Wednesday Bible Study - September 1, 2021

you are the alpha and omega you are the beginning and you are the end god you are the very air that we breathe and so we come to you on this evening god lifting up prayers before you thanking you in advance because god we know that there is no other god there's none like you a god who sits high and you look low a god who spoke into existence something out of nothing and for that we we say thank you god thank you that you are a god who who hear our cry a god who has opened your ears to hear us on this evening and god we come first of all just to to magnify your name you are wonderful you're marvelous you're the everlasting god and we come to you god because we know that there's nothing that's too hard for you you can do all things we're not coming to you as a god who might as a to a god who is possibly able but we come with full assurance with confidence with boldness that you can do all things that nothing is too hard for you and god we come in the name of jesus oh how excellent is the name of jesus god there's there's something that's it's something about that name there is power in the name of jesus there's no other name above that name and god not only is there power but there's healing in his name there's joy there's peace in the name of jesus for your eyes upon the righteous and your ears are open two-hour prayer the songwriters say i love the lord for he heard my voice god you you heard us cry out for mercy you hear us cry out for mercy and because you have leaned in because you have opened your ears god i'm i'm i'm hastened to the throne i come running boldly to the throne because i know that you're able god you're able to do exceeding abundantly above anything that we can ask or think according to the power that works in us so we're grateful god we give you all the glory we give you all the honor god because you alone are worthy to be praised we thank you for man but you are worthy to be praised we we we thank you for medicine but you alone are worthy to be praised we thank you for making a way but is you god you are the waymaker and so we honor you on tonight we come with confidence knowing that if we ask according to your will god you hear us but not only do you hear us but you're able god you able to work it out you're able to fix our issues you're able to handle whatever we bring before you not that you will do it but god we we praise you because you're able we thank you god for even considering us for considering our issues thank you lord that you're a bright and morning morningstar thank you lord that you're a waymaker you're a promise keeper that you're able to do it god and so god we come before you tonight and i say we because it's not only me god but those who have joined with me to intercede god we we put one hand we stretch one hand to you but god we stretch one hand to the issues of life god we need you we're standing tonight we're standing in the need of prayer and as we lift up these petitions even behind us to god we thank you because folks are crying out god life is hard you said in your word god that in this life we'll have trials and tribulation but you didn't stop there god you gave us better news and that is be of good cheer because you have overcome and i'm grateful because you have overcome god i can count it all joy that i too am able to overcome god i'm an overcomer they are over commerce we're grateful that you included us we're your heir and joint heir with jesus thank you god for thinking of us thank you god for touching us for standing over us last night as the death angel stood by our bedside god you stood next to him and you put a shield of protection around us you allowed us to see this day so we are grateful god that this is the day that you have made and we shall rejoice and be glad in it god we have a made-up mind to bless you we have a made-up mind to honor you because you alone are worthy of all the praise and all the glory so we're casting our cares on you tonight god because you care for us and even when life gets tough god we trust that you're there that you care for us god we we believe that you will never leave us nor forsake us and when life puts us against the ropes god when life began to beat on us god weak can stand with confidence that we're coming out swinging that we're going to come off the ropes swinging god because you fight for us god and we are grateful god that you are our banner and god i'm i'm reminded of of israelites when they were in the bat the battle with benedict and and god they fought on the hilltop and his advisors told him that their gods are gods of the hill but if we get them in the valley if we get them down in the plane i think we're stronger than they are but i'm grateful and i'm a living witness that uh not only are you god of the hilltop but you're god down in god i've had some low moments but you were still there somebody can testify that they've been in a valley experience and they are here today because you stood right by their side that you pull them out of that pit out of that mild clay and god you place their feet on solid ground god we're thankful we're thankful god that you god in the valley as well as god on the mountaintop but then those moments god when we feel like we're outnumbered when life seems like it has gotten the best of us it's one thing after another but i still look to you god somebody is dealing with life difficulties somebody's dealing with one issue after another like job when one thing happened here comes another thing but god i thank you because elijah told his servant when they were surrounded by the enemy's army and he ran to him and asking him what shall we do thank you god that elijah prayed to you and he's the lord open his eyes that he might see and god this is my prayer today open the eyes of your children god that we might see that there are more for us than there are against us your words say that if you be for us oh god who who who can be against us thank you god that you show up strong you don't just show up but god you show up strong you show yourself mighty in battle and for that we say thank you help that someone god who's struggling now and it feels like life issues are overwhelming that they're being overtaken by life issues open their eyes oh god and let them see your marvelous work for you are almighty god you're mighty in battle and for that i say thank you god be glorified oh god from the rising of the sun to the going down are the same god you alone are worthy to to be praised and god i refuse to give man credit for what you have done i refuse to sit on my praise because you brought me from a mighty long wave and for that i say thank you god thank you for bringing me through the valley thank you for bringing me over the mountaintops around the mountain god you have brought me from a mighty long ways and as we lift up our prayer to you god we're gonna we're gonna make time to tell you thank you because you've been so good thank you god you've been so merciful thank you god for fighting my every battle thank you god for sound proofing my mind thank you for that hedge of protection god thank you lord you're worthy to be praised and god as we continue to just lift up these prayer requests people god are stressed out they're depressed god we're dealing with covet family members are succumbing to this virus but god we thank you because we know that you are a god who's bigger than life issues so help us o god to think on those things that are pure and righteous god to focus on you and not our problem i i know it's hard god i know that sometimes it it it overtakes our mind and we're bogged down with the issues of life but god help us to keep our minds stayed on you so much so that our issues comparatively speaking god begins to to shrivel you began to grow god you become bigger than our issues you already are but we need to see it god help us to open our eyes to see that you are bigger than our circumstances that you're able to bring us through god we we continue to pray for families for marriages god so many marriages god are on the verge of divorce husbands stepping out on wives wives stepping out on husband god i'm praying for restoration restore families god restore that love and that commitment god restore that trustworthiness restore god renew those vows god renew the love one for another god we're trusting you to do it today somebody