Fire On Your Head

II. The Mystery of Christ and the Church

1.   22-24 Wives were created to be subject to their husbands just as the church was created to be subject to Christ. This is not bondage, this is liberty. This is the place where the wife is in her realm. She is free, doing what she was created to do, helping and strengthening her husband.[6]

2.   25; 28, 29 Husbands must not take advantage of this and lord over his wife his position. He must love her and serve her. What wife, who is loved, will not joyfully subject herself to her husband? He must put her first in everything, just as Christ put the His bride (us) first, even in death and life. This is the husband laying his life down for her, daily putting her before him. He must nourish her, giving her all the physical, intimate, mental, and spiritual food that she needs. He must cherish her. She is a gift, not a toy or a slave, etc…

3. 25-32 Christ and the Church

a. Christ treated us like His own wife.   He died in our place, so we could live. He cleansed us of our sin, washing us in His blood, so we would be a virgin on our wedding day. This is also why Paul told us earlier to stay away from things that make us filthy. Jesus does not want a filthy bride. He meets us in that state and removes from us the filthiness and makes us ready in the Spirit for the wedding day. So we must walk this out. We have a wedding to attend and we must be ready for it. When husbands love their wives, they will respect and love him back. She will obey him because she is loved. Christ loves us and gives us life, so we will freely love Him back. We are not forced to obey, He wants lovers, not robots. We are free and compelled to obey all that He commands of us, because we love to be loved by Him.

b. When we are married, we leave our parents to become joined with another. We are joined to that person, and in intimacy[7] there is no distinction. We become one entity-connected.[8] Christ left His Father to be joined with us, His bride. He created a bride for Himself who would love Him because He nourishes and cherishes, and laid His life down for Her. He longs to fill us with Himself, as the marriage illustrates. Remember we are His dwelling, and we are filled with His Spirit.[9]

c. This is supernatural, not natural.[10] Being intimate with God means getting out of bed with the world. We are married and joined to Him and Him alone. This is total freedom. An authentic mature church is one that is married to God and subject to Him in everything. This is a great mystery and I am not attempting to complete an explanation here, just providing revelatory insight into the understanding of the context.

d. 33 We must have properly loving marriages and families that make up the church. They must be string if the church is going to be strong. Paul starts the next chapter with emphasis on this. Only when we understand the relationship between Christ and the church can we properly relate to each other as husband and wife, and as a family.

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[1] vv 2:20.

[2] vv 4:1

[3] vv 4:3

[4] see 39

[5] vv 4:13

[6] With so much feminism and “equality” in today’s western culture, this is being fought and even being taught from an incorrect “Biblical” standpoint. Men and women are equal as far as it comes to their relationship to God. However, they were created to fulfill different roles. These roles may change at different times and vary from person to person, but there is still a divinely created order that they generally operate in. For women to do and be what she was created to be is total freedom for her. If she steps out of these roles and tries to do what a man is created to do, she is actually straying into bondage. (I am speaking of general life and family function of having peace in your place. Yes God can raise up females to do seemingly manly things as He sees fit, and as a need may arise, especially if a man is not present nor able to act in the call. This is a response to a culture that says women have to equalize themselves with men.)

[7] (a reflection of the spirit)

[8] This is why adultery and lust is so bad.  In a sense, we break the connection (and covenant) we have with our lover and join to another.

[9] I am not saying the Holy Spirit is a man’s seed. Earthly marriage according to the text reflects the spiritual between God and men. I am simply expounding on being joined to, and “one” with God (vv31-32).

[10] You must be mature to understand this and not be of a gross mindset.

Ephesians Part 1: Introduction

Ephesians Part 2: Chapter 1

Ephesians Part 3:  Chapter 2

Ephesians Part 4: Chapter 3

Ephesians Part 5: Chapter 4a

Ephesians Part 6: Chapter 4b

Ephesians Part 7: Chapter 5a

Ephesians Part 8: Chapter 5b

Ephesians Part 9: Chapter 6a

Ephesians Part 10: Chapter 6b & Conclusion

Ephesians Part 11: Heavenly Places

Ephesians 5a – Living in the Light

1. 1-2 As we grow, we imitate Christ, and walk as He walked, in love. When we imitate Him, we become more like Him, and less like the world. This will mean the more like Him we will become. We will live more pure and sin less. Sin is a stench in the nostrils of God. And when we are living like Him and imitating Him, we will be a fragrant aroma.

2. 3-5 We learned in the previous verse what a fragrant aroma is, and now we have a description of what it is not. We adhere to the highest standards, not because we are religious, but because we love God so much, that we do not want to sin.

a.   4 – These seem like little insignificant things that do not matter much.  However, their presence can be just enough to hinder our relationship with the Father that we miss the greater opportunity in the Spirit, or it may keep us from growing in and flowing in our gifts. Song of Solomon 2:15 states “The little foxes are ruining the vineyards.” They may not appear to do much damage, but in harvest time, the fruit of our lives could be half eaten away, just because we tolerated a little joke here and silly talk there. We must examine every aspect of our lives and lay it all on the altar, if we want to reach all the fullness that God has for us in this lifetime.

1. 5 – In verse 1:11, we read of our inheritance in the Spirit, in Christ. Here we have the contrast of that which describes those who do not receive an inheritance. We have been raised up and seated with Christ (2:6), and there is a requirement on our part to walk out that position and inheritance as we grow in Christ. God does take us from where we are at (2:1-5), and gives us spiritual life. This life in the Spirit is the power to overcome sin and live according to that very Spirit. If you live the way as described in this verse, you have not an inheritance. God saw us in our sinful state, separated from Him and gave His life to restore us to our proper place (2:1-6). When we return to that state, we forsake our inheritance. God will always accept us back, but we must be growing into His image. “For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live.” (Romans 6:13)

3. 6-14 Into the Light – Christ Shines

a.  6-7 Empty words are boasts of things which someone may proclaim, but does not walk in. “For I will come to you soon… and shall find out not the words of those who are arrogant but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power.” (1 Cor 4:19-20) Paul, when writing to Timothy, describes men like this, that they “[hold] to a form of godliness, but have denied its power.” (2 Tim 3:5)

1. 8-11 If we walk the way we used to walk, then we are walking away from our inheritance, away from our heavenly position, and back into darkness. This is walking away from the light, not toward it. We are ministers of light, not ministers of darkness. We are ministers of life, not ministers of death. We are always fleeing darkness, and pursuing light. Pleasing Him, not doing what does not.
2. c. 11-14 What is done in darkness is shameful and unfruitful. What is done in light produces fruit (9). We as the church expose what happens in darkness, shinning the light of Christ there. How can we do that if we live there or have occasional visits? These things of darkness are of satan, and we should not even mention them. We expose it and bring the light of Christ there. In darkness, there is death, but the light of Christ will make the darkness visible, and transform the death into life. You cannot see without light. The world is in darkness and we must shine the light.
   1. i. Much of the church either lives there, in the dark, or somewhere in between. They have a little light here and a little darkness there.[1] The church, the body of Christ must awake from this death. Christ shines in us and we must shine to the world.
   2. ii. 14 This verse fits here and also in context to everything that we have studied in Ephesians up to this point. The church must wake up to these things and embrace the mystery of who she really is, and the power that she really possesses in the heavenly places. Only when there is an authentic church, awake, walking in the fullness of Christ, will the world see the truth of the gospel-Jesus Christ is Lord!
   3. iii. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden: nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt 5:14-17)

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[1] I am not talking about the growth of Christian in becoming more like Jesus. I am talking about those who make excuses for sin, those who still enjoy the things of the night. We must put these things away to have any real spiritual significance. Paul is getting us ready to battle in the spirit, and we will not be properly prepared if we are not continually walking in the light.

Ephesians Part 1: Introduction

Ephesians Part 2: Chapter 1

Ephesians Part 3:  Chapter 2

Ephesians Part 4: Chapter 3

Ephesians Part 5: Chapter 4a

Ephesians Part 6: Chapter 4b

Ephesians Part 7: Chapter 5a

Ephesians Part 8: Chapter 5b

Ephesians Part 9: Chapter 6a

Ephesians Part 10: Chapter 6b & Conclusion

Ephesians Part 11: Heavenly Places

This is my final post on the subject, and much could be written but just in case you’re visiting the site for the first time and didn’t read the first two posts, allow me a quick snapshot of what I’ve been saying: It is taught that Paul had this eye disease based on a few circumstantial Scripture references (revolving around 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 as our anchor), and that he could barely see as a result.  In fact, the conditions of this disease are such that he would have had puss oozing out of his eyes down his face at any given moment.  I hope to show just a few reasons why this view is preposterous.

Acts 19:11-12 says  “And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.”

Now correct me if I’m wrong, but if someone had such a contagious and disgusting eye disease, would we really be passing around handkerchiefs they used–in order to heal sick people and cast out demons with them–or would we not burn them or dispose of them in order to avoid having the infection spread?  Of course not, we’d do all we could to avoid having others get contaminated!

So I’ve taken some time to really ponder why I took the energy and time and gathered some resources to provide some reading about Paul’s thorn. And as promised, I am taking some time to explain why I feel it’s important. Most things are actually just side issues to me–believe it or not, except for things pertaining to healing. If the Bible is clear about something, there is no discussion needed on it. If the Bible is vague on something, then people are free to have their own opinions on. However the Bible is not vague on this topic or this passage, but very clear. It’s our perception of these passages and our ‘faith eyeglasses’ that need fixing. If we let the Scripture merely say what it says, we’d have way less confusion in the Body of Christ, and certainly way less people living in defeat when it comes to seeing a healing in their life, because of a false understanding of this passage and ones seemingly like it.

When dealing with the subject of divine healing, I have yet to find someone in opposition to the subject matter and having faith for it in our day, who does NOT bring up the issue of Paul’s thorn, and that therefore “see, even Paul was sick with something God [allegedly] put on him!  Aha!” Therefore any further discussion or study on the subject should at least deal with this particular roadblock for many hungry seekers of the truth.

And to keep me from being puffed up and too much elated by the exceeding greatness (preeminence) of these revelations, there was given me a thorn (a splinter) in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to rack and buffet and harass me, to keep me from being excessively exalted.
Three times I called upon the Lord and besought [Him] about this and begged that it might depart from me;
But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me!
So for the sake of Christ, I am well pleased and take pleasure in infirmities, insults, hardships, persecutions, perplexities and distresses; for when I am weak [in human strength], then am I [truly] strong (able, powerful in divine strength). (2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Amplified Bible)

One doesn’t actually need to look this passage up in the Amplified translation of the Bible to see from reading in context Paul is not talking about having something physically wrong with him necessarily. No more effort will be spent in this installment trying to persuade the reader of that.

Who really cares what the thorn was or who it came from?

I remember when I had a discussion with someone once that I’ve known for a long time. She had a condition that she attributed to her past, and upon trying to encourage her, using the Word of God to show that He wants (a.k.a. *wills*) to take this away from her, she insisted she was “being taught a lesson” by the Lord, about sowing and reaping. She told me that she’s destined to bear this burden, and you guessed it, her Scriptural support in her mind was “even Paul had a thorn“. I’ve thought about this numerous times since, and in other conversations where people are living in defeat or just plain sick from something but don’t want to believe they can be made whole or well. If what I shared in the first two parts of this discussion was wrong, and let’s hypothetically concede Paul having a disease or sickness God put on him as a ‘thorn in his side’. We also need to take the rest of the passage, which sadly, few Christians can possibly say they live up to: the surpassing greatness of revelations like Paul had. Anybody want to stop there and say they are NOT on the same playing field as Paul now that we factor in this aspect of his having that thorn?!

I know almost no Christian in my life in Canada, the USA or Europe who lives anything like Paul did. Nobody I know is walking in the dynamic of revelations and ministry like Paul–signs and wonders as frequent and commonly as he did–praying more than others, and having things to say so important that his writings are canonized and now a part of Scripture. The last time someone told me they had a thorn, I asked them if they operate in the same capacity of revelation that Paul had. This brother told me with his own words “definitely not”, to which I sharply asked “then what makes you think you need a thorn like his then if you don’t do what he did to supposedly merit having one?!” Why do many believers insist on believing that they deserve a thorn without earning it like Paul–so to speak, I’m being hypothetical, remember.

My reason in sharing that point is that a lot Christians I know want it both ways when it comes to their disadvantages. We try to often make God the problem (“He put this on me”) instead of seeing what the Word really says concerning His promises and acting on it. If I have heard it once I’ve heard it a hundred times–enough to write a study on the subject to post here for any who will read. You have no idea how much it feels like someone’s ripping my fingernails off whenever I hear “well I guess this [insert here] is just my thorn.” No it isn’t. We are in a war, and the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10a). Is God your enemy, or the devil?

The Bible also says in Mark 9:23 that all things are possible to those that believe. All things are possible to whom? Them that believe. That statement is not a blanket promise from God, it’s conditional. God does His part (all things), mixed together with us doing our part — believing. Also, implicit in that statement is the fact that what you believe IS important. Faith can only be had where the will of God is known–for faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). So it’s important to know WHAT the Word of God says, in order to base our faith on it. That’s why so many of my entries take the time to expose what the Scripture says, and not just share an opinion of mine. Too many in the Body of Christ form their opinions and base their doctrines on failure to see something happen. With healing, we hold a double standard to it that I’ve never seen anyone hold to salvation. If we lay hands on a sick person and they don’t get healed, or we are sick and seek healing–and don’t get the results, most believers conclude that it’s not God’s will. Humbug! I know people if you ask them if it’s God’s will for a muslim to be converted, they’d say yes! Ask them why, and they cite at least one verse like John 3:16. Nobody looks at the Middle East saying “well, that’s one billion muslims in the world, and they aren’t saved–I guess that means it’s not God’s will to save all.”

We have total faith for peoples’ salvation based on at least one Scripture verse! In case after reading other entries I’ve written on it and there’s any doubt in your mind–I repeat to you it is just as much God’s will to heal a body as it is to save a person’s soul! Both acts were atoned for at the cross. God doesn’t say “By His [Jesus'] stripes you are healed“ and then put a ‘thorn’ in you. God’s not a sufferer of multiple personality disorder!

Anyway, I hope my thoughts in this entry were organized enough for you. I especially write these things to boost peoples’ faith in the Scriptures for healing because I singlehandedly attribute the misteaching out there about Paul’s thorn to be one of the main roadblocks to why some don’t even believe God for their healing, because they erroneously believe, based on this passage out of context, that God wants them sick. It doesn’t glorify God that we are living unhealthy when He paid for all on the cross–our sins and our sickness–both entered the world through Adam and Eve’s sin, and both were paid for by the last Adam–Christ on the cross.

Does Jesus put sin on anybody?

No, you say? Well then he doesn’t put a disease or sickness on them either, but both are from the pit of hell.

If this post has been beneficial to you, you may enjoy our podcast show where we discuss Paul’s thorn in the flesh and kill some sacred cows in the process:

Paul’s Thorn in The Flesh
Download mp3 (right click and save)

Our text we’ve been dealing with is found in 1 Corinthians 12:7-10, and today I hope to primarily focus on the second half of that passage. The purpose of this discussion is to demonstrate not only is God not against us, but that he is for us, and a word study and careful look at the word ‘grace’ and just what God says to Paul in response to his crying out to Him, will demonstrate one aspect of God’s merciful character.

There is a lot to cover in just these few verses and there’s even enough to write books about. But I do feel more strongly about showing people the thorn in Paul’s flesh was 1) not from God, and 2) not a disease or a sickness, and therefore the major concern of mine is already dealt with. However, I wanted to continue to carefully examine the rest of the text for a few more posts, because we are so sickness-minded in the Body of Christ, that we just think God wants us to tolerate everything the devil throws at us and go to the doctor instead of using what The Doctor already gave us and appropriate it. I’m going to be using the same kind of approach as last week, but I totally respect and understand those that differ with my findings concerning v. 9-10. Verses 7-8 I will not back down from, though.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Sometimes we read Scripture with our ‘pre-understanding’–that’s to say, with an understanding already formulated, or lenses or a bias that causes us to interpret Scripture according to what we already think, without carefully reading the Scripture and letting it speak for itself. I believe this is one of those texts. Nowhere does this Scripture insinuate–even if you keep reading–that God was unwilling to do anything about the thorn in Paul’s flesh. In fact, I would like to take you on a journey of how come I feel God already answered Paul’s problem before he went to the Lord, and just wanted to remind him of it.

Word Study

First word:
“grace” GK 5485 “charis” From G5463; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude): – acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy). (emphasis mine).

This word never gets translated into words like ‘mercy’ or ‘compassion’ from Greek to English, and those two words come from different roots. When studying a word and its context, it’s necessary in Scripture if we really want to grasp its meaning, to go to the original source and compare other instances of it being translated–either as another word, or just how it’s used in other contexts. An English definition for a word will not give as clear of an idea of what the author of Scripture is saying as does the original language (in this New Testament instance, Greek).

Of the 155 times charis is translated grace, only half or so actually mean something like ‘unmerited favor’. Click here for examples of it denoting a divine ability, enabling, or gifting: Luke 2:40, Acts 4:33, 6:8, Romans 1:5, 12:3, 12:6. From clicking on each of the links to these verses, it’s clear from the immediate context that although grace is unmerited favor, there’s another layer to it denoting spiritual power or ability in these passages.

Another instance of this word charis being used:

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace (charis) in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)

An Old Testament example of God speaking to a man in a similar way as He did to Paul here is found in the life of Moses, in Exodus. When Moses brought Israel to the sea, he cried out to God who responded in a way that would offend most Christians:
“Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.” (Exodus 14:15-16). I can almost picture the Lord saying it like “why are you bothering to come to me about it? I already gave you what you need–now use it–lift up your rod!” Likewise, Paul is being told “what I’ve already given you (grace/charis/enablement) is all you need.“

Second word:
“power” GK 1411 “dunamis” From G1410; force (literally or figuratively); specifically miraculous power (usually by implication a miracle itself): – ability, abundance, meaning, might (-ily, -y, -y deed), (worker of) miracle (-s), power, strength, violence, mighty (wonderful) work. (emphasis mine again)

The following verses, showing power/dunamis being used elsewhere should show that Paul is not being told that God has just enough power for Paul’s emotions to be settled while he goes through whatever he goes through. Rather, power is usually used in Scripture for miraculous denotation.

“And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?” Acts 3:12

“And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Acts 4:7

“And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace (charis again used here) was upon them all.” Acts 4:33

“On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.“ Luke 5:17

“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” Luke 10:19 – though this is in a negative context, it still serves the purpose of demonstrating the word’s use.

“And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:49

Third word:
“weakness” GK 769 “astheneia”
From G772; feebleness (of body or mind); by implication malady; moral frailty: – disease, infirmity, sickness, weakness.

Yes. This word does mean weakness or malady. I almost didn’t even really need to show that to you to prove my point. However, depending on the translation you use, Paul lists 5 or 6 things, of which this word astheneia is one of them. That means there’s a 1 in 6 chance (or 5 if you want to cling to whatever translation you use and it only has 5 listed not 6) that at the forefront of Paul’s mind he’s likely referring to his thorn as being a malady. “So for the sake of Christ, I am well pleased and take pleasure in infirmities, insults, hardships, persecutions, perplexities and distresses” (v.10, Amplified Bible)

Non-traditional Approach

So contrary to what is popularly taught, and based what the text says, I hope this clears up some confusion people may have concerning 1) what Paul’s thorn was, 2) that God did not give it to Him and 3) that God’s reaction to Paul is not what is usually taught–that He just kinda told Paul to tolerate it.

This verse is also where the “law of emphasis” comes into play. I don’t know if there is such a law, but I made it up and it sounds good. I say that to describe that from what we’ve already established as being the context of the previous chapter, that clearly sickness is not on Paul’s mind, but he’s saying in passing that it’s one of the things he doesn’t let get him down and let’s Christ be magnified through. It seems to me given his ministry to the Gentiles, and from things he says elsewhere, and also from just plain reading Acts, we can predict or assume that Paul would walk in relatively divine health if he was healing people and ministering with signs and wonders following. Therefore, it’s feasible that something ELSE (or someONE else) is the thorn he has just referred to.

If this post has been beneficial to you, you may enjoy our podcast show where we discuss Paul’s thorn in the flesh and kill some sacred cows in the process:

Paul’s Thorn in The Flesh
Download mp3 (right click and save)

I have never watched people live in defeat from misunderstanding a passage as much as this one misinterpreted passage of Scripture. Of course I’m talking about how people try telling themselves that God gave them a thorn just like Paul’s, which I politely hope to show is terrible misinterpretation of Scripture.

It is not disputed that Paul may have had an eye problem in his older age. Numerous scholars and theologians teach this, and research can be found easily on the internet I would imagine. However, it would be bad exegesis to use the passage where Paul talks of a thorn in his flesh to arrive at that conclusion. This passage teaches nothing of the sort, and I hope to unravel a few common traditional thoughts that are tied to it.

This will be the first of three posts, because I favor writing in a series as opposed to really long blog posts.  In general, our study will follow like such : 1) what the thorn was, 2) what God’s reaction was when Paul sought to have it removed,  and 3) and why this subject even matters at all.  I basically will break it down and ask questions, sometimes rhetorical, based on observations on the text.  In a way, I’ve been leading up to this study with my entries on faith as of late.  It seemed natural and obvious to flow into the subject of healing after laying down some of those foundations first.

