Teaching from 4-16-10

Isaiah 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” 

To gain knowledge we gain it precept upon precept, line upon line.

Isaiah 28:11-12 For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, to whom He said, “This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest,” and, “This is the refreshing”; yet they would not hear. 

God speaks to us with tongues, gifts, signs, wonders in the supernatural. It can be in a language that we cannot hear or understand in the natural.

Isaiah 28:13 But the word of the LORD was to them, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little,”  that they might go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and caught. 

Precept upon precept. What does it mean to fall backward, be broken and snared, and caught? After this process comes refreshing. In the literal people fall backward, are broken, snared, and caught by God. But figuratively, in the prophetic process we are refreshed if God is ministering to us. Or we can fall backward, fall from the way of God, and get caught in a snare. 

WHEN THE FLESH OF MAN COMES IN CONTACT WITH THE POWER OF GOD SOMETHING HAS GOT TO GIVE AND IT WON’T BE GOD. You are going to fall down. 

What happens when we fall down? We can be on the floor thinking about things that we are not ordinarily thinking about. We are taken by the Spirit and the Spirit begins to minister to us. It is a supernatural experience, where we receive messages, visions, etc.  This happened to Paul on the road to Damascus, Peter on the roof, to the priests in Solomon’s temple, to John in Patmos. 

If a person is yielded to receive something, God will give it to him.

Isaiah 28:14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, 

Therefore (when you see “therefore” you have to wonder what it is THERE FOR).  Scornful leaders.

Isaiah 28:15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through,  it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.”

Sheol is the grave. If you reject the promises of God, and make lies your refuge, you will end up lying to yourself. You will end up scornful and finding answers that are not God’s. 

We all have lies that we tell ourselves and play games with ourselves. We fall in line with the lie and end up facing persecution caused by believing the lie.

Isaiah 28:5-6 On that day the LORD of hosts will be for a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of His people, for a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. 

There are special rewards for people of discernment. What does the Bible say?  Some bend the scriptures or teach things that God never said.

For example, Swindoll used 1 Corinthians 13:8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. to say that signs and wonders stopped. That they were completed, finished with the disciples. But in context we see that this verse does not imply this at all. Not all prophesies have been fulfilled. There is no new Temple, and we have not reached the end of the Bible’s prophesied events. When we reach the end of the Bible, then prophesies will cease for they will then no longer be necessary for we will be with Christ.  While we are still on the earth we need tongues, gifts, and prophesies. 

The end of the age – AION is a mental concept. There is no clock, no passage of time, in the eternal. God is God of all the ages, and He moves from AION to AION, which is not clock time (Chronos time). 

God deals with EVENTS IN TIME.

We want EVENTS BY TIME. 

With tongues in the Spirit before God. Your spirit speaks thought to thought with God’s Spirit, your mind speaks mind to mind. We are seeking to have the mind of Christ.  Our Spirit can give us knowledge, detailed understanding of something. We want to make our minds line up with what the Spirit of God is saying to us.

1 Corinthians says that where there is knowledge, it will vanish away. Knowledge has not passed away. Gnosis – knowledge of the mysteries of God. Knowledge of the things about God. We stop seeing the things of God when we stay in the presence of God.

1 Corinthians 13:9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 

If prophesy has passes away why is Paul still prophesying? 

1 Corinthians 13:10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. 

Has perfection come yet? NO! What is perfect and perfection? This whole passage pivots on verse 10, and things have not passed away because we have not achieved perfection. Only the Word of God is perfect. The words of men and demons are not perfect. We are being BROUGHT TO PERFECTION. But we are not perfect yet. What did Jesus say was perfect?

Matthew 5:48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

We measure perfection by God. None of us are perfect like God is perfect. Only God is perfect. 

Matthew 19:16-17 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”  So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 

Jesus the man was in an imperfect physical body – He as God is perfect, but in the physical His body was physical, not Spirit. He had to depend on the Holy Spirit for instruction, but as God He knows all.  But in the physical, He needed guidance from the Holy Spirit.

We will not have this perfect faith until Revelation 21. 

1 Corinthians 13:11-12 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 

If there was no need for gifts of the Spirit we would be seeing clearly, not dimly. Are we seeing face to face? NO!  We only know in part. There still is more power available that we have not used. The limitation is with our thinking. We talk ourselves out of what God can do. We limit ourselves and limit our knowledge and understanding. The Lord gives us gifts to use so that we place the enemy under our feet. The effects of the devil are still on the earth so we need all the gifts we can have available to us. Say thank you to God for the gifts of the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 14:3-4  But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.