is dealing with it now but god be the center of that joy that you can bring back together what the devil has tried to divide bring it back together god bless the children of these household god bless our children as a whole god help them o god to grow into what you have called them to be regardless of what man say god we're not what man say but we're all of who you have called us to be so help us to walk worthy o god to walk worthy of of that calling bless these children and these students and these teachers god in the school system god we pray for their safety we pray god for peace in these schools so many parents god are being rude and just outright violent god snatching masks off teachers fake god you intercede god work on their hearts and their mind protect these teachers god protect these students deliver us o god from fear your words say you did not give us a spirit of fear but a power love and a sound mind god help us to walk in authority god not in our authority but the authority of the son of jesus christ god we we we bless you we thank you because when i look back over my life god i can tell you thank you and god if you've done it before you're able to do it again so i'm not going to allow the past to prevent me from living in the present nor plan for the future god that's that's that's my prayer for your people that you can close doors to the past open doors to the future that they can live in peace right now i pray your rebuke upon those open doors that need to be closed open doors of opportunity god you can open doors that no man can shut you can close doors that no man can open and for that god we we we say thank you for that god we give you glory we give you honor god because you alone are worthy god can't nobody do me like you god and i thank you for that god we lift up our pastor the leader of this house god breathes on him and through him and in him strengthen him god renew strength oh god touch his mind oh god allow him to run this race god not to be weary and well doing but god you know all of his needs you know the needs of his family god blessing over his wife and his children god set a watch over that household god you be glorified you get the glory god i speak peace love comfort supply every need according to your will but then bless us as a church god thank you for elders and the deacons and the staff god the volunteers god in the midst of a pandemic god you've been good our doors physically are closed but our hearts are yet open we're yet doing ministry but we're not doing it just to do it god we are effective not because of what we're doing but god is all about you we're serving in the name of jesus god this this this is what it's all about that you get the glory that you get the honor of and we lift up god every level of government every decision and we know god that it's a challenge but we are standing on the wall god we refuse to come off the wall we refuse to stop praying you said we ought to always pray so we're praying god we're interceding god interceding that you would intervene that you would step in oh god show yourself strong lord show yourself strong god we we've gotten away from you but you said in your word if your people are called by your name will humble themselves so god we're humbling ourselves we're seeking you god we're praying but even you have requested that the saved us o god would turn from our wicked ways that you would heal this land we lift up haiti louisiana god california the wildfire god you know all of the needs and we're trusting you to do according to your will and we love you today god we can't thank you enough god if we hit a thousand tongues we couldn't thank you enough and we simply say have your way god bless the listening ears restoration god in whatever area that needs to be stored restored and it's in jesus name the wonderful marvelous matchless name of jesus christ i pray and come on with you in agreement with me say it with me amen amen and amen god bless you good night well good evening everyone good evening and welcome to the wednesday night bible study here at saint mark baptist church here in little rock arkansas my name is pastor john i'm one of the pastors on staff here at saint mark and we're really excited about you all joining us on tonight we're eternally grateful for our prayer team and pastor sir lee specifically tonight who prayed the prayers that were written on those cards behind him as you all saw but we're grateful for people who are willing to invade heaven on our behalf so continue to send those prayer requests in you can text the key word prayer to 501-299-9009 and we certainly will intercede on your behalf listen you guys are coming in the chat say what's up say hello we're really excited about tonight for the past several weeks we've been going through this series called growth goals last month we were able to have elder carrie porner pastor poynter's brother walk us through the fruit of the spirit well tonight we got something special in store for you all we've been cooking something up and we do hope that this experience will help you all realize that we're continuing to find ways to help you all grow here at st mart now listen we're about to start a new series called knock off spirituality yes knock off spirituality like knock off bags that some people be carrying which means it's not the all 10 authentic real thing well we're going to talk about for the next several weeks knock off spirituality things that look like they are spiritually sound but are actually unspiritual practices that we're going to unpack in sessions together with pastor poynter now here's what i need you all to do first i need you to share this broadcast tonight just if you're on facebook just hit that share button add a quick note and say we're starting a new series if you need to know about spirituality real spirituality come through because it's going to be a good one if you're on youtube just copy that link and paste it wherever you watching to in your text chat or thread whoever it may be but make sure you share i see you all in the chat here we're going to be joining y'all in the chat here soon as well hey violet good evening teddy hey the keeners are here as well i want to make sure you all are sharing this broadcast now listen we're doing something new we're trying something new tonight so i need y'all to let us know in the chat how you feel about it what it feels like uh and we we do hope that it is truly a blessing to you all because we felt like this is something that was needed in this season of life now am i telling them about the group the podcast okay so listen we have been in the lab cooking up a podcast it's called the growth factor podcast some of you all who stay up on saturday nights have heard of the growth factor i'm not one of those folks i go to bed at nine but apparently after saturday night live we have some content on uh called the growth factor now we're going to be doing a podcast now called the growth factor where a couple of your pastors are going to sit down and walk through some topics that we think are going to be important to you we're going to talk about issues like should christians drink alcohol or as they say ackee hall okay what about marijuana now that miracle medic marijuana is legal questions that you have that we know that a lot of christians are trying to work through this week we're going to talk about the practice of tarot cards and palm reading which sometimes may seem innocent but to be honest with you there's some history behind it and some biblical context around it that you all have to understand as we work through it so tonight we're kicking off a new series called knock off spirituality make sure you all share this make sure you let us know in the chat how you're liking it and we appreciate you all for being faithful and showing up every single week now the other thing i want to ask you to do is go over don't leave now but when we're done there's a facebook group crawl the growth factor facebook group look forward we'll put it in the post as well until then we're headed over to our session appreciate you guys love you we'll see you soon good evening and welcome to the virtual bible study of the saint mark baptist church in little rock arkansas i'm philip l poynter senior with pastor john richards our pastor of assimilation and we're grateful that you have tuned in tonight to study the word