There are a number of ways we can slander someone. We can spread false rumors about their actions. We can tell lies about their character. One of the most insidious ways we can slander someone is to misquote them. We can add to or take away from things they have said about someone or about an event. God the Holy Spirit is not indifferent to this type of slander especially when it comes to His statements concerning God the Son. There is probably no time of year when the Words of God the Holy Spirit are more abused and misquoted than Christmas.
We are commanded by God the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 4:6 that we are to “learn not to exceed what is written”. We are warned by God the Holy Spirit in Revelation 22:18 & 19 that there are dire consequences to misrepresenting His words, “ I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.” We are cautioned by God the Holy Spirit in James 3:1 “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.” Yet despite these clear statements by God the Holy Spirit men and women year after year feel free to teach, preach, present, publish and display all manner of depictions of the birth of Christ.
It would not be so bad if they said, “God the Holy Spirit has clearly taught on this, but now I will tell you my version of events.” This though is not the case, in each case these distortions, half-truths, fabrications and omissions are presented as the Revelation of God the Holy Spirit. So when satan whispers in your ear, “What’s the big deal? Has God said…?” You should reply, “Get behind me satan!! I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. God the Holy Spirit has spoken. I will master His revelation. I will not add to it. I will not take away from it. I will not exceed what is written. I will not slander God the Holy Spirit by attributing to Him falsehoods, half-truths, additions nor omissions of His holy, eternal, inerrant, written Word.”
I close this exhortation with the last of the lessons to be learned from the Christmas Advent Studies. Your application is to go back and master the facts and present clearly and only the facts given to us by God the Holy Spirit concerning the birth of God the Son.
(continued from the last blog)
5. Do not exceed what the Word of God has clearly stated. I Corinthians 4:6 “Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become arrogant in behalf of one against the other.” One of the lessons from this study is how easy it is for the sake of expedience to exceed the Word of God. The typical manger scene as played out in countless churches has little to do with reality. A manger with three Magi, shepherds, a star, angels replete with halos and wings – all converging simultaneously upon Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus has little to do with the actual revelation of the Word of God. Similarly too, many ministers cannot resist adding their own devotional observations as if they were the prophetic Word of God. A prime case in point is the number of sermons preached at Christmas in which the gifts of the Magi of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh, are given prophetic significance, as if we, as ministers, may declare prophetic significance by our own powers of observation. A third example is the abundance of apocryphal teachings concerning the culture and customs of the times. From here we go into sermons replete with pseudo-science on the star; apocryphal history concerning the Magi and the supposed ancient documents to which thy refereed and even down to the giving of their mythical names. From Magi, to shepherds, to inn keepers we speak with authority concerning that which we have not studied, for which we have no primary sources, for which there is no scientific or historical evidence. We simply pass along unchecked and unreferenced apocryphal myths as we raise up another generation of Christians in ignorance and superstition. We demean the authority of Scripture by adding to it our own apocryphal psuedo historical and cultural references which have not been researched or proven as true. In His adult ministry Jesus condemned, in Mark 7:8, those who were overly fond of myths and apocryphal sayings with His rebuke “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men." We should be careful not to be found in this class of people ourselves. Remember, it is no small matter in God’s eyes for man to add to or take away from the holy, eternal, inerrant, written Word of God. In the closing of the Scripture in Revelation 22:18 & 19 God the Holy Spirit gives this dire warning, Revelation 22:18-19 “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.” It is one thing for a greeting card to teach false doctrine, it is another altogether for a pastor or church to sit idly by while half truths and myths are presented as the Word of God. Where the Bible is silent, we too should be silent and reject all myths and traditions as handed down by man and not God. Now is the time to reflect, “what other areas have we changed the Word of God to fit our egos and personal expediency of time and space?”
6. Do not be too quick to relegate the Word of God to the status of a children’s story. Matthew 5:19 "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Many of us have failed to do an in-depth study of the revelation of the birth of Christ simply because we have relegated it to the status of a children’s story. How vain is this approach to the Word of God. What other aspects of God’ Revelation have you glossed over as a children’s story? This is simply satan’s attempt at devaluing the Word of God and we should not succumb to it. One mental discipline you can begin to employ is to use the phrase “Revelation” or “Historical Revelation” in the place of “story” or “Bible story”. Instead of “What is your favorite Bible story?” which seems to relegate the Bible to the same level as any other “story”, “Which Historical Revelation is your favorite?”. Or instead of “I just love the Christmas story” why not, “I just love the Christmas Revelation”. Seek to elevate in both speech and action, the Word of God to it’s lofty position. It is not simply traditions and stories handed down over the centuries by the church but rather the holy, eternal, inerrant, written Word of God. What to teach in terms of the Christmas Revelation can present the teacher with a quandary of sorts. If he is to simply cover the birth of Christ, then that limits him to Matthew 1:25 and Luke 2:1 – 20. If the teacher decides to do this he rules out the mention of the Magi, the star, the angelic visits, the flight to Egypt and more. He is limited to the Manger and the shepherds. To include more one must begin to move beyond the night of Jesus’ actual birth and then one must find some arbitrary point at which to cut off the divine historical Revelation of the events surrounding the Birth of Christ. Far from being a simplistic event as depicted by so many manger scenes, children’s story books and Christmas plays, the divine Revelation in the Word of God concerning the birth of Christ is not one event but rather is comprised of Ten separate historical events… I. Zacharias Visited By Angel II. Zacharias, Elizabeth and John the Baptist III. Mary Visited By The Angel IV. The Immaculate Conception V. Joseph’s Dream VI. Mary and Elizabeth VII. Birth, Shepherds, Angels and Manger VIII. Temple Dedication IX. Magi, Gifts and Home X. Flight to Egypt and Return The divine revelation, rather than reading like novel, actually presents us with a series of historical vignettes or incidents. Each true and divinely revealed but separated one from another by time. They can be approached as a series of one act plays. In fact they lend themselves readily to a Christmas pageant or “Drive Through” format and it is a shame that modern churches do not take advantage of this to present to the world the historically true revelation of the events surrounding the birth of Christ rather than settling for the traditional Christmas Cresh which has little to do with reality in terms of the historicity it represents. The world still waits for the church, the publisher, for the pageant which correctly presents the historical Revelation of the birth of Christ as presented by God the Holy Spirit through the eternal, inerrant, holy, written Word of God.
7. Separate what is worth fighting for from what is simply engrained in our culture. Matthew 23:23-24 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” The sad fact is that the annual fight to keep “mangers” in the public parks, schools and courthouses are waged over a depiction which falls somewhere between superstitious and false. Are there aspects of the Christmas celebration which you hold dear, yet the Word of God does not? In our culture, Christmas is a major holiday but in the history of the church this has not been uniformly true. There is no evidence from the book of Acts that the early church kept or even knew the day of Christ’s birth. There is no evidence that first century Christians kept or even knew the date of Christ’s birth. During the age of the Puritans in England and especially during the rule of Oliver Cromwell the celebration of Christmas was banned as papist superstition. What we understand as the celebration of Christmas came about largely through the writings of Charles Dickens and his contemporaries as they sought to broaden the meaning of Christmas to include a general spirit of goodwill. Thus the phrase, “the spirit of Christmas” came to be employed. No doubt, were the celebration of Christmas in terms of a Holiday where days off from work are allotted, to be done away with, many Christians would fight, loose their jobs and perhaps go to jail. All this for something that is not commanded, mentioned or practiced in the Word of God. What if Christmas were dropped from the calendar, dropped from governments holiday schedule, would you see this as a violation of Scripture? What if Christmas were not celebrated as a secular shopping holiday but rather relegated to a special mid week worship service at your church. Would you view this as a loss of “the meaning of Christmas”? Even at this level the church would be hard put to make a Scriptural argument for a mandatory day of celebration in terms of the birth of Christ. There is certainly nothing wrong with celebrating the birth of Christ as an act of worship, but it is important to remember that the celebration of the birth of Christ as Holy Day on our calendar or as a Holiday is purely cultural and not a part of the divine commandants and revelation of Scripture. As dark days approach, Christians should be clearly aware of what is worth dying for and what is simply a cultural anomaly.
John, really appreciated this post......as I have grown in my Christian life with Christ and the reading of His word (every day), I ponder at how much is misrepresented and preached as truths. Therefore, I pray that The Lord continually brings me to a greater revelation of Himself......personally, so that I can graciously refute error that I hear. Then also to know when to keep my mouth shut when it does not glorify God! (because I am a women).
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12/30/13 12:41 PM
(because I am a women).
