1Corinthians
2:4
"And
my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s
wisdom, but (my proclaiming was) in demonstration of
the Spirit and of power:"
Remember,
I told you before that Paul likes that word power. The Holy
Spirit inspires him to use it every once in a while. It was the power
of God that kept driving him on as it is the power of God that drives
those who are His to this very day. But its not the power which so
many believe it to be theirs, in doing what Jesus while walking the dusty road of Israel in signs, and wonders. They continue to want the power which the Son of man
demonstrated during His first visit and used it to bear witness of
Godhead within Himself and active through Jesus. They fail to see Him as the Prophet like onto Moses which means that the signs and wonders that both Moses and Aaron did before the Prince of Egypt would also be done by His hands, and more because God was with Him. By being who He said He was, whom
the Prophets said would come this His power (Daniel 8:7 and Revelation
12:10). Now verse 5. Why did this man just simply, totally depend on
the power of the Holy Spirit, he followed the pattern of the Son of
man just as we are too. And to make sure that everything he said was
honest, sincer and above board? It was to enhance tour Spiritual
well being, and here it is.
"That
your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of
God."
Our
faith is not set in the wisdom (dependant on the intellect or on degrees conferred
upon) of men, and we’re going to see when we get back to Colossians
when it speaks of philosophy and traditions of men. That’s not
where our faith rests. Our faith rests in the Word of God
and God Himself! In the person of Christ Who is our Salvation, as
the Ark was Noah and his families Salvation (of 8) as well as the
animals who were called from among the animal kingdom. Man has a
proven propensity to error and preach based on his own understanding
not taking into account God's prespective as revealed in the context
of Romans. It is most imparitive that we learn Christ through the
workings of the Holy Spirit if we are to be able and empowered to
become Sons of God again. As stressed elsewhere it is up to us to
learn how to trust the Holy Spirit within us and to distringuish His
voice form that of our own flesh. This is the whole purpose of our
being placed by God in the school of Redemption and under the
Spirit's direction as having the power or right to become a Son of
God again.
1Corinthians
2:5
"That
your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of
God."
When we rest in the Word-power of God, then we’re on solid ground.
Let’s go to another one in 2Corinthians chapter 11, and verse 13.
But to keep the flow in its own integrity I'll start at verse 12. I
don’t use enough verses, and yet I don’t want to use too many
that I waste time and loose or bore the masses.
2Corinthians
11:12-15a
"What
I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which
desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as
we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. (they
are self proclaimed, many are nothing but angels of light, making
light and a mockery of Christ and this Gospel) And no marvel;
for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it
is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the
ministers of righteousness;…"
That
is scary language isn’t it? What does it tell us? Oh we have to be
so careful, not in fear but rather watchfully by the power of the
Holy Spirit. I can’t just sit down and say, “well that man is
using the Bible, and he’s behind the pulpit, and if he’s behind
the sacred desk, so what he says, must be true." Don’t you
ever do that. Not with me or anybody else. But what we have to look
at is this. "Is what he is saying lining up with the Word of
God? With the revelation of Christ? Also is he separating Law and
Grace? Remember Law and Grace won’t mix." For this was the
very meaning of the Lord's teaching on the old cloth and the new wine
of Matthew chapter 9 and the fig-tree which did not bear fruit. The
very tree that John the Baptist said had the axe laid to its very
root when he saw the Pharisee's and the others coming toward him as
witnessed to in Matthew 3 and Luke 3. The Hebrew Preisthood had made the Word of God given Moses and the Prophets of NO use by their traditions and many religious forms. It was because of this that there was great resistance and consternation between them and John the Baptist and Jesus' own message of the nearness of God's kingdom. There
was and still is great hostility in the Israeli camp when it comes to
acceptance of their own national Messiah.
2Corinthians
11:15b
"…whose
end shall be according to their works."
Do
you know what that tells me? They’re going to be at the Great White
Throne! And we all know who’s going to appear there don’t we?
Only the Lost and the believing unbelieving as defiled humanity!
Because these men can’t be the possessors of Eternal Life, or they
could not be used of Satan in such a way. I have another one in
Ephesians chapter 4, and verse 14.
Ephesians
4:14a
"That
we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, (in our
spiritual learning) and carried about with every wind of
doctrine (the
external teachings or thing of the old cloth and wine skin),…"
Here
again you have no idea how many people will say, "they’ve been
in many, many different groups, and one was just a bad as another,
but finally they saw the light and came out and embellished the
Truth." Listen the world is full of these false pastors and
teachings, evangelists and a lot of times it’s the cults, but not
always for even the mainline denominations and non-denominationals have
more than their fare share of such. So Paul is warning us here "not
to be carried about with every wind of doctrine."
Ephesians
4:14b
"…by
the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait
to deceive (as
in a delusion of misdirection);"
See,
that’s their job. It’s also all they’re living for, is to
deceive the masses. And oh we’re seeing it, and yet the Scriptures
warns us that this kind of people are to be avoided at all cost. But
their delusion is a strong evidence that over whelms even the most
religious of persons because they depend on their own strength, much
like Job did. I have one more in the next chapter, and that would be
in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 6. See how much Paul deals with, "beware
of deception?" It’s almost as much as being in the
positive, and this is what I have to be careful of.
Ephesians
5:6
"Let
no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things,
(these false teachers, and enticing words those who make
light of Christ and His Gospel) cometh the wrath of God upon
the children of disobedience."
And
these guys are going to be part of it. They’re going to be part of
the people they have deceived. Because of their own delusion, this is
what had happened to the Preisthood of Israel long before John the
Baptist or even Jesus came upon the scene of time. Because of God's
warning through His Prophets when they are heard and understood
through this Light. Israel itself bears the witness of these Truths.
Ephesians
5:7
"Be
not ye therefore partakers with them."
Stand
up and say, "Hey, I’m not going to follow this." My, I have
people in other states around the country and indeed around the world
that have come out of some of these groups, and they’ll admit with
a question, "How in the world did I sit there for 10 years
and listen to this stuff?" But you see they didn’t know
any better. We can say this and get away with it, one guy said, "We
had a guy come into our Church, and say, "Now look people, so
far as you’re concerned, I am your God." And he said, "It
didn’t even bother us a bit, that you could tell, as the rank and
file of people are still going." But the Lord opened their eyes
and they came out of it (in compliance to 2 Corinthians 2:17 we were
one of those who heard this. For us it was twice or possibly three
times over a period of about twenty to twenty-five years before our separation from
them in accord with 2Corinthians 6:11-7:4). This by the way, maybe what many
believe to be a great falling away that is to take place before the
dreaded day of the Lord. For those who do so this day will not be a
dread but rather a joyful day indeed, as it maybe the day of our
catching away to meet the LORD in the air. We
must always be aware that with God all things are indeed possible. I know that my own life along with my wifes and even childrens (they were all three married with children of their own at the time) lives have changed significantly since 2007 when we made the split.
You’d
be surprised at what I hear, but that’s what’s out there. See
this is what the Apostle Paul was constantly aware of, that you have
all these false teachers coming in and hoodwinking the people. Oh I
could stand here all day and give example after example of what
people are telling me, what they’re being subjected to. It’s
frightening. And even the Lord Himself warns of this. Let’s go back
to Matthew chapter 24 for a moment and look at what He says. I have
to remind people what the Lord said in this chapter. And let’s just
start with verse 3. The Lord here is in His earthly ministry and
before His crucifixion.
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