of god with us in this virtual space saint mark has one promise we say you grow here and our theme for bible study this year has been growth goals and we've endeavored to look at a mind to grow we've talked about methods of growth growth we've also talked about what it means to measure our growth as we studied the fruit of the spirit and so uh tonight we want to bring it to your seat to your doorstep we are beginning a series in our growth goal series a portion of our growth goal series that we're calling knockoff spirituality what we're going to do is do our best to discern between the true god ordained way we are to engage in spiritual matters and those things that have some sense of truth or no truth at all that we are to stay away from and avoid because even though it looks good sounds good and feels good it doesn't mean it's of god and so i want to whisper words of prayer but as always i want you to go ahead and invite others i want you to share this on your social media platforms text call let people know that saint mark is in bible study tonight and that we're going to be dealing with some difficult things that may get us in a little trouble uh but we're standing on scripture and on the word of god uh and so it'll be what they call good trouble but let's pray and let's look at what god will say to us from god's word god what a privilege it is to study your word and to hear your voice through your word god we study this subject tonight and over the next several weeks because we don't want to be tricked or fooled into operating in spiritual ways that are outside of your will help us god to be discerning to use scripture as the guide for our lives and for our thoughts and most of all as the guide for how we will engage life in the spirit and so be with us as we discuss these matters tonight and god i pray for every person studying with us both now and those who will watch later that you will bless them in incredible ways in jesus name amen amen pastor john man you know i'm i'm i use social media as a way of checking up on our members of course and communicating with those who are connected to st mark but also uh to keep my finger as it were on the pulse of the culture and where culture is going what people are talking about the things that matter most to people and as we engage in those areas people are looking for searching for longing for spiritual things they want to be engaged in meaningful um and deep dialogue with the spirit world and for many they found you know their traditional christian upbringings to be lacking in that area they feel like it's it's come short or uh there's there's been so much misinformation about the history of scripture and about jesus christ and then also uh the disappointment that we see socially around christianity and and it's um its connection to evangelicalism and and so called the white man's religion and so it's caused many people uh to look for an alternative means a better means of connecting with the divine and the supernatural one of the things that people are turning to are these tarot cards um they've gained popularity some short not long ago they were kind of a niche thing off to the side in the corner most people didn't engage in them saw them in movies or perhaps on the streets somewhere as you were walking down up and down vegas or atlantic city or something but they come mainstream and people are doing readings online on tick tock uh uh they're being paid for these readings people are charging uh others for for the readings and uh it's become very prevalent especially for those uh who are seeking to find a way to connect uh with the supernatural in a way that keeps them connected uh to their future and to their best life so to speak so that's that's the origin of this discussion tonight that's the impetus for it uh tonight and and i think uh you know if as we dive into it and we start talking about the history of it i think we'll see um that that its origins and its practices and uses are unfortunately uh knock off spirituality yeah and i think to your point i think people have picked up these bad habits even in the christian space yeah and those bad habits can lead to what they feel like are spiritual disciplines but i would call them unspiritual disciplines because they aren't very spiritual at all in terms of them being biblical yeah and that's one of the things that we want to make sure we we get into but also as you mentioned look at the history behind it because you can't really understand the practice until you understand the history behind tarot cards and it actually starts with this idea of divination right yeah being able to divine or fourth to see or foretail that's the the root word there is for foreseeing or foretelling being able to define the future based on some cards or being able to look at the palm of your hand yeah like historically so how do we look at that history and talk about that history from either a mesopotamian um background or anything else to help us to understand that yeah so you know you you look at before you even get to tarot cards uh this practice of of reading natural objects to to find out the will of god or the gods goes way back in history and so you know in the ancient near east in mesopotamia so you're talking about the culture that is contemporary and in some ways precedes abraham in scripture uh what you're talking about is god's passing on this secret knowledge to specific people and it's not for everybody which is one of the things that ensures that it's not god because because it they it's this secret knowledge and only a few people can get it and access it and you've got to be in good with those few people and so those specific people and you know back back in ancient cultures uh they read animal organs when they would slaughter animals they would take the organs out and and divine the future from that um they would use smoke signals so to speak or a rising smoke from fires were uh told and and suggested that they predicted the future and then they would carry these uh bags uh pastor john these bags with two stones one representing yes one representing no that would uh they would reach into the bag to see if gods or the god or the gods were saying yes or no to a particular thing akin to flipping a coin or uh one of the things that we played with in my youth which was the magic eight ball uh you shook up the magic 8 ball you asked it a question and then as it floated to the top it told you the answer so these things were were these are ancient practices uh that are that have led up to things like tarot cards and palm reading now looking at natural objects uh to divine spiritual direction and the future man that eight ball got me a lot of girlfriends okay so so with the actual tarot cards though they are actually cards their cards they started out as a game that people have actually transitioned to this spiritual practice it's not much unlike uno it's yeah or spades or what we do today so it's just interesting that people will take something that is a game that was developed 600 years ago and kind of superimpose this spirituality over the top of it right because what they did in practice was they would spread these cards across the table as tarot card readers and they would turn them over and then they would make these generic observations about folks like it's so generic but people are like oh you're dead on with that and i'm like i could have told you that like it's really generic and so it's not much different from folks just looking and yearning for some answers but here's the thing man is that an indictment against the church being that they're looking outside of the church to find answers that we should be able to provide yeah and i think pastor john that's that's the key i think with all of the things we'll discuss uh in this in this series of study um we're talking about tarot cards particularly today um and and i want to drive that point home um again that you spoke of it was created you're talking about the 1400s or so by italian uh gamers who were playing a card game that's the origin and and they fell out of favor they kind of disappeared fell out of practice and then they were rediscovered and someone claimed that they could tell the future from this card game i i laughed because um as their tarot cards on tick-tock there is a tick-tocker who makes the joke and for those who don't know because