Truth Be Told: A Blog by Pastor Bill Alderson

“See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. “ So keep [ shamar – watch, guard, care for] and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people .’               Deuteronomy 4:5-6   Much of the old covenant relationship with God through the Law of Moses was perfected in an individual’s attitude toward and pursuit of wisdom. In fact, a major section of old covenant literature is known as “Wisdom Literature” and reference works attributable to Solomon, including Proverbs and Ecclesiastes as well as Ecclesiasticus and the Wisdom of Solomon (both included in the Apocrypha) and finally, Job. The Greek word for wisdom is chokmah and can be defined as “ the knowledge and the ability to make the right choices at the opportune time.” According

“1 Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you , and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing ; 3 And I will bless those who bless you , and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed . ’”            Genesis 12:1-3 Over 2,000 years before the Messiah would come to the earth as a man, God made some incredible promises to a man from a pagan part of the world who would be willing to obey “ by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going ” (Hebrews 11:8). Simply on the basis of this kind of faith, God made promises to Abram, to be renamed Abraham, that not only was he to be blessed, but that through him “ all the families of the earth will be blessed ”!   God also promised that Abraham and Sarah would

“14 But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach. 15 The Jews then were astonished, saying, ‘How has this man become learned, having never been educated?’ 16 So Jesus answered them and said, ‘ My teaching is not Mine , but His who sent Me. 17 ‘ If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching , whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. 18 ‘He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.’"                   John 7:14-18   In John 6:45, Jesus quoted from Isaiah 54:13 saying, “ And they shall be taught of God ”. When the Jews asked Jesus where He got His learning, they were shocked at His response. Normally, religious learning came either from a traditional school or having been self-taught. But Jesus was saying He had been given the teaching (Greek word “ didache ” meaning the thing taught, precept,

  There is a crisis in the Church! According to a study of 1,000 adults from 2020, only 33% say they attend church nearly every week. On the other end of the spectrum, 54% never or seldom attend church. Christian churches are filled with people who understand the workings of the church, but do not understand spirituality. The church is producing churched people, but not spiritual people.   Spirituality is the result of something God does in man by His Spirit, not what man is able to do for God (John 3:6). True spirituality manifests itself in a life that is surrendered and submitted to God. It is measured by one’s willingness to deny self (the natural desire to elevate self over everything else), take up his cross, a willingness to do things against natural desire, and follow Christ (Luke 9:23). It results in a believer having the confidence that he hears God when God speaks to him, thus becoming a true disciple. The vast majority of Christians today do not have this confidence. The

  5 "But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 And He, when He comes, will convict [convince] the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment ; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11 and concerning judgment [ krisis – determination, distinguish] , because the ruler of this world has been judged.”                      John 16:5-11                                         As Jesus introduces the Holy Spirit to the disciples in John 14-16, He defines for them various roles that the Holy Spirit will play in the life of the new covenant believer. One of the most important is the role