparkling like liquid diamonds on the waves of the Great Sea to the west. They must hurry to reach this day’s destination before there was no longer enough light for them to find their way along the path they trudged.

They were weary—oh, so weary!—and hot and hungry, but in the fast-waning daylight they could still make out the walls of the village ahead toward which they traveled. They knew their full journey would take another two days, but they had made it to the village of Lydda on this first day of their journey afoot. They felt an urgency to reach the great city of Jerusalem, their final destination, well ahead of swelling crowds of hundreds of thousands of Jewish pilgrims from throughout the known world of the Roman Empire who would soon be gathering in the Jewish holy city for the annual Passover Festival.

As they anticipated, the watchman on the village wall challenged them as they approached the base of the wall and the lighted, single night-gate leading into the village of Lydda—closed only a few moments before their arrival as full darkness neared. There was only enough daylight remaining for the watchman atop the wall to satisfy himself about their identity and shout down instructions for the gatekeeper to open the gate. Otherwise, they would have had to sleep outside the village walls, unprotected during the night. Since Lydda sat on the main route from the seaport of Joppa (where they had landed yesterday) to their final destination of Jerusalem, the travelers hoped that one of the village’s inns might still have room for them this night.

The little band of travelers carried hidden among their belongings a very important scroll they knew would be confiscated or stolen if discovered. They tried to act as normal as possible so as not to arouse suspicion among the villagers and other travelers milling around in the marketplace just inside the night-gate. They deliberately dressed and traveled as typical Jewish pilgrims enroute to Jerusalem, not as the wealthy family they actually were.

After the village gate closed behind them, in the light of flickering torches lining the marketplace square the innkeepers crowded around them seeking their business, but the wary travelers also knew among the noisy crowd were likely to be robbers and pickpockets eyeing them for anything of value they might steal, especially something as valuable as their lengthy manuscript written on the finest tanned leather scroll.

Such manuscripts were worth much gold, no matter in what language they were written. So great was humankind’s thirst for knowledge, even the world’s greatest library at Alexandria in Egypt would purchase stolen manuscripts, never asking how they were acquired, paying top prices. This particular manuscript had been written in Aramaic, the everyday language used by the almost six million Jews scattered throughout the empire. Later, the scroll would be translated and written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin.

The leader of the small band of travelers was Matthew. Accompanying him were his wife, Mary, their son Nathan, and Nathan’s wife, Elizabeth. The two young men completing the group were Nathan’s and Elizabeth’s sons, Simeon and Zaccheus. Matthew’s grandsons were strapping young men, both in their twenties, acting not only as servants and companions for the older four, but also as bodyguards.

Matthew had lived almost seventy years, Mary only a few years less. All six were followers of the Jewish Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Matthew had been one of the original twelve followers of Jesus, having served as a highly paid tax collector for the Romans until one day thirty-five years earlier Jesus had appeared in the doorway of Matthew’s busy tax office in Capernaum, Galilee, and summoned Matthew to follow Him, exclaiming, “Follow me!” Without any hesitation, Matthew arose and followed the controversial young man heralded by some as the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. Oh, the amazing things Matthew had witnessed and heard for three years following that day when he left everything to follow Jesus of Nazareth!

As the six travelers settled in for the night in the inn for which they had haggled a suitable price, Matthew was so excited he could not go to sleep immediately even though he was weary with a deep, numbing weariness. He knew he needed the sleep; his old body ached in places it had not ached for years. The six had spread out their sleeping pallets on the dirt floor near a corner of the main room of the inn—Matthew and Mary nearest the walls, Nathan and Elizabeth in front of them, and Simeon and Zaccheus on the outside of the group for protection in case some of the other sleepers in the room attempted to rob or harm them during the night.

Secured to his left wrist by a braided leather strap, Matthew hugged to his breast the sealed cylindrical leather case containing his rolled-up manuscript. He tried every mental technique he had learned over the years to fall asleep, but sleep would not come. His mind kept going over and over the things he had written in the manuscript. At the moment, however, he flushed with embarrassment when he vividly remembered how easily he and ten other young men had fallen asleep that night in a garden so many years ago—just after
Jesus had asked them to stay awake while he prayed. And tonight he couldn’t fall asleep no matter how hard he tried. In the darkened room, he smiled at the irony of it.  

Ten days earlier far to the north, Matthew and his family left their seaport home, Antioch of Syria by boat, having secured the services of a local fisherman to sail them to the Judean port of Joppa, from where they had disembarked and walked to Lydda to stay this night. In Antioch, Matthew had finally finished the manuscript he had been preparing for so many years to write, reviewing it innumerable times to ensure his facts were accurate. He had interviewed so many people he lost count of them; they were a kaleidoscope of faces whirling around in his mind as he attempted to sleep. And he searched deep into his own memory to ensure he had not confused any facts or flow of events he wrote about in his manuscript. If called upon, he could have recited his manuscript from memory.

Matthew was gladdened that during the sea voyage from Antioch to Joppa he and his family had ample opportunity to tell the fishermen and his family about Jesus. The small crew readily believed the story related to them, even asking to be baptized as followers of Jesus. They immediately renounced their family idols and fishing gods, throwing them all overboard during the voyage. Matthew knew of a small group of Jesus’ followers meeting in a home in the section of Antioch where the fisher family lived. Matthew encouraged them to seek out those believers as soon as they returned home, telling them Matthew had sent them. Before they stepped off the boat at Joppa, Matthew and his family prayed with Jesus’ new followers, commending them to God’s grace.

As he tossed and turned on the hard sleeping pallet at the inn in Lydda, Matthew recalled with deep joy and wonder a far longer journey he had undertaken almost thirty years ago to far-off Britannia in order to interview Mary, the mother of Jesus. Very shortly after the risen Jesus had returned to his Father in the heavenlies, Mary’s uncle Joseph of Arimathea (having been divinely warned in a dream about the first great wave of persecution soon to come upon the followers of Jesus) had secreted her out of Judea, sailing westward across the Great Sea, north on foot across Gaul, and then across the north channel to Britannia.

Joseph had vast holdings, lands, and tin mines in those distant isles and there Mary had lived out her years in peace and quiet, free from the persecution sweeping the rest of the empire. What a joy it had been for Matthew to interview her and hear about her son from Mary’s own lips. She understood matters about Jesus from a mother’s perspective—matters no other person could understand. Matthew had almost an entire scroll of notes from that interview.

Not very many days after he began to follow Jesus of Nazareth, an angel appeared to Matthew in a dream (Oh, how vividly he remembered that dream while laying on his pallet in Lydda trying to fall asleep!). Even though that dream had occurred years ago, it was still as clear as if he were viewing it for the first time.  In the dream, the angel called his name and told him that one day Matthew was to write a full biography of Jesus, the Messiah. At the time, Matthew questioned God’s wisdom in choosing a former tax collector to be the biographer, but trusted the Spirit of God to help him write it when the time came. Matthew possessed the ability of nearly total recall, an ability that served him well both as a tax collector, and, more recently, as he wrote Jesus’ biography.

Two years ago Matthew had another dream in which the same angel instructed him it was finally time to write the biography. In his cluttered study of their spacious villa overlooking the seaport of Antioch of Syria, Matthew had spent many rich, full days writing and rewriting his drafts, recalling with wonder and awe all that had occurred in his life since leaving his tax office to follow Jesus long ago.

To write his final manuscript, he called up wonderful memories and referred to copious notes he had recorded and kept through the years. It was many years since the young Messiah had died and been raised to new life by the power of God. “How could so many years pass so quickly,” questioned Matthew as he lay on his pallet struggling to sleep.

Fortunately, many other dispersed followers of Jesus had also settled in Antioch by that time, so Matthew was able to interview many of those still alive who had witnessed Jesus’ deeds and had heard his teachings in person. Some of them had even been among the hundreds of persons who had seen Jesus after God raised him from the dead. A few people he interviewed had been raised from the dead at the same time Jesus burst forth from his tomb! Having been a tax collector, Matthew knew the necessity of paying meticulous attention to detail as he wrote his manuscript. With divine prescience he foresaw how closely his manuscript would be scrutinized, analyzed, and questioned in years to come.

Matthew possessed a copy of a biography of Jesus John Mark had written only a year or so earlier. John Mark’s biography was shorter than Mattthew’s, but it helped Matthew to be able to compare his notes with Mark’s biography.  Doctor Luke, Paul’s traveling companion, had also written a biography of Jesus about five years earlier, but so far it had been circulated only among the churches in the region of Galatia far to the north, and Matthew had not yet seen a copy of Luke’s biography of Jesus.

Matthew had also heard that John had very recently completed writing an amazing revelation he was given by the risen, glorified Jesus, but he had not yet seen that manuscript either. He understood the revelation Jesus gave to John was written specifically to bring hope and comfort to the many followers of Jesus who were being persecuted and martyred in the most recent wave of persecutions decreed by the Emperor Nero.

