Dear Brothers and Sisters, as I considered this man who has come out against many of the ways the Spirit of God moves among us, I asked Him what the proper approach should be. (We all know I saw a little red after reading the man's comments. Though not as much at him as at myself for letting his followers post his deception on my page.) After I had asked I opened my Bible to continue my study in Matthew, and found my eye drawn to the text before me in Acts. (I know some will find this an unacceptable, but God has spoken many times through the years in just this fashion. And I would suggest the nay-sayers first consider the likelihood of finding just the right Scripture so quickly, for I did not flip through the Book. I just opened it.) Anyway, this is what lay before me:
Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. "Go, stand in the temple courts," he said, "and tell the people the full message of this new life."
At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.
When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin -- the full assembly of the elders of Israel -- and sent to the jail for the apostles. But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, "We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside." On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were puzzled, wondering what would come of this.
Then someone came and said, "Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people." At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.
Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood."
Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead -- whom you had killed by hanging Him on a tree. God exalted Him to His own right hand as Prince and Savior that He might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him." -- Acts 5:7-33
So, we see, Brother and Sisters, that there is confirmation in the Scriptures that we are to continue teaching and working as God has called us to. We also see that it is proper that we speak against what is taught in opposition to His word just as the apostles were bold enough to speak against the leaders of their day. Indeed what this man today is teaching is an interpretation of certain Scripture that I, and many others, believe is in utter opposition to what the Scripture actually refers. In addition, this man took the actions of wolves and not only declared all guilty by their actions, but condemned obvious evidence of the Spirit among us because of their perversions. Clearly no one who is judging according to God’s Spirit does to that.
All that being true it is also important that we speak out against those who are guilty of perverting the gifts of the Spirit; for they, too, offend God and attempt to hamper His work among us. In the coming days I intend to share what the Lord has shown me regarding these issues, because I do agree with the man on one thing. It is the job of those God appoints to identify and call out such breaches of conduct where we know of them. No, dear friends, I do not intend to start a "witch hunt"; but rather, to point out how to recognize these wolves from those who truly seek to serve at His pleasure.
God’s peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment