Faith, Works, and the Early Church Fathers

Posted on 10/12/2019 by Paul Pavao

A friend told me a couple times recently that the early church fathers disagreed among themselves a lot. I hope to get a chance to finish that conversation with him because that statement is just not true. They were far more united than we are!

A missionary and bishop (head pastor) in the late second century, wrote:

“The Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it. She also believes these points [of doctrine] just as if she had but one soul, and one and the same heart, and she proclaims them, and teaches them, and hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth.” (Irenaeus, _Against Heresies_, Bk. I, ch. 10, par. 2)

Note: you can look up all my quotes from the early church fathers at www.earlychristianwritings.com.

Other Christians of that time period would give the same testimony. In fact, Irenaeus, who wrote the quote I just gave, and Tertullian, a Christian lawyer from Carthage about the same time, both argued against heretics based on the amazing unity of the Church.

“The Church” they were talking about are the churches we read about in the Bible (Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, etc.) and other churches those original churches started after the time of the apostles. The “heretics” were gnostics who denied that the God of Israel was the true God.

Why Modern Christians Say the Early Church Fathers Contradict Each Other

There are two reasons Christians say that the early church fathers contradict each other.

1. They are talking about arguments that arose in the fourth century and later, which were a product of growing corruption in the church. (Carnal men are argumentative men, Gal. 5:19-21; 1 Tim. 6:1-6.)

2. They don’t like what the early church fathers taught, so they hope the early church fathers disagree with each other.

3. They don’t understand the early church fathers because they don’t understand the Bible either.

Let me explain number 3.

Contradictions in Our Interpretation of the Bible

There are two verses in the Bible that seem to absolutely contradict. They are:

Romans 3:23: Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law.

James 2:24: You see then that by works a man is justified and not by faith only.

Martin Luther, the sixteenth-century Reformer, offered his doctor’s cap to anyone who could reconcile those two verses. His own reconciliation of those verses was that the Epistle of James was an “epistle of straw” that had “nothing of the nature of the Gospel about it.

It is obvious from the book of Acts (e.g., ch. 15) and from Galatians 2 that James did understand the Gospel and that James and Paul agreed on it. It is obvious from history that the churches of all the apostles got along just fine. They saw no conflict between Paul and James. The problem lies with Martin Luther’s understanding, not with a conflict between James and Paul.

When I first began reading the fathers I was thrilled to find this seeming contradiction in the letter of Polycarp to the Philippians:

“In whom, though now ye see Him not, ye believe, and believing, rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; into which joy many desire to enter, knowing that by grace ye are saved, not of works, but by the will of God through Jesus Christ.”

and …

“But He who raised Him up from the dead will raise up us also, if we do His will, and walk in His commandments, and love what He loved, keeping ourselves from all unrighteousness …”

Polycarp’s Qualifications

Polycarp was the bishop (head pastor) of the church in Smyrna. Most historians think he was appointed by the apostle John. Smyrna was one of only two churches in Revelation chapters 2-3 that was not rebuked by Jesus. His credentials as a shepherd and teacher are as good as anyone’s who has ever lived outside of the apostles themselves.

I loved this seeming contradiction in Polycarp’s letter because it made it clear that Polycarp understood the conflict between Romans 3:28 and James 2:24. Polycarp’s “contradiction” is much like the “contradiction” between Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:8-9 and Ephesians 5:5.

In modern times, we wrestle with James 2 so much that we dare not simply repeat what James said, “So we see then that we are justified by works and not faith only.” Most evangelical churches would silence us for saying such a thing, but it is a Bible quote!

That is a problem. A big one!

The Solution

Polycarp did not have that problem. He knew that we “have been” saved (past tense) by faith apart from works, but that if we want to be raised up with Jesus on the last day (future tense), then we better have used the power of our salvation to produce good works through our life. This lines up with what Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-10 and explains why he could write both that passage and Ephesians 5:5.

Ephesians 2:8-10: For by grace have we been saved, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God has prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 5:5: For this you know, that no immoral, unclean, or covetous person has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

If you want to delve more deeply into this subject, see my article at https://christian–history-org/sola-fide.html

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Toning Down 1 John: the Docetist Proto-Gnostics

Posted on 09/27/2019 by Paul Pavao

I generally avoid big words on my blog, but “proto-gnostic” is necessary to this post; so is docetist.