we still have some of our seasoned saints and others who'd say what's tick-tock it's a social media site where people make videos and a lot of times they do dances but but they're really just trying to get an audience so they the you know tarot readers are doing these tick tock and then there's a guy making fun of them who's literally pulling uno cards out and using them to to make fun of terror readers defining the future uh i laughed because someone uh reposted it on another social media media site twitter and and someone commented as others are laughing underneath the video but he's on though with the yo-no cards with the auto card but but but but you know you asked about um disappointment in the church and our our inability oftentimes uh to be honest with what answers we have and what answers we don't have because the scripture gives us clear directions and instructions about how we are to live life and relate to god how we are to relate to one another the two great commandments are to love god with all of our heart mind soul and strength to love our neighbor as ourself um and then there are these areas of life particularly the future that are mysterious that are unknown to us that cannot be known to us now does god give us insight and foresight certainly is it possible for god to give us some idea some concept of of direction and perhaps even spiritual uh um direction specifically by way of prophecy or word of knowledge word of faith certainly but can i you can i count on that to be my daily experience and do i go to some special class of person uh to get that and the answer from the scripture is no um one of the things that that we've got to distinguish between um the the true spirituality that god gives and outlines in scripture lived out first uh and and and perfectly in the person of the lord jesus christ and the and these kind of versions that that feel good and feel right that that feel right to our emotions um the difference is god's way god's spirituality is open to everyone and it doesn't require me to you don't have to come to a pastor or preacher uh or or or sooth sayer or prophet um to connect to the divine and that's the thing that that tarot says terrell says just that person those persons who can understand those cards uh can tell you about uh who you are and where you are and your and your future so um but you know we have to do a better job of communicating what we can answer and what we cannot answer and to learn to embrace the mystery of life and the mystery of god could it be that folks preoccupation with the future actually is a mechanism for escape from the present you know there are a lot of people who are hurting now as we're recording this in these times could it be that their preoccupation with trying to figure out the future saying i really don't want to be in this present moment right now and what do we do with that well the world is hard to live in um and i think an escape from the present and a means of of trying to um compensate for the past um people who search for these things and look for uh these kinds of of mechanisms to give them insight into who they are and to where they're going or what they should do often times pastor john it's that it's that it's that sense of guilt or shame or feeling like there have been missed opportunities perhaps uh some some hurt that that we're trying to avoid happening again uh you know generally comes down to relationships and and money you know what those are the things that we wanna we wanna know about um and and and that that longing to to have a sure clear crystal clear view of the future uh i think it deals with our presence our present and our past and and what we know from scripture is that our past is redeemable by god even in its worst expressions and our present uh is the opportunity to grow and glorify god uh and the future is what's in god's hand yeah let's talk specifically about our context cause i you know i grew up in the deep south in the country and we had all these rules growing up that i really wasn't aware of the why behind them one of those rules was on sunday for the entire day you could not pick up a deck of cards like don't touch those cards because this is the lord's day yeah now friday saturday yeah it's good we good we can we can play some spades but on sunday that's going to be a sabbath from the card playing now does that in terms of our context with black folks does that speak to our parents and for parents kind of thinking that things like this that we're talking about today are sinister or of not of god and wanting to make sure that sunday is that space of time where we keep things holy and did you have that experience growing up so not as not as such i do i do recall um not cooking was supposed to be done on saturday uh your clothes were supposed to be laid out on saturday and and some of that is is you know there are two there are two things happening there there's um the carryover from the sabbath tradition that uh that birthed our faith christianity or or following jesus there is some superstition that our four parents had and some still have you know uh step on a crack break your mother's back kind of thing and then some of it is a fear of the sinister the the demonic uh those those nefarious spirits in the world um and and i think all of those play together uh to create that that sense that sunday and sunday is sacred it is special it is the lord's day it's the day that we set aside those who follow him to uh to to worship together to hear god's word explained uh to sing and lift his name and worship and praise together uh sometimes to study um in other spaces our world groups our sun school classes things of that nature it is a sacred day um but but in our upbringing there was it was a bit more superstitious than it was uh the concern or the right appropriation of the idea of what is sacred uh and and so that that you know that sunday idea i'll give you a couple of examples that uh that i laugh about to this day uh you know things like the communion table you you couldn't put anything on the communion table that not um other than communion and i mean even i i remember preaching at the church one time and going down front to shake hands i even put my bible i mean the bible you would think that the bible could go and give you no nothing but communion could go on the communion table uh things like that and i mean we can bring we can talk about all kinds of things women wearing pants or wearing red lipstick i mean just all of these things that that that really aren't the marker of a changed heart um and and and so you know when you deal with like card playing or or tarot cards and we'll talk about this in much of our knock off spirituality those things uh that are understood to be not spiritual um don't harm it's not the thing it's the use of it and you know i say often because there's a lot of people who want to stay away from everything pagan or everything with pagan origin so a deck of playing cards something like that oh because some people grew up in tradition those who are in more stricter uh general generally stricter holiness of pentecostal traditions weren't even allowed to play cards at all cards at all they were they were considered playing cards were considered evil or or sinful and it's not the origin of the thing it's the use of it so uh the the the use of cards for entertainment for fun um any car is okay if it's entertainment if it's fun if we're if we're having fun um if the use of it is to try to create some connection to the spirit world outside of jesus christ outside of the holy spirit that lives in us we don't need any external objects to connect to god he those of us who place our faith in christ god lives in us if anything outside of that is is trying to connect us to god then it's a misuse it's an abuse and then it is sinful yeah i think thomas aquinas said that the improper use of the thing does not negate its proper use and that's what you're getting at so so saints y'all can get those books okay go ahead and play some spades play some cards if you're doing it in this proper context then find we're talking about tarot cards and we're also talking about palm reading now some of you may have seen palm reading places in sketchy areas but we do know that people participated and that's why we wanted to include it in this podcast because we also need to know the origins and