11/26
1999
Jesus calls us to join Him in HIS
church.
| as of 11/26 1999 |
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| God Hates Arrogant Divisiveness -- Neal Griffin |
Date sent: Tue, 30 Mar 1999
Subject: ARROGANCE GOD HATESArrogance has its roots in the pride family. It inflates the ego. We can trace its path of destruction all the way back to the original sin.
Moses, in a very personal way, came to know the consequences of arrogance, for when he desired the glory for causing water to come forth from the rock, God gave vent to His hatred for arrogance by denying Moses entry into the promised land. What a price to pay!
Again God demonstrated His contempt for arrogance when Herod accepted the praise of men, as if he were a god, God struck him dead. What a vivid lesson! Herod should have known better, and men of our day should be able to profit from these two stories. May God grant us the readiness of heart to profit from the lessons of Moses and Herod.
Arrogance is pernicious. It rears its ugly head in the most unexpected places, but for the purpose of this article, I would like to focus on one particular area, and that is the area of the promotions of men. Jesus, the Christed one, is the promotion of the Bible, but the Pharisees, Bible scholars though they were, missed the entire point. They had heads full of knowledge and hearts empty of Jesus. They were "sidetracked" by other promotions. They knew book, chapter and verse, but they could not see the Big Picture. Do you suppose that we could possibly fall into that same trap today? Do you suppose that we, of the enlightened age of massive cathedrals and learned theologians, could fall victim to grand promotions which deny Jesus the center stage He deserves? Do you suppose that we could be obscuring the Big Picture with our promotions?
Let us consider a few promotions which may not, necessarily, be wrong in themselves, but which obstruct the Big Picture. Consider the, not so harmless, practice of snake handling. A good brother and Bible scholar, not so long ago, concluded from Scripture that snake handling should be a visible expression of saving faith. No snake handling = no faith = no salvation.
A while ago a learned brother concluded from Scripture that, while instituting the Lord's Supper, Jesus drank from a cup with handles. The brother and his followers concluded that proper observance of the Lord's Supper demands cups with handles and cups without handles = no faith = no salvation.
And not so long ago another scholar concluded from the Bible that all assemblies of the saints should be held in an upper chamber, and that such assembling is a necessary expression of saving faith. No upper floor = no faith = no salvation.
In another instance, a devout scholar concluded that one must have a proper understanding of the millennium (his understanding) in order to properly believe in Jesus. No understanding of the millennium = no faith = no salvation.
A diligent student of the Bible, not so long ago, concluded from Scripture that to use instruments of music, in praise to God, is tantamount to denying the faith. Instruments of music = no faith = no salvation.
And, even a shorter while ago, a scholarly brother concluded, from the Bible, that it is a sin for the church to support orphanages and/or Gospel broadcasts which are not under their control. Giving to outside institutions = no faith = no salvation.
Only these five examples are referenced to illustrate the point. There are others. But, where does arrogance apply to them? The horrible truth is that arrogance is the father of all man-derived conclusions which exclude brethren. Satan's sequential path of apostasy is: conclusion, tradition, law, and then exclusion. When man presumes to elevate his conclusions, in non- essentials, to Gospel status he is elevating himself to Godhood. He is elevating himself to a legislative (lawmaking) position. This is arrogance. He becomes a pretender to the throne of God, and our God will tolerate no pretenders. They will all be brought down. God hates arrogance.
We must be very careful that we don't let our promotions, whether they be snake handling, cups, chambers, the millennium, instruments, Joseph Smith, the virgin Mary, the Roman Catholic Church, the Baptist Church, the Church of Christ, or even the home church movement share center stage with Jesus in our hearts. If our focus is on the home church movement, we may as well be promoting Reverend Moon or any of the others listed above.
Jesus is essential. He is the only worthy pattern. Our salvation is wrapped up and sealed in the Person of Jesus. Jesus and Him crucified is the promotion of all Scripture. Jesus is the Big Picture. He wants our hearts. He deserves our entire focus. If we miss the point on this we have missed it all. May the God of wisdom remove the glaze from our sectarian eyes that we may see, and the wax of tradition from our ears that we may hear and receive the Engrafted Word. May He remove our arrogance and instill in us pure hearts.
And then, let us crown Jesus as our King, our focal point, and our All in All. Blessed be the Name of Jesus!
Please think on these things. I believe them to be true to the Word. -- Neal Griffin 10514 Bar X Trail Helotes, TX 78023
The SIN of Divisiveness
<e-mail> Neal Griffin invites us to think
Date sent: Wed, 24 Feb 1999
Many paid pulpit ministers are preaching a gospel (which is no Gospel) of inspection, interrogation, and rejection of brethren, in spite of the fact that the theme of the Bible, from cover to cover, is brotherly love and acceptance. Please consider these thoughts. Your servant in Him, Neal
REJECT ONE ANOTHER
TO THE SHAME OF GODIn Romans l5:7 we read: "Accept one another, as Christ accepted you, to the glory of God." The opposite of this would read thusly: "Reject one another, not as Christ did, to the shame of God". Somewhere between us today and our restoration forefathers we have been sidetracked. Somewhere in our application of hermeneutics we missed the boat. Somewhere in our application of "silence" and "inference" we manage to justify the wholesale rejection of God's redeemed.
For the moment the rejection happens to be in the areas of cups, instruments, and institutional aids. In the past the rejection happened to be in the areas of kneeling to pray, walking to the front with contributions, and fermented wine -- to name a few -- there are others. Perhaps we should not make fun of the Amish for being divisive over the use of iron or rubber tires. Their splits make about as much sense as ours.
Pray that our self-righteous judgments don't come up to haunt us in the judgment! <<But of course they will.>>
Who is it that determines which issues are worthy of division at the moment? Who is it who suddenly, after years of peaceful harmony, decides that now is the time to divide over some incidental issue? Who is it who determines that an issue which was only incidental yesterday is now a "matter of faith"?
Isn't it logical that the ones who make these decisions are the divisive ones? Consider what the Bible says about divisiveness. As you know, there are only three scriptural grounds for rejecting Christians: Moral turpitude; Denial of the Diety of Jesus; and DIVISIVENESS.
Paul, by the Spirit, in Titus 3:l0, says to reject a divisive one after two admonitions. Yet, we heap unto ourselves divisive, paid, pulpit ministers. We screen them very carefully to be sure that they are in perfect agreement with our particular brand of orthodoxy.
Shame on us. Now, I refer you to Galatians 5:l9-2l where you can read for yourself what the Spirit says about the contempt that God has for the divisive spirit. He lumps divisiveness in the same category as witchcraft, idol worship, hatred, and drunken orgies. Is this clear enough? In truth it is too clear to be misunderstood.
If we have been divisive we need to repent, because the Bible says (read it in Galatians 5:2l) that those guilty of such "SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD".
This is Bible talk. Do we believe the Bible? If so, let's do something about it! Let's start, "accepting one another, as Christ accepted us, to the glory of God". Romans l5:7.
Please think on these things. I believe them to be true to the Word.
Neal Griffin l05l4 Bar X Trail Helotes, Texas 78023
