Scripture gives us several criterion to use when evaluating the counsel of those who believe they commune with something larger than themselves. First … “to the law, and to the testimonies, if they speak not according to these, there is no light in them.” Those who would claim that a divine Spirit has revealed truth outside of the Bible, or to disregard scripture in favor of the supernatural, are in error. God does not contradict Himself. God could not logically claim to be both the inspiration and protector of the Bible, and also claim that He has revealed the “real” truth only to another individual. The logical exclusion would prevent Him from being God. This is not about how one interprets scriptures, this is about disregarding them entirely. Those who would reject the Bible in favor of the supernatural forsake truth and follow only the ways of deceit. Their conclusions can only be based in error and we should take care to disregard them accordingly.
Scripture also declare who God is; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Those who would claim parity or equality with God, or would claim that the “true” Messiah is themselves, are also in error. It is rumored that Jim Jones, David Koresh, and Reverend Moon all claimed parity with God or Christ. It is possible these claims are exaggerations of the media; however all seem to demand total servitude in order that enlightenment be achieved. Christ Himself stated false Christ’s would appear in the deserts or in the secret places. He warned us to avoid them, as when He returns every eye would see Him. Those charismatic individuals who take their spiritual zeal and morph it into cult like allegiance do themselves and their followers a disservice. Though He worked many miracles beyond explanation during His ministry, Christ always pointed His followers to His Father. He was a constant servant, not looking to be served, but to serve others in all things. Most of the spiritual guru’s of today are all too happy to garner attention and devotion, pointing to no other but themselves as the way of salvation. In this they blaspheme the ministry of Christ, and point out the error in their teachings.
Scripture tells us to examine their “works” or their “fruits” to see what they yield. If the results of their counsel increases love, peace, hope, faith, and service to others – it is far more likely to be from God, than if it results in greed, ambition, fame, or destruction. God does not spend His supernatural energies in the destruction of mankind, but rather in its salvation. The devil predicts doom and destruction. The Lord always predicts a way of escape with any impending doom. Noah preached for 120 years before the flood. Sodom and Gomorrah were visited in person before their destruction, and Lot was spared. Israel was warned repeatedly that destruction would follow disobedience, these warnings reached fulfillment when they forsook following God in favor of temple orgies and casting male babies into the fires of Moloch. At that point invasion always followed until repentance was sought. When a “prophet” preaches only of doom, and never of salvation, their inspiration is from the one who deals only in doom and never in salvation.
Scripture also tells us … “that God is no respecter of persons”. This means while we tend to make distinctions between ourselves, God sees us all as His children; each of equal value and equal importance. We make false distinctions between rich and poor, male and female, young and old, royal and common. God sees none of these. He has used Samuel at age 7, and Christ and age 12. He has used Noah at age 400, and Abraham at 100. He has used Miriam to prophesy along with her brothers Moses and Aaron. He revealed His plans for the world to Pharaoh, and to Nebuchadnezzar despite that neither of these people were servants of the Most High. Servants of God have only humility in common. They have only willingness to serve in common. They come from every walk of life, from every background; from the Messiah born in a stable, to Solomon born to a King; from a slave girl called Miriam, to a Hebrew raised in Egyptian royalty. Truly the Lord does not draw the distinctions that so often prejudice our willingness to listen. We prefer to listen to Warren Buffet or Bill Gates, than to listen to the six year old in Kindergarten, or the homeless man on the corner.
Scripture also gives us countless examples of the imperfections of our Lord’s servants. None of the Biblical authors were perfect, or led perfect lives. Christ alone was without blemish. God does not demand or expect perfection from those who speak His truths. Instead He asks for willingness to serve and humility to speak His truths and not our own. Often the messages are unpopular and put the very lives and wellbeing of His servants in jeopardy. He does not make them speak unpopular truths for the sake of being different or unpopular, but only to reveal error, and redeem unto salvation. Elijah’s prophecies of drought for 3 years made him public enemy number one to the wicked king Ahab. But it was not the Lord’s intent to simply stop the rain, but rather to turn the hearts of the people back to the source of all blessings. Daniels interpretations of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams that foretold the end of his kingdom no matter how glorious did not sit well with the monarch, who sent him away and built a 90 foot statue of solid gold in defiance of the words of God. Joseph’s interpretation of Pharoah’s dreams of feast and famine could well have resulted in his head on a pike, particularly since he would not bow to the “son of Ra” on earth. But all spoke in an effort to save, despite their own character flaws, sins, and imperfections. We must learn from the Bible to separate the truth of the message from the expectation of perfection in the instrument of delivery.