1 John is one of the harshest letters in the New Testament. “The one that says, ‘I know him,’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar'” (2:3-4). The word “liar” is in the Bible 12 times, and 5 of them are in 1 John.

This is important: 1 John 2:3-4 is true, and therefore it applies to Christians, BUT although it is written to Christians, it is not about Christians. That is why it uses words like “liar.”

It is well-known that John wrote his first epistle to combat docetist proto-gnosticism in the church or churches he was writing to. “Docetist” means that adherents of this doctrine believe that our flesh could not be saved, so it did not matter what we did with it. “Gnosticism” means they believed their spirit could be saved through knowledge, and “proto” just means “first.” It was the beginning. Gnosticism had not yet grown into its fullness of lunacy.

Gnosticism was almost certainly started by Simon the magician (Acts 8:9-24). After Peter rebuked him, he went off teaching that Christ was a spirit (literally, an “aeon”) that abode on Jesus, but was not Jesus. When Jesus failed by being put to death, the Christ aeon had to go to someone else. That someone else, of course, was Simon.

There is a lot of early Christian testimony claiming Simon started gnosticism. I’ll have to write an article on that someday, but for now see Wikipedia.

The point of all this is that by the time John wrote 1 John, there were people who were deceiving Christians into believing that only their spirit needed to be saved. Because the flesh could not be saved, there was no point in keeping the flesh under control.

Horrified at these teachers, John calls them liars. No one who knows God ignores his commandments and does whatever he wants. Those who know God keep his commandments.

The same is true of the verses preceding, from 1 John 1:7-2:2. Apparently, these proto-gnostics were teaching that they did not sin. They could not sin because their spirit was saved and their body did not matter. John rails against this doctrine. Anyone who says they have no sin is deceived, and anyone who says they have never sinned makes God a liar (1 Jn. 1:8, 10).

Farther into the letter, John asks, “Who is a liar but the one who denies Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son.” Again, he is storming against the docetists. The Christ was not a spirit that rested on Jesus. Jesus is the Christ.

I think you get the point. You can read the rest of 1 John and see his war against the docetists throughout.

The real point I want to make, though, is that John would not have stood in front of a congregation of Christians and told them, “You are not keeping the commandments well enough. You are a bunch of liars.”

1 John is not about keeping the commands of God well enough. It is about keeping the commands of God, period.

This is important. It is possible to read 1 John and be terrified in a way God has no intention of terrifying you. “I sinned once, I’m going to hell,” or “I snarled when I was verbally slapped on the cheek, I’m going to hell.” This is not what John is trying to communicate. He was trying to tell them, “Don’t let anyone tell you that it’s okay to live however you want. It’s not. I know you sin and stumble (1 Jn. 1:8, 10), but keep loving your brother; keep helping one another; continue keeping the commands of Jesus.”

We do need to fear God. Fearing God is beginning of wisdom and knowledge. We must not be deceived into thinking God is a harsh taskmaster. His commandments are not grievous (1 Jn. 5:3). He has given us plenty of power to overcome in this world (1 Jn. 5:4), and plenty of mercy so that we can pick ourselves up when we fall (1 Jn. 1:7-2:2).

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The Origin of the Roman Catholic Church: A Brief History

Posted on 09/24/2019 by Paul Pavao

Someone suggested the Roman Catholic Church began with the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 and cherry-picked a quote to prove it. Here is a quick but much more accurate description of the origin of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Theodosian Code is a big collection of edicts that was made by Theodosius II in the 5th century. The specific quote you gave is from the Edict of Thessalonica in 380. Here’s the full text (from wikipedia):

It is our desire that all the various nations which are subject to our Clemency and Moderation, should continue to profess that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter as it has been preserved by faithful tradition, and which is now professed by the Pontiff Damasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. According to the apostolic teaching and the doctrine of the Gospel, let us believe in the one deity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity. We authorize the followers of this law to assume the title of Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since, in our judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics, and shall not presume to give to their conventicles the name of churches. They will suffer in the first place the chastisement of the divine condemnation and in the second the punishment of our authority which in accordance with the will of Heaven we shall decide to inflict.

