Getting Rid Of "Saved".

The Christian Post Online had a story September 1st 2011.

Apparently Tim Stevens the executive pastor of Granger Community Church, an Indiana “megachurch”, wants to remove the word “saved” from the Christian vocabulary.

Indiana Pastor: 'Saved' Should Be Removed From Church Vocabulary?

There’s an agenda going on here.
This one was quite tempting. I have been used in our church with the gift of “discerning of spirits” (1 Corinthians 12:10) and I was going to post that I agreed with this guy.

I liked this part…

“I think that so often when we use those terms in-house, we’re talking among Christians, we forget where we are at and we forget who we are with,” he said. “We use those words to translate outside (the Christian community) when they don’t mean anything to anyone or they ostracize or set us apart when we really want to be making connections.”

Stevens writes that he realizes “saved” “is a foundational word in the Christian faith, taken largely from Romans 10:13: 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'"

He said “saved” can also imply “a once-and-for-all, passive event that happens to someone. Like they did nothing at all. And once they get it, they are good forever. I realize both of those things are true at their core. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. But it requires me to accept the gift and give my life to Him.”

When a Christian accepts Jesus into their life they are on a new life course and journey, he said.

“I think the word ‘saved’ doesn’t fully embrace that. It kind of points at the point of transaction and not the changed life. I don’t think it is the whole truth. It’s a discipleship process. Yes, maybe in a moment as I start on that journey.”

I can agree to that part. Maybe we should cool it with the “Christianese” around new believers until they know the definitions.
So long as we elaborate on terms and definitions. “Saved” is not just saved from hell but also “saved” for holiness, (2 Timothy 1:9).
I would like to elaborate on that and make sure people understand that.
Because I don’t think many do.

However…

The discernment red light went off when I saw…

Stevens likes to substitute the word “saved” and describe committed Christians with phrases like “Christ follower,” “following Jesus,” and “someone that started on the journey of following Jesus.”

Ah, ha… Okay, now I get it.

This is one of the growing number of pastors wanting to remove words like “Christian” from defining us.
They say “Christian” carried too much baggage with it and we need to change it to “Christ follower”. What they really mean is make it more palatable.

I can say “amen” to pulling back on the buzz words until we have clearly defined what they mean but this guy is not talking about that. (Oh, he sounds like he is. I almost drank this Kool-aid.)
But he and the rest of the emergent community know what he’s really saying.

They do not want to change the evangelical vocabulary. They want to change the evangelical dictionary.
They want to do like Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses and use the same words but their definitions are not the same.

This one is different. They want to ditch the Biblical words and swap them for new ones that sound Biblical but… Who defines them?

“Saved” already has it’s definitions…

Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Romans 10:13
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

But “Christ follower”? Sounds good, I guess.
But who defines exactly what that means?

These new emergent guys with their “social gospel” will define it.

Get rid of the “old” words that have power and blessings on them, “cross”, “blood”, “holy”, “repentance from sin”, and replace them with words that sound Christian but actually mean, “save the planet from the big oil companies”.

Very, very insidious.

Why Am I Being Attacked?

In 2004 I was in Iraq. I was at an air base called Balad around 30 miles north of Baghdad along the Tigris River. We got mortar attacked every day. If we ever missed a day then the three times we got mortared the next day would make up for it.
Mostly these were mortars and rockets. More often than not they wouldn’t hit anything important. The reason we moved to Balad was because it was open and anyone trying to come into range to shoot a mortar or rocket could easily be seen because there were no buildings or heavy tree coverage to hide in. This forced attackers to have to set up their firing positions so far that they couldn’t really be accurate. They would vaguely fire in the direction of the base and more often than not the explosions would happen in open fields and away from anybody or equipment. They did, however, get lucky shots. I recall one time a truck got hit with nobody in it. A couple times the flight line would get an explosion. And then there were the times they really got a hit. One time they launched nine rockets that all hit our PX. Two guys died in that attack. One was supposed to go home the next day. On September 11th 2004, I remember because of the infamous date, a lone Senior Airman was standing on a street corner in the middle of our “tent city” living quarters. A 57mm rocket practically hit him. He was wearing all his body armor, his helmet was on his head and he had his vest on. The shrapnel brew off his left arm, his right hand and both his legs. At Balad we had the MASH hospital so he was quickly saved.

