Spiritual gifts: Continuing thoughts on avoiding "damnable heresies" ( 2 Peter 2:1)
Continuing with the concept of teaching as a spiritual gift; we see in light of the manifold witness of Peter and Paul the dangers prophesied to come even imminently after their departure of wolves among the flock and within. There is more to the Word than just instruction based on human understanding; or else it would be impossible for error to creep in. Dirst there is twisting of scripture to align with an errant concept and that opens the door for alternative writings such as gnostic teachings or that of other religions. The exclusivity of the Word is something only the Spirit can truly illuminate our minds on. We can in our own strength have tenacity in such a matter "sola scriptura" but even the Ephesians church doing everything right on the outside lost their first love ( Revelation 2:4 left their first love). Once left; it becomes lost it would seem; perhaps among the remnant who are faithful it may be temporarily out of mind but as for the corporate body the Spirit may not by and large be residing there and there is danger it could become dead as Ephesians 5:14 warns about and Revelation 3:2 with the church of Sardis shows can happen at some point. Sobering words.
Legalism is the other side of the coin as to misuse of scripture that also can cause great damage. That is the result of not treating others as part of a spiritual body where all members are needed and "lording it over" them. We see this attitude in certain independent churches (I will leave out denominations here). This type of fellowship not only alienates those of a local fellowship but can prevent healthy interactions with believers elsewhere that can have a positive impact. Again balance is required; while we don't want to have a mutual exclusivity or proclaimed monopoly of the truth as the only ones preaching the true Gospel; caution is needed when working with other churches as error is rife.
It is written of the Lord when on the cross " His visage was marred more than any man's "
His beard had been plucked from his face , he had been punched mercilessly and a crown of thorns pressed down upon his head ,
You could reasonably say tye image if Man was unrecognisable .
But the repentant thief who redeemed the time given to him saw something ekse .
For when he turned his head at keast to Him who was crucified alongside him he said " Lord remember me when thou comets into thy kingdom"
Despite the Lords physical agony ,despite the Lords mental agony " My God my God why hastbthou forsaken me?" And despite His spiritual agony ." He who knew no sin became sin " He still inspired faith in that thief who saw a King not only a King but a King who would conquer death and inherit His kingdom and could if so willing save him also .The thief called Him Lord . And God always respinds to faith and turned his head to him and said " today thou shalt be with me in paradise "
The repentant thief went into eternity with a promise .
In turning His head towards the unrepentant thief the Lord turned His head away from the unrepentant thief who went into eternity naked and with nothing .
For if the Spurit of truth is in us ( being born again) we need " not any to teach us" but that does not mean we no longer still need to be taught . But that in what is true and false we do not need to be taught fir by Him we are so taught but for perfection of the church God has given " teachers" so let no man think he needs not to be taught !
But we are not passive morns and just swallow anything that comes our way or by " the wind" but rather we are " to test all spirits " wether they be of God or not . How? By the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth and thus as every Apistoe Prophet pastor teacher and evangelist are so led by Him so also we are taught by them and led by the same Spirit " till we all come to a unity of the faith .." and if someone is in error thecSpirit of truth will say so to our spirits . Just make sure you are seeking FIRST the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness and by degree and line upin line precept upon precept hecwill lead us into all truth .
Accirding as we are able to bear it.
Too many having itching ears however are ked astray by tier own lusts gathering to themselves teachers who give them what they want not what they need . Much sugar very few vegetables and little or no meat .
Man shall not live .." The devil has come but to steal to kill and to destroy but aI have come that you might have Life and Life more abundantly "
The wilderness was to be but boot camp . Not the Christian norm and while indeed this world is as a wilderness our life is not derived from it and every true church of God is an embassy of another world and another kingdom and its members ambassadors who will do " greater works "
For if His Wirds we're not His own Words but the Father who was in Him ,He doeth the Work .
Then is it not Christ in us not just for the hope of glory but also And therefore our words not our own but itbis Christ who doeth the Work?.
Now that verse as far as I am aware is first mentored in the book of Exodus in the flight through the wilderness . But we shouid not think it was not applicable tonMan in the beginning also .
