Do you know what it is like, or have you ever experienced, going to God in prayer and expressing to him something that is deeply affecting you personally, that is beginning to effect your outlook, that if not checked has the potential to drastically change the way you think, and not necessarily for the better, and then the very next day he reveals to you that you have been slightly off in your assumptions? You were not totally wrong in what was starting to form a spirit of belief within your mind, but you were not completely right in your convictions either. Has this ever happened to you? Well it happened to me just last weekend. Oh it has happened to me before, but this is the latest transformation of thought. This thought had been with me for a while, building itself up, growing larger with little bits of ‘thought debris’ being dumped into my mind to make the ‘thought heap’ wider and higher. This ‘thought pile’ was beginning to have an effect on my perception of belief, and like I said, it was not for my good either. The margin of error forming within my mind was enough to bring my thinking, about this certain issue, into an area of false thinking. I am not talking about my belief in God’s Word (although you thought I was), but about life, and life personal. But I went to our God with a heavy heart, and shared this perception of belief with him, and he listened as I cast the weight of it over onto him. I must also add, that this thought system that was being shaped within my mind, was being built by what I am experiencing in this physical realm, something that is directly affecting my person (on the exterior it is still there), but God revealed to me that what I was believing with my physical eyes is not the same reality in the spiritual realm. Why did our Father not reveal this truth to me before the ‘thought heap’ grew so large that it became too heavy for me to carry anymore? I have my ideas on that, but his revelation did show me, that what I am experiencing in the physical realm is not true in the spiritual dimension where he abides.
Last week (I am back into the teaching now) I named the two basic elements that, the sons and daughters need to have, so we can receive understanding into the word of God. The first one is to have the spiritual eyes and ears so we can see and hear, what the Spirit is saying in the written word of the Father. The other is to have a spirit (meaning a human spirit) of wisdom and revelation, so we can have greater knowledge of the Father, who is the source or all revelation. These components are essential, even after having received the Holy Spirit. Remember last week, I said that the Holy Spirit is our number one schoolmaster, who will guide and direct us into all truth (everything our Father has said), but even he needs for his students to have the right building blocks to receive what he has to teach us. Without these building blocks, what the Spirit tries to teach will only be misinterpreted.
Why do we Christians believe that the Bible is God’s word and not just the word of men? We believe it because the Bible says it over and over. For example:
“For this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when you received from us the word of the message of God, you accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also works in you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13, HNV)
“Every scripture [is] divinely inspired, and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16, Darby’s)
For those of you who do not believe, or have some doubt that the Bible is the word of God, then you are in a hopeless place. God himself says that what is written, in the Old and New Testaments, is the word of God. No other religious book (as far as I know) makes this claim. And if they do make this claim (which again, I do not know of one that does) then someone’s document is lying. I am not sorry for being so straight forward with you, but maybe by me being frank, you might open your heart to the truth. I cannot see where tickling your ears, to make you feel good, will benefit you in anyway. Especially when you are now experiencing something that is drawing you to read the Old and New Testaments (even though you are not sure about its authenticity), and something is telling you that your answer to life is only found in Jesus Christ (even though you are not even sure about him either). You also know that something is about to happen on this big old dust bowl, called planet earth, but you do not know what, and you feel you might find the answer in the Holy Bible. If you are part of my scenario then go for it, because that what is drawing you is from God (and is in fact, his Holy Spirit), and he wants you to believe in him, and every word that he speaks.
We need help to believe, do we not? I cannot remember how many times, over the last twenty five years, I have asked God to help me to believe what he says. I have often prayed this because, many times what I see in my physical reality, does not line up, with what our Father says in his word. Well, I do know for sure whom it is I should believe, and it is not what I see or hear in the physical; but what the Bible says. So hence, I pray, help me to believe what you say Lord, and not what I see and hear.
