Scripture and Faith

"But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him" (I Jn. 2:27). As it is with all scripture, who is it that really believes this passage? Myself, I can't say I've met many. What do I mean by that? Allow me to explain. The scriptures were written with divine authority and inspiration. The apostles preached and taught with divine authority and inspiration, as did Jesus. The Gospel was never meant to be preached any other way. In fact it cannot be preached any other way, and be effective. It's not a fictional story to just be put across in whatever way we personally feel to do. In actuality there is no true preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ except it be by divine authority and inspiration. I believe that any and all believers who read this statement would heartily say, AMEN!! That is until someone comes their way who is actually doing exactly that, and they upset the apple cart of some of their most cherished traditions. When that happens then at least most believers are going to see that person as being dictatorial or just too strongly opinionated. This is not an opinion that I am writing here, but rather it is truth learned from long personal experience. Anyone who is trying to preach the Gospel of Christ apart from divine revelation of truth, and personal experience of the power of God, is merely pretending. They are just 'playing church' as it were. Reason being that no human being has divine authority to convey anything to anybody unless they have experienced what they're talking about, or it has been revealed to them by the Spirit of God, as John said in our text verse.

The apostle Paul often began his preaching by recounting his experience of meeting Jesus quite abruptly while on his way to Damascus to put the followers of Christ in prison (Acts 26:9-18). The reason he used that so often was because he actually experienced it, and he had authority to tell it. Paul also minced no words with those to whom he wrote, concerning the things that he taught, and what qualified him to teach them: "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal. 1:11,12). While it is true that Paul was THE apostle to the Gentiles, and there is no other message than what he preached; it is also true that no one can actually understand what he taught except by divine revelation like he had. I will tell you in no uncertain terms that divine revelation in regard to the doctrine that the apostle Paul taught is virtually non-existent in the body of Christ today. So when someone comes along who in fact DOES have divine revelation in these things, and speaks with authority; they are seen as being arrogant, and overbearing, and radical. The reason for this is that no one actually knows how to react to such a thing because they have never encountered anyone who is able to speak with divine authority on these things. It's as simple as that. It's okay for someone to speak with authority on healing, or word of knowledge, or a divine experience that they have had; and well it should be. That is not so uncommon, so no one's feathers are ruffled when someone is speaking by inspiration and authority about such things. But when it comes to doctrine, it's a different story indeed.

When Jesus was here the religious leaders in Israel were so steeped in the faulty traditions of men that they saw Jesus as some radical lunatic who was trying to make himself to be someone that he wasn't. Jesus addressed their folly in no uncertain terms all: "And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition... Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye" (Mk. 7:9,13). That is exactly where we are today my friend. Misguided erroneous traditions and doctrines of men prevail in the body of Christ, and these faulty doctrines are responsible for the lack of unity among God's people, as well as the resulting lack of love and power. We can only prosper if we are giving godly regard to teachings that have truly been revealed by God to those who teach. When we give divine respect to traditions and doctrines that have not been divinely revealed, we are taking away from the unity of God's love and power among us. Somewhere along the line a lot of people are going to have to start "having an ear to hear" both what is truly of God, and what is not. In order to do that and follow after what is really true, we have to get past the thing that plagued a lot of God's people when Jesus was here: "Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue" (Jn. 12:42). Everyone knows that Jesus said the following: "Howbeit when... the Spirit of truth, is come, [it] will guide you into all truth" (Jn. 16:13). Yet when someone is guided into truth by the holy Ghost, that just happens to be contrary to widely embraced traditions of men; all of a sudden they become a would-be dictator.

None of this is new, and it wasn't confined to just Jesus either. The prophets of old dealt with the very same thing, as will any and all who follow their path today. God conveyed this unfortunate reality through the ancient prophet Hosea: "I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing" (Hos. 8:12). The remedy of this age-old ill among God's people comes down to two things. One is that we must want to know what God says about a thing, more than what any amount of men are saying. The next thing is that when we DO hear what God has to say, we must be willing to suffer the reproach of men in order to follow what he says. But to just throw off on someone because they speak with divine authority and inspiration, or because they write with the same, is merely a convenient cop-out of having to do those two things. Considering the words of Jesus, I believe it is a very worthwhile thing to want to know what God has to say about man's traditions, and to suffer reproach for hearing and doing what he says: "Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also" (Jn. 15:20). We should note that those who persecuted Jesus, as well as the prophets, were the people who were in covenant with God. That's who always has the most to lose by acknowledging truth that contradicts widely held religious traditions. But in the end it comes back to what we really want to hear, and what we really want to follow. Or I should say WHO we want to hear, and WHO we want to follow. We can remain comfortable with popular traditions and follow after what men are saying, or we can be courageous and follow after Jesus, and what he is saying. In conclusion I will cite what Jesus said at the conclusion of each of his seven messages to the messengers of the congregations in Asia: "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the [congregations]" (Rev. 2:29). Amen.