Written for Our Instruction

We can learn some object lessons from what God has disclosed to us in his Word. Paul told the Corinthians, “these things happened to those people as an example but are written for our instruction.” (1 Cor. 10:11) He also told the congregation in Rome, “For whatever was written beforehand was written for our instruction, in order that through patient endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope.” (Rom. 15:4) Israelite history is a great opportunity for us to learn. God personally chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because they walked with him while others chose to abandon him. The nation of Israel was the descendants of Jacob’s 12 sons.

The Israelites became God’s chosen people, of whom he made a covenant, which they agreed to follow. If they walked in the truth, they would be blessed by God’s presence. If they abandoned that walk like the pagan nations, they would lose his presence, resulting in the difficulties that came with living in this fallen world. While they maintained their loyalty, they never became victims to enemy nations. (Deut. 28:7) Furthermore, they could depend on crop growth that was exceptional year after year and their flocks of animals. (Ex. 22:1-15) Additionally, they had no reason to build jails to house criminals because they had the perfect social system. (Ex. 22:1-15) In addition, they did not suffer from diseases like other nations (Deut. 7:15). Moreover, while they had an army, it would have never needed to be used if they had obeyed because God fought in their behalf. (2 Ki 19:35) He promised them that they would “be blessed more than all of the peoples,” and when they walked in the truth, this proved to be true.

Deuteronomy 7:14 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
¹⁴ You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female barren among you or among your cattle.

We all have the history before us of how Israel just refused to walk in the truth. They would walk in the truth for a number of years, and then they would abandon that truth until life was impossibly difficult, moving them to return to the Father. This walking in the truth, abandoning the truth, and repenting to return to the truth, went on for some 1,500 years. The final difficulty in this back and forth was their rejection of the Son of God. His words to them were quite clear:

Matthew 21:43 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
⁴³ Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation,^[1] producing the fruit of it.

Matthew 23:37-38 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
³⁷ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

³⁸ Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!

Just who are the people or nation that the Kingdom was to be given to after the Israelites fell out of favor with God? He chose for himself a new spiritual nation, which became the Christian congregation that Jesus established between 29 and 33 C.E. He no longer had the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as his chosen people, by which other nations would bless themselves.

Acts 10:34-35 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
³⁴ So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, ³⁵ but in every nation anyone who fears^[2] him and works righteousness^[3] is acceptable to him.

Acts 13:46 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
⁴⁶ And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

Did this mean that no Jewish person could be a part of the Kingdom? Hardly! For seven years, 29 C.E. to 36 C.E., the first disciples of that Kingdom were only Jewish people. After 36 C.E. and the baptism of the first Gentile, Cornelius, anyone, including the Jews, could be a part of this Kingdom, as long as they accepted the King, Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) At Jesus’ Baptism, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matt.3:16-17) Jesus’ teaching, miraculous signs, his ransom sacrifice, and resurrection established him as the truth, having the authority and power of the Father.^[4] The Christians in the first century were given the position of being God’s chosen people. (Acts 1:8; 2:1-4, 43) The truth would now flow through Jesus to the Christian congregation. As Paul told the Corinthians, “For to us God has revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” (1 Cor. 2:10) It happened just as Jesus had said it would, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to young children.” – Matthew 11:25.

However, more truth was on the horizon with the birth of the Christian congregation. There had been 39 books written by the Jewish writers of the Hebrew Old Testament (2 Tim. 3:16-17), and now there were to be added an additional 27 books by Jewish Christians, making up the Greek New Testament (2 Peter 2:15-16). Thus, there were 66 small books written over a 1,600-year period that would make one book, which we hold today in our modern-day translations. Yes, some 40-plus Bible writers were, as Peter put it, “men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” – 2 Peter 1:21.

True and False Disciples

The question that begs to be asked is, ‘how do we know, who is walking in the truth and who only appears to be walking in the truth?’ Who truly is the dispenser of truth these days? As has been mentioned, we have some 41,000 different denominations that all claim to be Christian, and each would argue that they are doing just that.

