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Continuing our discussion from part two, once we are renewed in heart, mind and Spirit through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, as well as through a diligent study of God's Word, a number of the Epistle writers inform us of the importance of remaining firmly established in the faith. This is precisely why the Apostle Paul undertook his missionary journeys once he had helped to establish the churches in Asia Minor and in the surrounding regions of the Mediterranean Sea, as we can determine by this verse:

"And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do."


Consider also this example which we find at the end of the Apostle Paul's Epistle to the Disciples at Rome where he assures them that the Lord is able to "stablish" -- or establish -- them in the Gospel:

"Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen. [Written to the Romans from Corinthus, [and sent by Phebe servant of the church at Cenchrea.]]"


Likewise in his first Epistle to the Church at Thessalonika, the Apostle Paul writes regarding how he's sending Timotheus in order to strength the faith of the Thessalonian brethren, and to comfort them in their tribulation, as we see by these two verses:

"Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good to be left at Athens alone; And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith:"


In the final chapter of his Epistle, the Apostle James also makes similar remarks regarding how important it is to be grounded and established in the faith. Please consider these two verses:

"Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."


And finally, the Apostle Peter also stresses the importance of establishing our faith, knowing exactly what we believe, so that we are not devoured by the lies and doubts of Satan. Consider these four verses which are found in Peter's first Epistle:

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."


Thus, we can plainly see how vitally important it is that we are firmly established in the faith, and that we're building upon the right foundation. As we briefly discussed earlier, that foundation is of course none other than Jesus Christ and His Word. In describing the importance of laying the right foundation, Jesus stated the following in one of His many Parables:

"Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great."


Throughout the Gospels, Jesus clearly identifies Himself as the foundation stone upon which His Church would be built. Here are a few Scriptural examples for your consideration:

"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."


"Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?"


The Apostle Paul also clearly defines Jesus Christ as the Spiritual Rock, and as the only foundation upon which we should establish our faith, and build the spiritual temple of His Church. Consider the following set of verses:

"Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ."


"For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."


In fact, even the Apostle Peter, whom many people -- most notably the Roman Catholics -- have confused as being the rock which Jesus was referring to in the Gospels, points out that Jesus Christ was, and is, the chief cornerstone of His spiritual house, or temple. Consider the following group of verses:

"To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded."


Now, it should seem obvious to most Christians that the way in which we are supposed to establish and strengthen our faith is clearly NOT by wasting years of our lives studying the vain wisdom and misguided philosophies of fallible men which is found in the countless volumes they have written over the centuries. King Solomon, who was one of the wisest men to have ever lived, after spending his own life doing just such a thing, summarized his own thoughts regarding this very issue when he said the following in the Book of Ecclesiastes:

"And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh."


My friends, true faith and wisdom is simply not to be found in such voluminous works of fallible men, many of whom did not even know -- or much less accept -- Jesus Christ. As I noted earlier, such books may stuff your head with a lot of wise sayings and interesting proverbs -- and inflate your ego along the way, because "knowledge puffeth up" -- but it is only through carefully and diligently studying the Book which speaks of the One who saved us where our faith can be firmly established. The Scriptures are very clear regarding this issue. Consider the following group of verses:

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."


"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."


"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."


"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:"


"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."


So as you can plainly see, it is through earnestly reading and studying the Word of God with an open mind and heart, that not only is our wisdom increased, but we're also firmly established in the faith. Now, how you personally choose to do this is a decision which you alone must make. However, let me state for the record that due to the reasons I have already outlined herein, personally, I have never undertaken to study at any kind of higher education institution. This includes not attending any kind of seminary or Bible college. I am simply a high school graduate. Quite frankly, I am none the worse for not having done so.

In fact, to be honest, I don't doubt that I am much better off for not having attended any such institutions, because I didn't allow my mind to be filled with such useless, worldly mental clutter. Let's face it. As children, we all received enough ungodly knowledge as it was in the public education system. Tragically, it is much, much worse now than it was when I was a young boy sixty years ago. Not only has the US public education system been really dumbed down, but it has been totally dominated by the liberal mindset, so that now young, impressionable kids are constantly being bombarded with all kinds of disgusting and ungodly ideas. As I state in other articles, it is the Devil's veritable playground.

But concerning myself, now that I am an adult -- and an old one at that -- and can choose for myself, instead of being forced-fed by the ungodly System, I much prefer to depend solely upon the Lord and His Holy Spirit as my one and only Teacher. If there is one thing I can say, it is that He has never failed me yet. As you may know, King David likewise sought direct guidance from the Lord as he studied His Word. Consider what David says in the following verse:

"Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."


As you probably know, King David wrote many inspiring Psalms in which he exalted the Word of the Lord. In fact, one of my favorite Psalms happens to be Psalm 119. I encourage you to read it for yourself. And come to think of it, why shouldn't David stress the importance of the Word? As he says in this next verse, the Lord has magnified His Word above His very Name!:

"I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name."


If the Lord exalts His Word above His Name, shouldn't we, His children, likewise exalt His Word above all in our lives as well? Or should we exalt the words of other philosophers and theologians and gurus? Notice how David equates the Word with truth. Jesus did this very same thing throughout the Gospels. In fact, not only are we told that He is the Word Incarnate, but that Jesus is also the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In other words, He shows us the Way to the Father by speaking the Father's Truth to us. And if we accept that Truth -- that is, that Jesus came to die for our sins -- then we truly can inherit Everlasting Life. Consider the following two verses:

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth . . . For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."


"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."