The text I’m referring to is 2 Corinthians 12:7-10:
So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me,  “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (English Standard Version)

Word study:

First word:
“Thorn” Strong’s number 4647 “skolops”, meaning “withered at the front, that is, a point or prickle (figuratively a bodily annoyance or disability): – thorn.” (emphasis mine)

Something figurative cannot necessarily be treated as literal in the Word of God. For example, texts in the Psalms refer to God being a strong tower (Psa 61:3), also to take shelter in the shadow of His wings (Psa 91:1), and Jesus said “I am the Bread of Life” (John 6:35) which would not literally mean God is a concrete loaf of bread that has wings! But this use of the word skolops means it can be referred to as a bodily annoyance.

Other instances of it being used in Scripture can give an idea of what is likely to be meant.

Joshua 23:12-13: “But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, then you may be sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the LORD your God has given you.”

In this context, the ‘thorn’ has a negative connotation, and is a source of pain and annoyance as a result of failing to drive out the nations in the land Israel is possessing. Thorns are a result of disobedience. God here allowed them, but was not the author or originator of the whips on their back or thorns in their eyes–it was their disobedience and this would be a reminder to them perpetually in generations to come.

Ezekiel 28:24: ” No longer will the people of Israel have malicious neighbors who are painful briers and sharp thorns. Then they will know that I am the Sovereign LORD .”

Again notice that the Lord promises at one point to remove this thorn. And in both texts used so far, thorns are referred to as people–both in the sense that they are ‘enemies’ of God’s people. For other examples, please look at Isaiah 55:13, Hosea 10:8, Micah 7:4.

Our next word to look at will demonstrate why I personally don’t accept that God was the one who gave Paul the thorn. I’ve had someone tell me recently “if God or Paul wanted us to know what the thorn was, we would have been told so.” Well, if we read the text we can find out it was a ‘messenger of Satan’.

Second Word:
“Messenger [of Satan]“ Strong’s number 32 aggelos: “a messenger; especially an “angel”; by implication a pastor: – angel, messenger.”

First observation: the messenger is clearly stated as being from SATAN. That’s reason enough to conclude that God didn’t put this thorn in Paul’s side!
Second observation about the messenger: it’s a person or angel, and clearly NOT a disease.

This Greek word aggelos appears 188 times in the Bible and is translated “angel” 181 times, and “messenger” the other 7 times.  In all 188 instances, it is a person and not a noun or a thing, without any exception.

Examples of this word being used in Scripture–and translated differently you will notice–will demonstrate what Paul is saying and referring to. The times that the word aggelos is translated as messenger, are verses such as Matt 10:11, Mark 1:2, Luke 7:27 which invariably say “Behold, I send my messenger (aggelos) before your face, who will prepare your way before you.”
But notice how it’s translated in Matthew 25:31: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels (aggelos) with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.”

Consider that the thorn was not a physical disease, but a personal figure. The same with a Messenger of Satan. It’s now twice as easy to understand what Paul was dealing with since we are told two things, not just one. The second qualifies the first.
We learn from this word study and the literal definition is either an angel or it’s implied in the Greek that it could mean a pastor. From reading the context we see Paul is in no way talking about a physical problem, but after reading chapter 11, we’re more inclined to see how he could likely be referring to persecution.

Alternative Explanation

“For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “superapostles”…And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. “ 2 Cor 11:4-5, 12-15

For almost all of the rest of chapter 11 Paul lists all sorts of things he’s been through as an apostle, such as shipwrecks, imprisonments, etc… Of all the things Paul mentions, not one of them is a sickness or perpetual infirmity (ie, like the eye problem many teach he may have had), but the physical things he mentions in this list are things like beatings, floggings, and fastings.

So with that flow of thought in mind, and after pouring his heart of love out in writing to the Corinthians about his concern, would Paul really suddenly refer to a disease or sickness in an abstract way that has nothing to do with what he’s been talking about? I highly doubt it. Paul’s thorn is popularly taught to be an eye problem, ophthalmia–I don’t dispute whether he had such a problem because there’s credible evidence elsewhere in Scripture that he might have, but I believe this text isn’t one that supports it. I submit to you for consideration, based on the evidence I’ve provided so far, that the thorn was in fact more likely to be a person–maybe a false apostle, or an angelic figure (demon) and judging from reading statements he peppers 1 and 2 Corinthians with–that this person or these people were false messengers of the Gospel who likely were hindering Paul’s Gospel work and scattering his flock.

Also, does God give revelation to us and then change His mind and beat us half to death because He gave us too much? If the revelation of the things of God were what caused him to get the thorn, to keep him from becoming too conceited, why would God have given him or allowed Paul to obtains such ‘greatness of revelation in the first place? Why would God then turn around and then say “oops, I accidentally gave you too much knowledge and revelation–have this thorn in your side“? There are lots of things God can use to keep people from being too highly exalted, but the following texts show it was not God who orchestrated this in Paul’s life or in his physical body.

In my next entry, I will discuss why God’s response to Paul in v.9-10 is not an indication that God wanted Paul to have the thorn, and what we can do in our own situations like Paul’s to be over comers in the midst of our own ‘thorns’.

If this post has been beneficial to you, you may enjoy our podcast show where we discuss Paul’s thorn in the flesh and kill some sacred cows in the process:

Paul’s Thorn in The Flesh
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As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Mark 11:20-24, ESV

This text will be the basis of this post. In case you have any doubt where I’m going with this, this is a blog study on faith, and on confessing and speaking the Word of God.  There’s power in our words, and it’s important to be confessing the right things with our mouths.

There’s this erroneous sacred cow in many Christian circles that it’s rude to teach people to have more faith than they already do. Many teach and preach that “all it takes is faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains.” Not so. If it took faith the size of a mustard seed, we’d have all the mountains moved already. The parallel in Matthew’s Gospel–where Jesus makes the statement about one having faith like (not ”the size” of) a grain of mustard seed can move a mountain–immediately followed the incident where the disciples were unable to cast a demon out of a boy, and He told them they failed to do it because of their little faith. So likewise, this passage in Mark is NOT saying faith can be small and accomplish major things.  In a way, this entry is a continuation of the thoughts I began to unpack there, but tied into the theme as of late on the words we speak.

Notice first of all, that in Mark’s account, Jesus curses the fig tree and then keeps going on his way to the temple which He cleanses. Then, according to verse 20, they passed by it the next morning and saw the results of the word Jesus spoke. He didn’t lay a hand on it and proclaim a lightning bolt to zap it. He cursed it with His words. There’s the power of life and death in the tongue, and we can use it for blessing or cursing (James 3:9-11). This is an example of it being used for righteously cursing something.

Sometimes people’s main objection to faith for divine healing, is lack of instantaneous results, but we need to remember something: the fig tree didn’t demonstrate any outward evidence that it had been cursed and no longer bearing fruit. According to this account, it may not have been noticable until a day later. Sometimes speaking the Word of God over our circumstances doesn’t yield a noticable result right away, but in the Spirit the prayer has been answered and the outward circumstances are already in the process of changing. Maybe the cancer in that person’s body has been removed, and now the body needs normal healing to recuperate from all the damage that the stupid curse has caused. At any rate, we walk by faith and not by sight, and sometimes appearances don’t tell the whole story. Like the fig tree, the roots of a problem can be dealt with but the branches don’t look dead right away.