Our tendency when presented with truths from God that we do not relish is to find a way to disregard them. In this we are no different than any of the kings, or peoples of the past, that also tried to find a way to ignore unpopular truths. We tend to focus first on the person delivering the message. Can we criticize them for some sort of hypocrisy? Can we catch them in public sin? Is there something in their past we can use against them, claiming perhaps it is still a part of their present. We may not like their age, their gender, their socio-economic standing, their lack of education, their sexual preference – any imperfection we can find to use to disregard the message they are willing to bring. But to eliminate all messages that do not come from people who we believe are imperfect, is to eliminate all truth and scripture itself. God has only sinners available to Him to speak His truths. There are none of us perfect instruments for him to use. We are ALL broken and dysfunctional.
It is a testament to the love and grace of God, that He uses us in His service in spite of our weaknesses and failures. Out of the mouth of a murderer came the blessed words of the Torah. Out of the mouth of an adulterer, serial womanizer, and murderer came the Psalms of praise to our God. Out of the mouth of a man controlled by his baser sexual passions came the wisest proverbs ever penned by man. Out of the mouth of a traiter who betrayed his nation for the sake of greed came the account of the gospel of Christ. Out of the mouth of a religious zealot who used his zeal to kill those who followed our Savior came the most wonderful letters of the love and salvation of the Christ he used to condemn. Out God is able to use imperfect people to work wonders that live well beyond the scope of their lives. How many have read the letters of Paul and come to know the Christ of our salvation in the perfect love he describes for the last 2000+ years? How many have read the words of Moses in the Torah and have learned of the great miracles of salvation God did for His people even before the Messiah entered the world? How many have read David and Solomon and learned wisdom in the study of our God? All these men are long dead, but their work of redemption lives on.
One should not disregard truth because it is misused by others. People seeking greed and control over others have long used the Bible in an effort to gain control over the lives of those they wish to dominate. It does not make the Bible less true, because someone misuses it. It only means the devil seeks to exert control by misusing the very love letter God penned to the world to show them redemption. A young woman named Ellen White has also been misused by those within the Seventh Day Adventist church as a tool of condemnation rather than a tool of redemption. Counsel given to provide context, or to avoid pain, has been turned into ruthless condemnation by those seeking only to exalt themselves above others. They do not use her works to redeem only to beat into submission those with opposing ideas, generally when those ideas are steeped in love and liberality. It makes her counsel of no less value, it is only a repeat of how the devil attacks anything that might lead man to redemption or discovery of the one true God. The devil seeks to turn words of love and hope into a tools of condemnation and reproach. It is an old technique that he will continue to use. But it does not diminish the truth of the love of God as revealed by His servants willing to serve.
Atheists demand prove they will never choose to accept. Yet scripture foretells that the incidents of the supernatural are to increase as time grows short. Things that cannot be explained in normal or scientific terms are destined to become more prevalent in our world. Perhaps God waits for a people who will not seek the fame of these miracles, but like Christ seek to steadfastly avoid it. But in any case as time grows short, the nut-balls will be crawling out of the woodwork. The devil will counter truth with a plethora of mixed lies, and alternate explanations. He will try to drown the truth in the noise of the day, supplanting the plain truth of God, with the convoluted lies that feed the egos of men. His attacks will be relentless, but God will not have his truth or His words drowned out. The world is destined to hear the final warnings and calls to redemption. God would not have us ignorant of His plans or His love. Miracles will happen. They will occur on a wider and wider scale. Let us be judicious in sorting the nuts, but also humble to accept truth without demanding perfection in the person who delivers it. Let us not let our prejudices deny our ears. But rather let us absorb His truths and integrate them into our lives, as we did with Moses, David, Matthew, and Paul. There is much God may yet have to say to our world as its time grows short.
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