Recently, I had the second person in a short period of time come up and tell me that they had a "word" for me from the Lord.
I remind you that in my last post about this, I shared that in the Old Testament, God was so serious about false prophets, that He required them to be killed.
It's not acceptable in His eyes for one to say that they are speaking on His behalf, when in fact, they are just speaking out of their own feelings.
He does not tolerate that!
In fact, now that we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which people did not have during the times of the Old Testament, I believe that that God loves me enough that He'll speak right to my heart.
He doesn't need to tell someone else to come and tell me what He Himself is fully capable, and desirous of telling me.
In addition, I've been learning through the example of Josiah's life, that even when God spoke to Josiah through a prophet, what was spoken related right back to the book of the law. To be more specific, it was directly out of Deuteronomy.
And today, we have the full cannon of Scripture. It's complete. Lacking nothing.
So, even more so today...if God wants to speak, He will do it by pointing people back to His Holy Word.
I do believe that the gift of prophesy is still an active gift...but I believe that a true prophet only points people back to God's Word.
I don't believe that there is new revelation. Yes, it might be new to us, in that we might never have seen a truth in Scripture before..but it isn't "new" in that God just came up with it!
So, the next time someone tells me, "I have a word for you from the Lord", I'm going to say, "Super! I love hearing from God. Please tell me what book and verse it is, and I'll go home and get on my face before Him, and I'll read it"!
Chapter and verse, please...that's all I need.
Chapter and verse, please...no more, no less.
9 comments:
You are right on, Jes. There is nothing new from God. He tells us that in His Word. We don't discover Biblical truth, He uses His Holy Spirit to reveal Truth to those in Him.
I know as a babe in Christ I was not capable of discerning all of the wisdom contained in His Holy Word. Now, as I mature in Him, He reveals the Truth about Himself and His nature that I had not seen in the same Scriptures before.
How awesome that He is faithful to His promise not to change the gospel or who He is. I never have to guess if what I hear from someone else is from the LORD, I can open my own Bible and search for Him myself. There is no confusion about what He says. I don't have to try to figure it out on my own. He already has the answer, I only need to know when He speaks and listen to the Spirit. Then obedience is not as hard as it was because the decision is already made, I just have to choose to obey or disobey.
I don't mean to be terse or a smart aleck in my comment. We certainly are all entitled to our opinions, but I'm not sure how airing them, especially with this tone glorifies Him.
I cannot help but ask "what book and verse" are you basing this post on?
would you agree or disagree that there is a difference between general and special revelation?
shawn
Shawn,
Can you elaborate on your question please?
I'll rephrase the question this way: Are the only things we know about God only through scripture (special revelation) or if we can also know something of God through his creation (general revelation) as well?
does that make more sense?
Shawn
Shawn,
We're on our way out the door, so I'm going to post based upon memory, and if you want me to site the Scriptures that I'm referring to, I'll be happy to do so later.
Scripture makes it clear that there are those who will come to the Father based upon what they see from creation.
This gives me great comfort when thinking about native people all over the world, who don't have the written word in their own language.
However, what I'm referring to in this post is when someone comes to me and says, "I have a word for you from God"..and it's ALWAYS followed up with, "and I really FEEL like He wants me to tell you".
And, when this happens, the person never has, nor thinks it necessary to have, a scripture to back up what they're saying.
Yes, I believe that God speaks to the heart of man still today...but every single time that He has done that in my life, it has been supported by what is already in Scripture.
Many times I didn't yet know that specific Scripture, or precept, yet I knew that God was calling me to obedience in a certain area of my life, through the power of His Holy Spirit, and I chose to walk in that obedience.
And then...days or weeks or months later the very thing that He had spoken to my heart is found in black and white in His Word.
I believe that God always points people back to His Word. Always.
In the couples study that we're doing, we're even learning about how God did that with the prophets of the Old Testament..how there were times even then that what they were called by God to speak, were words already in the Torah.
The Bible says that He has exalted His Name with His Word.
Have I answered your question?
Hi Anonymous,
Thanks for asking, and for holding me accountable. :)
Here's the verse I'm basing my post on:
2 Peter 1:20-21 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
Granted, there is much more to the passage, and I encourage you to read the whole chapter in context.
The point that this Scripture is making is that prophesy is a gift of God, not an act of man's own power and will.
And, it's purpose is to edify the body for the building up of itself in love, into Christ.
There are other Scriptures that explain that prophesy is to be spoken in love, just as all the spiritual gifts are to be used.
I certainly don't mean to imply that I think I'm above being corrected or even rebuked, if need be.
For I am not. In fact, I ask the people in my life whom I know are faithful to God's Word to hold me accountable, and to call me out if I am in sin. All I ask is that they show me through the Scripture.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 makes it clear once again that all Scripture is God-breathed, and that it's the Scripture that will teach, reprove, correct and train me in righteousness.
I don't need someone coming to me with their "feelings", as feelings will fail us over and over again.
If I based my relationship with God on my feelings, I assure you that I would have walked away from Him many, many years ago.
However, when we base our relationships with Jehovah-God on His Holy Word, and His character that we find therein, we are building our house upon the Rock!
Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower, the righteous runs into it and is safe.
I want you to know that I have precious people in my life who love me and hold me accountable. They are the people that can speak the hard things into my life, and yet it is always done in love, and for the purpose of helping me grow up into Christ, my head.
The contrast is the people who find themselves offended by something I may have taught from the Word, or a decision my husband and I have made regarding our lives...based in the Word.
These are the people who always seem to be the ones with a "word" from God, and never ONCE have any of them had a Scripture to give me that they said that God laid on their hearts to tell me.
Instead, they have words of condemnation, which are not based in God's Word.
God doesn't work like that. He convicts those He loves. As Hebrews 12:5-12 talks about, He may even discipline those He loves...but,Satan is the one who condemns.
I realize that my post came off strong...and I meant it to.
The body of Christ needs to know, how to identify a false prophet, and how to steer clear of them.
They destroy the body, for their own selfish reasons, and they work to steal the glory of God as they try to make men dependent upon hearing from THEM instead of from God Almighty.
Their work is for the evil one, not for the LORD.
Again, I meant it to come off strong. We need to remember that there will be tares among the wheat, and that the evil one is on the prowl.
The word tells us to protect our hearts...one way we can do that is by holding people accountable for what they are teaching us and "prophesying" over us!
Jesica -
You answered it in the opening section of your post. Thanks,
Shawn
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