Paul wanted the prophesies to be edifying to people, but that does not mean that we don’t speak in tongues. We still need our personal prayer language to edify ourselves.  Paul said. 1 Corinthians 14:18-19 I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue. Paul told the people he spoke in tongues more than all of those he was teaching. Should we not use the same gifts that Paul used? 

The flowing of the Spirit is likened to living water. Pastor Don said that once he was at a meeting where there were over 500 people speaking in tongues and it sounded like a waterfall – rivers of living water.

Praying you are edified and blessed.

Heather

Taught 4-15-2010

VICKY’S TEACHING:

In her Bible studies Vicki has been spending a long time studying Philemon and God has not let her move beyond this book. When she came to visit us from Florida Pastor Don asked her to teach on a Thursday Night Bible Study.

Philemon 1-3 Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer, to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon was a friend of Paul. In that time rich landowners had slaves and anywhere from 1/5 to 1/3 of the total population of the Roman Empire were considered property. Paul did not consider himself a prisoner of the Romans, but rather a prisoner of Jesus Christ. 

Philemon 4 I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, 

Paul prayed for Philemon. We should pray and thank God for each other.

Philemon 5 hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints,

They obeyed Jesus and showed love and faith toward God and toward each other.

Philemon 6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

This is an effective sharing of faith and a good witness. Jesus put us into the Word to be a light to the world. Jesus is in us and we are His little lights.

Philemon 7  For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.

This good word of what they are doing brought Paul and Timothy great joy and consolation, it refreshed their hearts. Their spirits bore witness one to another.

After this greeting and encouraging word, Paul speaks to Philemon regarding Onesimus. Onesimus was acting as Paul’s slave for the time being. He was bright and intelligent, but before he came to Paul he had run away from Philemon. A runaway slave was considered the lowest of the low in society, and was offered no protection in the law. He would receive severe punishment for running away. But when he ran away he met Paul and became a Christian. 

The name “Onesimus” means profitable, useful.

Philemon 8-10 Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, yet for love’s sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ— I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains, 

When Paul called Onesimus his son, he was speaking of his spiritual son. 

Philemon 11 who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me. 

Onesimus was profitable and helpful for Paul. He ministered to Paul and Paul liked him very much.

Philemon 12 I am sending him back. You therefore receive him, that is, my own heart, 

Paul is sending him back for he belonged to Philemon. Paul asked Philemon to receive him with the heart of Paul who loves him very much. Paul purposed in his own heart to intercede for Onesimus. Jesus intercedes for us. When we intercede for others we have a great prayer partner (Jesus).  Paul was also exercising the ministry of reconciliation, imitating Jesus here.  Jesus reconciles us to God, and we now carry the mercy of reconciliation.  We are assigned as ministers of reconciliation to plead on the behalf of others.

Romans 5:10-11 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

We have received this by Jesus’ life, and rejoice in it.  

Romans 5:10-11 AMP For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more [certain], now that we are reconciled, that we shall be saved (daily delivered from sin’s dominion) through His [resurrection] life. Not only so, but we also rejoice and exultingly glory in God [in His love and perfection] through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have now received and enjoy [our] reconciliation.

We are DAILY DELIVERED!

2 Corinthians 5:17-20 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 

We are new creations. New Christians reconciled to the Lord, and we need to be reconciled Christian to Christian as well.

Philemon 13  whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel. 

Paul wanted to keep Onesimus with him to minister to Paul while he was in prison.

Philemon 14 But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary. 

But would not do it without Philemon’s consent. Paul wanted to do the right thing. 

When Paul wrote to anyone He always had something good to say first. He gave honest complements, and then dealt with the difficult words of correction.

Philemon 15 For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, 

Maybe God arranged this according to his divine purpose. 

Philemon 16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

Paul wanted Philemon to receive Onesimus as a brother in Christ.  Without this Onesimus could be punished, beaten, or killed. That does not mean that Philemon would be freed from slavery, but rather that he would be forgiven for his sin of running away.  Philemon was a man of integrity and would show mercy, even when Onesimus did wrong. 

Vicki shared a quote but I did not catch the author – mercy comes down from heaven to earth so that man may practice reconciliation.

Ephesians 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.

Imitate God and show mercy. Do not imitate evil, imitate God. Paul tactfully requested that Philemon make a decision based on Christ.  What would Jesus do.  Remember in verse 11 Paul told Philemon that they were fellow servants in Christ. Paul never requested abolition of slavery or urged slaves to rebel. He wanted Christians, slaves or free to be brothers and sisters in Christ.  In Jesus social distinction was inclusive.

