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This essay was first posted in the Forum Board, in the Head Table forum in Feburary 2006. It reflects the heart of the founder, Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille, to prove the Word of God to yourself, to make it your own. This heart is still the guiding principle today, over forty years later. -- Webmaster |
Proving What is Taught |
This came up out of a conversation I had with an older believer today. He told me about being in Way Corps meetings with Dr. Wierwille, in which VPW would encourage the Way Corps to prove what he was teaching. Sometimes, the teaching would prove to be true, and sometimes, the teachings would prove to be false. The whole point was to work together as a household to get to the accuracy of the written Word. I thought this might be something for us to try too. It makes teachings of the Word of God more alive in us when we take the time to prove what the Word says rather than just living by what we are taught. For example, I took the time today to prove something out of the teaching done this past Sunday. Brian Moynihan brought up the point that the three temptations from the devil listed in Matthew chapter 4 were not the only three that happened. There were really four. Matthew 4 reads like this: Matthew 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. Three temptations are listed here, but Luke 4 tells it a bit differently: Luke 4:3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. In Luke, the devil took Jesus Christ to the high mountain before he tempted him to jump off the pinnacle of the temple, while in Matthew, the devil took Jesus Christ to the high mountain after the temple. The fact that there is a different chronological order in these two records is enough to get our attention, but by itself, an order of how it is written can be flimsy. Luke, or a translator, could have just as easily reversed the order of events in writing it. But, looking deeper than that, we can see that they actually were two separate, though similar, events. This can be found in the Greek words behind the word "world". The Inhabited World Luke 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. According to the Young's Concordance, this Greek word for "world" is oikoumene, which puts emphasis on the "habitable earth or land" or "the inhabited world". This is also found in: Luke 2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the [inhabited] world should be taxed. Luke 2:1 is a great illustration of this Greek word. All of the inhabited world (with the possible exception of the American continents, which no one in the Roman empire would have known about) was under the rule of the Roman empire during that time, and all of the inhabited world was decreed to be taxed. The inhabited world is made up of people. The point of the word "world" being an inhabited world, is that the devil was showing Jesus Christ the throngs of people who would fall down and worship him. He was tempting Jesus Christ's ego with the promise of complete worship from everyone on earth. The Entire World Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; According to the Young's Concordance, this word for "world" is the Greek word kosmos [not to be confused with Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld. Yeah, I know - bad pun.] The word kosmos means arrangement, beauty, and world. It refers to the entire world, including the inhabited one. This word is also used by Jesus Christ to describe the parable of the tares of the field. Matthew 13:37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The world is the environment in which we all live in. That is what the devil offered Jesus Christ in Matthew 4. The devil tried to appeal to Jesus Christ's greed by offering him the entire world. So why is this all important? Well, what I got from this teaching was a great illustration of what God's Word is capable of doing and an even deeper understanding of Hebrews 4:15. Well, what I got from this teaching was a great illustration of what God's Word is capable of doing and an even deeper understanding of Hebrews 4:15. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. In these four temptations, we see Jesus Christ overcoming four categories that can so easily make us forget the Word. There is self-preservation [from the temptation of making stones to bread]; the love and worship of the inhabited world; the respect of others [if Jesus Christ had jumped off the temple and lived, he would have been widely respected as a "holy man"]; and greed. We all want comfort, we all want health and prosperity, and we all want to be loved, but not at the expense of the written Word. We know, and Jesus Christ knew, that our every need will be supplied when we faithfully put God first and live by the standard of "it is written". Bless y'all |