Reaching the Heart (Part1)

Introduction

This is the first “real” entry in the series about “Reaching the Heart,” continuing on after our introduction last time, which was made into a Signet article. In our previous study, which was the setup for this one, we have declared a focus on Evangelism, and examined a number of principles that lie at the very core of effectively reaching out to others in order to turn their hearts back to Yahweh according to what we need to be doing as the “Elijah people.”

These principles are, briefly:

Demonstrate genuine affection (sincerity and genuine concern)
Never show contempt (contempt is reserved for sin, not individuals)
Display patience (particularly relevant when we are opposed)
Express familiarity with the doctrines of others (sometimes useful, but not as important as knowing our own beliefs)
Give a testimony (the most important principle, and presupposes genuine conversion)

Number five is the reason for some very strong statements made by pastor over the past few weeks about the need for the covenant relationship and how this relates to Church membership. You all know that the next New Moon is this Tuesday, and one of the things I will be examining is one aspect Satan’s plan, which, in a sense boils down to this: he seeks to make things that are different seem the same; counterfeit religions, fornication, etc.

From the foundation above, we are going to examine a number of beliefs held by those of other faiths, and we are going to see how to apply these principles to helping other individuals to overcome the deceptions they have accepted as truth.

I would like to speak a few words about the way that evangelism has changed over the years, particularly in the last age. Satan’s deceptions have become more cunning, and the impact his work is obvious in the way that people respond to the truth.

This is not a minor point. Without the Gospel, people have always been selfish, degenerate, and many have been openly cruel and hostile to the light. This is an indirect result of Satan’s tempting Adam to fall, and he has not had to do very much to encourage these tendencies once they had been instilled in the natural man’s character. The direct result of Satan’s work is the way that human beings already in this condition as a result of the legacy of the fall respond to the Gospel when it is presented to them.

A long time ago in spiritual history, men were in tune enough with the spiritual world that, even if they were not converted themselves, they were sensitive enough to deal with conviction when it came to them. In other words, if they were convinced a thing was true, and that they were in error, they would change. It didn’t mean that everyone would necessarily accept the truth; but if they did reject it they did so consciously, and this did change them.

This was not a beneficial state of affairs for the demons, because if a powerful enough advocate of the truth came along they would lose control of many souls. As a result of this they began to work on society, and eventually changed things to the point that men, upon hearing the truth, did not have to choose between accepting and rejecting it. They could simply not care, and remain neutral. This is characterized in the Scriptures by those who say, as Felix did to an imprisoned Paul, (Acts 24:25).

By distracting themselves, human beings did not have to deal with the convictions of the Word, and the messengers that brought it, and thus could prevent themselves from making any real changes.

It is for people who have fallen into this category that the Scriptures instruct us: (Jude 1:23) This is the right place for that teaching; fear itself does not save, but if one has fallen into the lethargic condition we’re talking about here, fear may be the awakening force to allow the hearer to once again deal with the convictions that truth brings, and to choose one way or another. Paul demonstrated this principle to the Church in Corinth, which had many moral problems. After writing a particularly pointed letter to the Corinthians, he follows it up by saying, (2Cor 7:8-10).

Since there is an answer to this condition of lethargy, holy fear, Satan has had to resort to an even more deceptive tactic, which involves removing reverence for Yahweh, which is where that “godly sorrow” comes from. The most effective way to do this is to remove a belief in Yahweh altogether, and to a certain extent he has succeeded in doing this with atheists and agnostics. On the other hand, he can reach a much wider “audience” by allowing individuals to keep their deeply ingrained religious traditions, at least outwardly, but to have it lose its effective core, its meaning for their inner lives.

This is characterized in the Scriptures by those who hold a particular opinion, and Zephaniah, in speaking of the judgment to take place in the last days, says (Zeph 1:12) As we continue to read, we find that this is indeed a reference to the last judgment: verses 14, 15.