the usage of palm reading and what your hand actually can tell you about yourself right so palm reading was popularized by the gypsies you probably have heard about them uh in the early 14th and 15th century as they migrated from india over to europe and they were able to make money off of reading people's poems and not unlike tarot card readings giving you a generalized prediction about your future well here's what we do and know about our hands our hands do tell our history our fingerprints have our dna in them folks will be able to look at your hands and see if you are a white-collar blue-collar worker there are things about our hands that our hands can tell us about ourselves here's what they can't tell us the future and that's what we're trying to let you all know in this podcast is that when you go to a palm reader you are entrusting in the hands of someone else something that should be in god's hands and we need you all to realize that what you're trying to do in that context is to remove god's sovereignty from the process and not allowing yourself to trust him in that process by going to someone who can who wants to read your hands but those readings are generally more generalized right yeah so i got a i got a funny story about palm reading so my father and i are on a on a trip um and we're on a boardwalk and there's a palm reading little door little small little door on the boardwalk with palm reader dark inside so my father jokingly looks at me and says hey son let's just go in and see what they're going to say and i say we don't need to go in and see what they're going to say they're going to say the same thing we say it's going to be all right it's going to turn around soon you're going to find the love of your life you know we're going to make the same empty promises that we do in church you know today so um you know our longing for good news our longing for uh god's uh or some spiritual insight into the future our our desire to feel happy and fulfilled is what opens us up uh to allowing uh these kinds of things uh these kind of practices to to become attractive to us um and and palm reading again its origin it it was initially a gimmick it was a scam by these persons called the roma who left india and came to europe they perceived europeans to be gullible go ahead and say it yeah they they said they were gullible so in their in their ability to trick them they without any other object they would just say i can tell by your hand and and they fell for it they would fall for it um and and that's what we're that's that's why we're calling it knock off spirituality because when you look at the origin of it and its use um not for entertainment purpose it was simply to enrich these persons who had migrated uh from this uh from a certain land based on the gullibility of um of persons in europe and um because they were exotic looking uh because their clothes were exotic uh because it was attractive and and you know some general things are going to come true another another i'll give you a church example of this as pastor john's been talking about the the the general things i i was doing revival in in florida for a good friend of mine he asked another pastor at the end of the service to pray us out of service do a benediction give us a prayer and a benediction pastor gets up and he begins to speak in tongues and then he begins to quote unquote prophesy and he it's a it's a it's a it's a black church in central florida here's the prophecy somebody in here has diabetes somebody's struggling with cholesterol in high blood it's a black church in florida doc 50 of us you got some kind of something going on diabetes it's in your family yes we know we know that's not observation is not revelation um and there are things that can generally be said and things that are common hopes for humanity you know love and prosperity and health uh common hopes for humanity and then there are things that are common tragedies for humanity heartbreak uh death sickness uh and so if someone is giving you these kind of things um that's you don't need a palm breeder to tell you that you may prosper or you may be broke either one you know both are possible in in the life that we live in this fallen world and so uh you know i i think it's important for us to grasp um that that just because it sounds good and feels good doesn't mean it it is good yeah i find it interesting that you mentioned that the gypsies have on these rolls because it's almost like priestly garments very much there's an authority that is put in place there when you're wearing something like that that people are still yearning and looking for that spiritual experience so if it looks like a priest walks like a duck talks like a duck must be a duck yeah so in looking for that experience it's interesting that they they dress that way in order to be able to play into that gull ability right yeah and i mean you know you look at it historically and they that was their natural dress and then became exaggerated for the sake of of playing the part but it's not just in that culture you go back to um um some um african traditions where the whether which doctor the spiritual leader of the community has a larger headdress or a different kind of makeup uh or paint uh for the face and and and for the body uh you come forward into catholicism where you get vestments the history of you know the cassock and the shamir and the miter that tall crown that pope wears that tall thing and and we see that expression in protestant faith today uh some some still wear those kinds of things we wear those things to to speak of something special but again the question is what are we using it for yeah what are we using it for and that's and that's uh that's the issue and and so you know we've we've made a lot of claims about what the bible says we've been we've been we've been saying the bible says the bible says the bible says let's open it up pastor john uh let's open up the bible and what what does the bible say about these kinds of practices like tarot like palm reading uh or or the like yeah i think it's important that you look at the whole of scripture and what the holy scripture says and obviously we can't do that in the time that we have so we're going to select some passages old testament new testament take a look at those just so you all can see this practice even in the old testament scripture says there's nothing new under the sun right this isn't anything that's new so we want to make sure that we ground our conversation in scripture and we're going to start with the first samuel 14 and as we're talking about priestly garments i think this is a good segue yeah because in first samuel 14 we do find something that i think is worth talking about because it's not mentioned very often right right and i think the people will be excited about learning about it but also knowing uh how it applies to what we're talking about today so first samuel 14. and we're going to look at verse number 41. and in context this is the high priest priestly garment and uh gonna read that for you now therefore saul said o lord god of israel why have you not answered your servant this day if this guilt is in me or in jonathan my son o lord god of israel give urum but if this guilt is in your people israel give them it now we got to unpack that a little bit yeah okay because they're capitalized words urum and thumin people are like what are these items yeah and what's that got to do with anything right he's asking here's the interesting thing he's asking a yes or no question right goes back to the conversation we just had about that two sack bag right where the priest in ancient near east had this bag where they had yes no in that bag eight ball that was that one right yeah but here uh he's asking a yes no question and he's saying give urum and dooming can you tell folks what those two things are and what how that applies here so so in exodus as israel is leaving um egypt and headed toward canaan god gives moses instructions for um how they are to worship and one of the clear things that god gives very specific instructions about is what the high priest will wear and there are several aspects and parts of it but but then there are these two stones that are to be worn by the high priest that that are called these names that they're called this uh uh roman thuman and they are to be symbolic when the high priest goes to seek the lord the high priest is to hear god understand god grasp god through these stones symbolically so to speak then legend came forward in in israel's history that in the holy place which was the middle part of the tabernacle three rooms the outer court inner court holy of holies outer court is where general sacrifice would take place the inner court is where um the table of showbread 12 loaves of bread sprinkled with frankincense on a table of what is called em wood which is incorruptible wood and then the um this altar of incense where they would pour uh hot uh this oil mixture on hot coals and it would send up this smell which represented the prayers of the people and then this um this this menorah uh which which is a candle stand one piece of gold beaten into seven wicks all filled with oil that are to be lit all the time well as they would go in these the high priest it began it became legend that god would spell out answers to prayer by reflecting the light from the candlestick on the jewels that were that were in the priest's garments and this is the origin as it were of of looking at these to be literal um answers as as uh as god intends them to be spiritual things or or or symbols of something else yeah so for someone that says ah gotcha like we see this happening in the in the early old testament with with these priests why can't i do something like this to get an answer from god like if i'm trying to figure out if i'm going to take this job lord if it's this if it's yes show me this if there's no show me this why can't i necessarily do this when it looks like it's happening even in the priesthood in the old testament well see that's the that's the thing those things are symbols they are shadows of something that is to come we are living in the new covenant that has been facilitated by the death burial and resurrection of the lord jesus christ the new covenant does not need any external objects no jewel no card no set of animal bones no stones to discern god's will we have the holy spirit in us and we have god's revealed truth to us in the scripture and so discerning god's will comes from reading studying and applying the scripture and communicating with god by means of the holy spirit that lives within us as the holy spirit reveals god's will or illuminates god's will in scripture and in in many of our lives situationally and circumstantially as well that the the thing is what happens with objects is that they end up or they begin as symbols and then they morph into idols that's good and that that's what happened in the old testament over and over again and that's what happened with things like tarot cards as well um things that were symbolic or entertainment and they morph into something that is idolatrous yeah that's good so in addition to that we also see this idea of casting lots in scripture we won't be able to look at all the text here but i do want to look at numbers 26 you all can also write down jonah chapter 1 verse 7 as well as esther chapter 3 verses 7 and chapter 9 verses 24-27 but let's look at numbers because it talks about casting lots here in the numbering of the people and i'm going to look at verses 55-56 but the land shall be divided by lot according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit their heritage shall be divided according to the lot between the larger and the smaller now there was this old testament practice throughout the old testament of the casting of lots and we probably would know it today as they're playing some dice yeah rolling dice done rolling dice and we see this in the old testament we also see an account of it in the old testament i mean new testament in the book of acts but they did this in order to discern what it was that the lord wanted them to do a similar practice to what we see with the irma thurman thuman i think you mentioned that this was something that they did in the old covenant that we as christians don't need to lean and depend on in the new covenant but why is it that god gave them so many ways to be able to figure out what it is that they should do well they're they're living in what i would call a covenantal disadvantage the holy spirit comes on people in the old covenant but does not dwell in people in the old covenant there is no full revelation of the scripture in the old covenant christ has not come and so they don't have the full human expression of god in the person of the lord jesus christ who colossians says in him dwells the fullness of the godhead bodily and so there are practices that are permitted in the old covenant that sometimes god uses but god never initiate initiates ordains and i say all the time that sometimes god allows things that are not his will to bring us to his will this casting of lots was not exclusive to the people of israel it was a common cultural thing to do in fact you see them casting lots at the cross of jesus christ because he had this long beautiful garment that didn't have any any uh stitching or seams in it uh so uh they didn't want to tear it up so they cast lots they gambled as it were through rolled dice to see who would take that this this garment probably given to him um by his friends mary martha and lazarus so um these these ideas of of of casting lots and discerning god's will or that god used these objects um god also one time one time god spoke through a donkey yep not not not much not too long before of this casting of the of the lots um god in numbers 22 spoke through a donkey that that happens in scripture you i don't know anybody who's going to their donkey or their dog or their cat i don't know anyone that's doing that to discern god's will or discern the divine to the divine by talking to their cat but god did that so god also made the sun stand still for joshua to give him an extra 24 hours to fight a battle there are things that happen in history that describe the greatness of god but they are not designed to be patterns for the behavior of god's people yeah and that's what we're seeing like we see things that describe things in scripture to move the narrative forward to the cross and people take those descriptions and make them prescriptions exactly and you shouldn't do that with god's word especially when you think about the old covenant and thinking about where god is trying to get us to um it's describing their practices in the old covenant and we should learn from them and understand them and also know that they are shadows and pictures of what is it is to come right so there are clear uh scripture of condemnation of this practice in god's word and we want to look at deuteronomy 18 because we want to make sure folks see that god is very clear about what's going on because we know that the folks in the culture around them are practicing these things right and the one thing and we're going to see this throughout this season the one thing that really distinguishes the people of israel from the culture around them is they don't practice the same things exactly and one of these things is divination and we're going to find that in deuteronomy chapter number 18 verses 9 through 12. and this is his instructions as their as he's preparing them to go into the land he says when you go into the land when you come into the land that the lord your god has given you you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations there shall not be found among you anyone who burns his sons or his daughters as an offering which happened yes anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens or sorcerer or charmer or medium or necromancer or one who inquires of the dead for whoever does these things is an abomination to the lord and because of these abominations the lord your god is driving them out before you so it's these things partially that are causing god to drive these nations out because they are practicing these things and these divinations so here we see a strong condemnation of these practices in scripture and that includes divination and i wanna i wanna be clear for those who claim to be followers of jesus christ um one of the and you'll hear me say this word several times in this series one of the great hindrances to truly being a follower of jesus christ is this thing called syncretism syncretism is trying to take the faith of christ faith in christ and marry it or wedded with other faiths other traditions other practices and so what ends up