Bible Idolatry

Idolatry Begins With "I"

0:00 SPEAKER_00: Idolatry begins with I.

0:03 SPEAKER_00: I read the Bible.

0:06 SPEAKER_00: I apply the Scriptures.

0:08 SPEAKER_00: I seek the Holy Spirit to confirm my I.

0:12 SPEAKER_00: I accept the Scriptures.

0:15 SPEAKER_00: I like.

0:16 SPEAKER_00: This is why there is so much failure when it comes to obeying Scripture, and the primary reason for so many denominations, non denominations, and each person doing as they see fit in the name of the Lord coming under judgment.

0:29 SPEAKER_00: Indeed, for all the talk of Jesus being king over their lives, the reality is that they are just doing as they religiously see fit.

0:38 SPEAKER_00: In those days Israel had no king.

0:41 SPEAKER_00: Everyone did as he saw fit.

0:43 SPEAKER_00: Judges chapter twenty one twenty five.

Likeable Legalism Vs True Surrender

0:48 SPEAKER_00: Likeable legalism.

0:50 SPEAKER_00: Discipleship begins with Dy self by surrendering all my thoughts, actions, and will to Jesus.

0:59 SPEAKER_00: Deny my personal application of Scriptures, principles, concepts, and commandments.

1:05 SPEAKER_00: Deny my own understanding of what I think Scripture is saying.

1:09 SPEAKER_00: Deny my favorite scriptures.

1:12 SPEAKER_00: Most Christians live religiously, applying, accepting, and promoting the scriptures in the ways they personally find acceptable.

1:20 SPEAKER_00: This is nothing but idolatry.

1:23 SPEAKER_00: In contrast, true disciples hate their own lives, surrender everything, and allow God to crucify their religious self.

1:30 SPEAKER_00: Only then do they experience the new life, walking as Jesus walked, in total dependence upon the Father.

1:37 SPEAKER_00: They let God teach them the correct wisdom and application of Scripture in His timing, no matter the cost.

1:44 SPEAKER_00: Disciples are literally entering into and walking as Jesus walked.

1:49 SPEAKER_00: See John chapter two verse six and Luke chapter fourteen verse twenty six.

Bible Study And Self-Leadership

1:54 SPEAKER_00: These are the individuals who have truly fallen into the dark ground and waited upon God to die to self.

2:01 SPEAKER_00: I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed, but if it dies, it produces many seeds.

2:11 SPEAKER_00: The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

2:18 SPEAKER_00: John chapter twelve verses twenty four through twenty five.

2:23 SPEAKER_00: Bible study and the danger of self leadership.

2:26 SPEAKER_00: Strangely, those who practice this form of Christian idolatry often study the Bible in great detail.

2:33 SPEAKER_00: They confidently use terms like Holy Spirit, yet in reality they remain the ones leading their own religious lives.

2:40 SPEAKER_00: True discipleship looks different.

2:43 SPEAKER_00: A disciple first surrenders all, then allows God to teach what scripture means and how it must be applied.

2:49 SPEAKER_00: This path brings genuine persecution and authentic blessings in Christ.

Dying To Self Like A Seed

2:55 SPEAKER_00: Note on division in following Christ The following scriptures highlight the human tendency toward self centered thinking and application, even declaring I follow Christ can carry a religious spirit if it stems from personal preference rather than full surrender by hating one's life.

3:15 SPEAKER_00: What I mean is this one of you says, I follow Paul, another, I follow Apollos, another, I follow Cephas, still another, I follow Christ.

Division Fueled By Preference

3:28 SPEAKER_00: Corinthians chapter one verse twelve.

3:30 SPEAKER_00: Here we see Jesus setting the example that disciples are to walk in.

Jesus Models Dependence On Father

3:35 SPEAKER_00: For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.

3:41 SPEAKER_00: John chapter twelve verse forty nine.

3:44 SPEAKER_00: Jesus answered, My teaching is not my own, it comes from him who sent me.

3:49 SPEAKER_00: If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God, or whether I speak on my own.

3:56 SPEAKER_00: He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth.

4:04 SPEAKER_00: There is nothing false about him.

4:06 SPEAKER_00: John chapter seven verses sixteen through eighteen.

4:09 SPEAKER_00: For I gave them the words who gave me and they accepted them.

