BACKGROUND INTO
RECEIVING AND UNDERSTANDING THE WORD OF GOD
I. The Bible can be "studied" and understood far more
than we have been lead to believe possible:
A. We have been
duped into believing what we are "told":
i.
By our parents whom we are to HONOR (Ex 20:12) and OBEY (Col
3:20)
ii.
By our Spiritual leaders whom we are to OBEY (Heb 13:17; 1Pet 5:5)
iii. By our "Christian Society"
whose authority comes from nowhere.
B. Anything we don’t understand easily,
we tend to accept as a MYSTERY that won't be revealed until the END TIMES (Rev
10:17). This is much more expedient than working for the available TRUTH.
II. GOD'S WORD must be "RIGHTLY DIVIDED" (2TIM 2:15)
A. We have the WRITTEN WORD which is the
SCHOOLMASTER (Gal 3:25) and applicable to all without exception.
B. We have the REVEALED WORD, which is
INDIVIDUAL (1Cor 2:10), not received the same to all and more
"strict" than the written word.
III. To better understand GOD'S WORD, we must:
A. Purge all preconceptions from our minds
and start anew.
B.
B.
Obtain
the necessary tools to study and discern the WRITTEN WORD OF GOD.
C.
C.
Ask
for and receive the REVEALED WORD of the HOLY SPIRIT
THE WRITTEN WORD
John 1:1 In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The word of God is made available to each person in
two ways. First, the word is contained in a document we call the Holy Bible;
secondly, it is contained in our hearts as revealed by the Holy Spirit.
The word of God that is in the Bible, the WRITTEN WORD, is unchanging
and forever (1PET 1:25). It applies equally to one and all (JON 12:48);
there are no exceptions. It is by faith (2TIM 3:1; 2PET 1:21; 1COR
2:12-13) that we accept this document, the Holy Bible, as the unfailing
word of God, but we are not at liberty to pick and choose which items we want
to be applicable to us or which we feel are applicable only in certain
circumstances or for that matter which ones have become "outdated" by
a changing and fickle society. The Bible proves itself to be internally
consistent on all counts, though fallible man may not always see that at all
times. Secular evidence has come to us that additionally substantiates some of
the information contained in the Bible.
THE REVEALED WORD
The second way that the Word comes to us is by the REVEALED WORD (HEB 3:7-8).
This word is spoken to our hearts and not read with our eyes or heard from the
lips of man (though it may be initiated that way). There are several important
facets of the revealed word that must be understood in order to put it in the
proper perspective with the written word.
However, the revealed word need not be
"found" in the written word or even "supported" by the
written word; it just must not be inconsistent with it. This means that the revealed
word must stand on its own and be a "faith" situation to the
individual to whom given in the same way that the written word is taken on
faith by all Christians. Furthermore, as we deal with an analysis of a received
revealed word, we not only must make sure it is not inconsistent with the
written word, but that it must be "stricter". That is, we cannot
conclude that a revealed word would allow a receiver to behave with less strict
performance than set out in the written word. God is not going to "prove"
up his Christians by making it "easier" to be a good Christian with
revealed word than is the case for those who have received only the written
word. As an aside, here, the same logic applies to souls passing through this
age prior to the death of Jesus (before grace). The rules have to be the same.
But, that is a topic for another discussion.
Essentially there a two ways to "prove"
something. One is to see direct evidence; to have something that can be pointed
to and found to "match". Say I have four playing cards face up in
front of us (say, the 4 aces) and I ask you to turn around. And I tell you that
while doing so, I will pick up one of the cards and turn the others over where
the faces cannot be seen. Then when you turn back around, I tell you I have the
ace of hearts in my hand and the others are in the face down pile. You can
"prove" I have the ace of hearts by looking at it in my hand. But,
sometimes we can't see the ace of hearts. For some reason, say a gust of wind
blows the card out of my hand before you get a look at it. Can you still
"prove" that I had the ace of hearts in my hand? Well, yes. But, by
deduction or by conclusion. You can look at the cards in the face down pile and
when you see the ace of hearts is not there, you can "prove" that I
had the ace of hearts. Right?
Well, not quite. Because you didn't "see"
it; because you can't point to it. You have to deduce that a card was there, in
my hand, and that it really was the declared card. So the "proof" is
a bit sloppier. Many Christians would rather have "proof" in
substantiating claims of the word they have received from the Holy Spirit. I
have already stated that the written word doesn't need a proving. Yet for some
reason, some tend to want to "prove" the revealed word. It is not
enough to "conclude" that it is the word of God by virtue of it
passing the test of being "stricter" than the written word. For
whatever reason some feel less secure for having deduced the validity of the
revealed word of God than finding a proof for it. In fact, it is amazing the
lengths some Christians will go to in order to "prove" a position.