That leads me to my next point. Do you really think you’ll have the guts to speak to a mountain in your life if you only have a little bit of faith that your words will move that thing and cast it into the ocean? Of course not! If you’re going to speak to the mountains in your life, you better have your bathing suit on because you’re going to get wet! Most of us ARE our own problem when it comes to faith for the impossible. Most of us are ‘functional atheists.’ We give the Word of God lip service and generally have a mental ascent that certain doctrines are true, but we live our lives as though God doesn’t really do what the Word says He does. There’s many people who “believe” in divine healing, but I’d never waste my time going to them for prayer if I needed a miracle in my body because I know they already have ruled out the possibility anything will happen if they pray, and would just pray out of respect or to be nice, but not out of the place of being convinced that their prayers bear fruit. Whooops–I’m getting sidetracked.

Let’s tackle some observations I’ve made about the text. As usual, I’m reading from the ESV:

• Jesus mentions speaking three times.
• Jesus mentions believing/expecting/having faith three times
• It appears that believing that what one says will come to pass is a prerequisite for it to come to pass.
• The people who can move mountains are the ‘whoevers’. I dare to believe this applies to every believer. Are you a whoever?
• Doubting is a pre-requisite for making sure the thing you ask doesn’t come to pass.
• Both believing, and speaking are necessary to yield the result of the mountain being removed and cast into the sea, and not one aspect over the other.
• Jesus mentions speaking to the mountain, and not to God about the mountain

What else do we know about faith?

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb 11:1) How do you have assurance for the things you’re hoping for? You find out God’s will. How do you find out God’s will? You find and meditate on passages of Scripture that deal with the specific mountain you’re speaking to. For example, if you need healing, you meditate and study Bible passages dealing with healing.  If you are having a hard time believing your needs will be met, you study passages where God promises to feed the sparrow or clothe the lilies (Matt 6:25-34), and remind yourself of what He says He will do. You give yourself assurance by knowing His Word from reading what is written in it.

As it says in 1 John 5:14-15 “And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests we have asked.”
The best way to know His will, is to read it. The Bible is His will in detail. This passage says we know we have what ask IF we’re praying according to His will.

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” James 1:6-8

Do you have confidence and not doubt in your heart? Faith is knowing it will happen, when you have no outward evidence to believe this from. That’s what makes it different than hope. Faith is certain, whereas hope doesn’t know for sure what will happen. Also, this part in James here should be used every time someone insists nobody needs more faith or that we all have the same amount. If I’ve heard it or been told it once, I’ve been told it a thousand times: “How can you say someone doesn’t have enough faith for something?” Easy, if they have faith for the thing, it will come to pass. BUT, faith requires perseverance. Most people have an “I-believe-God-could-do-that-and-I-hope-that-he-will“, but that’s not faith–faith requires the tenacity to keep going for it until it happens. Hope begs God to come through, not knowing if He will or not. Faith is certain that He will, with no doubting. James says if a double-minded man should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, then don’t you think the opposite of double-minded, a single-focused man will?  If faith is not faith without works (James 2:14-26) , then neither is doubt really doubt unless it is accompanied by it corresponding works (actions opposite of faith). Faith requires action, and doubt requires action in order for it to be doubt.

Pit bull faith.

I remember not long ago, I was reading in the newspaper or online something somewhere south in the USA, how a pitbull attacked a man, and the neighbors came and were beating on the dog and trying to get it to let go of this guy’s arm. It would not let up and they kept beating on it and grabbing it and trying to force it off of this guy it was attacking, but to no avail, and he was bleeding all over the place. Finally someone got a rifle and killed that dog and it still had it’s teeth sunk into the guy’s flesh!

You need to be like a pitbull in believing God and having faith for the impossible, and determine that you’re not letting go of the promises in His Word until you see them come to pass in your life. I know that sounds blasphemous to some of you. Incidentally that’s part of the reason I’m not a Calvinist (as it’s popularly taught and understood): because there’s things that are not ‘willed’ to automatically happen with no involvement–or let me use the word ‘initiative’–on our part, but we need to go for it. God has done his part and now it’s up to us to persevere and receive. Remember the PERSISTENT widow in Luke 18? The first verse says Jesus told them that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. The problem is most of us hardly ever pray, and DO lose heart.

Steve, this stuff sounds really “name it and claim it, blab it and grab it” to me.

I know. But if you want to see an example of believing in your heart and saying with your mouth and believing what you say will come to pass and then having it come to pass that you probably have already done, then remember what the Bible says in Romans 10:9-10: “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

Romans 10:9-10 is simply Mark 11:23-24 applied specifically to salvation. The human soul getting born again is the ultimate moving of a mountain! You believe, you speak, and what you believe and speak ACCORDING to God’s will, happens. God’s will is for all to be saved (2 Peter 3:9), therefore, someone coming to Him in faith, confessing with their mouth, and believing in their heart, causes them to receive what they are promised by Him to receive from having believed and confessed according to His instruction in the Word about it. You have to meet the conditions of the promise in order to receive the promise, and God would not promise you something if he had no intention of giving it to you when you meet the conditions He lays out.

God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34) which means He doesn’t favor one person’s request over another or respect them more than you. God won’t withold from you something if He promises it in the Word–that’s why it’s in there, so you CAN know what He promises. “God is not a man that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken and will he not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19). “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17).

So all  believers and followers of Christ reading this–you have already put this principle into practice in your life by initially getting saved. It’s just that few of us speak to mountains and believe in our heart they will move when it comes to other areas of our lives. We’re afraid we’ll be selfish. We’re afraid it will work. We’re afraid we’ll go off into practicing this in weird areas of our lives like cars and big houses like some other ministers do. We’re also afraid we won’t ask for the right things or that God will say ‘no’. He won’t say no if you’re praying according to the promises in His Word. The promises of God in Him are ‘yes’ and ‘amen’ (2 Cor 1:20). If you get the answer ‘no’, then either a demon is speaking to you or you’re praying differently than what the Word of God gives you any right to believe for. If you’re praying contrary to the Word of God, and have no promise from Him to stand on, then you are in presumption or foolishness or both, and I cannot guarantee you what will happen.

That’s why constant Bible reading and meditation is important. It renews your mind so you can know what the will of God is. (Romans 12:2)

If you enjoyed this post, you may enjoy a class from our Fire For Life Summer School a couple of years ago, where I taught more on this subject:

Faith & Healing:
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“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:1-2

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Joshua 1:8

If you’re a good Jesus-loving, sin hating, Bible reading follower of Christ, you’ve probably come across passages like this and many other ones in the Psalms, that talk of meditating on the Word of God, ‘day and night‘. This is not some new-agey practice. But seriously, if the Bible talks about something a lot, then we need to take seriously what it repeats, and find out what it means.

The word for meditate used here in the Hebrew is ‘hagah‘. It comes from the root word ‘hagiyg, which literally means “whisper, musing, or murmuring”. Hagah literally means “to moan, growl, utter, muse, mutter, meditate, devise, plot, speak.”

