Category Archives: Reading the Bible under inspiration

In the Beginning Was the WORD!

by Michael

What Exactly Is the Word of God?

His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. (Rev 19:12-13, ESV2011)

What do you think of when you hear someone says, “the word of God?” Or they hold up a Bible for all to see at the same time, leaving you no doubt. Yes, the Bible is the word of God, but the Bible in itself alone is as dead as the extinct dodo bird. There is more to the Word than that, MUCH more! Consider this important passage,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4, ESV2011)

To hear some Bible preachers you would think that John wrote, “In the beginning was the Bible and the Bible was with God, and the Bible was God.” No, Jesus was in the very beginning of creation and He will continue to the very end. As for the Bible as we know it, it did not come into its prominence until after the invention of the Gutenberg press where it could be printed in mass and made available to all believers. Various great men–to whom we will be forever indebted–translated the Bible into their own languages. Some of them paid for their efforts with their lives.

Many of us have found out the hard way that the Bible can be deadly in the hands of manipulative teachers and preachers who emphasize their interpretations (and self importance) more than the need of believers to yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit as their Teacher. Paul addressed this very thing.

Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming [out] from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2Cor 3:5-6, ESV2011)

In the early 70’s when we were part of “the Jesus Movement,” before long we fell under the influence of a man with much personal charisma who taught us from the Bible. After all, he knew the Bible better than any of us, so naturally we submitted to his teaching. We eventually became his slaves, obeying his every word and desire. Eventually, what Paul said became true. Without the Spirit abiding in our teachers and within us as we read the scriptures, we became “all men most miserable.” What started out with us being led of the Spirit became controlling and demonic under the thumb of a man. What Jesus said of the Jewish leaders became true in our lives as well.

The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. (Matt 23:2-4, ESV2011)

To the unbelieving Jews He said,

And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. (John 5:37-40, ESV2011)

As I was sharing these thoughts with another believer regarding the work of the Spirit they told me how John chapter 16 had come alive like never before so I decided to read it once again. Low and behold, Jesus’ words fit right in with what I have been sharing.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:13-15, ESV2011)

Dear saints, don’t put your trust in everyone who quotes the scriptures especially when they say one thing and do another. Remember these words of Jesus,

But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (Matt 23:8-12, ESV2011)

Without Jesus alive within us by His Spirit, even as we search the scriptures, we will find no Life. This is not His will for He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Remember, abundant life in the eye of God does not consist of the things of this world, but rather the ones that are of His kingdom.

T. Austin- Sparks wrote:

“There is a heavenly background to everything in the Word of God, and it is that heavenly background which constitutes revelation that you and I need to know. If we are only seeing the things on the surface, then we have but an earthly thing after all, and that has been the trouble with God’s people all along. The great mass of Christian people today are not brought up on the language of the Holy Ghost in the Word of God. They are brought up on what so-and-so says. The things that are written in this Book have back of them something which cannot be seen, only as the Holy Spirit illumines it. Back of all things said, there is a spiritual reality and meaning for which we need a spiritual faculty. This Book can be an absolutely closed Book, though you may read it through and through, unless the Spirit of God illumines. But once the Spirit of God begins to illumine, this Book lives, it lives from end to end.” (1)

(1) https://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/spiritual_background_of_the_word_of_god_the.html

Today, If You Will Hear His Voice…

by Michael

Photo by David Straight on Unsplash

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, (Heb 3:7-8, NKJV)

Recently I was speaking with a dear saint about our Lord and how He wants to communicate with us on a daily, moment by moment basis, even about the minutest things we engage in or are concerned with. It was a sweet time of fellowship in which we felt the presence of the Lord. Then the above passage came to light which is in reference to the following passage in the book of Deuteronomy:

“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God: (Deut 28:1-2, NKJV – emphasis added)

The first thing that we noticed was that it says, TODAY, if we will hear His voice and carefully observe all that He commands. It doesn’t say “yesterday” as if we can extrude verses from the Bible where His words are recorded from long ago and use our religious intellects to apply them to each situation. Satan tried that with Jesus during His temptation in the wilderness.

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” (Matt 4:5-6, ESV- emphasis added)

Yes, Satan knows how to use the Bible to lead us into error and sin. If Satan tried that with the Son of God, don’t you know that he can and will try that with you? The Bible is only useful for today as Jesus brings the scriptures to life and speaks to us about our lives in and through the Spirit, and we obey Him moment by moment. I always thought what Jesus said to the disciples is a contrast to merely reading the Bible out of curiosity or a daily religious regimen.

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (John 14:25-26, ESV)

The key thing here is the need for the Holy Spirit to teach us! Without the Spirit guiding us with His still small voice, all our religious practices and Bible memorization are for naught. He went on to tell them:

“…When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:12-15, ESV – emphasis added)

Wow! He said ALL! All that the Spirit of God has is ours as we listen and obey HIS voice as our only Guide.