Matthew and John both understood it would not be long before great tribulation (greater than ever before experienced) would come upon Jews and followers of Jesus. Both men sensed an urgency to complete their manuscripts and have copies circulated throughout the empire. Both knew the last days foretold by the ancient Jewish prophets and by Jesus himself were already crashing in upon the Jewish world and the end of all things Jewish was at hand. They knew they were living in the beginning of the cataclysmic time of the end of Israel foreseen by the ancient prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel and others.

Both John and Matthew believed that Jesus would return soon from the heavenlies in clouds of glory and judgment just as he told them on numerous occasions. They had a divine premonition the Jewish world and culture as they knew them would soon cease to be. They were saddened that thousands of years of Jewish history and culture were hastening to an end, but also gladdened that a new world was soon to be ushered in at the return of Jesus.

They didn’t understand all that had been divinely revealed to them, but they sensed an urgent need to place their manuscripts in the hands of as many Jews and followers of Jesus as possible as the days of great tribulation and persecution were beginning to be unleashed upon them throughout the empire.  In fact, Matthew had heard from many of Jesus’ followers fleeing to Antioch that John’s manuscript contained numerous proclamations by Jesus that his return was even nearer than most of his followers anticipated—that his return on clouds of judgment would shortly take place, that it was at hand, that the hour of his return was coming quickly, that Jesus was knocking at the very door opening to the ends of the ages.

Their sense of imminency seemed to agree fully with what God’s Spirit had caused Matthew to remember and write in various places throughout his manuscript about Jesus’ soon return and consummation on earth of God’s eternal kingdom. It was urgent that his manuscript be copied and distributed to both Jews and followers of Jesus throughout the known world.

Matthew felt a compelling priority to place his manuscript into the hands of the elders of the church in Jerusalem, “the mother church,” before all Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem fled the city. He wanted those elders to bless the distribution of its copies before they were carried throughout the empire. Jerusalem had the finest copyists and scribes available in the empire except for those in Rome, and numerous copies—exceedingly accurate—could be produced in a few weeks. He was scheduled to meet with the Jerusalem elders in four days.

Matthew knew the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem had been divinely warned to flee Jerusalem and Judea before the wrath to come; a few had already begun to leave, with their numbers increasing each day. He had recalled in a recent dream one occasion when the young Messiah said not one stone of the great Temple of King Herod would remain intact. He knew Jerusalem would soon be destroyed and become utterly desolate. That great city of ancient kings, of historical lore, and of The Great King of kings would soon face unimaginable tribulation, slaughter, starvation, and horror!

He wanted his biography of Jesus to be read in public for the first time near where many of the events therein had begun—not in far-off Antioch, but in Jerusalem and Judea. Thus, he had convinced his family to make the long trip with him to Jerusalem. They knew full well the dangers they faced, but believed God would protect them until they handed over the manuscript to the Jerusalem elders.

As Matthew began writing his manuscript two years ago, he still wondered why God wanted him to write it, since the biographies of John Mark and Doctor Luke were already being circulated among many of the congregations of Jesus. In a dream, God informed him he wanted Matthew to write his manuscript specifically for Jews and Jewish followers of Jesus.

By having Matthew write his biography, God wanted to ensure that the Jews and Jewish followers of Jesus dispersed and scattered throughout the empire had a clear understanding of the life and works of Jesus and how he had first come to the Jews to usher in the Kingdom of God among them.

Matthew then understood that the manuscripts of John Mark and Luke were written largely for non-Jews who were beginning to follow Jesus in ever increasing numbers. “How gracious of God to include both Jews and non-Jews—all humanity—in his all-encompassing, all-inclusive plan of redemption,” mused Matthew just before the early morning hours when he finally fell asleep on the floor of the inn in Lydda.

Early the next morning after breaking their fast with some dates, olives, and bread, the little band of travelers filled their drinking skins with new wine and set out once again toward Jerusalem, their final destination. Matthew wanted to have plenty of time to meet with the elders of the church in Jerusalem before great crowds of Jews began to arrive for the annual Passover Festival.

They planned to stay that night in the village of Emmaus with some of Jesus’ followers and then continue on the next day to Bethany to stay with Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, all three even older than Matthew, but still strong in spirit. It was well-known among followers of Jesus throughout the empire that the three believed they would live to see Jesus return in power and glory.

To this very day, Lazarus boldly told anyone who would listen how Jesus had brought him back to life after he had died so many years ago. The brother and his two sisters had escaped much persecution through the years because the local Roman and Jewish authorities held lingering fears that by some feat of magic Lazarus (or his sisters) might come back to life again if they tried to kill any of the three of them.

There had even been a joke circulating for years claiming Lazarus had once told local authorities: “Kill me and I’ll be alive again in three days just as Jesus was—and I’ll be very angry with you for killing me!” Whether or not Lazarus actually said that was questionable, but recalling Lazarus’ dry sense of humor, Matthew could easily believe Lazarus had said it.

The next day passed without incident as the family left Emmaus and undertook the final leg of their long trek toward Jerusalem. The followers of Jesus in Emmaus had asked Matthew to teach them for a brief time the evening before. Among the fifty or so followers of Jesus meeting in a crowded home in Emmaus that evening were about a dozen new followers preparing for their baptisms. Matthew taught about John the Baptizer and told the full story of how Jesus had sought out John to baptize him.

When the six travelers finally arrived the next day in Bethany, a suburb of the holy city of Jerusalem and home to Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, they were greeted with much joy. Jerusalem and its suburbs were already beginning to fill with Jewish pilgrims from throughout the known world, an assemblage that would swell to well over a million visitors by the beginning of the Passover Festival in a week. Matthew and his family were grateful to be lodged in the cool, quiet suburban home of Lazarus and his sisters.

The evening following their afternoon arrival in Bethany, as night shadows began to appear throughout the village, people began arriving at the home of Lazarus one, two or three at a time—but never more—for fear of the Roman and Jewish authorities. It was forbidden for followers of Jesus to gather in the name of the one they claimed to be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. Many of Jesus’ followers in Bethany and Jerusalem had already been arrested. Some had been killed because they would not renounce their allegiance to Jesus.

Roman and Jewish soldiers regularly patrolled the streets, but some of them were followers of Jesus, too, and had arranged their tours of duty so they could protect the home of Lazarus where Jesus’ followers gathered that night. The soldiers knew the risks they were taking, but had sworn allegiance to a power higher than Rome or the Jewish religion.

Some seventy-five people finally gathered secretly in the spacious home of Lazarus that evening. They were hushed and guarded, whispering greetings to one another, praying for one another, and catching up on recent news. The few oil lamps lighting the room were specially trimmed not to give much light; the windows were covered with black cloths.  They had heard by word-of-mouth that one of the original twelve followers of Jesus had arrived in Bethany that afternoon and were excited to find out what he might share with them that night. They knew that three of the original followers of Jesus had already been killed for their faith, some in far-off, unknown lands. Some of the others had already died of old age, awaiting their resurrection at the imminent return of Jesus. How blessed they felt to have one of the remaining original twelve among them.

Little did they know the wondrous words they were about to hear read to them by Matthew!  After some brief greetings, a few instructions by some of the elders, sharing of bread and wine, prayer, and the singing of psalms, Lazarus began to introduce his guests to the little house-church congregation. All eyes were on Matthew as Lazarus waited to introduce him last.

During the other introductions, Matthew sat quietly clutching the leather manuscript case to his chest, tears of joy streaming unashamedly and unchecked down his browned, wrinkled cheeks. What joy to serve his Lord in the way in which he would be privileged to do in just a few moments. He knew all too well this could well be his last public opportunity to be a witness for his Lord, but he believed the words he had written in his manuscript would be read forever, long after his old body and bones had turned to dust.

Finally, after Lazarus’ lengthy introduction, Matthew stood up, broke the seal on the leather case, and tenderly extracted the lengthy scroll—as if he were handling a newborn baby.

He slowly unrolled the first portion of the scroll.

Taking a deep breath he began to read in the dim light of the smoky, flickering oil lamps. At first his voice broke, then wavered, but carried loud and clear throughout the crowded room: “These are the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a direct descendant of King David and of Abraham, the Father of our race: . . . “

The End . . . of the Beginning!

[NOTE: I encourage you to read the actual words of Matthew’s “Hidden Scroll,” entitled “The Gospel of Matthew,” the first book of the New Testament in the Bible.]