Interesting isn’t it? I don’t know about you, but I think moaning, growling and muttering are kind of aggressive or at least deliberate speech in nature. Almost all of these renderings involve speaking, or orating in some fashion. When the word of God talks of meditating on the law of the Lord, this is not some kind of setting where you sit on the floor with your legs crossed and quietly ponder something, with candles and incense burning and other weird new age type of concepts that come to mind when we think of meditating. Biblical meditation involves speaking.

How do I know this for certain?

For one thing, you don’t need to look up the original Hebrew in order to come to this conclusion, for the passage in Joshua says in the same sentence “this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth.” The writer defines what meditation is. This makes a lot more sense when you read the psalms, where much of the time the psalmists talk about meditating on the book of the law, the same word hagah or hagiyg is used in the Hebrew. Have you ever wondered how on earth it’s possible to ‘meditate’ on the Bible day and night? According to the common modern day understanding of meditation, this would be an impossible feat, since no average Christian has the time or self-discipline to give this much focus to studying and focusing our attention ‘day and night’ on the things of the Lord. It’s simply impossible with all the other daily responsibilities the average Christian and human being needs to tend to.

But we can speak any time we want to, day or night. Alone or in public. Walking somewhere or laying still in our beds.

You can speak Scriptures out loud concerning topics that are important to where you are at in your relationship with God right now. If you need physical healing, ‘meditate’ and speak out loud (confess) Scriptures on the subject of healing, and you will build your spirit up and increase your faith in that area. The Bible says in Romans 10:17 that faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. In order to be hearing the Word of God, someone needs to be saying it, correct?

Notice the rendering in the King James Version for Psalm 2:1: “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine (hagah) a vain thing?” Remember the way we looked in a previous blog entry about how the heart/beliefs are intertwined with the mouth/words. So say and imagine the Word of God and things of the Lord, day and night, and then like the rest of Joshua 1:8 says “so that you may be careful to do all that is written in it (the things written in the book of the Law). For then you shall make your way prosperous and then you will have good success.

Look at some other uses of the word (in the ESV translation):

“Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long.” Psalm 38:12

“When I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night.” Psalm 63:6

“When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints.” Psalm 77:3

In the New Testament, the Greek word that gets translated is not much different than the Hebrew Old Testament one. In the KJV, Jesus tells his disciples in Luke 21:14–in the context of impending persecution they’d face–to “Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer.” In the same translation, Paul told Timothy “Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.” 1 Timothy 4:15. The English Standard Version replaces meditate with the word ‘practice’.

In the Greek, the original word for ‘meditate upon’ is 1) to care for, attend to carefully, practise 2) to meditate i.e. to devise, contrive a) used of the Greeks of the meditative pondering and the practice of orators and rhetoricians.

Again, this is directly tied into to SPEAKING the things of God and His Word.

If you’ve ever tried memorizing anything, Scripture in particular, you’ll know that the most effective way you’ve retained what you tried memorizing, was from repeating it to yourself or someone else over and over again. There’s something about being able to store information in our spirits from speaking it a lot. So, with all this in mind, I highly recommend doing so. In Hebrew culture, much orating was done at young ages, in order that the law of the Lord could be remembered. If they were doing that with the Old Testament law, then how much more us with the words of life!?

If you’re struggling with a besetting sin, then I’d recommend meditating and speaking about verses from places like Romans 4-8 and just feed your spirit stuff on practical holiness. If you are facing a mountain in your life, speak to it and confess the Word of God concerning the promises He makes in the Bible concerning that thing you’re believing for, and like the Bible says, you can cast that mountain into the sea.

If you enjoyed this post, you may enjoy the episode of our podcast where we discussed these concepts in more depth:

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I’ve decided to go in a certain direction with my entries on this site for a little while. This will be the first of around 6-8 posts, based on a series of personal blog entries I posted in the Spring of 2007 while living in Holland.  I had been putting something into practice in my personal life, and I felt like I finally “got it” and that this is not just something spooky spiritual that charismatic flakes do.  So check back every Monday for each entry in this study.

I want to spend this post doing a cursory Scripture study on the importance of the words we speak. I notice this kind of teaching is not something noncharismatic/evangelicals really teach a lot on other than token messages or devotionals on ‘the power of life and death lies in the tongue’ teaching from Proverbs and of James chapter 3.

Anyway, that being said, let’s hit the ground running…

The Bible says in Matthew 12:34b-37:
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

It’s worth noting the correlation that exists between what someone believes and thinks in their heart, and what they choose to speak out. What are you saying? If you read the book of Proverbs for more than 10 minutes, you will notice that many of the comparison and contrast proverbs involve speaking. “The wise man says this, but the fool says that.” Over and over again. But in my recent re-habit of Scripture memorization, I noticed when repeating the words in some of those verses I’d written down on little cards, how many times ‘mouth’ is used interchangeably with ‘heart’, and decided to put much effort into looking into the Scriptures and focus on that subject where I see it when I’m reading the Word. I’ve highlighted texts using a specific colored highlighter, all over the Psalms and wisdom books of the Bible, and New Testament where I find passages on words, speaking, and meditating (which I will get to in next week’s entry of mine). It blows my mind how much there is in the Word of God on this subject, and virtually nobody teaches it, other than messages on how we’re to edify and encourage others with our words. Which I’m not against.  I just believe it doesn’t end there.

“I will praise you, O Lord with all my heart, I will tell of all your wonders.” Psalm 9:1

“Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless, and does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman.“ Psalm 15:1-3

“Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices.“ Psalm 16:9

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19

“The fool says in his heart there is no God…“ Psalm 53:1

We are told in Psalm 66:1-3a “Shout with joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious! Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!“

The psalmist said “I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven.“ Psalm 89:1-2. The writer didn’t say I “will sing in my head”. The psalmist didn’t say “I will think your praises and hope people telepathically figure out I love you.”

No, there was speaking involved.

“Even in your thought, do not curse the king, nor in your bedroom curse the rich,
for a bird of the air will carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter.” (Ecclesiastes 10:20).

Again, we see the writer weaving in and out of thoughts and speaking out loud to demonstrate that it’s necessary to be careful what we are thinking, because we could accidentally say it and suffer consequences.

Not that I’ve never done this myself–of course–but a slightly funny example of seeing someone else blurt out their thoughts of hatred towards someone comes to mind. One time in a class of mine at Bible school, the teacher was praising the good work that someone on staff had done in a certain area, and told us all to say something positive to her, let her know how much we all appreciate her, and to bless her. Then, oddly, someone sitting near me, very loudly added “yeah, with a brick.”  I might add, that the saying ‘bless him/her with a brick” was jokingly understood in our circle as a way of asking the Lord to deal with someone we didn’t like much and drop a brick on their head for us.

It was obvious for a second that this brother had no idea he said that out loud, but the whole class heard it and the professor said “and we’ll just ignore that comment and some of us can check our hearts.” It was awkward as this classmate realized he blurted an inner personal thought out loud to his embarrassment. I’m sure I’ve done the same thing many times, I just thought this example was interesting as a witness to refer to for my point.

Those are just a few verses to scratch the surface for now. If you take a highlighter to the Psalms and just mark in your Bibles the times words and praises are mentioned like the above examples, you will start to have a coloring book in that part of your Bible.