The Holy Spirit was given to the ecclesia of God, the Church, on the day of Pentecost so that we would not have to wait until the sixteenth century to finally get our own personal Bibles so we could read what God wanted (For all those centuries the Church had no Bibles to read. If there were any that had been hand copied, they were written in a dead language that only scholars could discipher, then locked away in monasteries or chained to a pulpit). No, the Spirit, through whom the very Word of God was still speaking, did not leave them alone, just as Jesus promised. “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” What a wonderful communion we miss with God when we do not take the time to stop what we are doing and listen to HIS voice. What wonderful revelations and guidance we miss and what troubles we bring upon ourselves when we don’t obey that voice.

In Revelation we read the same phrase seven times, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” It seems that by the end of the first century when this book was written, the church had become spiritually deaf, because these seven churches were falling to all manner of spiritual delusions and lying teachers. They had left their First Love and stopped listening to HIS voice. Even today we have no shortage of Bible teachers, but how many of them point us to the Holy Spirit and our need to listen to HIM? All too many of them garner our devotion and attention to themselves. Instead of seeking to suckle on the breast of men, we are told we should be…

 “Like newborn infants, [and] long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him…” (1Pet 2:2-4, ESV- emphasis added)

Dear saints, without pure spiritual milk we will never grow up so that we can handle His spiritual meat, doing the will of God at every turn in our lives just as Jesus did (see John 4:34, KJV).

Father, please impress upon our hearts just how greatly we need spiritual ears to hear and glad hearts that obey your Spirit.

But He answered and said, “It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”‘ (Matt 4:4, NKJV- emphasis added)

Yes, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says [is saying] to the churches.”

 

The Letter of the Law vs. The Leading of the Spirit (part 1)

by Michael

Recently the Spirit taught me a very graphic lesson through a conversation with a Christian who seemed to be using his mind to find ways to justify his course of life with the scriptures. He even was using the traditions of the Pharisees! By the time Jesus ministered on this earth almost 2000 years ago, the writings of the Jewish elders had to a great extent clouded the meaning of five Books of Moses, commonly known as “The Law.” Seeking to explain the law with their carnal minds, according to Jesus,  they had made it of no effect. Even today in Christendom we have many Bible teachers and preachers who do the same thing with the New Testament.

Jesus told the Scribes and the Pharisees,

And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. (John 5:37-40, ESV)

The scriptures, The Holy Bible, in the hands of carnal men and women can be a most deadly thing. Their traditional teachings drown out the voice of the Holy Spirit and give those under them ears that cannot hear and eyes that cannot see. When they read the Bible for themselves, they hear the words of “Pastor Wonderful” or some scholarly teacher and in so doing they unwittingly filter out the voice of the Holy Spirit. When they do hear the Spirit, it causes them great confusion because He contradicts the traditions of men. In effect such leaders cut off those who have come to Christ from His Holy Spirit that He has sent to lead us into all truth. In Jesus final hours as a man on this earth He said,

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:12-14, ESV)

By the end of the first century there were many carnal men teaching and leading in the churches. John was the last of the original apostles. As you read his letters to the seven churches in Asia written near the end of the first century, you see that they all had gone off track because of these false teachers. Finally, in 1 John chapter two, he wrote that there were many antichrists already among them who were teaching false doctrines. There was only one antidote to false teachers that John prescribed. Was it more human teachers as it has been with the Church in the last 1900 years? No! He told them to turn to the Spirit of Truth and listen to and abide in Him.

 “I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.” (1John 2:26-27, ESV)

nathan-dumlao-K-8mZxJneHA-unsplash

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Yes, the anointing of the indwelling Spirit of Christ is our only hope if we are to avoid being drawn away from Christ after many antichrists. I know from experience how easy a hungry baby Christian can be deceived. Paul warned the elders of the Ephesian church saying,

For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. (Acts 20:29-31, NKJV)

John wrote earlier in the above letter,

Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. (1John 2:18-19, NKJV)

They rise up and teach and speak perverse things that they might draw away disciples after them. After them where? “They went out from us” because they were not of those who listen to the Spirit in the flock of Christ just as John said. These types seek want to be preeminent over the people of God. Dear saints, is it any wonder that the Christian church of today is made up of more than 41,000 different denominations and sects, all claiming Christ? More and “better” teachers, even highly educated ones, is not the solution… IT IS THE PROBLEM because they have taken the place of the Holy Spirit in the lives of most Christians and have done so for centuries. Jesus is the Head of most churches in name only.

Dear saints, the meaning of antichrist, antichristos in the Greek means more than just “against Christ. According to W. E Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words,

 <1,,500,antichristos>

can mean either “against Christ” or “instead of Christ”

Yes, few Christian preachers and teachers speak against Christ, but hundreds of thousands have come out from among the faithful and risen up over them and taken the place of His Spirit… INSTEAD OF CHRIST in the lives of His body. “Little children, it is the last hour.”