Bill Boylan
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and updated February 2023

Bible Overview

Recently, some of my students both (pre-followers of Jesus and new followers of Jesus) asked me to teach them a brief overview of the Bible. They wanted the Bible “in a nutshell.” They didn’t want an in-depth history of the Old and New Testaments, nor did they want a verse-by-verse exposition of the Bible. They simply wanted a broad, general overview of what the Bible is all about.  Why is a Bible overview important? When I was first discharged from the United States Armed Forces, I was privileged to attend a world famous Bible Institute in Chicago. One of the first required courses at the Bible Institute was similar to a Bible overview course; Christian schools generally call them “Bible Survey” courses. The course gave me the broad sweep of the Bible—the “big picture,” from which I was later able to fill in all the details I wanted to learn. The course gave me a foundation upon which I could later sort out details I could glean from the Bible as a whole.

An overview is like having the finished picture available as you are working on a jigsaw puzzle. The finished picture makes it easier to fit the correct pieces into the puzzle. It can also be compared to a set of blueprints used to build a house. That’s what an overview is. That’s why an overview of the Bible is important—assuming you’re a student of the Bible, of course.

When Is A Book Not A Book?

Before I begin the actual overview, however, here are some introductory thoughts. For example, the Bible is not one large book beginning with chapter one and going chronologically through to the last page of the last chapter–like a novel. The Bible is a compilation of 66 small and large books (actually scrolls and letters) written by 40 authors over a period of 1,500 years. For the most part, those 40 writers were just ordinary people like you and me. Those 40 people were guided by God’s Spirit to write what He wanted them to write—using their own writing styles and personalities as they wrote.

The first book of the Bible was written approximately 3,500 years ago—1,500 years before Jesus—and the last book of the Bible was written in 65 or 66 A.D., about 30 years after Jesus’s death and resurrection in 33 A.D. There are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. They’re not necessarily in chronological order. Some of them are books of history, some of poetry, some of prophecy, some of biographical information, some of teaching, some a blending of various types of literature.  

Some things written in the Bible are literal, some aren’t. Some are clear, some aren’t. Just as any other literature does, the Bible uses various forms of writing: hyperbole, metaphor, symbolism, parables, figurative language, etc. Actually, the Bible–as any other literature–uses almost 400 figures of speech! From the context, the Bible student must decide what is literal and what are figures of speech. Yes, as you study, you need to know from the context which forms of writing are being used at any given time.  

The Old Testament is about God before the time of Jesus. The New Testament is about Jesus and events in his life and in the lives of his followers for about 30 years after Jesus died, was raised from the dead, and returned to heaven.  The Bible was written in three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. The Bible in its present form was compiled and completed about 400 years after the time of Jesus. If you intend to be a serious student of the Bible, I strongly recommend you take the time and effort to memorize the names of the 66 books of the Bible so you can more readily look things up as you study the Bible.

The Bible is basically a book in which God takes the initiative in revealing himself to humankind. God also reveals himself to us through Jesus. The Bible is God’s final written revelation of Himself to humankind; Jesus is God’s living Word or revelation of himself in human form. If you want to know what God is really like, look at Jesus! Symbolic hints and prophecies—alongside clear teachings—about Jesus are found in every book of the Bible.

And, Jesus, during his time here on earth, taught his disciples that the Old Testament was really all about him in veiled and shadowy form. The written word and the living Word blend and interact; they are interwoven together. They are one. If you dig deep enough you will find “Jesus in every book of the Bible.” So . . . in veiled form Jesus can be found in each of the 39 books of the Old Testament. And in clear form the 27 books of the New Testament are all about him.

One other minor matter. Originally, the Bible was not divided into chapters and verses; those chapters and verses were added many years after the Bible was compiled in its present form.

Look Through The Windows

Now here’s our overview. I’m presenting this overview to you in 5 different SCENES or “WINDOWS” you can look through and see what’s happening during your journey through the pages of the Bible. Just imagine you are standing in front of a history panorama or diorama such as can be seen in many museums in large cities. Imagine you are strolling along looking at the panoramic museum exhibit through five separate windows. The panorama is continuous, but each window you look through as you move along the exhibit shows a different and distinct part of the panorama.

SCENE ONE

Scene One opens “In the beginning,” when God created the entire universe, including the earth. He also created two individuals, the very first humans. There is no definite information in the Bible when all that happened, just that God created everything in the beginning. And the Bible doesn’t furnish a lot of detail about how God created all things, just that he did. The first humans were a male and a female: Adam and Eve. They became the first parents of the entire human species, including the various human races. Adam and Eve enjoyed being God’s close friends and working with God in caring for the newly created earth.

God freely gave them the entire earth as their dominion; they were assigned to be good caretakers and overseers of it. God did this because he loved them very much and appreciated their friendship. He placed only one restriction on them: for reasons known only to God, Adam and Eve were not to eat of the fruit of one particular tree (there is disagreement over whether this was a literal tree or a symbolic one). They disobeyed God’s restriction, and as a result sin (disobedience to God; living for egocentric self rather than God) entered the world. All succeeding generations of humans—to this very day—have suffered the effects of Adam’s and Eve’s wrong decision. So . . . there you have the creation of all things, the story of the first two humans, the early beginning of human history . . . and sin.

Most of this information is contained in the first 5 chapters of the first book of the Bible, Genesis, but other books of the Bible also give us glimpses into God’s creation of the universe and humankind. Put all the references together and you have a very vivid and detailed Scene One about the beginnings of all creation, including the human race.  Another teaching on this web site contains more about the original condition of Adam and Eve; the teaching is entitled “Let There Be Light.” There you will find some surprising information you’ve probably never read anywhere else. Another teaching entitled “Satan: From Beginning To End” sheds even more light on these early years of the human race.

Let’s label Scene One: “God’s Creation, and His friendship With the First Two Human Individuals, Adam and Eve.” It’s important for you to be able to “picture” these scenes in your mind. Close your eyes and picture this for Scene One: In your imagination, you first see the universe exploding into being like the greatest fireworks display you’ve ever seen. Everything is beautiful and colorful as the new universe expands in all directions in an atomic second of newly created time. In the midst of all that splendor, you picture our sun, our solar system, and our earth. Then you see a man and woman working in a lovely garden covering the entire earth, surrounded by beauty, harmony, and vivid color, and pleasant scenes and sounds. They walk toward a big, beautiful tree and eat a piece of it’s fruit; a dark raging storm immediately ensues, and the man and woman—aged, bent over, and sobbing—are scurrying away toward the edge of the scene, trying to hide from God.

SCENE TWO

In Scene Two God now moves from creation and dealing with just a few people—individuals—to dealing with humankind in general—and with the various ancient nations mentioned in the Bible. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and plunged humanity into sin-darkness, humans acquired a penchant or taste for disobeying God and wanting their own way.  

Speaking of sin, if you want a good “working definition” of that phenomena, here’s one: Sin is making conscious choices and decisions to live a self-centered, self-absorbed life instead of a God-filled life. Do you see your self anywhere in that definition? If you do, then you are a sinner. If you don’t . . . well, then you’re unique: the only human among billions of us who is different from every other person on the planet.

Continuing with Scene Two, we now see the beginnings of many of the early nations of the earth as humankind scatters all over the globe. People continue to go their own way, disobeying and disregarding God and all the good things he wants for his human children. In fact, humanity becomes so corrupt that God seems to be on the verge of abandoning the entire human race and wiping them all out.  But one “righteous” family stands out from all the others—the family of a man named Noah. From Noah’s three sons and their wives God again populates the earth. They have many different languages and are scattered throughout the Middle East, the Mediterranean area, Northern Africa, and lower Europe. This scene ends with most humans again disobeying God and wanting to go their own way.

Scene Two is found in chapters 6 – 11 of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Let’s label Scene Two “God’s Dealings with the Early Nations of the Bible.”  To “view” Scene Two, close your eyes again, and picture these scenes on the “viewing screen” of your imagination: You see earth covered with humans as you might picture ants spreading out from an anthill. Then you see a tremendous deluge of rain sweep across the planet, flooding everything. Next you see a giant boat (with the capacity of over 500 railroad cars!) filled with numerous animals, floating on the floodwaters with Noah and his family leaning over the side searching for dry land.

They finally find dry land, leave the ship, and again you see vast numbers of humans spreading all over the globe, going their separate ways and speaking many different languages. You can feel how sad God is that the amazing humans he created in his own image are still sinning and disobeying him, going their own way, living for self, and leaving Him out of their daily lives.  Thus far, we have seen how God began working with one family and then moved to working among many early nations of the earth, generally those we now know as the Middle East, the Mediterranean area, and southern Europe—the nations of the Bible.

SCENE THREE

Scene Three reveals God beginning to deal with just one nation instead of many. So far, we’ve gone from: 1. God dealing with individuals, 2. to ancient nations, 3. and now to one Bible nation in particular. Remember it this way: Individuals-Nations-Nation. Scene Three begins in chapter 12 of Genesis and goes clear to the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, covering a time period of approximately 2,000 years. In one sense, it also includes the last book of the Bible, Revelation, which contains much information about the last days and destruction of a nation—the Jewish nation. The book of Revelation was written about 66 A.D., just a few years before the final destruction and dissolution of that nation.