I have many stories like that. One night a rocket skewered one of our living trailers. It did not explode because, as the EOD team explained, the attackers were incompetent and didn’t arm the warhead properly but the engine was still going and lit a bed on fire.
As for a personal story I was standing one day I was coming back from getting a hair cut at the barber trailer when this US Army Sergeant First Class came up to me and asked, "Hey. Where's your chow hall at?"
I was giving him directions when behind me an explosion went off. (Later found out it was a 57mm mortar.) It hit, I would say 50 yards from where I was standing. I say 50 yards. It seems to get closer every time I tell the story. It definitely wasn't further than a football field. Maybe seventy five yards. I don't know. The point is...
I spun around and the dirt was still in the air and the smoke. Lemme tell you something about what it's like to have a real bomb explode nearby. It's LOUD. You also feel it. You feel the vibration in your feet and legs through the ground.
Well, I tucked and rolled and shucked and jived and got behind this little building that was nearby and was crouched behind that.

This army guy never flinched.

He's just standing there looking over in the direction of where that mortar hit.
I'm crouched behind this wall sucking my thumb and he strolls over to me and says, "How often you guys getting popped around here?"
I said, "Every day."
He says, "Yeah at Al Taji we get it about every other day."
Silence.
"So where's your chow hall at?"
I'm like, "Dude. You're a mile away. It's down there then go right at the long street and then the first right. About a hundred yards and there's the chow hall."
Then the alarm red sirens started going off. I'm thinking I really don't want to be stuck behind just the wall of this building. I'd like to have some sand bag coverage over my head. Right across the street is tent city and there's barricades and some bunkers. So I made the decision to run across the street and make for a bunker.
I'm getting up and start to go and the Army guy points to one of the bus stops. "Is that your shuttle bus stop?"
"Yeah. That's the shuttle bus stop."
The alarm red sirens are wailing.
I ran for cover.
He went to go catch a bus.
Go Army dot com.

But what I want to say is this, in all those attacks and all that diving to the bunkers there was one particular question that I never heard anybody ask. Not even once.
In all those attacks and all that fear nobody ever asked, “Gee, I wonder why they’re shooting at us?” Nobody asked that. Nobody needed to ask that. Everybody knew exactly why they were shooting at us. We were in their country and they wanted us out. If we had been of no threat they never would have attacked us.

So why do Christians ask this question daily? “Why am I being attacked?”

Because we’re at war.

James 4:4
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Or at least we should be.

But this war is not the same as mortars and rockets…

2 Corinthians 10:3-5
3For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

We fight with the gospel, with the truth and we get attacked with lies, deceit, and we get attacked in the spiritual realm.
Why? Because we are in the enemies country and he doesn’t want us here.

Matthew 10:24-25
24 "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

This should not surprise anyone.

1 Peter 4:12-13
12Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

What should be disappointing in our Christian walk is when we endure no troubles at all.
If we endured no attacks then we can be sure we are no threat to the enemy.

The attacks are the sign that you are not welcome by Satan. They are your “war stories” of when you were in the war.

And, God bless them, they are making you better.

James 1:2-3
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

Your armor is found in Ephesians 6:11-17.
Wear it every day. Do not take it off. Stop wondering why you’re being attacked.

Matthew 5:11-12
11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

You should be more worried if you aren’t being attacked.

Why Are We Still Here?

Why do you think we’re still here?
Why do you think the rapture has not come yet and the Lord waits so long? You would think He could call it the end by now. Jesus said the gospel would be preached to all the world and then the end would come (Matt 24:14).
There has never been a time until now when such a thing could be legitimately said. Television and radio, not to mention the internet, has blanketed the planet with the gospel. The gospel is in every region. Yet the rapture has not happened yet. What could be the reason for God’s delay?
Could it be that God is waiting us to be more spiritually mature? Why not bring us to heaven and make us immediately perfect?

1 John 3:2
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

In heaven we would share in His glory and perfection. We would see Him as He is because we would be like Him. So keeping us here to grow us to be more spiritually mature can’t be the reason.

Perhaps it’s so we can grow in knowledge? But in heaven we would have perfect knowledge and know as we are known (1 Cor 13:12). There is no way we could ever attain as much knowledge as we could in one second of being glorified in new bodies. We’re not here to get more knowledge.

Maybe the rapture is waiting for us to make the world a better place. There was a time when serious Bible scholars taught this as fact. That we would make this world a Christian planet and then Jesus would come back to take it from us as a gift. But the Bible doesn’t teach this anywhere. Quite the contrary, (2 Tim 3:1-5), and besides we could never make a planet that would be more perfect than the world Christ will make when He returns.