For of all the trees in the garden you may freely eat ,but of the tree of the knowledge of good and rvil,you shall not eat ,for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die "
Knowledge comes by two ways experience and understanding .
The tree of the KNOWLEDGE of good and evil was not a choice for God forbade them to eat of it . The choice was of all the other trees in the garden which included then the tree of Life .
Now God already had knowledge of what was good and what was evil and thus by that word that came out of His mouth as to what was good to eat and what was in effect rvil to eat they lived by HIS knowledge .
But in eating that which God had forbidden they came to a knowledge of goid and evil by doing that which was evil in the sight of God . Men are always first tempted to deny the character disposition and nature of God that then opens the door to error "the truth changed into a lie "
Man therefore was not to live by every tree in the garden God gave them to eat but by that Word that came forth from His mouth as to what to eat and what not to eat .
When you reject the truth you will belueve the lie and when you belueve the lie you become blind to the truth .
Has not the devil " blinded the eyes of them that belueve not"
And did not Jesus come Ro " restore sight to the blind"?
Again I say .God has not changed . For by thecWord of God men live . For if we have the Son we have life but if we have not the Son we have not eve; seen life yet .
To be truly BORN again is therefore to enter that eternal will of God preordained from before the foundations of the world .
And is it not written that " by practice we learn good from evil"?
" When God said " Let us make man in our image " wrapped up in that great truth is another one ." Man shall not live by bread alone but by every Wird that proceeds from the mouth of God"
For while man was CREATED in the image if God he is in fact BORN in the image of Adam .
He is so born because of the fall and of sin and that image of God is so marred or lost because of that it is lost or so marred it is no longer recognisable . And while we shouid always never reduce mankind or Man to humans in our thinking nevertheless we should not be so loose with scripture as to deny what man is without God . Born in sin and shapen in iniquity .
Jesus said that His purpose was to seek and to save that which was lost .
Man is lost on every level .For Man was created for the light . Shine a ,Ishtar into the eyes of a man conscious or not and his eyes will automatically respond to it unless he is dead . Put a man in a place with no light at all for long enough and he will suffer . Man was created for the light . But because of the fall and of sin has become more a child of darkness .
The condemnation is not so much because men have sinned ( for all have sinned) but because " the Light has come and men love darkness more than the light " Men love their sin more than righteousness . They do not want anything better ,they love darkness more than the light . Some ebpven " glorying in their shame" .
God has not changed now has the constitution of Man . He still can't Live by bread alone but by every Word that proceedeth from the mouth of God .
Jesus was and is the express image of the invisible God" which is why we " MUST be BORN again" not of that corruptible seed which is of Adam but of the incorruptable seed which is the WORD of God .
For thecKaw if God that states every seed brings forth fruit after its own kind app,use to the corruotable seed even as it does to the incorruptable seed . The one bringing forth corruption unto death the other righteousness unto life .
Having lost LEFT their first love that opened the door to the Nicolayetins . The separation of ministers and ' laity ' (false priesthoods?) that in turn led to the doctrines of Jezebel which in turn led to the balamites .
It was not untill Luther got the revelation of the Spirit of the Word of God that " The just shall live by faith" did the first green shoots of the true church of Jesus Christ appeared .From that point on progressively and with each new revelation of the Spirit has the church grown . We are today a prodigal church having left that ar country of false religion and man made traditions ,holding fast to the scriptures being led by the Spirit of God .
But the messge to the church today is " Behold I stand at the doir and knock and whosoever has ears to hear and open the door it is to THEM that the promise is given .
There is but one church ab
Nd thus but one door that knocking is therefore a call to ALL inside the church to repent and open the door .. Sola scripture was in response to the man made traditions and errors of Rome . But if we just have the Word of God we dry up . If we have but the Spirit we blow up to grow up we need both the Word of God ( the body of truth) and the Spirit of Truth to lead us into all truth .
The prodigal son was returning to his father . The church needs to grow up from " little children" to young men and on to full maturity of " ye fathers ye know Him who is from the beginning " The Lord came to reconcile us to the Father . Pray " Our Father .." Ephesians 1 " Blessed be the zGod and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ .." for it is the father who has blessed us in Christ in all that follows .