Ephesians 6:5-9 Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.

Colossians 3:22-25 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.  But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.

Colossians 4:1 Masters, give your bondservants what is just and fair, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

With new life comes new behaviors, and the old behavior comes off. Mercy and forgiveness are put on. Vicki calls it CIA – Christianity In Action.

Christ Is Available to all.  Christ Is All in all.

Colossians 3:9-11 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

Galatians 3:28-29 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

The first century Jews used to pray, “Thank God I’m not a Gentile, a slave or a woman.”

Onesimus’ life changed, and he needed to do the right thing and make restitution of the wrong that he did.

Philemon 17-18 If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account.

This is a picture of Jesus. If wronged, Jesus says, “Put it on my account.” We all owe a debt that we cannot pay.  Jesus paid our debt, the debt that we can never repay Him for. Onesimus could not repay Philemon.  Paul tells Philemon to follow him like he is following Christ.

Philemon 19 I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. I will repay—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides. 

Paul writing in his own hand made this promise legally binding. But Paul reminded Philemon that he lead Philemon to the Lord, and that is a major debt that Philemon should consider.

Philemon 20-21 Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord. Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 

If Philemon does what is right it will bring joy to Paul’s soul.  Paul is saying, let’s see if I taught you right.  Then he points out that he has confidence in Philemon that he will do the right thing.

Philemon 22-25 But, meanwhile, also prepare a guest room for me, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be granted to you. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow laborers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Lessons from Philemon to apply in our lives.

1. Tactfulness
2. Grace
3. Word of praise or encouragement before dealing with a problem. Change your vision and look for the good.
4. No barriers or walls between believers. Respect all believers. All are one in Christ. Do good to all no matter their rank.  Galatians 6:10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
5. Forgiveness – Forgive quickly, unforgiveness is not good for you. Be quick to forgive and repent faster.
6. Intercede for believers like Jesus intercedes for us.
7. Restitution
8. Reconciliation

Onesimus was an unprofitable slave, but once he accepted Jesus, and became a brother in Christ, he became a profitable member of God’s family. We want to bear fruit for the Body of Christ.  We were all slaves, slaves to sin. Now that we are forgiven we can be fruitful members for His Kingdom. We are no longer in the prison of the devil, but profitable and acceptable to the Lord and His Kingdom.

Tradition tells us that Onesimus became a bishop in Berea and dealt with people with tact and grace.

This book shows us how to deal with people like Jesus dealt with us. Our lives are changed when we come to Christ and that changes how we react to things. When we have a right relationship with God we seek to reconcile people to God and restore broken relationships.

PASTOR DON MOORE’S TEACHING.

Philemon 15  For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever,

Pastor Don said that all of us have circumstances and situations that are distasteful, depressing experiences. They seem like detours and obstacles.  Where we are here has nothing to do with where we’re going. It may not be apparent where we are in the midst of thing. We may ask ourselves, “Why am I going through this? How is this a part of the process?”  We may not understand the mundane ridiculous things in the moment, and not understand or appreciate what is going on in the moment.  We may wish that things would change, but the hurtful things may be set there purposefully to grow us and reposition us to what God has for is.  These things may be necessary to draw us back on track.

We may be fishing where we can’t catch fish. We can get out of position unless we get higher, change our attitude and see God’s perspective. We may not be seeing what we want to be, but from God’s perspective we may see where we are to be to catch fish. 

If Paul’s life had not crossed Onesimus’ life, it could be a difficult situation for Onesimus. Onesimus would have been in a difficult situation because of his slavery. It was necessary for him to meet Paul and be restored to Philemon. All of this was part of God’s plan for his perfection.

God has a plan for our perfection. Where you are may be a necessary place for you to be to get you to the place where God has placed someone to help you get back on course.

Praying this blesses you.

Taught April 10, 2010

Responsibilities of a prophet are listed in Jeremiah 31

What is our responsibility and how are we to accomplish it?

Isaiah 28:1-8 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower which is at the head of the verdant valleys, to those who are overcome with wine! Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one, like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, who will bring them down to the earth with His hand. The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, will be trampled underfoot; and the glorious beauty is a fading flower which is at the head of the verdant valley, like the first fruit before the summer, which an observer sees; he eats it up while it is still in his hand. In that day the LORD of hosts will be for a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of His people, for a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. But they also have erred through wine, and through intoxicating drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink, they are swallowed up by wine, they are out of the way through intoxicating drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. For all tables are full of vomit and filth; no place is clean.