In the late fourth century, when this was written, the honor of the bishop of Rome was at a peak. Constantius II (Constantine’s son) had ravaged the eastern churches, replacing Nicene bishops with Arian ones as often as he could. Rome was the only apostolically founded church that was out of his reach because his brother Constans reigned in the west. As a result, Julius of Rome was the great champion of Eastern bishops that had been ousted by Constantius. That mess continued until Emperor Theodosius I cleaned it up between this edict and 383.

Also, by that time, it was believed by all bishops that the unity of the Church was based on Peter. Cyprian, in the 250s, had taught that there was just one episcopate (one office of bishop) shared by all bishops. This unity of the bishops was the unity of the churches, and they all had inherited this from Peter. Late in the 250s, a bishop name Stephen arose, who counted himself the sole heir of Peter’s authority. He excommunicated churches who disagreed with him, but everyone opposed this action even if they agreed with him.

The point of telling you about Cyprian and Stephen is to give the origin of the idea that the bishop of Rome was the sole heir of Peter’s role as representing the unity of the Church. Really, Cyprian—bishop of Carthage, not Rome—is the earliest known writer to say that Peter was the foundation of the unity of the Church, but he was talking about all bishops, not just Rome. Then, 70 years later came the Arian Controversy and the Council of Nicea. The council did not solve the controversy only because Constantius II became emperor in the East in 337 and took up the Arian cause. He unfortunately reigned for 24 years and really caused problems in the Eastern churches. He actually became sole emperor in 350, I think, and for a decade he caused problems in the West too. He even got Bishop Damasus of Rome to recant the Nicene Creed by imprisoning him.

Anyway, by the time this decree came out, it is no surprise that an emperor (or three emperors, in this case) would write that the faith was delivered to the Romans by Peter. It does not, however, mention only the bishop of Rome, but also Peter, bishop of Alexandria. It then gives a quick description of the Trinity in line with the Council of Nicea. Under Theodosius I, the Arian Controversy would be mostly put to rest. It was only a minor annoyance after that.

This is in no way the origin of the Roman Catholic Church. That is a development. For there to be a “Roman” Catholic Church there had to be a split between Rome and the rest of the “Catholic Church.” Nowadays, the rest of the Catholic Church is usually understood to be the Eastern Orthodox Churches. The split between them and Rome happened officially in 1056. That could be said to be the origin of the Roman Catholic Church as opposed to the the rest of the Catholic Churches.

We must remember that the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches only represent the Roman Empire (and later, Russia). The churches in India have their own “Catholic Church,” as did the Persian Churches, now part of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. It’s all complicated and the divisions between the various Orthodox/Catholic Churches happened at various times, and some have reunited in the last few centuries.

Anyway, the origin of the Roman Catholic Church was not some moment.. It was a process of separation from all churches outside Europe and a growth of power in Rome that began in the fourth century and did not culminate until the eleventh.

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Which Church Will the Gates of Hades Not Prevail Against?

Posted on 09/23/2019 by Paul Pavao

Despite the importance the early churches put on the Eucharist (communion) meal, I stand by the following argument, which I sent in answer to an email question about which church the gates of Hades will not prevail against:

I think “church” has nothing to do with organizations. I believe it is the family of God. I wrote an article on the purpose of church at https://www.rebuildingthefoundations.org/find-a-church.html. I think Jesus was saying that if we come together, speak the truth in love to one another, get to know one another, and provoke one another to love and good works, then the gates of Hades won’t stand a chance against us (Heb. 10:24-25; Eph. 4:11-16). If anyone reads a history of the Roman Catholic Church from 900 to about 1430, and still thinks it is remotely possible that the Roman Catholic Church was the one true church carrying the authority of Jesus and Peter, then I would consider that person irrational.

It is true that most Protestant churches are not living out Hebrews 10:24-25; Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Corinthians 12:12; etc. My encouragement to everyone is to find people you can live those things out with, even if just a few. It does not matter what branch of Christianity they are from. I would say that the Lord’s Supper is really important, but not as important as the passages I just mentioned. One day you will be judged, standing alone, not as a church, by your works. Thus, I encourage you to surrender to Jesus, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and get the empowering fellowship the Bible talks about. “Pursue faith, love, peace, and righteousness along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim. 2:22). In today’s messed-up age, you will have to find individuals to do that with, whether you are Protestant, Orthodox, or Catholic.