This takes us back to having the tools, which God has already provided for us, so that we can have a much deeper understanding to what it is he is actually saying in his word. I am not saying that there are not some surface level writings that cannot be discerned with the natural mind, because there is. But did you know that our Father has spoken to us, who have his Spirit, not only what is written on the surface level, but beneath what we read on the surface level as well? Some, but I am hoping many, do know this; but there are those who do not know it. Those who do understand that God speaks beneath the ground surface of his word, can see below the surface, because they use their spiritual eyes and ears that they have been blessed with. They also realize that to have greater revelation into the Word, they must have a spirit that functions with wisdom and revelation, to receive a deeper understanding of the Father and what he says. There is no other way, because this is the will of the Lord (See again: Ephesians 1:17).
I thought that this week we will look first into what Jesus meant by “But blessed [are] your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear” (Matthew 13:16, KJV). In what context did Jesus make this statement? Well, it had to do with the disciple’s ability to comprehend the teachings of Jesus. As I said before, Jesus spoke to the people in parables. These parables were difficult for the people to understand, unless Jesus made it easy for them. But most times he did not make it easy for them, because it was the Messiah’s intention that the people did not understand.
What about you? When you read the Gospels can you fully understand what Jesus is saying, especially what he taught with parables? What about when you read the covenant that the Father has made with his new creation? When you read the letter to the Romans, or Ephesians, or how about the Hebrews document, do you get a little confused? If you do, you are not alone. Many think the ‘Law and the Prophets’ are difficult enough to understand (and they are unless we are taught by the Spirit, through anointed teachers) but the teachings of Jesus, and the New Testament, are a whole new ball game (or hockey game, whatever you prefer. Go Leafs!). Why are some of these passages, especially the teaching parables, so difficult to comprehend? They seem difficult to comprehend because, they take spiritual eyes and ears to see and hear, what the Spirit of God is saying, that's why.
To get a better understanding of what I am saying, we are going to look at Matthew 13:1-23 (today and next week). The parallel passages can be found in Mark chapter four, and Luke chapter eight. These passages are so important, and they will help to give us understanding to why the word of God sometimes seems so difficult to understand, especially when it comes to end time doctrine, like the Catching Away. It also helps to explain why so many Christian groups, and fellowships, may have different interpretations of some areas of Scripture (like healing, or the gifts of the Spirit).
There is no reason, you know, for the different interpretations of some passages. There is no reason why some may teach totally different perspectives on some Bible doctrine. We should not have the idea that, well it is just a matter of interpretation, so it does not matter. No! Is God trying to confuse us, or do we just confuse ourselves? Some have the idea that, walking in the Spirit, is where it is all at. I should inform those who believe that they are okay with this philosophy, that walking in the Spirit, is first and foremost lining ourselves up with the written word of God.
Some of the, walking in the Spirit group (and I do not mean anything negative with this phrase), say and do things, which do not fit with what the written word says (some do, but some others do not). How can those, who do not, account for this, especially when Jesus himself said that he only spoke what he was commanded, and did what his Father did?
“For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak” (John 12:49, KJV).
“Yeshua therefore answered them, “Most assuredly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise” (John 5:19, HNV).
So, if Jesus, who walked in the Spirit twenty four hours of the day, only spoke what his Father said, and only did what he saw his Father do, then why do we not do the same? Some Holy Spirit inspired believers may be thinking right now, but I say what God speaks in my heart, and then I share it. That is good, as long as what you sense in your spirit does not go against what God has already spoken, by the Holy Spirit, in his written word. Remember, Jesus only said and did what he heard the Father say, and what the Father has said is recorded for us by those whom the Holy Spirit inspired to write what we call the Scriptures.
Every dream, vision and prophecy must never contradict what is written, or it is not from heaven. When a person releases a gift of prophecy, where do you think this word is suppose to come from, the Holy Spirit right? When the Spirit speaks does he contradict the word of the Father? No! Then why do we hear so many words of prophecy that do not line up with the word of God? We cannot use first Corinthians as an excuse either: “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part” (1 Corinthians 13:9, KJV), because we sometimes will use this verse if we do not get prophecy right. But, this verse is referring to what we already know now (in the written word), which is, the only part God has revealed to us about his kingdom. In other words, what we know about God’s kingdom are the parts that he has already revealed. Therefore, we know in part (only what he has revealed), so we prophesy in part (what we already know). God has not revealed everything to us yet, but he will in the very near future.