4:13 SPEAKER_00: They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

Paul Chooses Revelation Over Credentials

4:20 SPEAKER_00: Now we see the apostle Paul walking as Jesus walked, in total dependence and surrender to the living God.

4:27 SPEAKER_00: Paul's understanding of the scripture did not come from academic Bible study, it came directly through revelation by the Holy Spirit.

4:34 SPEAKER_00: In fact, Paul considered his former reliance on scriptural study and religious credentials as dung, or rubbish loss.

4:43 SPEAKER_00: See Philippians chapter three verses one through eleven.

4:47 SPEAKER_00: Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel Ephesians chapter six nineteen.

4:58 SPEAKER_00: This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths and spiritual words.

5:11 SPEAKER_00: This is why Paul testifies that his understanding and application of Scripture did not come through the idolatry of Bible study.

Why So Many Bible Study Methods

5:18 SPEAKER_00: Few discover this narrow path, which explains the proliferation of commentaries, study guides, outlines, and methods on how to study the Bible.

5:29 SPEAKER_00: Oh, how many idolaters there are, even in the name of Jesus?

5:34 SPEAKER_00: The above is only a small sampling of scriptures, and those who pick up their cross, deny themselves, and hate their own life will be the believers that reflect the most scriptures in their lives, for it will be Jesus, Jesus Himself, working and flowing through them because they are dead, crucified to the eye that reads and applies the Bible.

5:54 SPEAKER_00: Only disciples following Jesus escape the trap of the idolatry that comes from Bible study, church worship, and leading themselves into a Christian life.

Studying Scripture Yet Refusing Jesus

6:04 SPEAKER_00: John chapter five verses thirty nine through forty.

6:07 SPEAKER_00: You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life.

6:12 SPEAKER_00: These are the scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

6:18 SPEAKER_00: The reason we refuse to go to Jesus with full surrender and hatred of our beliefs is because there is an understanding that a painful, suffering cross awaits.

6:28 SPEAKER_00: Sin will be dealt with like never before.

The Painful Cost Of The Cross

6:30 SPEAKER_00: One will lose friends, family, comfort, etc, etc The Book Even the Demons Believe For more information, look for the free book entitled Even the Demons Believe by Timothy Williams, located at www.consider.info.

Even The Demons Believe Book Review

6:50 SPEAKER_00: A review of the book Even the Demons Believe.

6:53 SPEAKER_00: Quote JF, who lives in Brazil, said of the book, Even the Demons Believe.

6:59 SPEAKER_00: I would like to tell you that I'm doing chapter seven right now.

7:03 SPEAKER_00: It's the second time I've read the book.

7:05 SPEAKER_00: Even the Demons Believe, and I think it's an impacting book, literally impacting.

7:11 SPEAKER_00: Let us say, the first time you read it, you get shocked, outraged, and maybe sort of mad at the author.

7:17 SPEAKER_00: However, the second reading makes you go deep into your own spiritual life and church experiences.

7:23 SPEAKER_00: I presume it's gotten people exactly where Pastor Williams wanted them to be, cornered and faced off by their own attitude toward the Almighty.

7:31 SPEAKER_00: If you're interested in the full and complete gospel message before becoming a disciple of Jesus, then the book, even the demons believe, might prove helpful.

Preach The Full Message Of New Life

7:43 SPEAKER_00: The Full Message Sad to say, most have been taught a partial message, whereas God commands that the full message, the full, complete, and total offensive message of the cross be preached.

7:56 SPEAKER_00: Anything less than the full message is not the gospel call to a new life.

8:01 SPEAKER_00: Acts five verses eighteen through twenty.

8:04 SPEAKER_00: They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail, but during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.

8:12 SPEAKER_00: Go stand in the temple courts, he said, and tell the people the full message of this new life.

8:18 SPEAKER_00: As the angel told the apostle Peter in Acts five, verse twenty, go, stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of this new life.

Test Yourself And Final Charge

8:28 SPEAKER_00: The book, even the demons believe, will also guide those claiming the name Christian to test themselves.

8:35 SPEAKER_00: As the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 5, examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith, test yourselves.

8:44 SPEAKER_00: Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you?

8:47 SPEAKER_00: Unless, of course, you fail the test.

8:50 SPEAKER_00: The Consider Podcast, www.consider.info.

8:56 SPEAKER_00: Examining today's wisdom, folly, and madness.