Ephraim and Samaria, this shows what to do and what not to do so that no bad decision is made.

IN THAT DAY – end times term. God is going to deal with a REMNANT.  Their understanding of justice is shaky and they are caught up in wine and intoxication, over use and abuse. If you are over indulgent with anything it opens the way for evil spirits and/or influence of wine that causes us to make a error, then we can get swallowed up. Judgments hurt people, and God wants us to stay within His parameters, so that we are not hurt. There is a cultural divide.

How did these problems get into the temple? God speaks about the filth. 

Isaiah 28:9 Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? 

Isaiah is talking to the priests and prophets, telling them that they need to move from the milk to the meat of the Word. They ought to have gained a little knowledge and obeyed it.

In the above verses we see that the crown of pride is drunkenness, intoxicating drink leads to error, bad judgment, vomit, bad vision. and this leads to the destruction of kingdoms. Verse seven shows that the priests and prophets erred through wine, they erred in vision and stumbled in judgment.

Verse 9 that the teachings need to take people above and beyond baby stuff.  They need to teach doctrine based on scripture, line upon line, precept upon precept. 

Isaiah 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little. 

Precept upon precept is a general rule or command, a doctrine, foundational thinking. No one verse of scripture stands alone. You can’t get a full understanding of God’s teachings based on one scripture by itself. If you study the whole scripture you can’t create doctrines independent of scripture.  Your revelation can’t stand by itself. It has to be confirmed by scripture line upon line, here a little, there a little. A teaching on a passage of scripture has to be supported by other books of the Bible. 

Matthew 18:16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’

Deuteronomy 17:6 Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 

(Heather’s note, I put two verses to confirm this idea, there are others)  Let the word be established by two or three witnesses.

Paul would present something and it was supported by the prophets. Pastor Don pointed out that Ecclesiastes has some great teachings of Solomon but we also need to understand that it was written by a depressed person and all that he said about God is not true. For example when he says that when a man dies it is the same as a dog dies, that is not something that God would say. But some who read this book take this as sayings from the Lord. Song of Solomon is a vision of Christ and written with understanding, but it is the same author as Ecclesiastes. Solomon wrote some of his teachings after he figured out that he messed up his life. We need to cross reference the different witnesses. 

When you read scripture ask:  Who is saying it?  Who are they talking to?  What are they talking about? 

Solomon is an example of the wisest man to walk on the planet, but he was not acting spiritually wise.

The devil tries to get us fixated and then we begin to live in error. For example there are pastors now who want to only see God as loving, not as judge. They are proposing a thing called “universal salvation” that there will be no judgment, that all will be saved no matter what, even if they haven’t accepted Christ. They are implying that we can get saved through the back door, without judgment. Pastor Don said that many people would say that if this hurts you more than me, they want to spare themselves.

1 Corinthians 2:6-11 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

Solomon was the smartest man on the planet but he did not know the deep things of God. When the wisdom of God takes over then we can understand the deep things of God.

2 Corinthians 4:3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 

It is veiled, covered, hidden. Those perishing in hell and those on earth who are not listening to the truth, are erring in their vision.

2 Corinthians 4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

The god of this age (satan) can blind the eyes, this can also veil truth in the believers. If there is unbelief in certain areas of our lives we can be blinded in that area. No one is a total believer. 

Those who only believe that Jesus was a great prophet sent to redeem Israel don’t believe the whole Gospel. They only believe part of it. Sadly, even believers today do not believe the whole gospel. 

God is vast, and God’s promises are ALL yes and amen. We put limitations on the Word and what we think God can do. We keep score of our failures and not our victories in Christ. Trusting God includes expectancy and hope. Stop pushing the river, you only make a mess.  Stand still and the river will clear itself. If you muck around in the river you make it muddy.

Prayer of preparation – prepare to be bold and accept it. But know that it will happen in God’s timing which includes you being prepared to be able to step into the promise. If you go beyond where God wants you, your talents can take you places your character cannot sustain you.

Isaiah 28:11-13 For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, to whom He said, “This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest,” and, “This is the refreshing”; yet they would not hear. But the word of the LORD was to them, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little,” that they might go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and caught. 

Another tongue

Isaiah 28:13 AMP Therefore the word of the Lord will be to them [merely monotonous repeatings of]: precept upon precept, precept upon precept, rule upon rule, rule upon rule; here a little, there a little–that they may go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and taken.

Stammering lips and another tongue. This could be a literal stuttering talk or a foreign language that they do not understand.  If you look at historical view, Moses is a stutterer and stammerer, and in the natural he felt he could not talk to the people. God permitted Aaron to be the spokesperson, so that Moses would receive the vision and Aaron would speak to the people.  But this does not fit the above.

But the Assyrians do not stutter. 

In Acts 2 the Holy Spirit came down with the gifts of the Spirit and tongues. 

He will speak to the people, and what does it say?

A prophetic message, where the wary can get rested and refreshed. The prophet tears down and destroys, but then builds up again.

God did that, but the people did not hear.

In Isaiah 28:13 it mentions the people fall backward, broken and are caught.  There is falling in the Spirit, keeling over, broken in the presence of God, and then you hear form God. He can rebuild on a new and better foundation. Personality and ego has to fall and be broken. Yes, Lord, you caught my attention.

Isaiah 28:14-15 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.”

Unless we are broken with the truth, we will end up making lies our refuge and that is a covenant with death. Listen to God and learn from Him precept upon precept, line upon line, then we will not be snared and taken by the enemy.

Praying your day is blessed. I am trying to catch up with my notes, and today is another wonderful Friday Bible study.  Don’t forget, you are welcome if you find yourself in the West Hurley, NY area.

God bless you.

Heather

Notes from 4-2-10 Bible Study.

Isaiah 29:16 Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; for shall the thing made say of him who made it,  “He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

Things are turned around. The teachings of men and the carnal mind are being taught as truth, but they conflict with the teachings and the person of God. 

We are always in transformation but GOD IS FOUNDATIONAL. He is the Alpha and the Omega. Sin is sin and it has been bad from the beginning. Nothing has changed.  God will not change His position based on current trends. We go back to God and try to get Him to change what He said, but God does not change His Word. 

Our culture tells us we are not thin enough, tall enough, short enough. If we listen to culture we will think that we are deficient and incomplete, not seeing who we really are in Christ. The end of it, if we listen to cultural norms, is that we blame God for who we are not. We become so dissatisfied with ourselves. We criticize our life and what we are really criticizing is God. Did God mess this up or was it our nature?  What is the difference between a weed and a flower?  Are we criticizing God’s creation?  Should we go to a place where we are esteeming ourselves as more than God?  NO! Each of us receives a measure of faith. What do you do with it?  Do you use it to improve or grow?  What we do with the faith God has given us will determine if we get stronger or weaker. When we question God it is astonishing arrogance.  Who made who?

Isaiah 30:1 Woe to the rebellious children,” says the LORD, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin;…”

If we are doing our plan, not God’s plan, we are adding sin to sin. Left to ourselves we leave right for a position of weakness, we tend to allow and permit ourselves to sin.  When we devise our plan we devise it to leave room for our sin. When God says, “Don’t,” DON’T! We want to provide ourselves a fudge factor. We struggle, but God’s plan is, “Be holy because I am holy.” Our own plans that we devise to permit our sins are opposite of what God has planned for us. 

Step into the truth – call sin what it is – SIN.  Believe you are freed from it, no matter how hard it takes.

Isaiah 29:20-21 …or the terrible one is brought to nothing, the scornful one is consumed, and all who watch for iniquity are cut off—who make a man an offender by a word, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and turn aside the just by empty words. 

We will be judged according to how we judge others, that does not mean that we don’t judge, but it is how we judge. We are to realize that everyone has stuff that does not line up with the Word of God. 

Isaiah 30:1-2 “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the LORD, “Who take counsel, but not of Me, and who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who walk to go down to Egypt, and have not asked My advice, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!”

They are doing this without consulting God.  That is a problem.  The Church has not taught people how to hear so even if they ask about their concern, they don’t know how to listen for the response from God. We all have our system and it is flawed unless we learn to get beyond our cultural system and put God’s label on it. We do what gratifies us and think it is from God.  Some prophesy over us and we like what they say for it feeds our flesh. We must TEST what is prophesied over us.  Ask ourselves, how did God tell you this?  Is it from God or is it from our desires?  Did the prophet confirm what God has already told us or is it a word out of the blue?  

If you hang out a fleece you will get fleeced. Nothing we hear from God will be based on circumstantial changes or by chance. God wants to be in our every day decisions that we make, and He wants us to conform to what our Spirit man is telling us. If we don’t know how to get in touch with our spirit man there is no way to know if God is pleased if we don’t listen. Put up the right antenna and practice hearing from God.