In Genesis 12, God finds a man named Abram (about 2,000 years before Jesus) with whom he establishes a warm, friendly relationship. It seems that out of all the humans on the earth at that time, perhaps Abram’s family was the only family that worshipped the one true God; there were thousands of false gods at that time, but God found Abram whom he led out of an ungodly nation into a land that later came to be known as the land of Israel.  

God used Abram (later re-named Abraham) and his wife, Sarah, as the founders of an entire nation of 12 tribes whom God wanted to represent him and take his message to the surrounding nations who did not recognize and worship God as the one true God. Abraham had a son named Isaac, and a grandson named Jacob. Jacob was later re-named Israel; he had 12 sons who were heads of the 12 tribes of Israel.

It took about 400 years for this original family of Abraham’s to grow into 12 tribes numbering in the millions. Those 400 years were spent in Egypt where the 12 tribes were disciplined by God as slaves to the Egyptians. When the right time arrived, God selected a man named Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and back into the land of Israel. God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments and entered into solemn covenants with them, appointing them to be his personal representative nation to tell all the remaining nations of the earth about his love for all humanity.  

Unfortunately, the nation of Israel (comprised of the 12 tribes of Israel) also began to sin, to forsake God, and to misrepresent Him to the other nations. They became contaminated with the false religions of the surrounding nations who worshipped and served false non-gods.

In one sense, the nation of Israel thrived and prospered (even though they were in the process of forsaking God—which took hundreds of years) under kings such as Saul, David, and Solomon. Because of sin, within 300 years after leaving Egypt, the nation of Israel was split into two parts—the northern and southern parts. The southern part consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin while the northern part consisted of the remaining 10 tribes. The southern part came to be known as Judah, while the northern part retained the name Israel. 

About 700 years before Jesus, the northern 10 tribes were taken into captivity by a powerful, savage nation. Most of the people from those tribes migrated into what is now northern Europe and the British Isles and never returned to the land of Israel. About 150 years later, the remaining southern tribes were also taken into captivity because they, too, disobeyed God and worshipped false, non-gods. The southern tribes were allowed to return to the land of Israel about 70 years later and came to be known as Jews (so named because most of the returnees were from the tribe of Judah). Thus the entire nation of 12 tribes known as Israel was reduced to a small nation of two tribes known as Judah.

This returned Jewish nation was weak and unfaithful for a few hundred more years and never again became a significant nation. They continued to worship the one true God, but their worship became corrupt and very displeasing to God.  One very significant thing came out of this little “remnant” Jewish nation, however: Jesus of Nazareth was born 2,000 years ago as a member of the tribe of Judah. As God in human form, he would free humankind from the sinful mess it had made going clear back to Adam and Eve.

This Jewish nation spent its last few years as a puppet nation under the iron rule of the Roman Empire. They kept looking for a Saviour-King to be born who would restore the nation’s former glory. They did not accept the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was that great Saviour-King.

The Jewish nation and religion with all its ceremonies, with its great Temple, with all its marvelous history, with all its religious activities, with its covenants with God, was invaded by the Roman armies and completely destroyed in 70 A.D., 37 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. During that horrible destruction, over a million Jews were slaughtered.  Four books of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are biographical books about Jesus—God in human form—when he was on earth for 33 years.

To view Scene Three in your imagination, close your eyes again and see these events: First, you see one man, Abram, arriving in his new homeland, Israel, after a long journey. You see Abram’s son and grandson. His grandson has 12 sons. Those 12 sons grow into 12 tribes numbering in the millions. God gives them the Ten Commandments and other instructions and they finally settled in the land of Israel where you first pictured Abram at the end of his journey. [If you don’t know where the land of Israel is, look it up in an atlas]

The 12 tribes become a great nation split into two parts: north and south. The northern kingdom was invaded and most of its people migrated into northern Europe. The southern tribe gave birth to Jesus who lived, died, was resurrected, and returned to heaven. 37 years later in 70 A.D., the remaining southern nation of Judah was destroyed along with all its religious rituals and its great Temple.

SCENE FOUR

Scene four overlaps with Scene Three near the end of that scene, and takes us back 37 years before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and the scattering of the remaining Jews throughout the known world. Scene Four is about the Church from approximately 33 A.D. to 70 A.D.—37 years after Jesus. Jesus founded the Church just before he died and was resurrected in 27 A.D. The Church is Jesus’ many-membered “Body” on the earth; He is the Head of the Body. The Church was commissioned by Jesus to spread the Good News about God’s love to the entire world before he returned.  The Church didn’t spread God’s Good News all by itself, using its own initiative, ideas and plans—and with its own strength. No, the Church was empowered by God’s Spirit living in all its “members” to spread God’s Good News to everyone living throughout all the succeeding generations of time.

Beginning with the New Testament Book of Acts and ending with the Book of Revelation, we find the story of the early Church and all the wonderful, power-full, amazing things God did in and through those early Christians from 27 A.D. to 70 A.D.  Today, the Church has the same function of continuing to spread God’s Good News all over the earth, but since 70 A.D. that work is subsumed and carried out within the larger scope of spreading the Kingdom of God on earth.

The church is a part of the larger Kingdom of God. The Church consists of “everyone everywhere and everywhen in whom Jesus lives in the ‘unbodied form’ of God’s Spirit.” If you “fit” within that definition, you are part of the Church and should be allowing God’s Spirit to empower you to tell people about the great things Jesus is doing in you, through you, and as you in your day-to-day life as a “member” of the Church and citizen of God’s Kingdom.

Here are the four windows so far: Individuals-Nations-Nation-Church.

Here’s how to “view” Scene Four: Picture the nation of Judah in the Middle East. Millions of Jewish people are going in and out of a great Temple in Jerusalem, attempting to worship God with all sorts of sacrifices and rituals. Jesus is born, lives, dies, and is resurrected. He gathers a little group of his followers and instructs them to tell the world about him. His followers begin to travel to all the nations of the world, telling everyone about what God has done for them through Jesus. Many thousands of people become new followers of Jesus. Just at the end of the scene, you see great destruction in Judah, the great temple destroyed, millions of Jews slaughtered by the Roman armies, the remaining Jews scattered, and the Church triumphantly continuing its march across the world.

SCENE FIVE

Scenes Four and Five also blend and overlap and are found in the same books of the Bible, Acts to Revelation. But there are also many veiled references to Jesus’ Kingdom in many Old Testament books as well as clear references in the first four books of the New Testament. Put the veiled references and the clear references all together and you have a clear picture of God’s ever-expanding Kingdom throughout all time and eternity.  During the last three years of his life on earth Jesus of Nazareth founded the Church. But at the same time, He planted the Kingdom of God on the earth—beginning inside of people—and began to oversee it’s growth and spread by means of God’s Spirit living in people and empowering them to spread the Good News about Jesus and his Kingdom.

The Church and the Kingdom of God blend and fuse together until Jesus returns and fully consummates his reign as King over the Kingdom of God. To this day, Jesus continues as Head of his Body the Church, but he also reigns as King over the ever-expanding Kingdom of God. He is now King of kings and Lord of lords and will be for all time and eternity!

Here are the one-word summaries of the five scenes: Individuals-Nations-Nation-Church-Kingdom. Just remember “INNCK.” Just think of the word “INK” with a two extra letters in it.

The significant factor about Scene Five as we look through our window is that as Head of the Church and as King of the Kingdom, God is now fully present—fully “housed”—among humankind, slowly and inexorably drawing all people back into a redeemed, reconciled, restored, best-of-friends relationship with Himself. God no longer lives in buildings made by human hands, i.e., temples, churches, cathedrals, etc. He lives inside of people—you and me—now and forever.  

I hope you understand God fully lives inside of you in the “unbodied form” of his Spirit. He fully loves you. He fully embraces you. He fully extends all his grace to you. He is fully your friend. No one is closer to you than God. He will never be “closer” to you or more “in” you than He is now. You are “face to face” with Him now as he lives his life in you, and through you, as you. When you die, you simply continue that relationship with God for the remainder of time and then on into eternity, but in eternity, that relationship is unencumbered by your sin and your mortality.

Here’s a three-sentence summary of our Bible Overview: God began his plans and purposes for all humanity by creating the universe and a pair of humans –male and female—on planet Earth. He then worked among nations of people. Then He began to work through just one nation, and now he is working through individuals in the Church to fully establish his eternal Kingdom: INNCK.  Scene Five ends in the last two chapters of the last book of the Bible—the Book of Revelation—wherein we read that God is fully present among people, constantly drawing them to himself with his amazing grace and love. This scene ends with God’s Spirit and the Church lovingly pleading for all people to come to God. They call to everyone who is thirsty for real LIFE to return to God.

