Spir Dynamics 873-880 7/14/96

DOCTRINE OF DISTRACTIONS AND THE VOID

A. Definition.

1. The verb distraction means to divert, to draw away the mind or the thinking. The noun distraction is used in the sense of the status quo of being distracted from being brought to completion in the spiritual life by some form of carnality. Distraction is the born again believer being distracted from the spiritual life.

2. Distraction creates a void in the believer’s soul. A void is emptiness without content. The void in the believer’s soul attracts the arrogance complex of sins and emotional complex of sins. The void is also the split veil in Herod’s temple which reveals the empty Holy of Holies. There is distraction and there a void, but the void was never revealed until our Lord was judged for the sins of the world. The Temple was empty from 586 B.C. when the Babylonians conquered the southern Kingdom of Judah and destroyed Solomon’s Temple.

3. After the death of our Lord in 30 A.D., the veil in Herod’s temple were split from top to bottom to reveal the empty Holy of Holies. There was a revival of Judaism which caused many people to become distracted from the execution of the spiritual life. Why was the veil split?

a. Distraction creates a void in the believer’s soul.

b. The void is the split veil which reveals the empty room of the Holy of Holies, an illustration of the void in the distracted believer’s soul.

c. Distraction can be any sin, human good, Christian activism, legalism, emotional revolt of the soul. Locked in negative volition is the void. Bitterness is a terrible distraction and a void in the believer’s soul. Even Paul was distracted from his spiritual life and suffered several years of intense discipline because of his emotionalism.

d. The split veil is a significant landmark in history because it only occurred once. The veil was ninety feet high, thirty feet wide, and 18 inches thick. Mk 15:37-38, “Then Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. And the veil of the temple was split from top to bottom.” The split veil is a reminder to us of how easy it is to be distracted from the spiritual life of the Church Age.

4. In 70 A.D., when the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman army, shock waves went around the Roman Empire. The Jews realized that the client nation to God status was over and would not be restored until the millennial reign of Christ.

B. The void would last for twenty-six years and caused many changes.

1. All temporary spiritual gifts were removed.

2. The great distraction of the Temple worship was taken away.

3. No longer were the Jews saying to the Gentiles, “How are you going to get along without us?”

4. No Scripture was written during the void.

5. The synoptic gospels and most of the epistles were copied and circulated throughout the Empire.

6. The spiritual gift of pastor-teacher was on the rise.

C. There are two voids in human life.

a. There is the void in the unbeliever’s life after he rejects the gospel. That void exists for the rest of his life and is a reminder of his need to believe in Christ.

b. There is the void in the believer’s postsalvation spiritual life if he rejects or neglects the teaching of the word of God.

c. Both of these voids are filled with distractions from the arrogance complex of sins and the emotional complex of sins.

D. There are two voids in human history.

a. There is the void period in the writing of the New Testament canon between 70 and 96 A.D.

b. There is a void period between salvation and your death. That void must be filled with your very own spiritual life which in the New Testament is called “being brought to completion” in the book of Hebrews [the Greek word TELEIOO].

c. The void was filled with the great spiritual life of the Church Age.

E. Biblical Illustrations of Distraction and the Void.

a. In Heb 6:9-12 we have the anticipation of the local congregation and the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher as the center of worship during the void. “But beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, even things that accompany salvation, even though we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust to forget your work [teaching of the pastor-teacher] and the virtue-love which you have shown toward His name, because you have ministered to the saints and you keep on ministering. And we desire that each one of you demonstrate the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end [of your life], that you may not become dull of hearing, but imitators of those who through faith [perception] and patience inherit the promises.”

b. 2 Tim 3:4-5 describes the believer with the distraction of arrogance and the void in his soul, “treacherous, reckless, pumped up with arrogance, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; who adhere to a superficial form of the spiritual life, but they have denied its power [the filling of the Spirit and metabolized doctrine]; and avoid such persons as these.” Some of the worst people in the world are believers. They can become a distraction because they do something to you and you are bitter about it and want vengeance; so avoid them. 2 Tim 3:6-7 is a second illustration of distraction and void, “For among them are those who creep into households and seduce silly women overwhelmed by their own sins, led on by various impulses, always learning but never able to come to an epignosis knowledge of the truth.”

c. Another description of the void is found in Phil 3:18-19, “For many keep walking concerning whom I have told you many times and now even weeping I tell you; these are enemies of the cross, whose end is distruction, whose god is their emotion, whose glory is their shame, who keep on thinking only about earthly things.”

__________________________________________________________________

R. B. Thieme, Jr. Bible Ministries 5139 West Alabama, Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 621-3740

---------------------------------------------------------------------------