Contrary to all of the Biblical truths I have presented here thus far, certain people still foolishly insist that wisdom, knowledge and truth can be gained through the study of the various teachings of all of these supposedly "learned" sages, philosophers and theologians. These people erroneously state that since God is the Author of all Truth, in our search for truth, we should not restrict ourselves to the Bible alone. In their eyes, the Bible is not the only source of wisdom and truth, so we should be willing to look outside of the Bible.

Now, I will agree that, yes, we can certainly acquire a lot of knowledge outside of the Bible. In fact, depending on the topic, as I write my articles and series, I myself will often surf the Internet looking for historical information and such to fill in the gaps in my writings. Even I recognize that the Internet is a great research tool. But regarding wisdom and truth, that is where it begins to become a bit iffy for me. I mean, why do I need the wisdom of worldly philosophers when I have the pure Wisdom which is found in God's Word?

While I obviously cannot speak for the children of the world, as a Christian, I do have to ask why anyone who claims to be a sincere, dedicated, Bible-believing Christian would want to even study the philosophical works of such worldly, fallible men. What can they gain from them, that they can't gain from studying the Bible? I view this unhealthy desire for secular wisdom to be nothing short of tragic, and a fatal error in judgment. As I explained earlier, these people have already been blinded to the Truth, and are in bondage to the forces of darkness without even realizing it. However, as I explain in the article called "What Does 'The Truth Shall Make You Free' Really Mean?", Jesus can still set them free if they will just turn to Him and to His Word. Consider what Jesus said in the following two verses:

"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."


You see my friends, not only can we be spiritually set free in this current life, but as I explain in the aforementioned article, someday when our bodies of flesh finally wear out, if we have trusted in Jesus, we will also be set free from the bondage of sin and death into the glorious liberty of the Children of God, when we finally receive our new, glorified, incorruptible, resurrected bodies, as we can determine by the following group of verses:

"Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:"


"Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body . . . For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."


"Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:"


"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life."


"Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."


"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."


"There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."


Wow! Isn't that just wonderful?! It is something which I most certainly look forward to! How about you? To continue, over and over again in the Gospels, Jesus said that He spoke the Truth for those people who were willing to believe. Consider this group of verses which are found in the Gospel of John where Jesus is harshly rebuking the unbelieving Jews:

"But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham . . . And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not . . . Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?"


While over the centuries many worldly sages and philosophers have sought to elevate themselves by promoting their own brand of human wisdom, and their own particular version of the truth outside of the Holy Scriptures, consider how the real Spirit of Truth operates according to Jesus' own words:

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for HE SHALL NOT SPEAK OF HIMSELF; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."


Isn't this true even in our modern day? There are now so many vain, puffed up men who spout off their philosophical ideas and their worthless, worldly wisdom, as they endeavor to draw crowds to themselves, so that they might receive the praises of men. They are found all over the world, and they come from many different backgrounds and religions. I was just reminded of the account of the sorcerer, Simon, who is mentioned in the eighth chapter of the Book of Acts. Please notice how Simon viewed himself in the following verse:

"But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:"


My friends, beware of such boastful men! For as I point out in the series "Lying Wonders of the Endtime" and in related articles, these people are deceivers and false prophets who either intentionally, or ignorantly, poison the flocks of God with their lies and vain, philosophical ramblings! On the other hand, a true Prophet and teacher of the Lord will always, and without fail, point you only to God and His holy Word. Likewise, he will never contradict God's Word. He will never point to himself, or to some vain, empty, misguided philosophy of fallible men! Let me likewise add that if such a person claims to be a Prophet of God, then his words will come to pass. Lastly, as Jesus very clearly indicated in the Gospel of John, the only Word of Truth, is the Word of His Father. Consider the following two verses:

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


"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."


If these so-called "enlightened" individuals aren't speaking the Words of the Father, then as I already stated, they are liars and deceivers, they are speaking from the vanity of their own minds, and they are walking in spiritual darkness. They certainly are NOT walking in the Light of God. As such, unless you are extremely careful, they could very well lead you into their very same darkness too, unless you wise up! While these misguided people call their darkness, light, the truth of the matter is that it is the exact opposite, as the Prophet Isaiah warns in the following verse:

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"


It is very important that we realize that real Divine Truth comes from the Lord. It is NOT just a philosophical invention which is born in our own minds. It is not some cool saying we use to impress people with our mental faculty. What we also need to realize is that God's spiritual Wisdom and Divine Guidance is freely available to anyone who wishes to ask for it with an open, sincere heart. This truth becomes apparent by verses such as the following:

"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?"


"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."


"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."


"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,"


"For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;"


Thus, it should be recognized by now that there is a very clear distinction between the Divine Wisdom which comes down from above, and the carnal, satanic, misleading wisdom which originates within the vain hearts and minds of rebellious, evil men who don't even acknowledge the Lord in their lives. Even John the Baptist, who was a man without any impressive earthly credentials or theological training, recognized the Wisdom which was found in the Words of Jesus Christ when he said the following:

"He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all."


Jesus further emphasized this difference between Himself and the vain doctrines and traditions which were believed and practiced by the Jewish religious leaders when He told them the following. They were on a totally different level from the Lord:

"And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world."


Clearly then, the Wisdom which we should all be desiring and seeking is the Heavenly Wisdom and Guidance which comes from God alone. We should not be enticed by, mesmerized by, or seduced by the fleshly, earthly theologies and philosophies of corrupt, misguided men. Consider the following group of verses:

"But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:"


"For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;"


"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."


"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy."


Please go to part four for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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