Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
- Matthew 13:24-30
“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
- Matthew 3:11-12
For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!
- Luke 12:23-24
At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.
- Daniel 6:4
“ ‘It is one thing to be of the church, another thing to be in the church. Clearly it does not follow that all living persons who are in the church are of the church. On the contrary, we know that tares grow among the wheat, the raven eats from the same threshing floor as the dove, and the chaff is harvested along with the grain. Some are in the church in name and in reality – such as predestined Catholics obedient to Christ. Some are neither in name nor reality in the church such as reprobate pagans. Others are in the church in name only – such as, for example, reprobate hypocrites. Still others are in the church in reality and, although they appear to be in name outside it, are predestined Christians – such as those who are seen to be condemned by the satraps of the Antichrist before the church.’ (The Church Chapter 3).”
- Tony Lane, A Concise History of Christian Thought
Last week the discussion was about John Wyclif, and specifically about his argument against transubstantiation (the turning of the bread and wine into the literal body and blood of Jesus Christ). The University of Prague had a vote on whether they would accept John Wyclif’s proposed reforms, even though Wyclif had retreated to avoid problems with the church (only being labeled a heretic after his death). The German professors at the university of Prague were in favor of Wyclif’s abolition of transubstantiation, but the Bohemian professors were opposed, wanting to hold to that belief. The university had a strange rule that the German vote always overwrote any opposing vote. In this case, the Bohemians created enough unrest, that the administrators of the university cancelled the rule that gave the German professors the guaranteed deciding vote. Having their feelings hurt, the German professors left the university en masse. The German professors built their own university in Leipzig. Without a leader, the university of Prague named Jan Hus as rector and preacher at the Bethlehem Chapel.
Jan Hus, anglicized as John Hus or Huss, (1370?-1415), was a theologian in Bohemia (modern day Czechia). He agreed with John Wyclif on ever one of his points except for getting rid of transubstantiation.
One of the major points in the Jan Hus theology was that if we have tares mingling among the wheat in our congregations, who is to say that we do not have tares and wheat mingling among our clergy, or even among the administrators of the church? As you might expect, he argued against the inerrancy of the papacy.
In the Reformed church, we focus on the 95 theses nailed to the door or bulletin board, wherever, of the Wittenberg church by Martin Luther as being the birth of the Reformation. Maybe that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Martin Luther made enough noise that he could not be ignored. Threats were made on Luther’s life, and he was counseled to not go to Rome, as they had orders to kill him there. Yet, John Wyclif was labeled a heretic after his death, but he may have only saved his life by retreating to a small church. Jan Hus was ordered to recant his views. When he did not, he was labeled a heretic, dragged from the town and burnt at the stake.
Were the people who burned Hus the members of the elect, who had been brainwashed by the church leaders? Or were they among the reprobate hypocrites, as Hus described? They could have been reprobate pagans who just enjoyed a nice bonfire.
But the Christian church of that day had its warts just as every church today has its warts, or even its cancers. We can have ugly debates where neither side looks like a Christian who loves his enemies, much less fellow church members. The debate sides can each quote Scripture, but possibly only one side of the argument takes the Scripture in context. I say possibly, because I have heard such arguments that the person who was interpreting the Bible correctly got carried away, thinking his argument was losing, and they stretched the context of some Scripture here and there.
Yes, we have wheat and tares in our churches. The last time I quoted a noted pastor in saying that there was only one out of three people who are saved in any church service, I was told by some that if they did that survey today, it might be one out of ten. But as John the Baptist said, the chaff will be gathered up and thrown into the fire. But until then, the raven will find its food in the same manner as the dove.
