In this episode of the Straight Truth Podcast, Dr. Richard Caldwell and host, Dr. Josh Philpot return to the subject of prayer. This week, the discussion centers on the Lord’s prayer. Dr. Philpot mentions that it is one of the first things many Christians memorize. We teach it to our children, it’s often recited regularly in many church gatherings, even repeated line for line at secular funerals. He asks if it is just something to be repeated all the time, or is there something more to it that we might be missing?

Dr. Caldwell tells us that our Lord gives this prayer in response to the request of His disciples’ desire to learn how to pray. The Lord’s prayer is the Lord’s prayer, in the sense that He gave it. It’s the disciples’ prayer, in the sense that it’s the disciples who learn how to pray by it. As Christians, we ought also to have this longing desire to know how to pray and to pray. One of the greatest indicators that the Lord has saved us, is that we become praying people. It’s an area of our Christian lives where we will have a true sense of our inadequacies. Therefore, we should also have a desire to grow in, and improve in, this essential part of our relationship with our Lord.

Dr. Caldwell reads through Matthew 6:5-13 where the Lord gives His answer to the disciples’ request. Dr. Caldwell pauses between the verses to break down our Lord’s answer. He brings to our attention that Jesus mentions a wrong kind of praying before going on to give His model of prayer. At verse 9 our Lord gives this instruction, “Pray, then, in this way…”, He doesn’t say, “pray this”. That’s very important for us to see, as this isn’t a prayer to be repeated over and over, verbatim. This prayer is meant to be a teaching model, and we need to see it as such.

Dr. Caldwell says there is much wrapped up in this prayer that is set before us. In verses 9 through 13, we see it reminds us of our relationship to God and how this came about through Jesus, also reminds us of the transcendence of God and His holiness. There’s the aligning of our will with God’s will, submitting ourselves to Him and asking for His ways to triumph in our lives, that His glory would be on display. The focus of the Lord’s prayer is Godward first and foremost, not self-ward. 

However, it also doesn’t ignore the things that concern us on a day to day basis. We see it teaching us daily dependence and contentment, an acknowledgment that we are sinners in constant need of forgiveness, but also reminding us as forgiven people that we are to be a forgiving people. 

There’s a recognition of the temptations that we face, asking for help to recognize and be discerning regarding temptation, that we might resist, flee and not sin. There’s an acknowledgment that we have a spiritual enemy and that we are in a spiritual war. This prayer is an acknowledgment of our desperate need for God and our dependence on Him.

Dr. Caldwell tells us that as we walk through this prayer we want to pay attention to its elements, there’s a world of truth here in a very concentrated form. It is not a prayer to be repeated line by line, but a teaching model about what prayer really is. He says he cannot begin to do it justice in just a few short minutes. He encourages us to take the time to study it and understand these elements in the way that Jesus intended, doing so he says, will serve us well.

To study the Lord’s prayer, gain a deeper understanding of the elements, and a deeper appreciation for the model prayer the Lord has given us, consider listening to the following sermons. At each of these links, Dr. Caldwell exposits several Scripture passages dealing with prayer, including 7 specifically on the Lord’s prayer alone from Luke 11:

The Do’s & Don’ts of Prayer

Teach Us to Pray: Parts 1-7

Prayer Motivated by Sovereignty

Effective Prayer

The Priority and Passion Of Prayer

YouTube:

The Do’s & Don’ts of Prayer

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Do we affect the mind of God through our prayers? Does God change His mind because of our prayers? Does praying bring about a change in God’s plans?

 This week on the Straight Truth Podcast, Dr. Richard Caldwell and host, Dr. Josh Philpot discuss the often misunderstood topic of prayers changing God’s mind and that of God Himself, changing His mind. Throughout the Old Testament, there are instances where it seems or appears that God had a change of mind. A specific incident can be found in the book of Jonah, which often stirs up questions like these. Dr. Caldwell says the simple answer is no. Prayer doesn’t change God, it doesn’t change His mind, and it doesn’t convince God to do anything, but prayer does change things.

 In the Scriptures, God has revealed Himself as omniscient. This means that there is nothing He needs to learn and nothing that He doesn’t already know; God knows everything. He is sovereign over everything and has determined all things. There is nothing that is ever going to take place in this world that doesn’t fit within God’s plan. Our prayers do not change God’s mind as if He has learned something new as we are going along.

