Question Everything… Even God

ZChurch Message for March 11, 2023 (full service    • Question Everythi…  )

It has been said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” God says that His people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Whether the deficit stems from ignorance of the facts or the error of thinking a thing to be true that just ain’t so, the results are just as deadly. You can avoid a world of hurt by learning to question preconceptions and confirm the truth that will keep you from the pitfalls of the enemy. Join Elder Robert Peck in learning to question some of the things you think you know but that might not be so. _________________

Question Authority?

There used to be a bumper sticker that said “Question Authority.” It was understood to mean “question the government,” or “rebel against the established order.”

I went from not questioning the government, to questioning some taxes and regulations, to questioning unconstitutional acts of government, to questioning where government got its authority from, to discovering government got its authority from we the people but then questioning where we got our authority from.

Government operates by law; law operates by authority; authority operates by chain of command with a greater always delegating authority to a lesser. God is the source of all authority; He has delegated authority to man to exercise dominion over the earth; men delegate a measure of that authority to government at the consent of the governed.

True authority is the one thing that is beyond question. However, to know what has true authority here on earth, we have to question everything that purports to have authority to see if the source of that authority can be traced back up the chain of command to God.

Whether you’re interested in politics or not, you’re accountable before God for every duly authorized order of government that you fail to comply with just as much as you’re accountable before God for every unlawful order not authorized by God that you do comply with.

• NAZI excuse of just following orders to kill Jews.
• What if a husband orders his wife to do something illegal or immoral?
• Some governments are prohibiting calling certain acts sin. Do you want to explain to the government why you cannot obey it, or explain to God why you cannot obey Him?

Never question true authority, but always question the government, and everything else on this earth, to determine what has true authority.

1 Thessalonians 5:21 KJV “Prove all things.” Amplified says “But test all things carefully [so you can recognize what is good]. Hold firmly to that which is good.”

Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance paves the path to destruction.

Not everything we think we know is really so.

It has been said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so”

I once found myself getting ready to quote the Bible verse that says the sure sign of Jesus eminent return is that in the last days evil men and seducers will grow worse and worse and commit a long list of immoral acts.

However, I was prompted to look up the passage to get an accurate quote. I was shocked to discover that verse isn’t in the Bible. It turns out I had memorized a summary of things I had heard Christians saying as though it was a single passage, all of which are taken from 2 Timothy 3, are taken out of context, and have been misconstrued.

• Advent of the last days were announced at Pentecost (Acts 2:16-17), and declared to be ongoing in Hebrews 1:1-2 (“God… has in these last days spoken to us by His Son…”).
• In 2 Timothy 3:2-5 Paul describes traits of the sin nature that have existed since the fall of man (Mat 15:18-19 / Rom 1:29-31 / Gal 5:19-21) and which include “having a form of godliness but denying its power.”
• That setup Paul’s discussion in verse 6 of false teachers who are “of this sort,” i.e. the unregenerate, carnal, sin nature.
• Paul rehearses his persecution at the hands of such men in various cities in verse 11, warning Timothy in verse 12 that all who live Godly will suffer such persecution.
• In verse 13 Paul continues the discussion of false teachers, or religionists, who have only a form of godliness, by calling them “evil men and impostors” and explaining that such, like all who reject God, only grow worse and worse, more determined to deceive others and more devoted to their own false teachings.

2 Timothy 3 is not a teaching about end times and signs of Christ’s second coming. Instead, it is a warning about false teachers and mere religionists who Timothy would no doubt encounter during his ministry.

QUESTION EVERYTHING, even what you “think” the Bible says. Do you know it by the text of the word and illumination of the Spirit, or did you assume what other Christians were saying was settled doctrine?

Some of the ways we end up believing stuff that just ain’t so

Assumption

Hearing a thing enough times that we start to believe it’s settled doctrine.

Preconception

“An opinion or conception formed in advance of adequate knowledge or experience.” (wordnik.com)

Preconceptions color the way we interpret the rest of the Bible.

Assimilation by association

“Evil company corrupts good habits” (1 Corinthians 15:33). It’s human nature to pickup the sayings, traditions, and habits of those we hang around with.

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be

We tend to become attached to, and even devoted to, whatever we invest our time, talent, or treasure in. There are people in denominations ordaining homosexual priests who acknowledge it’s unbiblical but who stay there because it’s the church they were raised in and all their friends are there. They are more invested in the church than they are devoted to the word of the one who is the head of the church.