Here’s how to “see” Scene Five on the “viewing screen” of your imagination: The Church is on the move across the earth. Picture Jesus sitting as a King on the “throne of your heart” and on the heart-thrones of millions of others. Then see “beyond” that to the deepest regions of your interior life; look into your mind, your spirit, your soul, your personality, your character, your emotions, your will. See God fully living his own life inside you, guiding you, directing you, loving you, encouraging you.

Through you—using your voice, your life, your mannerisms, your gifts and talents, your personality—see God calling out to others to come and establish a deep, loving relationship with Him.  See thousands—no, millions!—of people responding to God’s loving summons from inside you and other citizens of his Kingdom. See his Kingdom growing and spreading over the entire earth. See his Kingdom fading into the distance—into eternity. See God filling every human being completely full with his loving presence!

There you have it: five scenes or windows through which we have given you a brief overview of the Bible. If you can either memorize the major points of each scene or at least remember them well enough to be able to look them up in the appropriate parts of the Bible you will be well on your way to becoming a serious, lifelong student of the Bible—able to fill in all the details in each of the five scenes we have given you.  

The primary purpose for any of us to study the Bible is so we will invite Jesus into our lives, and then begin to have a deep, loving, eternal relationship with God. Please don’t study the Bible just for facts and information. Rather, learn to study the Bible so you will have a closer relationship with God through Jesus. Anyone can learn facts and information, but we need to cultivate a lifelong and eternal relationship with God. God didn’t give you your Bible merely to inform you with facts and information, but to transform you!  

That’s what Bible study is all about. That’s what a Bible overview is all about—to help you establish and maintain a lifelong (and eternal) relationship and close friendship with God through Jesus. You can study the Bible all you want for facts and information, but such a study will do you no personal good unless you let it’s author, God’s Spirit, lead you deeper and deeper into a loving, eternal relationship with God, your loving Heavenly Father!

Bill Boylan
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and Updated January 2023

The B-I-B-L-E

Before I chose to become a follower of Jesus, I had never opened a Bible or looked inside one. Oh, I knew some people read and studied the Bible in churches, but I felt it was a somewhat mysterious, secret book with a black cover that people carried with them to church. Besides never having looked inside a Bible before I became a follower of Jesus, I had also very seldom attended church and had never attended Sunday School.   But after I was converted by God and began attending church, sometimes I heard the children singing a song in Sunday School that went something like this, in part: “The B-i-b-l-e, yes, that’s the book for me. I stand alone on the Word of God, the B-I-b-l-e . . . “

What in the world does such an expression mean? How can someone stand on the Bible? Oh, I suppose it’s physically possible to stand on a Bible—maybe one of those large “Pulpit” Bibles measuring about 18″ x 12″ x 4″ thick. But why? Why stand on a Bible? What does that mean?   To start at the very beginning of my thoughts about the Bible in this teaching, we must actually begin before the beginning. We must consider how, in the first place, we know anything about God—Whom the Bible is all about and Who caused the Bible to be written.

How We Know

There are essentially four “sources” of our knowledge about God. They are called “revelation” knowledge or how God “reveals” Himself to us. He reveals Himself to us in these four basic ways:

  1. Through creation: by studying the vast physical and material universe and all that’s in it from the “vastness” of the interior of the atom to the vastness of the reaches of space and everything in it; the Bible itself teaches this fact: God’s existence is clearly seen by every human being by means of his amazing creation; people who deny such evidence label themselves atheists. It’s not that atheists don’t believe in God, per se; they do believe in God, but simply make a conscious choice—an act of their will—to not believe in God Whom they clearly see in his creation. Moreover, many atheists actually believe in God; they’re simply angry at the God they believe in because some religious person in their past has done them wrong; thus, they blame God for the wrong done to them and claim they don’t believe in Him.
  2. By means of God’s intervention in human history and his “salvific” acts among humankind—especially the crowning salvation acts of Jesus’ birth, his life, his death, his resurrection from the dead, and his return to heaven.
  3. By means of God the Holy Spirit Who comes to live inside humans in his unbodied form.
  4. By means of his written, “revealed word,” the Bible.

Having laid that foundational groundwork about how God reveals Himself to humankind, let’s now examine the fourth proposition above: what the Bible is and where it came from. How did we get the Bible?

A Brief History Lesson

First, realize this simple fact: The Bible is not a novel to be read from cover to cover. Nor is it a single book flowing smoothly from “chapter” to chapter. The word Bible itself comes from a Greek word for “papyrus plant” (biblos) since the leaves of that plant were often used to write upon. Biblos is a Greek word meaning “books.” The Bible is a “collection” of 66 different books written by 40 different authors over a period of 1500 years. It’s not just one book, but a collection of books.  

The books of the Bible are different styles of literature: stories, historical lists, genealogies, law codes, poems, hymns, and prophecy. Its writers were fisherman, farmers, political leaders, kings, educated philosophers, and even one medical doctor. Three different languages were used in its writing: Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic.

Some of the books of the Bible are short, almost like leaflets or pamphlets (actually some of them were brief letters), some are lengthier. Because of the way the books of the Bible are arranged, you don’t need to feel you must simply pick up the Bible and read it from the beginning like you would a novel, an autobiography, or a textbook.

So . . . when you first read the Bible (if you haven’t already) you don’t need to necessarily begin by reading the first book, Genesis. You could begin by reading one of the other books. For those who have never read the Bible, I generally recommend they begin by reading the book of John or “The Gospel of John, ” about ¾ of the way through the Bible in the New Testament portion. Next, read the book of Acts immediately after John, and then the rest of the books following Acts. Then go back and begin reading Genesis, the first book of the Bible, continuing all the way back to John where you started reading. That will give you a great overview and “feel” for the entire Bible.

Of course, if you’ve lived for any length of time, you have most likely heard stories about how the Bible is full of myths, fairy tales, and errors. Maybe you’ve heard how it’s just an ancient book that has no relevance to life in our 21st century world. I challenge you: how can you honestly believe such contrived stories if you’ve never read and studied the Bible completely through for yourself? That’s really not very fair, nor is it honest scholarship.   Or . . . maybe you read the Bible in its entirety 40 years ago, or started to read it once and then quit because you couldn’t get past all the “thee’s” and “thou’s” and “whithersoevers.” Have I got some good news for you, if that’s the case. You may have no idea what’s available for Bible reading these days.

First, you can find in most Religious bookstores (and some of the large supermarket chain stores) and on the internet a daily Bible reading plan that you can follow in order to read the Bible completely through in a year’s time. You can even purchase Bibles which are pre-divided and marked for you to have daily readings. A great source for Bibles of all makes and models on the internet as of this writing is http://www.christianbookdistributors.com (or simply CBD.com).

Also available now are many versions of the Bible in modern, up-to-date English (or Chinese, or whatever your native language is). They contain language that’s as up-to-date as today’s newspaper text. No one—especially God—speaks in outmoded or dead languages; true, God understands all languages, but He chooses to “speak” to you through a Bible in your own, modern language. I encourage you not to purchase or read a Bible called “The King James Version” of the Bible. It was written in the English language over 400 years ago and is a very faulty and unreliable version of the Bible in the light of many of today’s modern translations.

There are also “talking Bibles” on CD’s you can listen to. And, there are even CD pictorial versions of the Bible you can purchase and rent. Anne and I recently viewed a 4-hour version of the biblical Book of Matthew on CD in which the actors spoke only the words and dialogue from one of the modern versions of the book. It was fascinating; we’ve never seen anything quite like it.  

Not very long ago, I even purchased a little electronic Bible which I often carry with me just for convenience’s sake. Not much larger than a billfold, I can use it to quickly look up any word, passage, reference, or book of the Bible. Amazing! And, of course, if you have a Kindle or other type of e-reader, you can read the entire Bible on them. Also, most “smart phones” have Bible “apps” with many different versions of the Bible you can read on your phone. Some Bible societies are even providing the entire dramatized New Testament to our men and women in the armed services . . . on a “flash drive” or “memory stick,” no bigger than your thumb!

You probably know already that the Bible is still the most widely distributed book in the world—in all of history. Why? Why the fascination with the Bible? Let me put it to you very simply:  Most people know when they read the Bible without any preconceptions that it truly is God’s written, living Word to all people on planet earth!

How We Got The Bible

Writing in many forms has been around for a long, long time—thousands of years. When God first began to “reveal” Himself to humans and help them sort out all the differences between all the idols and hand-made gods worshipped in those ancient times, on one hand, and the one true, living God, on the other hand, He prompted various people to begin writing down his words. Oh, they weren’t written on word processors and faxed or texted from place to place, but they were written down—on clay tablets, on special animal skins, on papyrus . . . writing surfaces like that.  God simply caused people to write down what He wanted them to write. He simply put his thoughts and concepts into their minds.