The second problem is, many Christians don't want
to believe the revealed word is intended only for them individually. They want
to think that they are to do the work of the Holy Spirit and go about
"convincing" anyone who will listen and even many who won't, that the
word revealed to them individually should apply to all. That is to say, that
the revealed word is as "universal" as the written word. Again, that
is the role of the Holy Spirit. And to make their personal revelation seem more
credible, they want to "prove" it by pointing to scripture. So they
argue in chatrooms, and through other ways, over the word. They forget that
they cannot "convince" someone who has not received the same revealed
word; nor can they convince someone who has not received any revealed word on
the particular topic. As a consequence, there is a lot of smoke shoveled
around, but nothing happening but blood pressure going up all over the place.
The revealed word should be the highest honor that
a Christian can get in his lifetime. But, some people want to hide behind the
"proof" of the word instead of shouting it from the rooftops.
First, there is a kind of "shame" that
the revealed word isn't good enough without a proof to the receiver; that God's
revealed word has to be backed up in the written word for them to feel
"safe" with it. Secondly, it is too hard to "defend" or
"justify" the revealed word to others they want to convince to accept
it as revealed word. It is much easier to try to convince another that the
revealed word is really a written word in disguise. Because that disguised
"written" word is to be accepted without "proof". And,
besides, deduction/conclusion is not strong enough proof as outlined above.
Satan can be involved in the actions that are taken
in this regard. Satan, not able to completely interfere with an individual's
acceptance of a revealed word, can use his power to shame people into running
to the Bible to "prove up" the revelation. In so doing, the flesh is
interfering with the work of the Holy Spirit and minimizes the true value of
the revealed word. The revealed word becomes a poorly identified, poorly
substantiated "part" of the written word. In this way, Satan helps
bring distention to discussions as people argue with each other that which is
not arguable. That is to say, by trying to make a revealed word a part of the
written word, people use that as a basis for declaring someone who does not
subscribe to that position as being "wrong". Whereas, if the word
were admitted to being revealed and admitted as to being applicable only to
those to who it has been revealed, then this kind of dissention would not
exist. Also, the minute Satan convinces anyone that revealed word is written
word, he is putting them in the position of doing the work of the Holy Spirit.
As such, each is behaving as an "Assistant" Holy Spirit and trying to
bring the revealed word to others. In this manner, Satan is continually trying
to thwart the believer's relationship with God and the expansion of God's
Kingdom upon this earth.
CAUTION
But as a word of caution, when studying the WRITTEN WORD, one
cannot properly "read between the lines" to create or apply something
as "rebuttal". The WRITTEN WORD is obvious on the surface as written,
not as interpreted. "READING BETWEEN THE LINES" is, at best, the
REVEALED WORD, revealed to the writer or presenter and, it can be accepted by
you, as a revealed word, if the HOLY SPIRIT so directs you. But, the REVEALED
WORD is not applicable to anyone to whom it has not been PERSONALLY revealed by
the HOLY SPIRIT.
Do not let someone try to convince you that a certain passage or
verse says anything other than the original words mean. The SCHOOLMASTER is unchanging.
We can change, in the sense of understanding something that we are to do or
not, based on the REVEALED WORD, but that does not change the WRITTEN WORD.
Your study or mine stand as the WORD of the SCHOOLMASTER, for each of us to
follow or for each of us to amend more strictly, after individually receiving
the WORD of the HOLY SPIRIT.
ANOTHER CAUTION
The REVEALED WORD cannot change IMMUTABLE TRUTHS, it can only guide
us in our walk of faith. That is to say, for example, we cannot READ BETWEEN THE
LINES to decide if there is going to be a RAPTURE. Either there is going to be
a RAPTURE or there isn't. God's Holy Spirit is not going to "inspire"
some to believe in a RAPTURE and "inspire" others to not believe in a
RAPTURE. And, he certainly is not going to "inspire" some to believe
in a "PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE", some to believe in a
"MID-TRIBULATION RAPTURE" and others to believe in a POST-TRIBULATION
RAPTURE".
The Holy Spirit can lead one to a ministry such as
"teaching" and another to a ministry such as
"encouragement". He can lead another to a "ministry" of
being a good citizen. He can lead one to "give" 5% of income to the
church and lead other to "give" 2 weeks (or years) as a missionary.
He can lead one to attend church 3 times a week and lead another to attend
church once a month (or year). He will not "inspire" some to
believe that a certain prophecy has been filled and "inspire" others
to believe that the prophecy has not been fulfilled.
If the BIBLE says, "Then was fulfilled that which was spoken
by Jeremy the prophet, saying,…" (Mat 27:9), believe it. If a man
says, "the sacking of the TEMPLE by a Roman general in 70 AD fulfills the
prophecy of Mat 24:1, 2", believe him not.
SUMMARY
In the topic that follows, there is no REVEALED WORD presented,
save that which guided my thinking, study, analysis, and presentation of these
topics. As you read this or any of these topics of interest to you, be sure to
allow yourself to follow how the study and presentation took place. Allow
yourself to see that many other topics of interest to you can be developed by
you in similar manner. Try to clear your mind of preconceptions. And don't be
afraid, after developing a topic thoroughly, to measure your work against
scripture that you have heard seems to refute or invalidate the completed
topic.
MAY GOD BLESS AND GUIDE YOU IN YOUR SEARCH FOR TRUTH