happening happening inevitably pastor john when we read passages like this inevitably there are people who then dismiss or deny that this is actually god's will hmm and many people say that the old covenant the law of moses deuteronomy these kinds of things aren't really god talking wow um and and you'll especially in the new testament we'll see it when it comes to you know uh behaviors and patterns of how people are to live and and and relate in their households those kinds of things but what ends up happening is that people deny the truth of scripture so that they can embrace these practices that are strictly forbidden by scripture the struggle is when you when you're talking about something like this when you when you see it it's context it's context so look at what god lumps together so so so so verse um 10 i'ma start in the middle okay anyone who practices divination you see that tells fortunes interprets omens sorcerer charmer medium necromancer anyone who inquires of the dead you see those categories now there are people on twitter on tick tock on facebook um black people who are doing these things and saying hey you know it's spiritual it's real it works we need to get in touch with this side a spirit is not demonic let's be let's just do this but look at the category that it falls in look at the category verse 10 starts there shall not be found anyone among you who burns his son or his daughter as an offering so to god according to this text these other things are the same thing as that yeah yeah burning i mean sacrificing your child literally physically his own part is on par according to this scripture with divination fortune telling interpreting omens sorcery inquiring of the dead wow that's that that's how serious this is it it's it's expressly forbidden and and to say that it it's it works or it's real then let's dismiss verse 10 in it in totality and and offer children yeah yeah that's the because these practices again they were ancient practices the the fortune telling and things of that nature the divination using objects and that nature they were done by cultures that did these horrific things yeah and that's why god says don't do any of it don't do any of it yeah and to your point i mean the grace in this text when you talk about context because the next section a prophet i'm going to raise up a prophet yeah in the future and this is talking about jesus yes talking about the grace of god because he knows yeah they're gonna fall short right he knows that as soon as they go into this culture that they're gonna be inundated with cultural cues and practices that are gonna cause them to fall short so he gives them a preview yeah of the prophet to come yep who is christ who is going to extend the great and live the life the obedient life that they couldn't live so that they could live in the grace that they need to be able to live as humans on this earth and and then and then the other thing that that speaks to is the full sufficiency of jesus christ because i don't need a fortune teller i don't need to interpret omens i don't need sorcerers and necromancers and mediums because the prophet who is like moses according to deuteronomy 18 is sufficient he will be enough for my future he even though i don't know the particular details of it he does he knows the particulars of my future and as such i can rest in the fact that he gives me grace for my rebellion but he also and and and thankfully he also secures my future even though it is a mystery to me wow wow we're going to look at a new testament passage here in a second but i want to make sure people get that um death was actually prescribed for those who practice these things in the old testament so you all write down leviticus 1926 and 2027 to pastor poyna's point i think that this is very serious stuff that when you're actually diving into these types of practices is it isn't just something that you're doing for fun but it is something that does have an impact on you spiritually yeah and if there isn't even a physical death there's some spiritual death going on in that process because you're trusting something rather than trusting in the creator to be sovereign in your life and actually turning to him for those answers very much so very much so and you know the old testament prescribes death for several things um that thankfully in the new covenant we don't have including being disobedient to parents but uh the new covenant doesn't doesn't prescribe death but it is a picture again going forward is a picture of the serious nature of these practices and why we are expressly um told to avoid them yeah so we're going to look at a passage in the book of acts that um some of you all may be familiar with but it is one that directly actually um refers to the practice of divination and this is paul's encounter with a young lady um who has the spirit of divination we're going to take a look at it unpack it just a little bit here as we look at paul's approach and how paul deals with this young lady here in the text in acts 16 verses 16 through 21. and as they were going to the place of prayer where we met by we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and bought her owners much gain by fortune telling she followed paul and us crying out these men are servants of the most high god who proclaim to you the way of salvation and this she kept doing for many days paul i love this paul having become greatly annoyed turn and said to the spirit i command you in the name of jesus christ to come out of her and it came out that very hour but when her owners saw that her their hope of gain was gone they seized paul and silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers and when they had bought them to the magistrates they said these men are jews and they are disturbing our city they advocate customs that are not lawful for us as romans to accept or practice i mean this is this is rich stuff i mean this could be a whole session in and of itself a lot to unpack yeah for sure for sure a whole lot to impact but but talk to the folks about what's going on here with this young lady who has a spirit of divination and then paul's approach yeah and how we as believers can kind of um approach or even think through what this text means to us so yeah you know again this is history um it's not a prescription it's a description um but but what we are seeing is a young lady who has been enslaved um who has the spirit of divination now what does that mean it means that there is something dark some dark spiritual entity um that is in her that's doing this fortune telling that's telling the future now here's what we don't exactly know we don't exactly know if it's totally right these fortunes that she's telling or totally you know um what we do know is that it's it's believable enough that the people that own her are making money here's what's always interesting to me john what's interesting to me is that when she's following paul and silas she's saying the right things right she is saying the right things these men are servants of the most high god who proclaim the to you the way of salvation that's right that's exactly what paul and silas were there to do that's exactly what they were to do they were proclaiming christ crucified and risen faith in him as the means of of being forgiven and reconnecting with god based on our faith and christ's sufficiency so why is paul annoyed paul is annoyed because it's the spirit behind the statement that's bothering him it's interesting that he doesn't cast it out the first day it's as if he's going to let it go but because she does it the text says many days he was patient with it you know almost saying hey you don't want this right here all right okay all right leave me alone i ain't here to bother you um but at a certain point his his spirit just cannot take this spirit anymore and and it's the spirit behind the statement it's the spirit behind um this girl who's caught in bondage both physically and spiritually yeah that caused the apostle to um to cast this spirit out to call this spirit uh out of this young lady um and and that spiritual base and and and here's what what what i want to suggest and i say this often um and i don't mean to get spooky but however and yet it's possible that this young lady was succeeding in fortune telling yeah because some of these things are spiritual just not holy yeah it could be it could