Isaiah 11:9
They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

Or perhaps Jesus is waiting for all of us to repent. The Bible teaches that the world will not get better it will get worse.

2 Timothy 3
1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

No, there is only one real reason we are still here and that reason is evangelism.

I don’t know where you stand on the whole Calvinism versus Arminianism debate but the fact is that God has fixed a day in which He will judge the world and that day is when a certain event happens.

Romans 11:25
25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved,

When the last gentile has accepted Christ and come into His salvation it will make a final member that God has set as the criteria for swapping one branch out for another (Rom 11:24).

Whether you believe God has set that number as people He has selected to come in or has foreknowledge of what that number will be it still remains the “fullness of the gentiles” is a threshold that will mark the end of the church age and the beginning of the “Seventieth Week Of Daniel” (Dan 9:25-27), and the Tribulation.

That threshold is only reached by a set amount of people coming into the salvation of Christ.

How bad do you want the rapture to happen and take us out of here? We are taught to say “Maranatha, come Lord Jesus” (Rev 22:20), but how are we helping that day to come?

There is only one reason we are all still here and that is because there still remain more of our yet unborn brothers and sisters left out there that need to come in before Christ will come in the clouds and take us to be with Him.
A greater, more serious, effort toward evangelism will hasten that day all the more.

Can you see all the more how prophecy can do so much good? The knowledge of fulfilled prophecy can give us assurance and courage (1 Cor 10:11). The fear of the immanent return of the Master at a time we don't know (Matt 24:50), can seal us in a lifestyle of seeking holiness and godly conduct (2 Pet 3:11-12).
And knowledge of God’s time table and plans for the future can motivate us all the more to evangelism and warning a dying world.

Cheap Grace

When Martin Luther was a monk he agonized over a heavy problem in his life.
He could not stop sinning. He wanted to serve. He wanted to follow and please God but he was honest enough to see it was impossible.
A very long story short he found the answer in Romans 1:17 where Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4, “The just shall live by faith.”
Martin Luther found the answer and the answer is grace.

Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

But the grace Luther found was a “costly” grace. It was a grace that answered his problem, “How can I follow Christ as His disciple and be obedient when I can’t stop sinning?”
Grace is the answer.
It does not make obedience to Christ null and void. It makes obedience to Christ possible. It calls the disciple to leave his nets and his tax collecting and his law as a Pharisee and “follow Me”. It calls the disciple to leave his comfort zone.

John 14:15
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.

Obedience to Christ and His commands has not been made an option.

1 John 2:3-5
3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.

Never are we told that we can ignore His commandments and back slide into the life we were saved from.

John 8:31-32
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

We are identified with Christ by our obedience.
We are saved for obedience.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Titus 2:14
who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

This should be sobering, convicting, stuff. This information should tug on our hearts to submit to His Lordship and obey as slaves to His will.
But at the same time, if this conviction strikes deep, we also must be honest that… We fail.
I can’t obey Christ at all times and in all areas of my life. Try as all of us might.
And we suffer in guilt as Luther did. Until we truly learn the truth of grace. Grace sees to it that we do not perish when we fail in our running the race, (Romans 7:23-25).
Here is “costly” grace. It is the grace that allows the disciple of Christ to follow the “upward call”, (Philippians 3:13-14), and when we fail we have grace to keep us from perishing, (1 John 2:1).

The obedient Christian is the one who is truly living under grace.
What grace does not do is cancel out obedience.

Romans 6:1
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

And yet we see all around us a “cheap” grace taught and believed.
Cheap grace has taken Christ’s death and our inability and pounded out a heresy called “license to sin”.
There are too many in the church who see their inability to obey, have heard of the riches of Christ’s death and so they shrug their shoulders and continue in their carnal habits and old life. And, mind you, they have been taught in their churches that this is exactly how grace works. Just like food stamps or welfare. You couldn’t possibly make enough to pay your bills so Christ will do it all for you. “Drink up, Shriners.”
Repentance is not preached. Obedience is not taught or sought. Personal holiness is a concept that is foreign at best and rejected as “legalism” at worst.

Right about here is where I typically have to reiterate that I am no where teaching Pelagianism, salvation by works. Works and doing good never saved anybody, (Ephesians 2:8-9), and I’m not saying it does.
I’m not talking about how to get saved. I’m talking about following Jesus and what a follower of Jesus looks like after he has been “bought at a price”, (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23). And a disciple of Christ does not look like the “old man”, (Romans 6:6).

Costly grace looks for the answer to “How can I follow Christ as He has called me when I stumble and fall in sin every day?”
Cheap grace looks for the answer to, “How much can I get away with?”