If God is truly God, He can certainly do that sort of thing. Keep in mind the people He used to write the Bible were humans just like you and me; some were well-educated, some were not. They came from various walks of life and occupations. Some were kings, some were farmers and fisherman, but they could write.

Don’t believe the naïve notion they were sort of ancient “cave people” who were ignorant, who couldn’t read or write. That simply isn’t true. From China, the Middle East, and various other sites all over the world, archaeologists, toponymists, epistemologists, and other experts about humanity’s history are constantly discovering more and more writing that is more and more ancient—going back many thousands of years.  Here’s how one reference in the Bible itself says God caused people to communicate in writing what He wanted them to. 2 Peter 1: 21 (that means the second book of Peter’s, the first chapter, and the 21st verse) says “as they were guided and directed by the Spirit of God Who lived inside them, certain people communicated in writing what God wanted written.”

Oh, those people weren’t automatons, where God just took their mouths and forced them to speak or seized their hands and forced them to write; no, God worked “behind the scenes” in their minds and spirits so they thought the thoughts God wanted them to think, and then wrote them down—using their own style of writing, their own languages, their own idioms, their own phrases. They weren’t robots or zombies who were forced to write certain things; they were simply human beings writing down the thoughts, concepts, phrases, and words God placed in their own thought processes.  

The Spirit of God living within them acted as somewhat of an “overseer” to ensure they wrote what God wanted them to write. He didn’t override their own personalities and thought processes and force them to write. In fact, they probably didn’t know with any certainty at the time that what they were writing was the “word of God.”

They were simply writing down what they believed God was communicating to them in their thoughts—from inside them, for the most part; although occasionally some of them would actually “hear” God’s voice from out of heaven, or from a cloud, or from some other “outside” source. But for the most part they wrote what the Spirit of God guided them to write from where He lived inside their thought processes and spirits.  

Another biblical reference, 2 Timothy 3: 16 and 17, says the entire Bible is “inspired” by God. Literally, the word “inspired” means all the Bible is God-breathed. Well, what does that mean? How did that “work?” Look at the word “inspiration.” Let me spell it this way: in-spirit-ed-action. What that means is that God was inside certain people—inside their spirits—and He took action by his Spirit to cause them to think—in their minds, in their thought processes—certain thoughts, and to write whatever words He wanted written.

Some people question God’s “ability” to cause the Bible to be written in the manner I’ve described. Although the Bible claims that God did cause it to be written through various people, God didn’t “control” their every move. The writers used their own minds, and their individual personalities show clearly in the different styles of writing found in the various books. God is God. Can He do that sort of thing, or can’t He? You decide . . .   Can I prove that’s exactly how the Bible was written? Nope. I wasn’t there. But the Bible claims that’s how it happened.

It’s a matter of choice. Is God trustworthy? Can I believe Him when the Bible says that’s how it happened? I believe I can. Can you? That’s up to you. Our entire lives are made up of daily choices and decisions. So . . . it’s a matter of your choice. Who ya gonna believe? God or his detractors who continually “attack” the Bible?  Does that type of explanation seem farfetched to you? It doesn’t to me—if I believe God is God: a real living Person in unbodied spirit form Who lives inside of people.

The Faith Factor

There’s another factor that comes into play at this point—an important factor in whether or not we believe the Bible to be God’s word. It is the factor of faith. One way we come to believe and understand the Bible’s origins, it’s text, and the way it “works” in the lives of people is by the means of faith. I want to take a few paragraphs now and teach about faith before we come back to the origins, history, and nature of the Bible.  

Let’s begin examining faith in this manner . . . Beyond our five senses, beyond our mind, beyond our own thoughts, beyond our consciousness or subconsciousness . . . lies an inner, limitless expanse of faith “residing” in our spirits. What is faith? How many definitions of faith have you read or heard in your life? Confusing, isn’t it? I’m not going to spring anything new on you. The best definition I’ve found anywhere is right where some people least expect to find it. Where might that be? Surprise! Surprise! Right in the Bible . . .

Follow me carefully here. I want you to turn to a reference in your Bible, but not in the old King James version; that version was written almost 400 years ago. English is a “living” language, which means the language is constantly changing and growing. In some respects, 21st century English is much different from what it was 400 years ago. Having said that, please turn to your own Bible’s definition of faith. It is Hebrews 11: 1.  

Here’s that definition of Hebrews 11: 1 in modern English: “Faith is being confident of what we hope for—perceiving as evidence phenomena not learned by our five senses.” Let’s analyze that definition. Before we do, though, please turn to Romans 4: 18 – 21 and read that reference, too; it’s about ancient Abraham’s faith being a “model” or “prototype” for our faith today. It’s one of the Bible’s own interpretations of the definition of faith in Hebrews 11: 1.

Notice that Abraham had given up hope by reason of his five senses, but he hoped by faith; he was confident—his faith did not weaken. He didn’t waver by unbelief or distrust, but was strong and empowered by faith to trust that God would keep his word and do what He had promised. That is why his faith was credited to his “account” as right standing with God. That’s just a little bit about what this reference teaches us about faith. There’s more, much more . . .

Inside And Outside Your Skin

From the instant you were conceived, everything you have ever learned or experienced has come to you through your five senses; think about that: besides your genetic, biological being—your entire self-ness—that which makes you “you,” has all occurred as a result of data entering you from outside you through your five senses. Your five senses are how you perceive all the data coming into you from your external world.  Yes, everything outside your skin comes to you through your five senses.

In other words, by means of your five senses you have “constructed” the person living inside your skin whom you call “me” (and whom others call “you”) out of the mega-quadrillions of bits of data you have received from outside your skin since the instant you were conceived.

Wait a minute, though, doesn’t the Bible’s definition say faith perceives as evidence what is not revealed to the senses? Yes, it does say that. So where does faith come from? It comes from inside of us. Faith comes to us as evidence from God who lives inside of us in his unbodied Spirit form. For purposes of illustration at this point, let’s say that in a manner of speaking faith is another “sense” (not the traditional sixth sense, however) that receives data from inside our skin rather than from outside our skin.

The Bible says in Romans 12: 3 that God has given every human being a certain “measure” of faith as an unmerited, free gift. Ephesians 2: 8 and 9 addresses the same matter. You have a certain measure or portion of faith. I have a certain measure or portion of faith. Another way of putting it is that God has given each of us an appropriate amount of faith. None of us can say we don’t have faith. We all have faith. The important point is in how we “use” our faith.   Some people place their faith in money . . . or cars . . . or in other people . . . or in dead, manmade religious activities . . . or in houses . . . or in Hollywood . . . or in their intellect or knowledge . . . or in reason and logic . . . or in nothing at all. And, some people place their faith in God.

The differences in how people use their faith lie in the object of their faith, not in the faith itself. Faith is faith. And God has given each of us an appropriate amount of faith. How are you using yours? What’s the primary object of your faith?  Yes, Holy Spirit who lives inside each of us “transmits” reality (by means of faith) to our “inner person” from the inside where He lives in our spirits; this is in addition to the reality which comes to us from the outside by means of our five senses.

There’s another way in which faith is transmitted to us, too. Yet, it originates from the same Holy Spirit who lives inside each of us. Faith also comes from the Bible. Look at Romans 10: 17. Who caused the Bible to be written? Holy Spirit. So . . . faith comes from the Bible, too. As we read and study it—and obey it—Holy Spirit makes it real to us. That’s how we know the Bible is the “Word of God,” not by means of our five senses, but by means of our greater, inner “sense”—faith! The Bible is unlike any other book ever written; it is actually full of dynamic power and is LIFE-giving as Holy Spirit uses it to “grow” and strengthen our faith. You might want to examine Hebrews 4: 12, also.

Yes, from inside of us Holy Spirit makes the Bible come alive as we read, study, and obey it. He’s the one who causes the Bible to actually become “food” for our inner persons. See Matthew 4: 4. He’s the one who causes the Bible to be more than mere paper and ink. By faith it is a power-full, living book Holy Spirit uses to help transform and “grow” our lives. By means of our faith-sense, the Bible actually imparts God’s own eternal, self-existent, uncreated, abundant LIFE to us. By faith, it is a book unlike any other book ever written. It is THE trustworthy, error-free, infallible, mistake-less Word of the Living God!

Another example of how the Bible “works” and is activated in our lives is found in the New Testament book of James; James was the half-brother of Jesus, by the way. Here’s what he wrote in James 1: 21: “So get rid of all your sin and wickedness and in a humble manner receive the Word of God which He has implanted in you; it contains the power to save your souls.”

Now let us return to our study about the Bible itself.

66-Book Home Library

 I’ve already mentioned that the Bible is not simply one book; rather it is a collection of 66 different books; a number of them are actually letters, but they’re still called books. There are 39 books in the part called the Old Testament (the part written before Jesus lived) and 27 books in the New Testament (the part written about Jesus when He was here on earth as a human, and for approximately 40 years after He left to return to heaven).  The oldest book of the 66 books is probably the Book of Job (pronounced Jobe), likely written about 1500 – 2000 years before Jesus.

Chronologically, the last books of the Bible were written in 65 or 66 A.D.; they are the 3 brief letters written by John entitled 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. All the books of the Bible are not placed in chronological order. For example, the real last book of the Old Testament chronologically is 2 Chronicles, just as the last books of the New Testament chronologically are the 3 little letters noted above.

That can make things a little confusing for a new reader or student of the Bible, because the normal tendency would to presume the last books placed in order are the book of Malachi in the Old Testament and the book of Revelation in the New Testament, respectively. No, those 2 books are not the oldest chronologically, but merely in terms of placement in the format of the Bible.  

It helps to always see the Bible as one unified whole. It does not stand as separate books, chapters, or passages, but rather as many building blocks that together form a single structure. They all support each other just as individual bricks in a building are built one upon the next. For example, for this reason we can choose any single topic or theme and see how it is woven throughout the entire Bible. Together these individual books, chapters, and passages build an entire superstructure of some of God’s pertinent thoughts about any given biblical subject.

At any rate, are all those 66 books reliable? Can they be trusted? You have to answer that for yourself. No other human can convince you that the Bible is trustworthy and reliable; only God’s Spirit who lives inside people can convince you by means of your faith-sense.  All I can tell you is that the Bible has been around for a long, long time—one of the oldest books in existence.

People have tried to burn all the copies in existence, kill people who owned them, prove it’s false and full of myths, contradictions, and errors, prove that it wasn’t written by those who claim to have written it . . . and it’s still here, still being printed, still being distributed, still being read by multitudes of people, still radically changing the lives of millions of people in each generation who believe and obey its teachings . . . What can I say? You have to decide for yourself your relationship with the Bible and the God of the Bible.

That’s what the real issue is: What is your relationship with the Bible? You must use your own spirit and mind to read and study it. Does the Spirit of God live within you? If He caused it to be written—as the Bible claims—have you ever asked Him to interpret if for you and help you to understand it? What better Person to explain it to you than the Person who caused it to be written. If I were studying a textbook which I didn’t understand clearly, wouldn’t it be helpful to know the author and ask him to explain to me what he meant when he wrote the textbook? Think about it . . .

The Format Of The Bible

What about the format of the Bible? Who put it together in its final form? Who decided which book was which and in what order to place them in the “library” of 66 books?  At first, a few “books” of the Old Testament were carried around from place to place by the Israelites (the 12 tribes of Israel, the original “people of God”); they were written on papyrus, animal skins, etc. As time passed, and more and more books were considered by the Israeli spiritual leaders, they were grouped together in categories.

For example, in the Old Testament there are books of history, poetry, drama, proverbs, and prophecy grouped together.  By the time Jesus was born most of the Old Testament as we know it today was compiled and accepted by God’s people as being authentic. Jesus Himself quoted scores of times from the Old Testament, showing He accepted it as being God’s Word, and He considered reading and studying it necessary for his daily life.

The Old Testament was read and studied regularly in both Jewish “church” meetings at the time of Jesus and shortly thereafter in early church meetings by followers of Jesus. As the Old Testament was being read in the Christian meetings, it was quite natural that the early Jesus believers began to add to the Old Testament additional writings about things they had seen Jesus do and heard Him teach.  

Later, some of the Jesus believer leaders began to compile what Jesus’ earliest followers had spoken and written. Doctor Luke, M.D., for example, was a highly skilled and well-trained physician who was also an historian. His first book of the Bible (The Gospel of Luke) is a well-researched book showing all the careful study and research Dr. Luke conducted in order to be historically accurate. The Book of Acts, also written by Dr. Luke, is simply a continuation of his first book—sort of a followup Dr. Luke wrote in order to give an authentic, historical account of the earliest beginnings of Christianity, very shortly after Jesus was resurrected and returned to heaven.

By the way, in case you don’t know this, the word “Gospel” simply means “good news.” What good news? Good news about God visiting earth as a human: his birth, his life, his death, his resurrection, and his return to heaven. That’s why the four books in the New Testament which are biographies of Jesus are called Gospels. They are good news about Jesus. Those 4 books are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Still later, men such as Peter, Paul, James, Jude, and John wrote letters to some of the new churches God had birthed and formed in various communities throughout the Mediterranean area. Their letters were letters of encouragement, letters of teaching about God the Father and God the Son, letters of admonition, letters of hope. Their letters became some of the books of the New Testament which follow the four Gospels and the book of Acts.

Finally, by the year 400 A.D., about 1600 years ago, trusted leaders among Jesus’ followers from throughout the Roman Empire got together in great council meetings and, after much prayer and fasting—and asking Holy Spirit for guidance and direction—put the Bible’s books together in essentially the same format we now have.  After the Bible was put together in its present format, then it began to be translated into more languages and dialects, including English approximately 500 years ago. It has now been translated into well over 3500 languages and dialects!  

In fact, there aren’t many of the 7,000 or so languages or dialects remaining on this planet which don’t have at least a small portion of the Bible which people can read in their own language and dialect. Not too shabby for a 1,600 year old collection of books, huh? But, there’s still a long way to go until the entire Bible is translated into every language and dialect on planet earth!

There’s been a lot of contention through the centuries that the Bible is full of myths, fairly tales, and discrepancies which no thinking person can accept. Hmmm. I’m a thinking person with two masters degrees, a Ph.D., and additional graduate credit–and I don’t find those myths, fairy tales and discrepancies. Am I being fooled? Am I naïve? I don’t think so!

True, there are some minor challenges here and there in the Bible, but any serious ones were resolved long ago. The few remaining challenges or discrepancies are cleared up more and more as the sciences of human history become more reliable and exact. It’s interesting how scoffers in each generation keep bringing up the same old challenges that were, for the most part, resolved centuries ago.

Today, more than 99.5% of the Bible’s text is considered to be accurate based on archaeological and epistemological findings and comparisons with other ancient writings. That’s more accurate than some of the writings from only a few hundred years ago in other types of literature.  Interestingly, more time and attention has been devoted to attempting to discredit the Bible than has been devoted to any other book in history!

Yet, thinking, intelligent people from all walks of life, all races, all creeds, all cultures, all levels of society keep right on reading the Bible, studying it, and obeying it—to find their lives transformed by it. The Bible was not written for information, but for our transformation! Yes, in every generation for 4000+ years millions of people have had their lives irrevocably altered for good and transformed because they have “discovered” the Bible anew in their generation!

Decisions And Choices

It really boils down to a matter of choice. Are you going to believe what the critics say—many of whom have never even read the Bible? Many of them have simply read what someone else has written, and that person read what someone else wrote, and so on. Or, are you going to read and study the Bible for yourself, apply it’s teachings to your life, obey what you read, and let God transform you by means of the Bible applied to your life?

It’s not a “magic” book or a positive self-help book, but God “breathed ” it, caused it to be written—and uses it to transform the lives of millions of people in every generation.  Some of you reading this teaching might want to reach up to that shelf where your Bible’s been laying, blow the dust off it, grab a cup of coffee or tea, and begin giving it another reading (or a first reading). Read with an open mind and spirit, ask God to “interpret” it for you, obey what you read, share it with others. Who knows what might happen . . . ?

It’s amazing to me when I see people open themselves up to the Bible for the very first time. It’s like they’ve discovered a new best seller at their local bookstore. They start digging around in it, and all of a sudden it comes alive to them; their lives begin changing; they start talking about God. Their Bible cover gets well-worn and the pages all tattered, and they buy a new Bible; all of a sudden, they’re excited again about new stuff they’re finding out about God in their new Bible. And so it goes as each person in his or her own way and own time discovers the Bible to be the LIFE-giving Word of the of the Living God!  

Just for example, right now I’m teaching sort of a Bible overview course to a friend who recently began reading the Bible for the first time in his life—after 57 years of never having given reading it even the tiniest thought! Every week when we get together to study it, he gets so excited at times that he can hardly contain himself. He keeps saying stuff like, “Bill, this is so awesome! Why did I not know these things for so many years?”

For myself, as best as I can recall, I have now worn out about six copies of the Bible since I purchased my very first one in Spokane, Washington, while I was a young man newly enlisted in the United States Air Force. In fact, just recently I purchased my newest version of the Bible in a well-stocked Christian bookstore in a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. Am I dumb? Am I stupid? Am I naïve? Am I terribly deceived by believing some ancient, outdated, irrelevant book? I don’t think so . . .