May God grant you understanding of these things and a concern for the day when Jesus will tell you whether you fed him when he was hungry or whether you did not and reward you with eternal life or everlasting fire (Matt. 25:31-46). As far as I can tell, on that day, no one at all will care whether you were Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox. Instead, we will all care whether we practiced true and undefiled religion by helping widows and orphans and remaining unspotted by the world (Jam. 1:26-27).

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Quick History of the Roman Catholic Church

Posted on 09/20/2019 by Paul Pavao

Someone asked me how the Roman Catholic Church “took over” from  the early apostolic church. The following response gives you a brief (and, I think, very interesting) history of the rise of the Roman papacy.

As for when the Roman Catholic Church “took over,” that is not really the right wording. The original church in Rome that was founded even before Peter and Paul, but which Peter and Paul heavily influenced, grew and was a great, truth-filled, godly church throughout the second century. As all the apostolic churches grew bigger, their bishops became more and more important, especially in Alexandria, Antioch, and Rome. Alexandria and Antioch became influential primarily because of their particular leadership and teaching, but Rome because it was the capitol of the empire, the strong interaction with other churches helped preserve solid teaching in it,  and it was a wealthy church that was very generous.

In the fourth century, controversy and the intervention of the emperors meant that a lot of bishops were installed by an emperor. Also, once Christianity was the official religion of the empire, the position of bishop became very powerful and attracted ambitious men. They weren’t all ambitious, but many were. Another problem was that the churches were no longer filled with only or mostly true Christians. They were filled with people for whom Christianity was merely the state religion. It could only go downhill from there.

It did not take long for there to be competition among the more important bishops for who was the greatest. Once Constantine was dedicated in 337, its bishop wanted to be the most important bishop, rather than the Roman bishop. From then on, there was a lot of conflict between the Roman bishop and the one in Constantinople. After the barbarians finished conquering the Western part of the Roman Empire, they looked to the only apostolic bishop in Europe, the bishop of Rome. Both his religious power and his secular influence over Europe grew stronger and stronger. In the tenth century (the 900s), though, barons and powerful families were in control of Rome and whichever one was in power put a bishop in Rome. It was pretty awful, and it was the start of several really awful centuries.

(You can read about Rome’s problems from 1294 to the 1420s at Christian-history.org, and I put a thorough history of the tenth century in my soon to be released book, Rome’s Audacious Claim. You can get a dose of why the tenth-century papacy was so bad by searching “Rome’s senatrix” or “Pope John XII.” A search for the “tusculum papacy” will give you a picture of the next century.)

The result of all this was a split between Europe and the Roman Empire, which was still being run by Roman emperors in Constantinople. (We call in the Byzantine Empire looking back, but it was still known as the Roman Empire for centuries after Rome was no longer part of it.)

After that split, in 1054, it is proper to call the church in Rome and their followers in Europe the “Roman Catholic Church.” So the Roman Catholic Church did not “take over,” but it developed from the original apostolic church of Rome.

If you enjoyed this, I did a longer Youtube videos called “The Authority of the Apostles and the Rise of the Papacy.”

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Becoming a Christian

Posted on 09/16/2019 by Paul Pavao

This is the Bible study on becoming a Christian that I sent to my (very small) mailing list at RebuildingTheFoundations.com. I think it is worth posting here as well.

Becoming a Christian

In previous Bible studies, we have talked about the Gospel (the “Good News”) that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. I have allowed several weeks to pass since the last Bible study, so it might be good to read Psalm 2 again. It will remind you who Jesus was, and why it is important to know that he is “the Christ” or “the Anointed.”

In the last two Bible studies, we talked about “foundations.” Matthew 7:24-27 taught us that hearing and obeying Jesus is the key to standing on the foundation. 2 Timothy 2:19 taught us that everyone who calls Jesus Lord should “depart from unrighteousness.”