Nor do our prayers influence Him in something that He would not otherwise want to do. That is not the function of prayer. Every text that might seem to speak that way or teach this is not as it seems. God often speaks to us in His Word in ways, in our limitedness, that we’re able to understand. This is often called anthropomorphic language, God communicating to us in a way we can make sense of it. So, in reality, we do not change the mind of God.

Dr. Caldwell shares 1 Samuel 15:29 which says, “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.” He goes on to say that for every text that seems to indicate that God does change His mind, there are clear statements in Scripture that say He doesn’t (like this one from 1 Samuel). Dr. Caldwell shares the need for us to put all this in perspective and look at the bigger picture. The truth we arrive at is that sovereign God who has determined all things, has determined to work through prayer.

So then when we’re exhorted to pray and we’re told in His Word that prayer changes things, it does, really. God works through prayer to bring about and accomplish what He has already determined to do. Therefore it is true to say that if we don’t pray, certain things will not happen, but if we do pray, God has already determined to work through those prayers.

Dr. Caldwell stresses the importance of our prayers and how we approach them. We are commanded to pray and because of this, we need to pray in faith, believing God. We should pray with intentionality, determination, persistence, and endurance. We should know the will of God and pray for the will of God to be done, for the glory of God, in the name of Jesus our Savior and Lord. We are to ask all things according to His Word. As we come before God we can come praying the very Scriptures He has given us. Praying this way is a good way to know we are praying according to His will. This applies to all areas of life, including the work of evangelism.

We are to share the gospel and we are to pray for the salvation of lost souls. We do not convince people to be saved and we don’t pray them into the Kingdom of God either. It is the gospel that is the power of God for salvation to everyone who will believe. In sharing and praying for lost souls, we are trusting God for those He has predetermined to be saved, will hear and be saved. In light of this, we can humbly bring our requests, offering them up to God. We then can wait, watch, and trust, knowing that He does all things well. Lastly, we rest in what our sovereign God determines to do.

To hear more on the question: Do My Prayers Change God’s Mind?  – consider listening to the sermon links below.

The Do’s & Don’ts of Prayer 

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How is preaching vital for the health and stability of a church? Why is preaching so essential? Should preaching be the priority of the worship gathering?

 In this episode of the Straight Truth Podcast Dr. Richard Caldwell and host, Dr. Josh Philpot talk to us about the importance of preaching. Dr. Philpot asks these questions of Dr. Caldwell in all seriousness because many churches these days have downplayed the vital importance, essential place, and authority of God’s Word being preached in His church. Dr. Caldwell says it’s important because God says so. We don’t have to work to try to figure out what makes for a healthy church. God, in His Word, has emphasized what pleases and glorifies Him in His church. 

Dr. Caldwell says the New Testament is full of examples of the importance of preaching. Jesus, himself, while on this earth, went about preaching and doing good, always delivering to others what the Father gave Him to give. Looking at the Apostles you see the importance they gave to preaching all through the book of Acts. Examples include Acts 2, 3, 4, 5:20-21, 29, Acts 6:2-4 and so much more even with the Apostle Paul. When we come to the Epistles, we see him exhorting his assistants, Timothy and Titus, about how the household of God should function and what’s important in it. 

In 2 Timothy 4 he charges them to “preach the Word”, this is an imperative, therefore is not to be ignored. How we hear from God is through the preaching of His Word. By looking at church history we can see that healthy churches had healthy pulpits with healthy preaching. However, says Dr. Caldwell, it should not be isolated from the other means of grace that God has given to His church. It’s not preaching or prayer, it’s preaching and prayer, it’s not preaching or singing praises, it’s both. We only know how to go about body life by being informed by the Word of God. Preaching the Word of God in its entirety sets the trajectory for all our worship. 

Dr. Caldwell says that the modern movement of discussing the Word of God amongst ourselves and having conversations about it are good. There is a place for this kind of mutual gathering, but it is not the main means God has provided for us to receive exhortation and encouragement from His Word. Preaching is unique in the sense, that while it is taking place, mouths are closed and ears are open, there aren’t questions being asked and opinions being tossed around. When the Word is proclaimed accurately and faithfully, God is speaking. 

There ought to be a humility and submission that is present during this time; our ears and hearts ought to be prepared to receive the Word of God. So he says, even listening to the Word of God is vital to the church’s health. The attitude of our hearts should be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger, with submissive listening, being teachable, willing to examine the scriptures, “to see if these things are so”, recognizing that the final authority is the Word of God.