This is dogma in too many evangelical Christian churches today. Don’t think about it. You can’t so don’t. You’re fine the way you are. God loves you and is happy right where you are.
“Right where you are.” is NOT where God ever intended any of us to stay…

Romans 8:29
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

God intends us to be like His Son.
How? He will “conform” us.
And we, for our part, obey His conforming.

Cheap grace calls all this false teaching. It insists on calling this salvation by works and preaches to the masses that obedience is legalist, drastic, pharisaical, self righteous, and flies in the face of the teachings of Jesus.
What they recognize is that obedience costs and they see no reason for it since all bills are now stamped “paid in full”.

But what the Bible says is that cheap grace does not understand what has happened in the transaction between the Savior and the saved.

1 Corinthians 6:20
For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

We are “free” from sin and death and judgment.
We are not “free” from the One who bought us with His death on the cross. Unless, of course, He has not “bought” you in which case you’re not His and can go about your business.
But those of us who are His have a calling, “follow Me”.

1 John 2:6
He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

To where? To be like Him, (2 Corinthians 3:18).
And that grace costs. It can cost your luxury, your time, your comfort, your habits, your money, but Jesus knows what you can bear, (1 Corinthians 10:13), and He has it all worked out.

1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Not a legalistic, constantly serious, spiritually superior, Pharisee.
But finally free to live as God wants us to.

John 10:10
…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

The Ten Lost Tribes Of Israel

Have you ever heard of “The Ten Lost Tribes Of Israel”? Twelve tribes came into the promised land with Joshua, (Josh 3-4), Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin. The descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob.

Joseph had two sons Manasseh and Ephraim whose descendants would become “half tribes” (Josh 14:4). Yes, this makes "13 Tribes". Joseph is actually two half tribes (Josh 22:10-11; 1 Chr 5:23, 26; 6:70-71 etc) and Ephraim is typically mentioned as synonymous to the Northern kingdom of Israel (2 Chr 13:4; 17:2; 19:4; 25:10), and in some lists the tribe of Dan is not listed (Rev 7:4-8).

Following the death of King Solomon the nation fell apart under his son King Rehoboam, (1 Kin 12:16-17). The tribes of Judah and Benjamin sided with Rehoboam in the South with the rest “succeeding from the union” to King Jeroboam, (1 Kin 12:20), in the North.
Several hundred years later after God had sent several of His prophets to warn the Northern kingdom of Israel God raised up the Assyrians, one of the most brutal armies known to history to come and take them out of the land, (2 Kings 15:29, 1 Chronicles 5:26).

Where they went and where they are today has been a mystery.

Speculations have always been around and several heresies still live on saying the “Ten Lost Tribes” went to Northern Europe to become the English or the Danes. They are fond of saying “Denmark” sounds like “Danmark” meaning the tribe of Dan had settled there. Most figure they assimilated into the nations the Assyrians sent them to. And there they say no one can ever claim any heritage with one of those lost northern tribes.

But are ALL the 10 northern tribes that were expelled, in their entirety, unaccounted for?
I mean, not all of the 10 northern tribes of Israel put up with Jeroboams heresy...

1 Chronicles 9:2-3
2 Now the first to dwell again in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the temple servants. 3And some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem

2 Chronicles 11
13 And from all their territories the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took their stand with him.
14 For the Levites left their common-lands and their possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to the LORD.

And just a little while before Sennacherib conquered Israel...

2 Chronicles 30:11
Nevertheless some men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.

That's how there were those, very late in the history of Israel, who were still able to trace their roots back to a Northern tribe.

Luke 2:36
And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,

So… Just because they’re not of the tribe of Judah, Levi, or Benjamin doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve been “lost”.

There are a couple other clues.
When the Jews returned after the captivity we have a list of those with Zerubbabel…

Ezra 2:2
Those who came with Zerubbabel were Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel:

Were they tribal leaders?
Well… that one just mentions eleven.

Nehemiah found a written list and it mentions twelve…

Nehemiah 7:7
Those who came with Zerubbabel were Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah.

Were these heads of each of the tribes?
I mean, later we read…

Ezra 2:70
So the priests and the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the Nethinim, dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.

“All Israel” as in “all that’s left”?
Maybe….

Ezra 6
16 Then the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites and the rest of the descendants of the captivity, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.
17 And they offered sacrifices at the dedication of this house of God, one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.
18 They assigned the priests to their divisions and the Levites to their divisions, over the service of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses.