If you are a human, then you know that it can be hard for us to do what is right. Saying that we should obey Jesus is one thing, but doing the things Jesus taught (e.g., Matthew, chapters 5-7) is quite another thing.

The New Birth

We will begin this study with John 3:1-8.

Take the time to read the passage now. If you do not have a Bible at hand, go to a search engine and type in “John 3 1-8” and click on the BibleGateway.com link. There you can read the passage in just about any version you want.

“Born again” from John 3:1-8 is a mystery to anyone who has not experienced being born again. Trying to explain being born again is almost impossible. The new birth is not a teaching, it is an experience.

It is not impossible, however, to tell a person how to be born again.

Becoming born again is a promise to all who believe that Jesus is the Christ and Son of God as described in Psalm 2. Those who believe this will, of course, commit themselves to obeying him because they do not want him to “be angry, and you perish” (Psalm 2:12).

As I wrote earlier, mere humans have a lot of trouble obeying Jesus’s teachings, which are best summed up in Matthew 5-7, which we call “the Sermon on the Mount.” That is why Jesus said, “You must be born again” in John 3:3.

Old Wineskins and New Wine

Let’s look at one passage to help explain the need. Look up Matthew 9:14-17. You can do that at any search engine as explained earlier.

In that passage, John the Baptist’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples ask Jesus why his disciples don’t fast. He explains first that fasting is for later, after he is gone. Then he tells a little parable about wineskins.

In Jesus’s day, a wineskin was made of leather. When it got old, it was stiff. If you put new wine in an old wineskin, the wine would continue to ferment, put off gases, and explode . A fresh wineskin, though, one that has oil rubbed into to it to restore it, can stretch to handle the new wine.

In the same way, Jesus’s new teachings are too much for a person who is not made new. The oil used to refresh a wineskin represents the Holy Spirit. When Jesus puts the Holy Spirit in a person, they are changed. They are changed so much that Jesus called it a new birth (“born again”).

How to Be Born Again

The apostle Peter explained this very well the first time the Gospel was preached. The story is in Acts 2. It is well worth reading chapters 1 and 2 for the whole amazing story of the birth of the Church, but I will summarize it for you.

When the Holy Spirit first came to the Jesus’s apostles after his resurrection, there was an uproar. First, there was a sound of a strong wind that everyone in crowded Jerusalem could hear. Then, flames appeared in the upper room where the apostles were praying. One flame settled on the head of each apostle (and some companions), and they all burst out in languages they did not know.

The people who had followed the sound of the wind were puzzled at these Galileans, who would have been “hillbillies” to the more refined Jews in Jerusalem. How could they speak the praises of God in all these languages?

Peter stood up and explained that the Holy Spirit had come, which had been prophesied by the Jewish prophet Joel. Then he explained that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, and he used other prophecies to convince the Jews that the Messiah was supposed to die and rise from the dead. He explained that the miracles happening that day were proof that Jesus rose from the dead and that the Holy Spirit had come.

Then he came to his grand conclusion, “Let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made this same Jesus, the one you crucified, both Lord and Christ (Messiah)” (Acts 2:36).

There were some who believed him, and he told them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus the Christ, and you shall receive the Holy Spirit, for the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all those who are far off.”

This is the way to be born again. This is the way to receive the Holy Spirit.

“Repent” in its simplest form means to change your mind. In this case, it is to stop living for yourself and instead acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Christ. As the apostle Paul wrote in one of his letters, “[Jesus] died for all, so that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

For those who have believed and therefore repented, the act of commitment to that decision is to be baptized. Baptism represents being buried, then rising to a new life as a child of God. It is the new birth, rising out of the water into your new life of following Jesus.

That transformation is what provides the power to do the things Jesus commands. There is no hope of obeying him without the new birth. That is why Jesus said, “You must be born again.”

In future Bible studies, we will learn about the things that the Jewish prophets, Jesus, and Jesus’s apostles taught. All of those Bible studies will accomplish nothing, though, if they do not bring you to belief, repentance, and the new birth. These things are mandatory if we are to drink the new wine of Jesus’ teachings and be able to live them out.

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The Glory Which Shall Be Revealed in Us

Posted on 09/06/2019 by Paul Pavao

The Apostle Paul said, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us” (Rom. 8:18, WEB). Whether it is the glory that will be revealed for us, as in the World English Bible translation, or “in us” as in most translations, it is obviously a revelation we want to be around for.

This revelation is so great that the whole creation is waiting for it! (vv. 19-22). It is not just waiting, but “groaning in labor pains” (v. 22).

I got a taste of what that revelation might be when I read John 20:17. There Jesus says to Mary Magdalene, “Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'”

Until he rose, Jesus did not call the disciples his brothers. He did call them his friends (Jn. 15:15), but never brothers. Now, after the resurrection, he refers to them as brothers, and he calls his Father “my Father and your Father.” In those simple words he expressed one of the greatest things accomplished on the cross and in the resurrection. He made us children of God is such a real way that he is our older Brother and we are his siblings.

John 20:17 is just the beginning of it, though. In Romans 8:29, Paul tells us that we are foreordained to be “conformed to his image,” so that he can be the firstborn among many siblings. One day, when we see him (1 Jn. 3:2), we will be so much like him that it will be right to call him the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

We have to wonder what that is like. I want to propose that Jesus, exalted to the right hand of the Father, is so glorious when he appears that it causes men–even the man that laid his head on his bosom on earth–to fall down as dead (Rev. 1:17). His eyes were a flame of fire (1:14).

If the whole creation is waiting for the revelation of the “glory” of the children of God (Rom. 8:21), is it not possible that the glory being spoken of is the same glory which rested on Jesus and caused John to collapse at his feet? Moses’ face shone when he came out the tabernacle with God, and that was the ministry of condemnation! How much more glory shall there be from the covenant of righteousness of which we partake? (2 Cor. 3:7-11). Daniel prophesied that the wise would shine like the stars of heaven (Dan. 12:3). Jesus said he was giving us his glory (Jn. 17:22).

The sufferings of this time can’t be compared to the coming glory. Have we seriously underestimated that glory? Let us not shrink back, but press forward and attain!

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Earning Heaven and Being Worthy

Posted on 09/06/2019 by Paul Pavao

I think it would be good to voice (write) my agreement with the idea that we will never be good enough, in ourselves, to earn heaven. This does not negate the fact that God rewards eternal life to those who patiently continue to do good (Rom. 2:6; see also Gal. 6:8-9), but eternal life is not a wage that we have earned. The reward of eternal life is far outside anything we could possibly earn. It is the gift of God to those who call Jesus Lord and do his will (Matt. 7:21; cf. Rom. 14:9)..

We do have to be worthy of it, though. Being worthy is not the same as earning something. I pay my employees wages because they earn them. I give them bonuses because they are worthy of them.

Of course, a work bonus cannot be compared to the riches God has in store for us, but I hope you get the point. Jesus promised that those who are worthy will walk with him in white. In the church in Sardis in the first century, this was just a few members of the church, not all of them (Rev. 3:4).

Again, our inexpressibly great reward for doing good is not earned. We require mercy along the way, constant strengthening by the Holy Spirit and discipline from the Father, and we fight forward, doing the best we can and thanking God for his mercy that is new every morning.

Stand by the wayside, however, and forsake the pursuit of holiness, and you will not be found worthy, and you will not see the Lord (Heb. 12:14).

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Psalm 73: Finding Answers in the Sanctuary of God

Posted on 08/24/2019 by Paul Pavao

All Scripture in today’s post is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (I actually went through this post and counted the words I quoted from the NKJV to make sure its words were less than 25% of the post, lol. That is why I typically use the public domain World English Bible, which is a good translation itself.

I have always loved the last few verses of Psalm 73. Long ago I memorized “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is none on earth I desire besides you” (v. 25). I use this verse both to exhort and to comfort myself. I remind myself with this verse to desire God first and foremost, and I encourage myself with this verse that God welcomes and desires me.

The entire Psalm is “deadly accurate.” It is an arrow fired right at our deceitful flesh, exposing it, and showing us how to crucify it.

My feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. (vv. 2b-3)

Paul warns us that those who want to be rich face “temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful lusts” (1 Tim. 6:9; reworded from old KJV). It is easy to envy worldly men and women who have wealth and adulation. They don’t seem to be suffering at all for their prosperity.

Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease, they increase in riches. Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocence. (vv. 12-13)

When we have to wait; when we are not seeing fruit; when we are struggling to make ends meet; at those times it can be hard to see the benefit of what we’re doing. It can be tempting to say, “I have cleansed my heart in vain.”

If I had said, “I will speak thus,” behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of your children. When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me—” (vv. 15-16)

Why are the wicked blessed while I suffer? Have you ever asked that question of yourself? I have. The first time I couldn’t pay an electric bill, I questioned God. I had been told that where God guides, he also provides. Then why couldn’t I afford to pay my bills? I know a man who was the son of a missionary. He passed out at school as a youth because he had not eaten in three days. He said he would never become a missionary and face such poverty.

How do we understand these things? They are too painful.

The NKJV ends that statement with a dash … a pause, then gives the important word “until”:

Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end. (v. 17)

When we despair, when we envy, when we almost anything, we will find the answer is to enter the sanctuary of God. There we will understand whatever we need to understand. In the case of the psalmist, it was to understand the end of the wicked. In our case, it might be anything. My questions were too painful … until … until I entered the sanctuary of God.

By sanctuary I mean, of course, the New Testament holy place, though the psalmist could only have meant the holy place in the stone temple built by Solomon. For us, the sanctuary is not a building made with the hands of men, but it is the holy place in the heavens, where the throne of grace is and to which we have bold access by the blood of Jesus (Heb. 4:16). There, where there is mercy and grace to help in time of need, we can see most clearly and think most wisely.

Here is a good time to tell you that my friend, the missionary’s kid who passed out at school because of three days without food, is a missionary himself now, accomplishing a great work of church planting and feeding the hungry in India.

Psalm 78 goes on to give a message of hope for our times of foolishness and ignorance:

I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before you. Nevertheless I am continually with you; You hold my by my right hand. (vv. 22-23)

And the conclusion:

It is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the LORD God, that I may declare all Your works. (v. 28)

I love Psalm 73.

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More “Coincidences” (God-incidents)

Posted on 08/19/2019 by Paul Pavao

This story reminds me that I used to have a better understanding of “the burden of the Lord” than I do now. I really need to beef up my prayer life, and I am giving strong effort to do so. As the Scripture says, “The Lord is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him” (Heb. 11:6).

This happened a long time ago, in 1985 or 1986. My sister wrote me about here son “Jo-Jo.” She and her husband had been moved to an air base near Washington, D.C. so he could be treated at Bethesda Hospital. I was stationed in Germany at the time, and I did not know about his eye infection, nor even that my sister had moved.

The letter I received told me that my nephew had had a persistent eye infection for over a year. He was now blind in that eye, and the infection had spread to his other eye. He was losing vision in that eye, too.

The day I received that letter, I brought it to a couple with whom I was close friends. We prayed for about 45 minutes over that one problem. As I prayed, I could feel “the burden” lifting. Towards the end of that prayer time, I felt lighter, but that last little bit of “burden” just would not go away.

Two weeks later, I got another letter. In those days, it took a week for mail from the U.S. to get through the military postal system to me. So the letter I got had been sent one week after our prayer. It said that Jo-Jo’s sight had returned, and the infection was almost gone. The doctors expected the rest of it to go away.

I don’t want to take anything away from the doctors, who must have found a way to treat the infection. I also do not want to take anything away from God. Not only did this happen right after our prayer, even though it had been going on for over a year, but after praying, I had that feeling that we were not quite there. I am convinced that God let a little bit of the infection remain to help our faith there in Germany. My nephew did get all the way better.

If any of you want to share a story of yours in the comments, feel free.

One interesting thing was that after I was in a back and forth with atheists on EVCforum.net years ago, one of the atheists told one of those “amazing coincidence” story. There was no reason to attribute this to God, but it was amazing. Apparently his grandfather had a favorite clock that sat on his mantle all his life. Yeah, you guessed it. When his grandfather died, the clock stopped working, forever displaying the time of its owner’s death.

Not all amazing coincidences are Christian events. God makes the sun to shine on the just and the unjust. Again, I would love to hear your stories in the comments.

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