Two sides to every story, and sometimes three

Don’t just believe the first thing you hear. Proverbs 18:17 (AMP) “The first one to plead his case seems right, Until another comes and cross-examines him.” If you’re only hearing one side, you’re not hearing the whole story.

False Choice

One of Satan’s tricks is to present us with two choices, show us that one is bad, then lead us to assume the other must be good so that we will side in with it and start adopting its ways. I first observed this in politics where, here in America, we are told we have only two choices. One time I added up and averaged out the Congressional voting records of both parties and found one held to the US Constitution and sound fiscal policy 31% of the time and the other 42%. One being evil didn’t make the other good.

Experts

Once a title of expertise is bestowed, or some vesture of authority dawned, we tend to turn off our critical thinking skills and assume everything we hear to be the gospel truth. However, the first experts were the village witch doctors, then the real doctors of the middle ages who used leaches and bloodletting. However, we’re more enlightened today and have reached the pinnacle of knowledge in modern universities where those with the title of “professor” will assure you there is no God, you evolved from a monkey, and you can change your gender whenever you want.

Right and wrong, truth and error, are spiritual concepts. No amount of IQ or academic information can assure discovery of truth. Satan can deceive any intellect or education just as easily. Only discovery of God’s word and confirmation by His Spirit can guarantee truth.

Cute little sayings, armchair philosophy, and greeting card theology

• God is teaching me something
• Everything happens for a reason
• God is in control
• “Kids oughta get out of the house at 18 and go make it on their own like I did.” Except the Bible says a good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children (Proverbs 13:22) and that houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers (Proverbs 19:14).

Colossians 2:8 (AMP) “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception [pseudo-intellectual babble], according to the tradition [and musings] of mere men, following the elementary principles of this world, rather than following [the truth–the teachings of] Christ.”

There’s a lot of stuff that sounds good, or sounds right, or might even sound like Bible, but we have to QUESTION EVERYTHING and ask whether it’s what the word actually says and the Spirit actually teaches.

Just because people say stuff doesn’t make it true.

Only God’s word is truth

John 17:17 “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” All else is mere information which, like pieces of a puzzle, must be arranged in alignment with God’s word in order to discover the picture of truth.

John 16:13 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth…” Only the “Spirit of truth” is qualified to guide us into “all truth.”

Joshua 1:8 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” We are only guaranteed success to the degree we do things God’s way, according to His word.

QUESTION EVERYTHING – Before you think, say, or do, ask if the word and the Spirit say it’s true. If you don’t know, then ask God to show you the relevant passages of scripture, to give you wisdom (James 1:5), to enlighten you to understand (Ephesians 1:18), and to teach you by His Spirit (John 14:26).

Question the Word

Even though every word from God is truth, every word from God is also spirit and life (John 6:63) and well beyond the ability of mere intellect to reach into the spirit realm to apprehend and comprehend at will. Only the Spirit of truth is qualified to reveal and bear witness to the correct interpretation and application of the word of truth.

Don’t just assume the word means what your carnal mind thinks it means. Ask God to teach you by His Spirit the spirit realities of His word.

Question the Father

A good father welcomes being questioned from a sincere heart that honestly wants to know and understand the truth.

Mindless compliance without understanding the what, the why, and the how makes us no more than robots going through the motions. The Father doesn’t want robots, He wants sons and daughters who choose by freewill to do what they understand is true, right, and good.

Even if you don’t want to do what you think the word is telling you to do, be honest with the Father and let Him know. Then, invite Him to teach you what He is really saying, why He is saying it, why it is right, and what He wants you to do about it. Ask Him to come work in your heart the will to do the things that are His good pleasure (Phil 2:13).

Question God

If you have not yet known for sure that there is a God, or believed that He is the God of the Bible, then ask Him from a sincere heart if He exists, if He is who His word says He is, and what you need to do about it. God is real enough to handle being questioned.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

Acts 2:16-17 (KJV) But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

Hebrews 1:1-2 (KJV) God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

2 Timothy 3:2-5 (KJV) For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away

Matthew 15:18-19 (KJV) But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

Romans 1:29-31 (KJV) Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy , murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful;

Galatians 5:19-21 (KJV) Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

2 Timothy 3:6-13 (KJV) For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Every learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. 10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, 11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. 12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

James 1:5 (KJV) If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Ephesians 1:18 (KJV) The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

John 14:26 (KJV) But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

John 6:63 (KJV) It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Philippians 2:13 (KJV) For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.