Learning …
Paul talks about the Christian walk in Ephesians 4. He gives several bad examples, then he says, “But ye have not so learned Christ” (Ephesians 4:20).
By saying we have not learned these bad things from Christ, the implication is that we have learned good things from Him.
Have you ever wondered what authentic learning is and how to go about it?
Let me explain. I do not know much about cars. I’ve never done an oil change. I have been told how to do an oil change and have watched others do it, so I’ve been taught how to do it. However, I wouldn’t say I’ve learned how. If I ever manage to put a wrench to the drain plug and accomplish the job, then I can say I have learned. In other words, until knowledge is put to practical use, have we learned something?
Philippians 4:9, “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”
This verse outlines the step-by-step process of learning.
To learn something, we need to receive it. Before we can receive it, we must hear it, and this process also involves observation (“seen in me”). Once those things are accomplished, we can “do” what we’ve been taught.
As Christians, we should observe other Christians who have the correct heart condition and are doing things correctly. Living the Christian life in front of others, not to show off, but in humility, is one way that helps edify the body of Christ (Hebrews 10:25). One step in learning is following the example of others.
To learn, you also must hear. I would include reading as part of hearing, because when you read, you are essentially hearing what someone would say.
When we hear something, we either accept or reject it. This is where “received” comes in. Since hearing and receiving are closely tied together, we will consider them together.
Christian, when you hear something from the Word of God, do you receive it as truth, or do you reject it? Think before you answer. Is there something in your life that you know shouldn’t be there? Perhaps you have a spiritual heart condition that does not align with the Word of God.
You already know your heart is wrong; you’ve heard it preached, and you’ve read it in the Bible. But it is still there because you have done nothing to change it. You may think the change is unnecessary, you may think the problem is not that big of a thing, you may think the Scripture is wrong, you may claim your life circumstance gives you a pass on whatever it is, but in the long run, you know what the Bible says and reject it.
You have not received what you have heard. Nothing, therefore, changes; you are not more Christ-like. You may know the truth, but you haven’t learned it because you refuse to put it into action. You refuse to “do.”
We’ve just seen how rejecting the Scripture is one way we do not learn.
Rejection, characterized by actions such as shrugging it off, apathy, outright rebellion, or an attitude of superiority, stems from a belief that we know better than God.
Besides rejection, another reason we do not learn is forgetfulness.
A strainer is a good example of how Christians forget. By a strainer, I’m talking about the thing we use to drain water from pasta after cooking.
If you submerge a strainer in a sink full of water, the strainer fills with water. Lift the strainer out of the sink, and the water drains out of the strainer and back into the sink.
Every Sunday, the songs and sermons preached around the globe in church services should immerse everyone in attendance in the Word of God. Christian, how often after the service, once you arrive home, do you remember the topic of the sermon?
If you have forgotten the general gist of the sermon in the time it takes to get home, the water has drained back into the sink.
Going back to Philippians 4:9, after it gives us the steps for learning and putting things into practice, it reads, “...and the God of peace shall be with you.”
God will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), yet this promise of the God of peace being with us has stipulations; the observing, hearing, receiving, learning, and doing stated in the rest of Philippians 4:20.
Could it be that the reason so many Christians suffer from fear and anxiety is because they do not observe other Christians getting it right, they do not hear (and read) the Word of God enough, when they do hear the Word, they do not receive it to the point of allowing the Word to change their heart and life, and therefore never put the Word into practical use?
Our lives would be so much better if we just followed the Word of God. This is something we all must learn.
Preacher Johnson is Pastor of Countryside Baptist Church in Parke County Indiana. Website: www.preachers-point.com; Email: [email protected]; Mail: 25 W 1200 N; Kingman IN 47952. Facebook: https://www. facebook.com/Timothy-Preacher-Johnson-101171088326638. All Scripture KJV.