Matthew 7:21-23 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.’^[5]

The primary concern of any true disciple of Christ is that he is “one who does the will of my Father.” We often hear Christians saying, “I think, I feel, I believe,” when in reality, this is not the right path. We need to establish what the will of the Father is, as opposed to our will, or the will of our pastor, or the will of the people, or the popular will. Maybe we are accomplishing some very good deeds that are done in the name of Christ, but if it is not the will of the Father, then it is being done in vain. We need to appreciate that the Father has placed all authority into the hands of the Son.

John 17:1-3 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
¹ Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up his eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you, ² just as you have given him authority over all flesh, so that he may give eternal life to all those whom you have given to him. ³ This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.

Matthew 28:18-20 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
¹⁸ And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Matthew 24:14 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the inhabited earth^[6] as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

John 6:38 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
³⁸ because I have come down from heaven not that I should do my will, but the will of the one who sent me.

John 5:24 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

What do we learn from the above texts? (1) We need to do the will of the Father if we are to be walking in the truth. (2) The Father gave all authority to the Son. (3) The Son, Jesus, does not do his will, but the will of the Father. (4) Therefore, to do the will of the Father is to obey the Son, who is doing the will of the Father. Jesus specifically told his disciples before his ascension that he had “all authority in heaven and on earth.” Then, he gave them one commission to obey: to preach, teach, and make disciples. In other words, a disciple walking in the truth is one who is being used as a tool to bring people from all nations over from death into life.

Faithfully Walking in the Truth

3 John 1:4 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
⁴ No greater joy do I have than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.

The Apostle John penned these words about 96-98 C.E. when he was almost 100 years old. He had spent a lifetime making disciples and helping them maintain their walk in the truth. This writer has spoken many times about the number of denominations today, numbering around 41,000. Those denominations that are walking in the truth today are those that reflect Scripture as though it were a fingerprint. When a detective lifts a fingerprint from a crime scene and there is a match to a criminal, it is done by determining how many points within the print match up. We can use this as an analogy for those who are walking in the truth. How many points match up if we use the Bible as lines in a fingerprint? However, for the sake of argument, let us assume that the reader is in a denomination that highly reflects the Bible and first century Christianity. How can we be certain that we will be able to maintain our walk in the truth?

There are many difficulties in this life that can sap us of our strength to continue our walk. Maybe we have grown discouraged because of serious health problems or family difficulties. Then, some have become distracted chasing after the lifestyles that this world has to offer. What can we do so as not to drift away, fall away, turn away, refuse, or become sluggish in our walk in the truth?

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[1] Or people

[2] This is a reverential fear of displeasing God because of one’s great love for him. It is not a dreadful fear.

[3] I.e., does what is right

[4] Matt. 15:30-31; 20:28; John 4:34; 5:19, 27, 30; 6:38, 40; 7:16-17; 17:1-2; Acts 2:22

[5] 7:21 Not everyone who says . . . but he who does. The faith that says but does not do is really barren unbelief (cf. v. 20). Jesus is not suggesting that works merit salvation but that true faith will not fail to produce the fruit of good works. This point is also precisely the point of James 1:22–25; 2:26. 7:22 7:22 have we not prophesied . . . cast out demons . . . and done many wonders. Note that far from being totally devoid of works of any kind, these people were claiming to have done some remarkable signs and wonders. In fact, their whole confidence was in these works—further proof that these works, spectacular as they might have appeared, could not have been authentic. No one so bereft of genuine faith could possibly produce true good works. A bad tree cannot bear good fruit (v. 18). 7:23 lawlessness. All sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4), i.e., rebellion against the law of God (cf. 13:41). – MacArthur, John (2005-05-09). The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Kindle Locations 39114-39118). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

[6] Or in the whole world