As we walk and talk with Jesus, we have a little closed off place. We are not going to go to Him for advice if our hearts if we are hiding secret sins.

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. 

Put air to your desires, speak it out and God will respond, giving you advice and showing you how to get your desires. He wants so bad for you to do this. He needs to know our plans so He can let us know if they line up with His Word, or if it is not part of His plan for our lives. God’s plan will take care of your needs if you are doing HIS PLANS. His plan includes your plan. You are never too old to be led by God.

Isaiah 30:6 The burden against the beasts of the South. Through a land of trouble and anguish, from which came the lioness and lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people who shall not profit; 

They should not go back to Egypt-land, that was not God’s plan for them.

Isaiah 30:7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose. Therefore I have called her Rahab-Hem-Shebeth.

Rahab-Hem-Shebeth means Rahab sits idle, or Rahab the do nothing.

We recalled the story of Rahab the prostitute in the book of Joshua.  Rahab identifies the spies as Israelites and hides them from the enemy. She is given protection and ultimately ends up marrying an Israelite, and is listed in the lineage of Jesus Christ. 

Don’t sit down in the desert for you will be destroyed. We can’t go back to the old thing and trade in it, we need to keep moving in the direction God is sending us. If our usual response to stress is drugs or alcohol, we can’t go back and do those things for that is like returning to Egypt.  Egypt was the place to go before, but now it is not what God wants for us. 

Philippians 4:4-9 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

The prophet who is speaking into our lives should be doing the right thing. The prophet and pastor should be on the same page.

Jeremiah 31:27-30 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast.” And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD.  In those days they shall say no more:  ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’  But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

He can pluck up and beak down, throw down destroy and afflict, uprooting what is evil, breaking it down.  If you pull up a plant by the roots there is still dirt stuck in the roots, you need to hit the plant on the ground to knock the good dirt from among the roots.  You don’t want to get rid of the good stuff with the bad stuff. God will destroy the bad stuff in the soil and leave the soil prepared for good seed. We can make this process easier for us if we would only come to God sooner instead of later. Usually we wait until we are in affliction before we come to God. Affliction doesn’t have to be a way of life for us, if we only sought to get to the end of ourselves. We either cry out to God or die in our affliction. 

If we look at the landscape, it could look afflicted, after the bad is uprooted, but it is now ready for the new. If you break up fallow ground it looks worse. Stop doing the past way of thinking, of traditions. Don’t trust in traditions, trust in the new that God is doing in your life. Be ready to receive. It took Job 32 chapters to get ready, to get to the point where He says, Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth. Job chose to trust God in spite of the circumstances of His life.  Job 13:15a Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.

Psalm 119:67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.

We don’t want to pay the price when the prophetic comes crashing into your life. 

A pastor loves on the sheep. An evangelist is looking for fresh meat, uses signs and wonders, which is biblical. But the evangelist can be in serious trouble if he loses God’s focus. He can cast out demons, heal the sick and lead people to salvation, but there needs to be a pastor to pick up pieces and help mend and grow the sheep. 

We can have a mental conviction that what the Bible says about signs and wonders is true, but without demonstration, it is preaching. Evangelism uses signs and wonders. 

The evangelist may have prophetic words and be operating in the gifts of the spirit, he may prophesy and have words of knowledge, and operate in the 12 operational gifts, but we need to remember that the greatest gift is spiritual revelation of the heart.

A Biblical teacher must operate and live everything that he teaches.  He can prepare people for the gifts of the spirit and teach them out of carnality. Bu the Biblical teacher should be operating out of the anointing to perform all that he teaches.  

Jesus taught 5000+.  He taught them for three days and realized they needed food. He told the people that He was the Son of Man (Son of God). He was able to feed the 5000 . Later, after speaking to a crowd of 4000, Jesus asked the disciples to provide for the people and they were unable to do it. The disciples were talking to Jesus about the money and how hard it was to get to a village to get food for the people Jesus sat the people down and taught the disciples by demonstration. 

Your character has to be what sustains you in the pulpit when you have to deal with stuff. Jesus showed the disciples that whatever you have, if you bring it to God, He can multiply it, that it’s MORE THAN ENOUGH. To further illustrate the point to the disciples the few loaves and fishes left 12 baskets of leftovers, which the disciples had to pick up – one basket per disciple.

God takes what you have and multiplies it, and you will have excess. 

El Shaddai – the God of More than Enough. The little boy did not complain, he gave God what he had without reservation and let God do the work. GOd will do more with our portion than we can imagine.