We have many little children far fewer young men and not so many " fathers" . It's about time it was all reversed .
For the Bride is to come out of the wilderness terrible as an army with banners leaning not upon her own understanding but upon the Lord . Her beloved .
Continuing with the concept of teaching as a spiritual gift; we see in light of the manifold witness of Peter and Paul the dangers prophesied to come even imminently after their departure of wolves among the flock and within. There is more to the Word than just instruction based on human understanding; or else it would be impossible for error to creep in. Dirst there is twisting of scripture to align with an errant concept and that opens the door for alternative writings such as gnostic teachings or that of other religions. The exclusivity of the Word is something only the Spirit can truly illuminate our minds on. We can in our own strength have tenacity in such a matter "sola scriptura" but even the Ephesians church doing everything right on the outside lost their first love ( Revelation 2:4 left their first love). Once left; it becomes lost it would seem; perhaps among the remnant who are faithful it may be temporarily out of mind but as for the corporate body the Spirit may not by and large be residing there and there is danger it could become dead as Ephesians 5:14 warns about and Revelation 3:2 with the church of Sardis shows can happen at some point. Sobering words.
Legalism is the other side of the coin as to misuse of scripture that also can cause great damage. That is the result of not treating others as part of a spiritual body where all members are needed and "lording it over" them. We see this attitude in certain independent churches (I will leave out denominations here). This type of fellowship not only alienates those of a local fellowship but can prevent healthy interactions with believers elsewhere that can have a positive impact. Again balance is required; while we don't want to have a mutual exclusivity or proclaimed monopoly of the truth as the only ones preaching the true Gospel; caution is needed when working with other churches as error is rife.
His beard had been plucked from his face , he had been punched mercilessly and a crown of thorns pressed down upon his head ,
You could reasonably say tye image if Man was unrecognisable .
But the repentant thief who redeemed the time given to him saw something ekse .
For when he turned his head at keast to Him who was crucified alongside him he said " Lord remember me when thou comets into thy kingdom"
Despite the Lords physical agony ,despite the Lords mental agony " My God my God why hastbthou forsaken me?" And despite His spiritual agony ." He who knew no sin became sin " He still inspired faith in that thief who saw a King not only a King but a King who would conquer death and inherit His kingdom and could if so willing save him also .The thief called Him Lord . And God always respinds to faith and turned his head to him and said " today thou shalt be with me in paradise "
The repentant thief went into eternity with a promise .
In turning His head towards the unrepentant thief the Lord turned His head away from the unrepentant thief who went into eternity naked and with nothing .
For if the Spurit of truth is in us ( being born again) we need " not any to teach us" but that does not mean we no longer still need to be taught . But that in what is true and false we do not need to be taught fir by Him we are so taught but for perfection of the church God has given " teachers" so let no man think he needs not to be taught !
But we are not passive morns and just swallow anything that comes our way or by " the wind" but rather we are " to test all spirits " wether they be of God or not . How? By the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth and thus as every Apistoe Prophet pastor teacher and evangelist are so led by Him so also we are taught by them and led by the same Spirit " till we all come to a unity of the faith .." and if someone is in error thecSpirit of truth will say so to our spirits . Just make sure you are seeking FIRST the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness and by degree and line upin line precept upon precept hecwill lead us into all truth .
Accirding as we are able to bear it.
Too many having itching ears however are ked astray by tier own lusts gathering to themselves teachers who give them what they want not what they need . Much sugar very few vegetables and little or no meat .
Man shall not live .." The devil has come but to steal to kill and to destroy but aI have come that you might have Life and Life more abundantly "
The wilderness was to be but boot camp . Not the Christian norm and while indeed this world is as a wilderness our life is not derived from it and every true church of God is an embassy of another world and another kingdom and its members ambassadors who will do " greater works "
For if His Wirds we're not His own Words but the Father who was in Him ,He doeth the Work .
Then is it not Christ in us not just for the hope of glory but also And therefore our words not our own but itbis Christ who doeth the Work?.
Now that verse as far as I am aware is first mentored in the book of Exodus in the flight through the wilderness . But we shouid not think it was not applicable tonMan in the beginning also .
For of all the trees in the garden you may freely eat ,but of the tree of the knowledge of good and rvil,you shall not eat ,for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die "
Knowledge comes by two ways experience and understanding .
The tree of the KNOWLEDGE of good and evil was not a choice for God forbade them to eat of it . The choice was of all the other trees in the garden which included then the tree of Life .
Now God already had knowledge of what was good and what was evil and thus by that word that came out of His mouth as to what was good to eat and what was in effect rvil to eat they lived by HIS knowledge .
But in eating that which God had forbidden they came to a knowledge of goid and evil by doing that which was evil in the sight of God . Men are always first tempted to deny the character disposition and nature of God that then opens the door to error "the truth changed into a lie "
Man therefore was not to live by every tree in the garden God gave them to eat but by that Word that came forth from His mouth as to what to eat and what not to eat .
When you reject the truth you will belueve the lie and when you belueve the lie you become blind to the truth .
Has not the devil " blinded the eyes of them that belueve not"
And did not Jesus come Ro " restore sight to the blind"?
Again I say .God has not changed . For by thecWord of God men live . For if we have the Son we have life but if we have not the Son we have not eve; seen life yet .
To be truly BORN again is therefore to enter that eternal will of God preordained from before the foundations of the world .
And is it not written that " by practice we learn good from evil"?
To be don't
For while man was CREATED in the image if God he is in fact BORN in the image of Adam .
He is so born because of the fall and of sin and that image of God is so marred or lost because of that it is lost or so marred it is no longer recognisable . And while we shouid always never reduce mankind or Man to humans in our thinking nevertheless we should not be so loose with scripture as to deny what man is without God . Born in sin and shapen in iniquity .
Jesus said that His purpose was to seek and to save that which was lost .
Man is lost on every level .For Man was created for the light . Shine a ,Ishtar into the eyes of a man conscious or not and his eyes will automatically respond to it unless he is dead . Put a man in a place with no light at all for long enough and he will suffer . Man was created for the light . But because of the fall and of sin has become more a child of darkness .
The condemnation is not so much because men have sinned ( for all have sinned) but because " the Light has come and men love darkness more than the light " Men love their sin more than righteousness . They do not want anything better ,they love darkness more than the light . Some ebpven " glorying in their shame" .
God has not changed now has the constitution of Man . He still can't Live by bread alone but by every Word that proceedeth from the mouth of God .
Jesus was and is the express image of the invisible God" which is why we " MUST be BORN again" not of that corruptible seed which is of Adam but of the incorruptable seed which is the WORD of God .
For thecKaw if God that states every seed brings forth fruit after its own kind app,use to the corruotable seed even as it does to the incorruptable seed . The one bringing forth corruption unto death the other righteousness unto life .
It was not untill Luther got the revelation of the Spirit of the Word of God that " The just shall live by faith" did the first green shoots of the true church of Jesus Christ appeared .From that point on progressively and with each new revelation of the Spirit has the church grown . We are today a prodigal church having left that ar country of false religion and man made traditions ,holding fast to the scriptures being led by the Spirit of God .
But the messge to the church today is " Behold I stand at the doir and knock and whosoever has ears to hear and open the door it is to THEM that the promise is given .
There is but one church ab
Nd thus but one door that knocking is therefore a call to ALL inside the church to repent and open the door .. Sola scripture was in response to the man made traditions and errors of Rome . But if we just have the Word of God we dry up . If we have but the Spirit we blow up to grow up we need both the Word of God ( the body of truth) and the Spirit of Truth to lead us into all truth .
The prodigal son was returning to his father . The church needs to grow up from " little children" to young men and on to full maturity of " ye fathers ye know Him who is from the beginning " The Lord came to reconcile us to the Father . Pray " Our Father .." Ephesians 1 " Blessed be the zGod and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ .." for it is the father who has blessed us in Christ in all that follows .
We have many little children far fewer young men and not so many " fathers" . It's about time it was all reversed .
For the Bride is to come out of the wilderness terrible as an army with banners leaning not upon her own understanding but upon the Lord . Her beloved .
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