Paul also speaks of such here: 2Tim 4:1-4

Here we see that Paul is describing a particular evil of the last days, something not fully developed even two thousand years ago, but is found today in every country, in every tradition, in every Church. By turning to fables, individuals lose even their fear of Yahweh, by which they could be snapped out of their Laodicean lethargy, and we, who wish to reach the hearts, need to update our approach as well in order to counter this very last evil.

Appealing to The Needs

The answer is to appeal to the needs and desires of those with whom we are speaking. You can find a carnal manifestation of this, an unholy application, in the “celebration” movement, and the prosperity messages that involve simply waiting for blessings to come to you, without entering entirely into the life of Christ in which true and eternal blessings are possible.

The true appeal does not involve reaching out to emotions, but identifying genuine needs. Fear will not work anymore, for people do not respect the concept of judgment in these last days, and this is why – to be honest – Seventh-day Adventism, which deals largely in the concept of judgment, has largely become obsolete. Yes, they continue to make converts in terms of adding numbers to the Church, but what is the quality of those converts? SDAs today are nothing like they were a hundred years ago, having become just another path on the convoluted “way to God.” Preaching judgment doesn’t reach most Laodicean hearts; we have to give the people what they want, in a sense, if we wish to gain their heart’s affection for Yahshua. We do, of course, have to be careful in doing this.

First, it is necessary to point out that this is not really a “new” approach. If we study the ministry of Christ carefully, we find that He did this very thing, and this is what allowed Him to reach so many people. We read:

Mat 15:32-37

Luke 9:11; “it” in that verse means Christ’s withdrawing to Bethsaida

Of course, there has to come a time when, having cast our nets wide and brought in a large harvest, we must separate the wheat from the tares, because Christ could not have people following Him simply for loaves and fishes, or for healing of their material injuries:

Mat 13:30

An example (a type) of the above parable: John 6:51- 57, 66-69

We must, if we wish to be successful in this most wicked generation, do precisely as Christ did. By emulating His character, we must also become successful at imitating His ministry; we must cast our nets wide and minister to the needs of people and then, when they have become familiar enough with our beliefs, we must speak of judgment and the “hard truths,” and this will separate the tares, leaving behind previous wheat for the Barn. If we go to them first in this generation of itching ears, of those who will go to teachers because they like their message, their style, and not because they love the truth, we will not even get past the front door.

In this series, we are going to look at how to minister to the genuine needs of both carnal Christians as well as those who are spiritual, and sincere, but also genuinely deceived. I had originally intended to make this a religion-by-by religion study, and go through the beliefs of popular traditions and talk about how to deal with them.

Instead, I think it will be more effective to look at the beliefs themselves. This will be better for a number of reasons; we need not mention any Churches by name (it’s not always effective to do so) and also, because of the Babylonian condition of Christendom, being a member of a Church does not necessarily mean that one holds to their beliefs!

Being a CSDA certainly indicates that one holds a particular set of beliefs, because we have counsel about how to conduct our baptismal examinations, and we take the concept of “covenants” (including Church membership) very seriously. Other Churches, more interested in numbers than in genuine conversions, have very general examinations, if they have examinations at all, and while this appeals to the worldly mind, it is far from the “narrow way” that our Messiah taught. The idea is not to be exclusivist, but to be guardians of the souls of our brethren. If we do not hold the banner high, the world will never know what true Christianity is supposed to look like.

So this week we are going to go over the first in a set of beliefs, and talk about how to minister to the needs that are created by holding these beliefs. What we need to do, instead of condemning others, instead of showing why their convictions are “wrong” is to show why there is a better way, a more sanctified truth, that comes from Yahweh who holds – and has always held – their best interests at heart. This will be like spiritual loaves and heavenly fishes, and will draw many into our hearing, where they can then be educated about judgment and the taking-up of the cross. That is the right time for such things.

Now, for the set of false doctrines we will be studying, I am going to draw heavily from a study I did some time ago during a New Moon: “To Whom Ye Yield.” We looked, in that study, at some common doctrinal errors, and the impact it could have on the lives and characters of those who were thereby deceived. What we did not do, however, is to talk in detail about how to minister to those who have fallen into these problems, and that is what we are going to do here.