Jesus put it this way on one occasion; He said: “People really can’t live well and abundantly on food just for the body. They must also have food for their souls and spirits; they need God’s Word in order to really LIVE.” (Matthew 4: 4) What are you feeding on these days? Is it feast or famine?

Another point I want to make about the Bible: Everything God knows, thinks, comprehends, and understands is not found in the Bible. It would really be naïve for any person to think that. You can’t put all the water in the world’s oceans and seas in a teacup. The Bible simply contains enough of God’s knowledge, wisdom, and thoughts—what He chooses to reveal to us—in order for us to know about and experience his great salvation. The Bible is “complete” as far as what we humans need to know for our salvation and life here on planet earth, but it doesn’t contain all of God’s infinite (limitless) thoughts.

How could 66 relatively short books written here on planet earth contain all God thinks, knows, and understands?  One writer put it this way: “Finite [limited] humans cannot bind the Infinite Indefinable God with the bonds of human words; it cannot be done.” Keep that in mind and you dig in and explore your way through the Bible. Out there . . . beyond this life . . . in eternity . . . there’s more . . . there’s more!

Jesus In Every Book Of the Bible

After He died and was brought back to to life by the power of Holy Spirit, Jesus appeared to over 500 people in his new, resurrected body. Among those 500 people, He appeared to two of his followers while they were walking enroute from Jerusalem to the nearby suburb of Emmaus. When He appeared to the two followers and began to walk along with them, they asked Him some questions, obviously puzzled—as well as excited!—by his death and resurrection to new LIFE.   

In response to their questions, Jesus said, “If you had really understood the Old Testament, you would have known ahead of time all that has happened to Me.” Then, beginning with the book of Genesis clear through to the book of Malachi (the last book in the format of the Old Testament), He explained to them how the Old Testament was really all about Him.

In essence He told them, “Yes, the Old Testament is about history and contains poetry, proverbs, and prophecy, but the ‘bottom line’ is that the 39 books of the Old Testament are full of teachings about Me.” He went on to say, “Don’t study just the history, the poetry, the proverbs, and the prophecies for their literary sake alone, but, instead,” Jesus continued, “look for me in all 39 of those books; that’s what they’re really all about: Me.” (Luke 24: 13 – 49)  So . . . if the Old Testament is really all about Jesus in one way, shape, or form, and we already know the New Testament is all about Jesus, then it logically means the entire Bible is actually about Jesus!

 Jesus made essentially the same point on one other occasion. Some of his detractors were attempting to argue with Him and trap Him into saying something they could use to wrongly accuse Him of being a false teacher.  Jesus talked with them about the “scriptures” (the Old Testament): “You search the scriptures because you think doing so will give you eternal life. Not so! Just reading, studying, examining, and even memorizing the Old Testament in and of itself won’t do you any good. No, that’s not enough. You must understand that the Old Testament is really all about Me,” declared Jesus. “I give eternal LIFE; searching and examining the Bible alone won’t do it. That’s not how you get eternal LIFE; you get eternal LIFE from Me!” He exclaimed. (John 5: 39)  That’s it; that’s what the Bible ultimately is all about: Jesus. Look for Him in every book every time you read and study the Bible.

In every age there have been those skeptics who do not believe the Bible is really God’s Word. Actually, the more modern archaeology reveals about the Bible, the more evidence mounts that the Bible is extremely accurate. We should never let the skeptics and critics distract us. When God acted to communicate in written form his message to us, he chose to preserve it as well. By Holy Spirit’s means of inspiration, He guaranteed that process of writing. And He preserves the Bible from generation to generation. Yes, the Bible is a revelation from God we can trust.

The Bible Comes Alive!

Another thing the Bible does . . . We don’t know how He does it, but Holy Spirit makes the Bible “come alive” in us. The Apostle Paul wrote about being “washed” by the Word of God (Ephesians 5: 26). Jesus said his words give us LIFE (John 6: 63). When we read and study the Bible there is a sense of peace, of refreshing, of guidance, and even our thought processes become transformed—what the Bible calls the “renewing of the mind” (Romans 12: 2).

In some  mysterious way, the Bible is LIFE-giving and full of power to transform our lives (Hebrews: 4: 12).  It is not a mere human book written by a mere human author! It is not merely words on paper. It is unique. There is no other book in the world like it. I have read most of the other books of the world’s major religions, and I can tell you without fear of contradiction, no other book on this planet is “alive”—LIFE-giving and power-full, like the Bible is.

When I write about LIFE and capitalize it in that manner I do that for a reason. Lot’s of people have an inadequate or incomplete view of what “eternal life,” or “everlasting life” really means in the Bible. First, the emphasis on that type of life God implants within us when we are born again is upon the quality of that life, not necessarily its duration. Yes, some day we will live in a state of being called eternity, but God’s emphasis upon the life we have in us is this: The LIFE God implants within us when we become followers of Jesus is a “piece” or a “portion” of God’s very own, eternal, self-existent, uncreated, abundant LIFE; and we receive that life now, not in some far-off eternity.

In fact, the LIFE we now have is the same LIFE we will have in eternity—only in eternity it will be greater and even more abundant. But, the point is that we have that LIFE of God in us NOW!

And, it’s Holy Spirit within us and the Bible that God uses to implant that LIFE within us. For example, let’s examine Hebrews 4: 12. In the original Greek language in which it was written, it begins this way: “For the Word of God is LIFE-giving and full of God’s power . . .” That verse says much more, of course, but let’s stop right here for a minute. When we read and study—and obey—the Bible, in some way we certainly cannot understand, the Bible becomes a LIFE-giving book. In other words, God uses the Bible to implant his very own eternal, uncreated, self-existent, abundant LIFE in us.

As we read, study, and obey the Bible, too, Holy Spirit who lives inside us also gives us his power to help us change, grow, and develop in our lives—a lifelong process which begins when we choose to become followers of Jesus.

God doesn’t want any of us merely to get “saved, sanctified, and petrified” as the saying goes. He wants us to continually be growing by applying the LIFE-giving Word of God, the Bible, to our lives for our entire lives. There’s another saying: “If we’re not green and growing, we are ripe and rotting!”  

Here are a couple of other biblical references about how God gives us his very own LIFE by means of the Bible. Please turn in your own Bible to Isaiah 55: 8 – 11. In essence, this passage says that when “God’s Word goes out of his mouth” it always “germinates” in the lives of people and brings forth fruit. When you read, study, and obey God’s Word, the Bible, it ought to be growing fruit in your life; what kind of fruit? Well, for starters read about the “fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5: 22 and 23.   John 6: 36, 51, and 63 tells us that in some mysterious way Jesus is “bread” that we should “eat” in order for us to be nourished. Do I understand what that means? No!

But I certainly get the sense from reading all of the 6th chapter of John (and other related passages in the Bible such as Matthew 4: 4) that somehow when we read, study, and obey the Bible we are nourished by it and become more Jesus-like because we are “eating” Him, the Living Bread which comes down from heaven. I can’t explain that, but I believe it because I have experienced it and have been nourished by Jesus for many years now.

Also, in 1 Thessalonians 2: 13, the Bible claims of itself that it effectively (power-fully) works in people who believe it. Again, how does it do that in and of itself? I don’t know, but I can tell you from at least my own personal experience that as I “encounter” the Bible openly it does work in me effectively. And it has been doing so for many years since I first became a Jesus-believer at the age of 18 while serving in the United States Armed Forces. 

How do we first receive this eternal LIFE God implants within us. John 17: 3 says it very simply. We receive eternal LIFE if we know God and Jesus. We first come to “know” Jesus when we are born of the Spirit (John 3: 5 – 8). At that precise, atomic second the Spirit of God comes to live permanently within our spirit.

Then as we read, study, and obey the Bible we come to know God the Son (Jesus) and God the Father more and more by the “teaching ministry” of Holy Spirit Who lives within us, teaching us the Bible so we are nourished and continue to grow in our faith and lives as followers of Jesus. Holy Spirit within us also empowers us to make the transforming changes necessary as we progress and grow more and more into the image of Jesus, Who is the image of God. When we grow in the image of Jesus and come to know Him better and better, we are visible representations of the invisible God.

Dear Reader, that’s what the Bible is all about. It’s a LIFE-giving book which transforms us more and more into the image of Jesus as we read, study, obey it, and apply it to our lives daily throughout our mortal lifetimes here on planet earth!  If I could summarize for you in one sentence everything written in this teaching, it would be: The Bible was not given to us for our information, but for our transformation!

Bill Boylan
leservices38@yahoo.com
Revised and Updated January 2023