So you see my point that the northern tribes did not just evaporate.

Now here is why this is important.

Jeremiah 31:10
"Hear the word of the LORD, O nations and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.'

God has always known where His people are and it has never been far fetched that He can gather them back to His promised land.
Scoffers say that there is no way anybody from any Northern tribe can be identified and fulfill the promise of God. But the fact is that the Bible no where says any of these people were ever “lost” or that they couldn’t be recovered.

The late Herbert W. Armstrong and his Worldwide Church Of God taught that these tribes went into Europe and eventually America. The Mormons say they sailed on a ship to South America. Well, to be fair they do not say all the ten tribes sailed to America but the fact remains that so many stories have gone out through the years that these people left and melted into the nations or departed for other continents.

The Bible teaches that people from all twelve tribes were in the Southern kingdom of Judah when the Babylonians attacked and exiled them. All twelve tribes had families that came back so all twelve tribes have their members in the ethnic Jewish people of today. Identifying who they are is certainly no problem for God and is increasingly becoming no problem for us. DNA testing has yielded firm evidence of family history and with DNA databases growing larger and larger in Israel and the rest of the world a more detailed “map” of genetic history can be seen.

God will gather all His people into their land that He gave their fathers and He has no problem knowing who and where they are.

Of Visions And "Thus Sayest The Lord" Part 2

I have a real problem with people that say, "Thus sayest the Lord..." Never heard anybody say that?
(Stick around here a while.)

But I think you have. How many people have you heard say, "The Holy Spirit has told me..."? The Holy Spirit is God!
And when someone goes out and says, "The Holy Spirit says..." You're saying, "Thus sayest the Lord..." or even "God has revealed this to me."

Now, how serious is that? Very serious indeed. And the seriousness of it depends more or less on what it is the Holy Spirit is supposed to be saying.

In some of the charismatic churches that I have been in I have heard more than once, "The Lord says..."
I didn't see anybody taking notes.
I didn't see anybody taping it or filming it. Isn’t this is God talking!

Is it really that common that no one needs to write it down or keep track of it?

Now perhaps the word given is simply an exhortation or reminder of what's already been written in the Bible.
I guess I have no reason to condemn that. But the scriptures have laid out guidelines for pastors and teachers to give us that information, (1 Cor. 12:28-31), so I puzzle at the displays.

Brother Joe stands up at the worship service and says, "Thus sayest the Lord. Get your life right."

That's great. I agree with the statement. But why would the Holy Spirit need Brother Joe to stand up and do that when the Holy Spirit's sword is the Word Of God. Not Brother Joe or us.

The statement would be best summed up in Galatians 6:7-8

Galatians 6:7-8
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

"Well. God is just using Brother Joe in a mighty way to convey His Word to us."

I don't see why this is "better" than the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul.
I don't see why the message is now superior because it was conveyed through someone in your church to the written words handed down through the ages by scores of believers trained by the written words.

But this is not as dangerous as some of the other words said in the name of the Holy Spirit.

"Thus sayest the Lord. You will be healed."
"Thus sayest the Lord. You will be rich."
"Thus sayest the Lord. This ministry will prosper."

Yes, God heals people today.

Yes, God prospers people.

But sometimes He doesn't. And when you stand up and say that He will do this or that and it turns out He doesn't.... Guess what? You're in big trouble!

Deuteronomy 18:20-22
20 "But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.'
21 “You may say in your heart, "How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?'
22 “When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

We can not live our lives as Christians going by what somebody says in our church services (or in internet forums).
I don't care if they're a pastor or a teacher or even an apostle!

Acts 17:11
Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

We absolutely have to have a reference point by which to judge whether this is from God or not. And this reference point is a book! The Bible.

I have a real hard time with Christians that don't read the Bible.
Or know what it says in the Bible.

1 Peter 2:2
like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,

Where's the thirst? Where's the craving for the Word of God?

I'm sorry but I'm highly skeptical of someone’s claim to be empowered by the Holy Spirit and know so little about the Word of God.

Ephesians 6:17
And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

People standing up in church with a "word of knowledge" is not the Sword of the Holy Spirit.
YOU are not the Sword of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is not the Sword of the Spirit.
The scriptures are. (Eph. 6:17)

You can't be useful to the cause of Christ with your sword in it's sheath. (Nice Bible cover with Velcro straps but pristine white pages that've never been seen.)

We need to be in that book. Cover to cover.
Read it all the way through. Read it again.

When can you stop? NEVER!