I have taken some time to set this up, because I don’t want to give the idea that this is a mechanical process, like fixing a car. Human beings are complicated, and subject to “diverse passions,” and this is the reason why even the Bible is as long as it is. The Word does not come out and say, “This is what you must do under every circumstance” or it would be a very different kind of Book. Instead, it reveals Yahweh’s character through a series of devices, and then works on the soul by the subtle influence of the Holy Spirit. We need to learn to operate in the same way, as agents of that Spirit. Since I’ve taken a while with the introductory parts, we’ll only go over a few this week so you can get an idea of where the rest of the series is going.

Ministering to The Needs

Lack of Victory (Salvation in Sin)

The following topic is an example of the kind of study we will be doing in future parts of this study.

Victory is difficult concept to teach, (they all are) because of the traditions that have destroyed it as a part of modern Christianity. It is, in fact, a very basic failing of every Church but the true one.

We know the Bible verses that show this doctrine very clearly:

1John 3:6-9, 1 John 5:18, 1Pet 4:1, Psa 119:11, Rom 6

But when we show people these verses, do they immediately surrender their error and begin to study for baptism?

The problem is that they don’t see the benefit of ceasing from sin. According to their theology, they can enjoy the “pleasures of sin” in this world, and yet be saved, because the blood of Christ will get them to Heaven, and the power of God will keep them from sinning once they are there.

We are never told that we must await the resurrection or the translation in order to cease from sin. In fact, Peter tells us:

2Pet 1:3

Even the worldliest Christians will admit that sin is “hateful,” and think so at least in theory, but they do not yet see the depths of it, the “sinfulness of sin,” as SDA writings term it. They do not understand that continuing in sin after one knows the truth tarnishes the soul, and actually unsuits one to receive salvation. This is a hard doctrine to teach to those who are convinced otherwise, because of the way that God’s love is misunderstood for His salvation.

The love of God has provided a means of salvation; that is to say, through the Son and His sacrifice on the cross. But God loves even those who are lost, as evidenced by the parable of Ephraim, a type of those who are lost in the final judgment:

Hos 11:8

Hos 4:17

What we have to do to reach out to those who have fallen under this deception is what we have to do with those who have fallen under any false teaching; demonstrate that the alternative is better. This is the only way to effectively promote love, purity, and life. We have to show the benefits of a pure life, not only in an assurance of Heaven, which for the carnal Christian is something of a hazy concept anyway, but in this present experience.

We read:

James 1:2-4 (emphasis on character development)

Acts 23:1, 24:16, Rom 9:1

1Tim 6:6, make appeals to the conscience, if they truly wish to serve God with their lives, how can they continue in sin; and what of the examples they set for others?

Mat 18:6 (also found in Mark 9:42 and Luke 17:2)

Encourage faith that all things are truly possible when we are united with Christ, that it is not only possible, but expected, that the Christian live with a pure conscience, with a clean character, and as an example to others. Speak of Yahweh’s power being unlimited, and if sin is “bad” why would God not want the “best” life for His children?

Common objections:

Carnality of man; answered by 2Cor 5:17-21

Examples of others in the past; answered by 1Pet 2:21, 22

Losing one’s grip on Christ; answered by 1John 2:14

The bottom line when explaining this, as all doctrines: Deu 5:29 (a central text for this series of studies)

When dealing with a “mixed multitude,” people who like the message in theory, but have not seen fit, or necessary, or even able to commit – we have to demonstrate the blessing of the sanctified life.

We will end there this week, but some of the doctrines we’ll look at in upcoming studies:

Eternal Hell/Immortality of the Soul

Salvation by Works

Liberalism (e.g., in interpretation of the creation story)

Sunday Worship/New Covenant Errors

Trinitarianism

Unitarianism

OSAS

Absolute Predestination

A Vengeful God (God requires tinkerers)

A Passive God (God does not kill)

Speaking in Tongues (Celebration stuff)

Timing of The Judgment (two extremes, either immediately, or all at once when Christ returns i.e., no judgment “process”)

Rigidity of Prophecy (return of Israel, etc.)