Jeremiah 31:28 And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD.

The prophet is letting us know that God will not let us build what God is going to bless us with on top of the old foundation. We need to identify and ask God to help us remove our sacred cows. God will watch over them and build and plant a new seed that only God can grow.

The prophet is not to be the church but to put the church into the position to be the Church God wants. Every church needs people with prophetic giftings. There are different levels of prophetic gifting.  Some pluck up and tear down, some breathe fire into the congregation, some name and label sins, some bring affliction and sorrow of heart , digging out the pain and drawing it into the open so it can be dealt with by God.  Some bring conviction and church growth.  Some build up and plant new churches.  Some explain what is happening in current events, the causes and solutions.

I pray this blesses you.

Heather

Notes from Friday Bible study of 3/26/10

These are theological and foundational stories left for us. This chapter covers woes and blessings. The seven woes are specific to the time period we are dealing with.  

Isaiah 29:1-5 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! Add year to year; let feasts come around. Yet I will distress Ariel; there shall be heaviness and sorrow, and it shall be to Me as Ariel. I will encamp against you all around, I will lay siege against you with a mound, and I will raise siegeworks against you.  You shall be brought down, you shall speak out of the ground; your speech shall be low, out of the dust; your voice shall be like a medium’s, out of the ground; and your speech shall whisper out of the dust. Moreover the multitude of your foes shall be like fine dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones like chaff that passes away; yes, it shall be in an instant, suddenly. 

Ariel is a reference to Jerusalem. 

Isaiah 29:6-7 You will be punished by the LORD of hosts with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with storm and tempest and the flame of devouring fire.  The multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel, even all who fight against her and her fortress, and distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision. 

These verses speak of the future.  The enemy will be like a dream, a night vision. God will deal with the enemies that come against Israel. He permits them to apply judgment to Israel, but then they will be dealt with for their treatment of Israel.

Isaiah 29:8 It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, and look—he eats; but he awakes, and his soul is still empty; or as when a thirsty man dreams, and look—he drinks; but he awakes, and indeed he is faint, and his soul still craves: so the multitude of all the nations shall be, who fight against Mount Zion.”

This is a diagram of a spiritual situation. A person is hungry and dreams of eating but wakes up and finds there is no food. The nations that come against Israel will wake from their delusions that they can win the battle against God’s chosen.

Isaiah 29:9 Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with intoxicating drink. 

There is a shift here

Isaiah 29:10 For the LORD has poured out on you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, namely, the seers. 

The seers’ and prophets’ eyes are closed for God has poured out deep sleep.

Isaiah 29:11-14 The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.”  And he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”  Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I am not literate.” (13) Therefore the Lord said:  “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, (14) therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.” 

Jerusalem is the City of David. The prophets were there, entrenched and studying the Word. They were educated and had resources to study from.  But God points out in verse 13 that they were saying all the right things, but they were not right in their hearts toward God. They were bound not by the love of God but by the commandment of men – bound by fear.

All of us are blinded by tradition and conditioning of man and the intellect.  Many are holding on to theology they love, but that is not always based on the truth. Pastor Don called them sacred cows.

For example, evangelists teach about the love of Jesus, implying that Jesus is soft and always kind, not judgmental. They end up saying that we win them with the love of Jesus. It is true that Jesus is kind and loving, but there is also the aspect of judging that people do not want to remember. The Jesus of the new age does not look like the Jesus of the BIble. We make an idol of the Jesus we like, but not the WHOLE JESUS.  It is like getting married and finding out that your spouse has aspects of their personality that made them different from what you thought they were – they had not changed, you just are seeing their whole personality. We projected Jesus on our need, rather than reaching to the Jesus portrayed by the Scriptures. 

Jesus was gentle and meek but he also braided a whip and beat the moneychangers out of the temple and turned over their tables.

Pastor Don used as an example the parable of the 10 talents.  One was given 10 talents and doubled it, another was given 5 and doubled that, and one was given one talent. Instead of investing the talent and earning more income the man hid the talent, telling Jesus, Matthew 25:24-25 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, “Lord I know you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.“

This man had everything taken from him and was cast into outer darkness. We will be judged by our words. What the man said was not the truth about God. The truth is all is God’s and God has sown all. The man should have invested what God had given him and he did not. Poor people are kept poor by the system of charity that we have set up. Charity becomes slavery.  Jesus wants us to invest the talents He has given us.

Mark 7:1-3 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. 