All other aspects of worship that are incorporated into the church’s gathering together are important, but these alone cannot convey the full scope of God’s declared Word for the life of the Christian. The time spent concentrated on and handling with precision a passage of scripture allows it’s truth to be unleashed. The preacher comes before the congregation not to tell them what he thinks that passage means, but to unleash what God says in that text. He then is to faithfully and skillfully talk about the implications that arise out of that text and henceforth the applications that come out of that particular passage as well.

Preaching ought to be the priority and highpoint of our worship services. It’s the moment in time where we are concentrated on hearing God. During this time, our minds ought to be engaged and informed as we are confronted with truth. As the Word of God is preached it brings reproof, rebuke, exhortation, and extended instruction in how to walk in what we have learned. It is a very important time, and it is essential and vital to the health of the church and every member in it because God says so.

The Importance of Preaching.

Sermons by Dr. Richard Caldwell that speak about the priority of preaching and the importance of hearing God’s Word may be watched or listened to from the following links:

The Ministers Marching Orders

A Time for Itching Ears & Accommodating Preachers

Shepherds that Preach – Pt. 1

Shepherds that Preach – Pt. 2

The Ultimate Priority

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Would marriage to someone of a different race constitute an unequally yoked marriage? Does the Bible condone interracial marriage as sin? What does the Bible have to say about marrying and mixing races?

This week on the Straight Truth Podcast Dr. Richard Caldwell and Dr. Josh Philpot discuss the questions asked related to interracial marrying and further comment on what race is and what it is not. Dr. Caldwell gives us the biblical perspective on marriage and the standard set forth for the people of God.

Dr. Caldwell says the simple answer is no. The Bible doesn’t teach that a marriage made up of two different ethnicities is an unequally yoked marriage; it has nothing to do with race. The Bible doesn’t address interracial marriage in terms of what we think of when we think of identifying people by their “race”. While Deuteronomy 7:1-3 seems to imply this, it doesn’t mean this at all. We need to keep the commandment of verse 3 in its context and continue reading to verse 4 where the reason for the commandment is given. 2 Corinthians 6:14 is where we find the words “unequally yoked” used by the Apostle Paul. 

Depending on the translation of the Bible used, this verse may read slightly different. Nevertheless, the full statement by Paul, within its context, is about believers being bound to/with unbelievers just as Deuteronomy 7:1-4 infers. So the Bible does not address the issue of marrying someone based on their nationality, ethnicity or skin color. What it does speak about for marriage, relates to our spiritual relationships and unions. An unequally yoked marriage would be a believer married to an unbeliever. Therefore, the Bible does not speak of marrying someone of a different “race” as sinful. 

If you are a believer, you are free to marry anyone you wish, but only in the Lord. (Paul speaking in 1 Corinthians 7:39) What this means, as a believer, you are free to choose your spouse based on the parameters and standards that are set forth by the Scriptures. Those parameters and standards are: one-believing man to/with one-believing woman. So dear Christian, the man or woman you choose, must also believe and belong to Christ; race/ethnicity is not the marriage issue in these Scriptures.

Dr. Caldwell would like us to consider something more about this issue and these kinds of questions that come up. He wants us to think about the term “race” with a deeper understanding based on the Bible, from the Scriptures themselves. He asks us if the Bible acknowledges the reality of nations, ethnicities, and differing languages? He tells us yes, it does, but never in a way where one is viewed as superior to another. The Bible does not divide us this way, it does not show favoritism according to where we were born, where we live, by the language we speak, nor by the amount of melanin in our skin. 

The differences that humanity reflects are the glorious varieties that our God has brought into being. It is something to celebrate not something to exalt ourselves over. He tells us that from the standpoint of creation, there is only one “race” – the human race, with every one of us descending from Adam and Eve. From the standpoint of the new creation, we are either in Christ or we are outside of Christ. This is the distinction the Bible makes about humanity, mankind, – we are either in Adam, dead in our sins or in Christ -forgiven and made new in Him.