Well, I might argue that. I would go on breaks with the secretary of our department. She smoked. I did not, but she brought bird seed and peanuts (unsalted in the shell). We had chipmunks that would almost eat from our hands. The squirrels would hold back until we stepped away. The small birds would have their fill. They did not mind when the cardinals came in, but they might fly away if the cardinal got too close. But if a blue jay or a raven or a crow entered the area, the remaining birds would leave until the bigger birds were done. And if it was a blue jay, that bird had to be a certain distance away before the smaller birds would come back. If it was a crow, the crow would fly to a nearby limb and eat the peanut and then fly away. The smaller birds did not mind that. So while they all got fed from the same source, there was a pecking order among the birds.
And maybe that is what is wrong with some of our denominations. It might be that the raven has entered the threshing floor and the other birds left, fearing their safety. Then the raven, who cares little for what the Bible says, but everything for the concept that might is right, will change church doctrine at will.
Not putting a name to it, but Jan Hus called them reprobate hypocrites, but when the church only requires you to say “I do” or “I will” to a few questions, there could easily be reprobate pagans. I have talked to church elders who have admitted to me in private that they did not believe that Jesus ever existed, much less arose from the dead. They just went to church because it was something to do on Sunday morning.
We need to take a stand for biblical truth. We need to do so in love as best as is possible. But if people openly deny a belief in Jesus Christ, there needs to be at least two or three witnesses who are not afraid to initiate church discipline. Otherwise, all forms of heresy could infiltrate the churches, and some have already.
If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other “heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/421471078563166/posts/1276496139727318/ Sanoj Thomas
@sanothomas
Under den följande perioden – den mörka medeltiden – fortsätter katoliken att se Europa räddas mot ett universellt angrepp från muhammedanerna, hunnerna och skandinaverna: han noterar att våldsamheten i angreppet var sådan att allt utom något gudomligt instiftat skulle ha brutit samman. Muhammedanerna kom inom tre dagsmarscher från Tours, mongolerna sågs från Tournus murar vid Saône, mitt i Frankrike. Den skandinaviske vilden vällde in i mynningarna av alla Galliens floder och översvämmade nästan hela Britannien. Det fanns inget annat kvar av Europa än en central kärna.https://twitter.com/sanothomas/status/1716647552869892206/photo/1
A Bohemian Pre-Reform Reformer
2h sedan
The Christian Life
Worship
Listening to God
Philosophy
Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
“‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
Matthew 13:24-30
“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Matthew 3:11-12
For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!
Luke 12:23-24
At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.
Daniel 6:4
“ ‘It is one thing to be of the church, another thing to be in the church. Clearly it does not follow that all living persons who are in the church are of the church. On the contrary, we know that tares grow among the wheat, the raven eats from the same threshing floor as the dove, and the chaff is harvested along with the grain. Some are in the church in name and in reality – such as predestined Catholics obedient to Christ. Some are neither in name nor reality in the church such as reprobate pagans. Others are in the church in name only – such as, for example, reprobate hypocrites. Still others are in the church in reality and, although they appear to be in name outside it, are predestined Christians – such as those who are seen to be condemned by the satraps of the Antichrist before the church.’ (The Church Chapter 3).”
Tony Lane, A Concise History of Christian Thought
Last week the discussion was about John Wyclif, and specifically about his argument against transubstantiation (the turning of the bread and wine into the literal body and blood of Jesus Christ). The University of Prague had a vote on whether they would accept John Wyclif’s proposed reforms, even though Wyclif had retreated to avoid problems with the church (only being labeled a heretic after his death). The German professors at the university of Prague were in favor of Wyclif’s abolition of transubstantiation, but the Bohemian professors were opposed, wanting to hold to that belief. The university had a strange rule that the German vote always overwrote any opposing vote. In this case, the Bohemians created enough unrest, that the administrators of the university cancelled the rule that gave the German professors the guaranteed deciding vote. Having their feelings hurt, the German professors left the university en masse. The German professors built their own university in Leipzig. Without a leader, the university of Prague named Jan Hus as rector and preacher at the Bethlehem Chapel.
Jan Hus, anglicized as John Hus or Huss, (1370?-1415), was a theologian in Bohemia (modern day Czechia). He agreed with John Wyclif on ever one of his points except for getting rid of transubstantiation.