This speaks of the tradition of the elders, not what God ordained. The disciples did not wash their hands in a special way like the elders ruled. We want our traditions to be based on who Jesus is and scripturally based.

Mark 7:4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.

God gave the Israelites 10 Commandments and the Jews turned those Commandments into 663 Biblical laws to keep.

Mark 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?” 

Whose tradition are they to obey? God’s or the elders?

Mark 7:6-7 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

Doctrines are commandments of men, and we are all guilty of teaching and following doctrines.

Mark 7:8  For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”

The hand and pitcher washing that the people were questioning Jesus about was not Biblical. The law was meant as a tutor to guide us to Christ.  Jesus pointed out to the leaders of His time that they were missing the heart of the matter.  The heart of the issue was not the keeping of hand-washing rituals, but rather keeping the Sabbath. 

God writes the laws on our hearts. If we look to a rulebook we will end up establishing rules that fit our personality. Why do you think there are so many denominations?  The truth of the Bible is the same.  The only thing that should vary is the worship styles.  We create denominations not on truth but on personality. This is out of order if behavior is not based on truth.

Mark 7:9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.

Living Word Chapel left a traditional denominational system to flow in the Holy Spirit.  When this happened there was a church split, and many left to go to another church that was more comfortable for them.  LWC chose to follow the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. Some pastors assert that there are no gifts of the Spirit. Their thinking is that they are pastors, they are righteous, and then something happens in their lives. For example, if the pastor’s wife suffers a disease and all his praying for her does not bring about a healing, the pastor could conclude that God does not do healings in this day and age. But God does heal, he requires faith in Him and believing in Him to work. If a pastor is praying out of hope, not faith, and the wife is not praying in agreement it binds God’s hands for healing. That does not mean that God will never do a supernatural healing, but the positive results increase with our knowledge of the understanding of having faith in God.

We need to know Jesus in ALL HIS ASPECTS. Not only His love, but His suffering anger, wrath, judgment, compassion, mercy. If we do not portray the full Jesus we are conveying a false Jesus. 

We can’t have His love and a lie. We can’t live outside of truth. God is love.  God is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Can truth be real without bringing love in it?  God’s is Love, but He is also justice and judging.  

If a rabid dog is attacking your child you will protect your child even if it means the death of the dog. God will protect His children.

Are we prepared to accept the truth?  

The Pharisees and Scribes were looking for a Messiah who would come as a military leader and kill the Romans. Jesus Christ came as the suffering servant, who died for the forgiveness of sins not only for Jews but also for the Gentiles (which included Romans). Because He did not come the way that the Jewish people thought He should come, they rejected Him.  He did not reject them, but they rejected Him.

We erect God and religion in the way we want. Do we have enough heart for God to examine our stuff?   We use our mind to do a dance to keep the tradition of our denomination.

Anything that we do that lays aside the commandment of God creates a problem, for our hearts are wrong.

Mark 7:21-23 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”

Mark 8:15-16 Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “ It is because we have no bread.” 

They REASONED. They substituted ungodly reason of what they attributed to Godliness for the truth.

Mark 8:14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.

The disciples figured that they had forgotten to bring a physical loaf of bread, they reasoned that that was what Jesus was talking about. He was not.

Mark 8:17 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? 

Their hearts are hardened which can prevent understanding.

Mark 8:18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? 

What are we to remember?

Mark 8:19-21 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?”  They said to Him, “Twelve.”  “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?”  And they said, “Seven.”  So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?”

It was not physical bread, for Jesus could produce bread if needed.

What was He talking about?

Mark 8:11-12 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.”

What bothers the Lord deeply in His Spirit is when you substitute or make up religion.  Why create signs when it’s not a sign He has given us? He is the sign but they were too blinded to see that.

Isaiah 29:13 Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,…

Recognize that the church you belong to has a social and cultural aspect. Look at what you are doing from the Truth. 

Pastor Don gave an example – if the wife tells her husband that she would like to go to Cape Cod for a weekend and he replies, “Who cares about Cape Cod?”  It shows that his heart is removed from her. He needs to hear her heart and respond to what she needs not just give lip service to their relationship.

Jesus is questioning their motive, for they couldn’t recognize the Messiah and that He was speaking the Truth. 

Let’s examine ourselves to make sure we have no nonsense in our hearts, and that we are seeking the person of Christ, not the traditions of men. Ask ourselves, when was the last time I was in church and focused on the Lord? Make sure that we are spending time to pray and talk to the Lord.

Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Praying this blesses you.

Heather