Study the contexts. Analyse the Greek and Hebrew.
Pull it apart and chew the marrow out of it's bones! We need to be referring to commentaries by Godly teachers. (AFTER you've studied and meditated and tried to figure it out yourself.) People gifted by God with the gift of teaching. Which ones? Most of them! Read what they have to say. Compare it. Dissect it. Agree or disagree with what they say. Your Bible should be in tatters!

Deuteronomy 6:6-9
6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.
7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

KNOW THAT BOOK!

You got something better to do?

So... This is the context and the only motivation I have for arguing against doctrines and teaching that I see as clearly in opposition with the teaching of scripture.

Take it any way you like but it's offered in love from a brother.

The Bible is the only thing we require to teach us how to live our lives as Christians. And the Holy Spirit trains us with this Word.

Of Visions And "Thus Sayest The Lord"

Usually, when I get into "disagreements" with people about their "revelations" or visions or tongues or healing or doctrines or some other thing, this is normally what I hear back...

"Well, I speak in tongues and I'm closer to God. God gave me this gift. I want every thing that the Lord wants to give to me."

Or "The Lord has revealed this to me and it's between me and Him."

And then when I try to point out from scripture my reasons for disagreeing with them about what they're doing I sometimes get scriptural reasons why they feel they're right. I've looked at what they're saying and I still haven't found any reason to believe tongues or healing for everyone are for today. When I say the reasons why usually they respond with...

"Friend. God is bigger than a book".

And it's true. God is bigger than a book. But His revelation to us is in a book. And this book says... No where else.
Why? If I'm right, why does God limit His revelation to one book?
Because it's a standard. It's a point of reference for all of us who claim Christ as Lord can go to and know right from wrong.

Being without this point of reference has caused problems before....

Lemme tell you a story.
Turn in your Bibles to 1 Kings, chapter 13…

1 Kings 13:1-32
1 NOW behold, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.
2 He cried against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the LORD, "Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.'“

This is the story of a prophet in Judah who was called up to cry out against the evil king of Israel, Jeroboam, and against his pagan alter.
1 Kings 13:3-6 contains the dialog between them.

Jeroboam gets mad and points his finger, "Seize him!" And the king's arm immediately freezes up on the spot! The alter he was praying at also cracks in half and all the ashes fall out. The king gets the message and apologizes and his arm goes back to normal....

1 Kings 13:7-10
7 Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.
8 But the man of God said to the king, “If you were to give me half your house I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place.
9 “For so it was commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, "You shall eat no bread, nor drink water, nor return by the way which you came.'“
10 So he went another way and did not return by the way which he came to Bethel.

This prophet was told in no uncertain terms what he was to do. He said this to Jeroboam and then he left for home.
There was an old prophet living in Bethel. His sons came to him and told him all about what had happened.
The old prophet got his sons to saddle up his donkey and he rode off to find this prophet from Judah...

1 Kings 13:14-24
14 So he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak; and he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah? And he said, “I am.
15 Then he said to him, ”Come home with me and eat bread.
16 He said, “I cannot return with you, nor go with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place.
17 “For a command came to me by the word of the LORD, "You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.'“
18 He said to him, “I also am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, "Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.'“ But he lied to him.
19 So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house and drank water.
20 Now it came about, as they were sitting down at the table, that the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back;
21 and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, "Because you have disobeyed the command of the LORD, and have not observed the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you,
22 but have returned and eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which He said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water your body shall not come to the grave of your fathers.'“
23 It came about after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
24 Now when he had gone, a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion also was standing beside the body.

So this poor prophet died for disobeying the command that he was told.

And immediately you think, "Wow. That's hard core! Well, how was this guy supposed to know the difference? Another guy comes up and tells him he's a prophet too..."
(And the Bible even says the old guy was a prophet too.)
"How was he supposed to be able to tell that this was a lie?"

That's my point. God will not give another word that contradicts His first word. (No matter how miraculous the new word comes to us.)
This prophet of Judah knew what he was told and if God had new marching orders for Him He would have told him Himself.

He should've been highly skeptical of a new command regardless of where it came from. And we should be too.

Have we been told what the Lord wants us to do?
Have we been told the ways to obey?

Yes. In the Bible.

And when somebody comes along and says, "Thus sayest the Lord..." we need to be discerning.

We absolutely need to step back and look at what has been said and compare it to what we've already been told by the scriptures.
And no amount of intimidation brought on by the phrase, "Well. God is bigger than a book." should compel us to back down from our responsibilities of obedience to the words we know are from God.

To Be Continued...