Jesus, full of the Word (being the Word Himself) quoted Scripture when the devil came and tempted Him (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10). He also told his disciples the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and that’s what can make a person unclean. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. (Matthew 15:18-19). It’s for this reason alone that I have no respect for Christians using their mouth to cuss, since many words we use as swear words are based on actions of immorality–and we’re not to speak of what the ungodly do in secret (Ephesians 5:12). I don’t care if something the apostle Paul said here or there was like cussing in his language in his day–most Christians who justify cussing do it for shock value, and usually in an immature way, or are just immature in their use of vocabulary. I know I’m meddling with some people who are and will be reading this, but deal with it–we’re called to be people of excellence in deed and speech. Proverbs 4:23-24 says to “keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.“ And Ephesians 4:29: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear“.

Nuff said about that.

Confession.
The Scriptures say a lot on the topic of confession, but we’re too afraid of delving into it because we’re afraid we’ll get flaky. But I hope to get into examples of how many Christians already do ‘confession’. I’m not talking about standing in your empty garage and confessing you have 5 limousines. I’m not saying I stand in front of a mirror, and put one hand on my head and say “I have a full head of hair“, all the while oblivious to reality. I’m talking about confessing the Word of God over our problems, lives, circumstances.   We’ll get into the Scriptures on that in the weeks to come, since I don’t want to leave it here and have readers go away from this entry and get flaky.

Bible Studies for a Firm Foundation, a book Bob Weiner puts out, has the following to say about confession:

“Very few Christians actually realize the place that confession holds in God’s scheme of things. Unfortunately, whenever the word ‘confession’ is used, many invariably think of confessing sins, weaknesses, and failures. That is the negative side of confession. There is, however, a positive side of confession, which the Bible has more to say about than the negative. Webster’s dictionary defines “confession” not only as a confession of sins, but as a ’statement of one’s beliefs; especially those of the Christian faith.’ That is why true Christianity throughout the centuries has been known as ‘The Great Confession.” Webster’s dictionary also defines ‘confessor’ as a “a Christian who has suffered for his faith.” The apostles and early fathers of the faith were “bold confessors” of the Word of God.” p. 93

Simply put, confession is a statement of your beliefs. So what are you saying with your mouth?

Revelation 12:11 says “And they conquered him [the devil] by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony.“

When I worked at Hope Valley Day Camp years ago in the summertime, the leaders made us volunteers memorize passages of Scripture referred to as ’salvation verses’ and ‘assurance verses’, so we would know how to show kids who were wanting to give their lives to Jesus passages that showed them how. I say that as a way of indicating I know many Christians, even in evangelical circles already know what confession is in a sense:

The whole Bible is the inspired Word of God (1 Tim 3:16). The Holy Spirit saw to it that this Book was written and the content was selected the way it was, and in the order things were put in there, for whatever reason He saw fit. I’m not a big fan of lifting things out of context and I try not to do it, but we all do it by accident or sometimes by faulty memory when recollecting nuggets or quotes from Scripture. That’s why I read and meditate the Word of God in chapters at a time, if not whole books, and when I stumble across individual verses, I back up and move forward and give careful thought to stuff surrounding it.

So I’m going to camp right here in Matthew 13 for a little while, because there’s a lot to unpack in it. There are a LOT of commonalities in the parables and stories here, and not only that, but they are all placed in this same chapter and many of us might not have ever realize they tie together or off the top of our head realized they were all in succession in the same chapter in both Matthew, and some of them in Mark 4. And not only that, but Jesus explains very few of His parables in the New Testament, but gives explanations to two of them in this chapter, so I think it’s worthy of our careful study.

Parable of the Sower

“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”
“Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
Matthew 18:3-9,18-23 English Standard Version

We begin with the parable of the sower. In Mark’s account of this, it’s implied that understanding this parable is the key to understanding any parable (Mark 4:14). Here Jesus tells them “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” (Matt 13:11) My paraphrase: knowledge is reserved for those who want it. That being said, it’s necessary to have at least some preliminary familiarity with this parable.

Jesus shares this parable in the first portion of the chapter, and in verse 10 His disciples come up to Him asking about this teaching, and want to know why He speaks in parables. Friend, Jesus doesn’t do it because He wants to be mystical, and keep knowledge away from people all the while looking like some spook-spiritual guru. The opposite is true, He does things in such a way where we need to take initiative and seek. Knowledge is reserve for those who want it, not for people who want to be spoon-fed the mysteries of the kingdom. God doesn’t reveal the mysteries of His deep to any passerby circumventing intimacy with Him.

In this parable, no matter what the result of each dispensing of seed (the Word of God), it becomes apparent that it’s always necessary for the soil (the heart) to be properly cultivated, for the best desired results and fruitfulness. The first instance mentioned actually has the seed above the ground or on the surface in this parable, and the birds of the air come and snatch it away easily (v.4). In Jesus’ explanation, He says the birds of the air are snatching away what was sown in the person’s heart (v.19). This throws a wrench in some “once-saved, always-saved” teachings I’ve read and heard that explain the only person to get saved in this parable is the fourth one in the end that bears fruit. Not so—at least, at the very most I will concede this is not the best portion of Scripture for proponents of that doctrine to base their teaching on. Each of the four ‘soils of heart’ in this parable RECEIVED the word in their heart.

The second person hears it but has no root or depth in that soil, because the soil is rocky (v.5-6). In our spiritual growth we need both depth and the ability to branch out & grow upward and outward, and can’t have one without the other. We need both the opportunity to deepen and mature in the things of God, as well as the occasions to put into practice what we learn, and have fruitfulness—depth AND application. As one of my team leaders in Holland says “you can’t give what you don’t have.” The natural result of shallowness of soil, is that this seed doesn’t spring forth or grow beyond its initial ‘sprout’. In Jesus’ explanation He states that this person immediately receives it and looks like they’re a solid enthusiastic Christian per se, but that it’s trials and tribulations because of the Word that choke out and hinder this person from enduring for very long (v.20-21). It’s interesting to note that 1 Peter 1:6-9 indicates that trials and tests purify a person’s genuine faith.

The third person–and the main one I want to show you something you might not have noticed before–is representative of soil that itself was fine, but that the seed was growing next to other things that drained the resources in the soil and prevented the good seed from obtaining life and vitality (v.7). Jesus says that the weeds that choked out the life of this seed were the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches.

Interesting that Jesus specifies riches (money) as a ‘choker’ of the good Word. This would probably explain how some ministers of the Gospel throughout the ages wind up becoming heavily engrossed with prosperity ‘name it and claim it’ Gospels—because of the cares of this life choking out the good Word.
Notice, it DOES NOT say in this account that this seed dies—it says the weeds (cares of this life and distraction of riches), choke the Word—which I always used to assume meant it was killed—but from just reading, we see that that’s not necessarily true. This ‘Word” stays alive, but is unfruitful because the nutrients and minerals in the soil that would’ve given life to it is not getting up through the stem or branches, because it’s being sucked out of the ground by these other cares, and giving “fruitfulness” to the weeds instead. I dare say, the nutrients are being wasted on other pursuits in this believer’s life.