be that it could be that or it could be that that whatever this spirit was um that was in her it just was able to be duplicitous and and deceptive as the devil is he's a liar and and whatever it was it knew how to trick people into believing yeah either way either way though she says the right things the spirit is wrong in her and and if you turn over tarot cards and someone says to you the right things it's still the wrong spirit here's here's the one thing i i like about this passage is that even when you're talking about this spiritual practice or spiritual warfare whatever you want to call it that there is an economic component every time that there's econ when there's economic impact you better be sure that you're going to get some pushback from those who are in power economically so the spiritual battle isn't just kind of this ethereal out there thing it has some economic impact here and that's what leads to apollo scientists getting in trouble i want to say this i want to say this i don't me i'm not trying to be offensive um but when i look at some you know people online especially who do tarot readings and things of that nature they sound to me like prosperity gospel preachers if you if you watch them closely enough if you listen to them closely enough if you if you hear them invite you to their their their to solicit their services it's the same thing as paying for prophecy now listen because y'all dog these preachers who do this who tell you give me dollars for prophecy but you run to a tarot reader who does the same thing facts it that's the same thing and that's what's happening in this text it's paying for prophecy it's paying to know the future and if you condemn those who do it in a christian church why would you participate in those who do it in any other kind of way see now you're out here giving a a preview of our prosperity gospel conversation that we're going to have this season so y'all make sure y'all tune in to that for sure now we got we got some things that we want people to really take away from this conversation because we want to make sure that they understand not just the history or the biblical foundation behind it but also so what what does this have to do with me i think the one thing that i want to say is that man your your innocent readings actually have significant spiritual consequences that these things that you're doing that you feel like are innocent hopefully we were able to lay out that they could have some significant uh spiritual con consequences but also driving you to trust in the lord more trusting christ more who is the one who can who knows the future who is the alpha and the omega the the author and finisher of our faith because you're in this chapter in your life you may need to trust the person who wrote the end of your book so so i want you to know that these innocent practices they aren't ones that are going to have you to be closer to christ but they're going to have some some significant spiritual consequences yet i want to say again to that that just to to engage in these things is to deny the sufficiency of christ and the scripture i think also john what i want people to take away is that we need to trust our futures to the only one who really knows what it is you know um i've talked often in in this session about the mystery of god and the mystery of life and you know the truth is we're going to just die with unanswered questions uh the walk of faith in following jesus christ is going to have unanswered questions and so you know write down a handful of verses just to encourage you in that way write down isaiah 46 and 10 get that get that in your in your life do ecclesiastes 7 14 ecclesiastes 8 and 7 matthew 6 25 and 32 through 34 in fact right down 25 through 34. the idea is in each of those that god secures god knows our future we can't know it fully we can make plans we can make preparation god's purpose is going to stand but we can trust god with our future john we don't have to be fearful of it we don't we don't have to have that sense of foreboding and and anxious living anxieties anxiety living we can have peace about the unknown because the one we know knows what we don't know yeah that's good and this can be one of the overarching truths of our whole season with knockoff spirituality and that is that god is our only true source of wisdom i want you to write down james chapter one verse five but but god himself is wisdom and first corinthians talks about jesus himself become wisdom from god so if you're looking for wisdom in your life direction or to know about your future god is truly the only source so why do you go to these other knockoff spirituality places yeah it's like going to the store and you see the fruit loops but you get the fruity oats i'm trying to get the real thing yeah man yeah so so you have to turn to god who is your true source of wisdom i want to make sure you all capture that truth on today yeah and and then you know we gotta we gotta end because somebody's gonna overreach and say well i'm gonna throw out my cards and we can't play uno anymore and those kinds of things and i i'm not gonna do any of that or i can't watch a certain kind of movie listen if your conscience is clear in christ if you are trusting the sufficiency of jesus if you're trusting the sufficiency of the scripture things that are entertaining are just that they are entertaining if you're not trying to use them to make some spiritual connection to some um ethereal plane then it's okay to play tonk it's all right to play spades and gin rummy you know what i mean it's okay to do those things as long as it's not making somebody else stumble and fall by the way so you know first corinthians 8 13 write that down and then romans chapter 14 verses 13 through 20 speak to the fact that we are free um in christ all things are lawful but everything's not useful and then if i can do something with a clear conscience but it causes my brother to stumble then i don't do it when my brother is there and and and we should be guided by our trust in the lord and the law of love and all in all the things that we do including uh the ways we engage with entertainment yeah that's john what a great study tonight and i always want to invite those who are not connected to christ i know that that perhaps this kind of study has has lifted some questions for you about what it means to follow jesus christ but listen i want you to uh connect with us perhaps you know you need to get right with god and you're you're curious about what it means to trust jesus christ maybe you need a community of faith to belong to it's my endeavor to connect you with someone who can help you understand what it means to follow jesus christ and to trust his sufficiency so if you need christ or you need a community like saint mark text the key word connect to 501-299-9009 again that word is connect five one two nine nine nine zero zero nine maybe you need prayer we would love to pray with you and pray for you you can text the word prayer to that same number five zero one two nine nine nine zero zero nine and we will help get god's attention in prayer with you finally you can sow into the life of this ministry and your gifts are helping us to do incredible ministry around the world you can give through our church app st mark little rock in your app store you can give on our website smart.org you can also give by texting the keyword s mark to the number nine zero 501-299-9000 nine if you're local to us or from wherever you are you can bring it or mail it to our address that's 5722 west 12th street little rock arkansas 722-04 i want to connect with you i want to pray with you and for you and also thank you thank you thank you for sharing in the ministry of generosity let's pray and let's go god we thank you and praise you for the wonderful awesome opportunity that we've had to open your word and to relate it to practices in our current culture that counterfeit um the real thing and i pray god that you help someone's understanding to be enlarged enlightened and and in so doing that you would draw them closer to christ closer to you uh to trust your full sufficiency we thank you for these things and all things in jesus name amen good night thanks for studying with us oh

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Length: 91min 45sec (5505 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 01 2021