Is an Interracial Marriage an Unequal Yoke? Dr. Caldwell and Dr. Philpot share that Founders Baptist held a conference on Racial Unity and the Gospel a couple of years ago. They encourage us to go download, watch, and listen to these messages brought by several speakers. They are insightful and helpful, giving us the ability to understand this topic of race, ethnicity, and identity biblically. These messages can be accessed using the link below, along with a previous podcast and other sermon links included within that podcast. Dr. Caldwell and Dr. Philpot also mention a book, A Biblical Answer For Racial Unity, encouraging us to read it as well. More information on this book can be found at the teaching and preaching ministry of Dr. Caldwell, Walking in Grace (walkingingrace.org/books).

Racial Unity and The Gospel – Truth in Love Conference 2017

Should I Marry Someone With a Different Religion?

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How should a Christian who is looking for new employment consider those companies that celebrate, endorse, support and encourage sinful lifestyles? Should a Christian even work at a company that supports sinful lifestyles? Can a Christian work for a company that promotes and encourages sinful choices and behaviors?

 In this episode of the Straight Truth Podcast Dr. Richard Caldwell and host, Dr. Josh Philpot discuss the topic of work and how it relates to the Christian. Specifically, as it relates to a listener who is currently searching for a new job. The listener as a matter of personal conviction has avoided applying to companies that blatantly support homosexual issues and gender-neutral ideologies. The listener recognizes that this decision narrows down his or her opportunities and would like to know how they should proceed, given that they are being impacted and constrained in this by their conscience.

 God never calls us to sin. To violate our conscience would be to sin because whatever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23). Therefore, says Dr. Caldwell we don’t violate our conscience. But we can and should inform our conscience, and we do this by informing it with the truth. He gives us a brief history of Christianity for the last 2000 years. He reminds us that most Christians have lived in situations where what they believed morally was not the common viewpoint of society. Christians have had to navigate through this and sometimes suffer for it. 

This is the environment we find ourselves living in, and increasingly so in the United States. He also reminds us that it’s not just the environment or society that’s the issue, but it’s an immoral world we live in and has been since the day of the fall. However, as Christians we are to be salt and light in it, we should not to seek to separate ourselves from it by going out from it.

 Dr. Caldwell takes us to 1 Corinthians 5:9-11 and explains Paul’s teaching.  The call upon our lives is not for us to go out from the world. We are not to separate ourselves in some closed-off compound or fortress where we are separated from all the immorality that goes on in the world. We are in the world, we continue to sin ourselves and sin remains with us wherever we go. For us to be separated from the immorality and sin of the world, we would have to go out of this world. So until we pass from this life, or Christ returns and takes us out of this world, we remain. 

So we are in the world, but not to be of the world. We are to walk by the truth, informed by the truth, making choices and deciding courses of action through prayer with wisdom, which God promises to grant to all who seek without doubting (James 1:5). Dr. Philpot brings to our attention a situation we read about in scripture where Jesus is being questioned about paying taxes to Caesar. Jesus reveals how this can be sort of a tricky thing, where we trick ourselves into believing that there is a real dilemma. 

The dilemma is really only a dilemma in our own minds, in our thinking and understanding. This is why we need to inform our consciences with the truth.

 While there are occupations that are off-limits for Christians and other lines of work that we should avoid, some of these are very clear, yet others not so much. Navigating through these takes both wisdom and discernment. Dr. Caldwell says there is some practical wisdom operating where an individual is not looking and applying to companies that celebrate sinful activity. We aren’t bound by the principles of the world, nor are we to retain the corrupt mind of the world. We are in fact commanded to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We are no longer to be ruled by sin and we are not to engage in the sinful activities the world promotes. 

Christians should not take themselves where immorality is being practiced and ought never to participate in it. But, a day may come when one cannot find a job where these kinds of sinful activities are not accepted as the norm.  The Christians’ calling and responsibility here is to be faithful to God in the midst of this world, even if it means working for a company that celebrates these sinful choices and activities. The Christian is to be respectful and honor what ought to be honored. 

We are to hold to our convictions in our own hearts as we go about our jobs, knowing what is right from the Scriptures and not violating that. We are to recognize sin as sin, knowing that it’s not okay. We are to serve God in our work environment and be a light to the degree that we are able. In doing this, the Christian will not have violated God’s will.

Should a Christian Work for a Company that Celebrates Sin? If you would like to hear more about this topic; consider watching or listening to the following sermons by Dr. Richard Caldwell:

God’s Work and Our Work

The Trap of Tribute

The Believer and the World

The Purity of the Church

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