Ever thought of that before—that you can’t serve God AND money? “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Matt 6:24) Put that in your Bible and read it! If you think I’m reading into the text, then follow along next time when we examine the next parable Jesus shares in this chapter—on the wheat and the tares. Consider how the seeds that fell on good soil in this passage bear fruit—the individuals who hear the good word and do it and are fruitful, and it’s typically understood then that they didn’t have these same “soil issues” as the seeds in the previous three examples.

Not so with the wheat and tares. More on that in the next chance I have to post an entry, which will go in a completely different direction than this one. But I find it interesting that some teachers out there can teach very well, and money doesn’t snare them become their focus. Gary Carpenter is a minister I believe this to be true of, and I highly recommend his series on “Stewarding the Pound”, and other such teachings found on his website (he totally corrects a lot of the false teaching on what we know as “the prosperity gospel”, but if you don’t stick around and listen to enough of his messages, you’ll accidentally assume he is one of them)
But without mentioning names, some of you reading immediately had thoughts of certain preachers where they teach and preach more on money and such–with what seems like an anointing–but hardly talk about the cross of Jesus Christ, or repentance from dead works or other essentials of the faith. It’s because the nutrients in the soil cannot support both the good word AND the cares of this life, including riches.

Jesus taught in other portions of the Gospels that the cares of this life can distract us from true faith and trust in God. To close off this entry, why not keep in mind what He taught in the sermon on the mount concerning the cares of this life and anxiety over them:

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.“ Matthew 6:25-33, ESV, emphasis mine.

In the parable of the sower, notice that the cares choke the good word. But if we seek FIRST after the kingdom of God, then there is room for both the kingdom of God manifested and bearing fruit in th believer’s life, AND the needs of the believer being taken care of and provided for.

And THAT kind of prosperity message is Biblical.

This entry might be well placed in the “classic objections to divine healing” category of my blog. I mean no disrespect to those who suggest, that somehow, in God’s sovereignty, He does things and we don’t know why–and people not getting healed, is in that ‘category’ of God’s character. It is a whole framework of thinking that DOES rightly attribute mysteries to the sovereignty of God’s handiwork, and that He is not obligated to explain Himself to us puny little flesh creatures.

Deuteronomy 29:29, which objectors may or may not realize they’re quoting from, says
“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.“

It IS true, that the secret things belong to the Lord, and if He has chosen not to reveal certain things to us, that’s His prerogative. But, does this include divine healing?

Of course not–the “secret things” would include things that God has kept secret, and He has shared abundantly in His Word and by the atonement of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross at Calvary. God doesn’t have some secret Calvinistic ‘will’ either–where you don’t know if He will give you something or not. If He has explicitly promised to give something to His children in The Bible, then doing what He stated as a pre-requisite to receiving it, is necessary in order to receive said promise.

If you’ve never visited this blog before, then you probably don’t know that I’ve been all over the topic of divine healing like a fat kid on a candy bar. So I encourage you for more (way more) study on the subject, to click on the ‘healing’ tag and you will see a plethora of other entries. I’m going to continue this as though the idea God does will all to be healed physically, emotionally, mentally, etc.., is already settled in your mind.

If He has made His will known, then it clearly does NOT apply to the secret things God is talking about in this verse. What secret things is He referring to? We’ll never know–they’re secret and belong to Him!

But, like any good restaurant owner or manager will tell you as being the secret to their success is, the same applies to Scripture – location, location, location. God HAS revealed to us His will concerning healing, in the Bible.

We have Scripture where it details the time the disciples attempted to heal a boy with epilepsy, but to no avail. For more on that I recommend checking it out here. The disciples had previously gone out two-by-two to proclaim and demonstrate the kingdom of God, and now this occasion with this one little boy they were unable to do it. If they had given up there, they never would have seen the healing take place at all, because ultimately Jesus came along and healed the boy Himself.

I think most Christians stop here, sadly.

If the disciples didn’t get Jesus Himself to step in, the healing would have never come, but yet most Christians don’t have the tenacity to go for it even after the first prayer didn’t yield a noticeable result. If you’re like most well-taught evangelicals–or most badly taught charismatics–you’d conclude it must “not be God’s will to heal this time”. But such an approach usually leaves one bitter and wondering how come others have obtained it and not themselves. Such seeming arbitrariness on God’s part would make those who don’t see the healing take place wonder if God is showing favorites and leaving them short. He is not.

Healing is for all. Including you and yours.

In Matthew 17:14-21, we have the account I just mentioned, where Jesus went ahead and performed a healing the disciples were unable to obtain themselves. Then privately they went and asked Jesus why it didn’t work. Now in order for them to ask Him why something didn’t happen, they had to have been expecting it to. And on top of that, if they KNEW why it didn’t work, they wouldn’t have asked Jesus why the healing never manifested! He told them the answer: their lack of faith.

I know that it’s not politically correct to say it or teach it, and I’ve even been told it’s cruel to tell someone they need more faith in order to be healed. I don’t usually tell someone they need more faith unless I give them tips and pointers concerning HOW to have more faith. But seriously folks, we need to get over this “God-does-all-the-work-and-I-just-sit-back-and-let-him-hit-me-with- a-magic-wand-and-take-no-initiative-of-my-own” Yes, God DOES do all the work–on the cross at Calvary 2000 years ago, but we need to position ourselves to receive. Sinners don’t receive the gift of salvation JUST because it’s been offered–they need to receive it [meet the requirements that are pre-requisite, like believing with their heart and confessing with their mouth (Romans 10:9-10) and leaving their old life behind].

And as for the idea it’s cruel to teach someone they need more faith– no it isn’t. But it IS cruel to blame them for not being healed. Those are two different things. Blaming them still withholds from them that which they’re seeking, but telling them something that helps them receive, is a great benefit to people if they do grab hold of it.

I think an even crueler thing is some of the evangelical “God chooses to heal some but not others” doctrines out there. When you tell someone it might be God’s will to heal them, what you’ve done is given them no hope or faith at all that it will or is even likely happen, because most people say to themselves “then I’m probably not one whom God wants to heal.” In order for that doctrine to be true, one then needs to operate in special revelation so as to know when and who God wants to heal!

If the disciples knew their unbelief was in the way of healing the epileptic boy, they would have not needed to ask Jesus about the situation. They would have fixed the problem insomuch as it depended on them.

And finally I’d like to conclude by looking at the context of Deuteronomy 29:29, which is judgment. This is one of the last addresses Moses gave the people of Israel before they were going to enter their promised land after forty years of wandering in the wilderness. The title for this chapter that the Bible translation I read says “The covenant renewed in Moab.” Moses goes on to remind them where they’ve come from and where the Lord promised them they’re going IF they obey the word of the law. Almost more than half of the chapter goes into great detail about what judgment God will bring upon the people of Israel if they turn away from Him, and concludes with the verse we’re using for this entry, that the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed (which, according to context, is the law) to us and our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (emphasis mine).

So frankly put, God’s not withholding anything from His children that would be for their benefit and making Himself a secretive insecure God. This stuff He withholds from us, the secret things, are not related to blessings/curses and rewards/punishment, but refers to details He’s deemed worth not making clear to all of us. To repeat what I’ve said already, healing and whether it’s God’s will to heal any is NOT some secret thing He’s kept from us.

If He will do it for one, He’ll do it for all—he’s not a respecter of persons and doesn’t play favorites.