One of the major points in the Jan Hus theology was that if we have tares mingling among the wheat in our congregations, who is to say that we do not have tares and wheat mingling among our clergy, or even among the administrators of the church? As you might expect, he argued against the inerrancy of the papacy.
In the Reformed church, we focus on the 95 theses nailed to the door or bulletin board, wherever, of the Wittenberg church by Martin Luther as being the birth of the Reformation. Maybe that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Martin Luther made enough noise that he could not be ignored. Threats were made on Luther’s life, and he was counseled to not go to Rome, as they had orders to kill him there. Yet, John Wyclif was labeled a heretic after his death, but he may have only saved his life by retreating to a small church. Jan Hus was ordered to recant his views. When he did not, he was labeled a heretic, dragged from the town and burnt at the stake.
Were the people who burned Hus the members of the elect, who had been brainwashed by the church leaders? Or were they among the reprobate hypocrites, as Hus described? They could have been reprobate pagans who just enjoyed a nice bonfire.
But the Christian church of that day had its warts just as every church today has its warts, or even its cancers. We can have ugly debates where neither side looks like a Christian who loves his enemies, much less fellow church members. The debate sides can each quote Scripture, but possibly only one side of the argument takes the Scripture in context. I say possibly, because I have heard such arguments that the person who was interpreting the Bible correctly got carried away, thinking his argument was losing, and they stretched the context of some Scripture here and there.
Yes, we have wheat and tares in our churches. The last time I quoted a noted pastor in saying that there was only one out of three people who are saved in any church service, I was told by some that if they did that survey today, it might be one out of ten. But as John the Baptist said, the chaff will be gathered up and thrown into the fire. But until then, the raven will find its food in the same manner as the dove.
Well, I might argue that. I would go on breaks with the secretary of our department. She smoked. I did not, but she brought bird seed and peanuts (unsalted in the shell). We had chipmunks that would almost eat from our hands. The squirrels would hold back until we stepped away. The small birds would have their fill. They did not mind when the cardinals came in, but they might fly away if the cardinal got too close. But if a blue jay or a raven or a crow entered the area, the remaining birds would leave until the bigger birds were done. And if it was a blue jay, that bird had to be a certain distance away before the smaller birds would come back. If it was a crow, the crow would fly to a nearby limb and eat the peanut and then fly away. The smaller birds did not mind that. So while they all got fed from the same source, there was a pecking order among the birds.
And maybe that is what is wrong with some of our denominations. It might be that the raven has entered the threshing floor and the other birds left, fearing their safety. Then the raven, who cares little for what the Bible says, but everything for the concept that might is right, will change church doctrine at will.
Not putting a name to it, but Jan Hus called them reprobate hypocrites, but when the church only requires you to say “I do” or “I will” to a few questions, there could easily be reprobate pagans. I have talked to church elders who have admitted to me in private that they did not believe that Jesus ever existed, much less arose from the dead. They just went to church because it was something to do on Sunday morning.
We need to take a stand for biblical truth. We need to do so in love as best as is possible. But if people openly deny a belief in Jesus Christ, there needs to be at least two or three witnesses who are not afraid to initiate church discipline. Otherwise, all forms of heresy could infiltrate the churches, and some have already.
If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other ”heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
https://nyheter24.se/nyheter/inrikes/972536-greta-thunberg-har-flyttat-hemifran-sa-har-bor-hon
https://www.newsner.com/familj/greta-thunbergs-inflytande/
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Hi Mark, this is one of the most interesting blogs I’ve read in a while. Fortunately, I attended solid churches during my 37-plus years as a Christian, but each one of them had a crow or 2.
Your closing paragraph was spot-on as we need believers who love the Lord to bold enough to stand up to the strong-willed Scripture-twisters.
Extremely well done!
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Thank you. That means a lot.
LikeLiked by 1 person