We do not know everything about Christ yet, but only what is revealed to us already in God’s word: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2, KJV). We do not know everything about Christ and his kingdom yet, only in part, so our prophecy is limited to what we know, and that what we know, is already written (so we cannot prophecy something that contradicts the written word of God).
When we receive our glorified spiritual bodies, on the day of the Catching Away, “we shall be like him (Christ); for we shall see him as he is” (see above), we will be made completely perfect (the imperfect vanishes) and then we will know more than what we do now (read 1 Corinthians 13:10 and 12). Verses ten and twelve refers to the day of the harpazō (being caught up) when we meet the Lord in the atmosphere. The problem with many so-called prophesies is that they are a mixture of God’s word and man’s word.
Now, I do realize that we can look at Scripture from different angles, but each angle must still come out with the truth. When we go wrong, it is because we come out making Scripture say something completely contradictory to the intent of the initial statement. You know what I mean. One group will say a passage means something completely opposite, to what another group may say. Usually it is up to the kingdom officers (Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers) who are suppose to get it right, so they can feed the house of God the truth. But when spiritual eyes and ears are not turned on, or wisdom and revelation is not activated in ones spirit, then we end up with distortion of truth.
Christ’s teaching about a farmer who sows seed, reveals to us a whole lot of information about why many Christians are so confused about understanding the word of God. And the reason they are confused is because, as I have been saying, we need spiritual eyes and ears to hear what the Spirit is really saying through God’s word. Today we will not go into explaining the conditions the seed (word) requires to produce fruit in the hearer, as Jesus explains four ways why fruit is produced, and why it is not. But we will look at the core reason why many are not able to see past their nose on their face, when it comes to understanding what the word is really saying. The reason for that is because the deeper understanding of the word of God is kept secret, and is only available to those who are of the kingdom. But you may say I am a child of God, so I am part of the kingdom. After I am able to straighten back my hair, because of the gale force wind that just blew it out of place, I will say, hold on and let me explain.
In Matthew chapter thirteen, the disciples asked Jesus after he had just taught the people another parable, this question: “And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” (Matthew 13:10, NKJV). Jesus’ response was: “He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” (Matthew 13:11, NKJV). What did Jesus mean by this? What did he mean by, the kingdom of God has mysteries, and they are exclusive? It is simple: The kingdom of God has mysteries, or hidden things, and they are not for those who are outside of God’s kingdom, meaning those who have not been made new creations through faith in Christ Jesus. The mysteries are only for those who are born-again, by the Spirit of God.
The mysteries that Jesus was referring to, is the deeper understanding of God’s word (like the fundamentals of healing and the coming of the Lord, to name just two). Contained in God’s word are all the answers to truth and life. Knowledge of him is contained in his word, which God reveals only to his people. That is why Jesus usually taught in public, using parabolic language, so people other than the disciples, could not figure out what he was saying (If you notice in Matthew 13:18 and 36, Jesus had to then teach to his disciples the hidden things, even though they had been blessed with eyes to see and ears to hear). This is why most of the New Testament is written in a way, where it usually takes spiritual insight, to really comprehend what the Spirit is saying through the writers. Like I said before; sure a person may pick up on the outer surface of what Paul, Peter, and the Apostle John are saying, but unless a person has spiritual eyes and ears to see and hear, the complete truth is hidden. The Holy Spirit cannot reveal the mysteries to us, unless our spiritual eyes and ears are tuned in.
God reveals enough of his word so the person who seeks after him can receive the measure of faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and receive salvation. Then as a person moves forward in his salvation, little bits and pieces are revealed (which is likened unto milk) so that they can begin to have a greater understanding of the word, which reveals more of the Father. Those who are outside of God’s kingdom cannot understand the mysteries, because they are spiritually discerned. It says this, about the natural man, in First Corinthians: “But [the] natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him; and he cannot know [them] because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14, Darby’s).
Spiritual eyes and ears are likened to the good ground that Jesus was speaking about in the parable of the farmer who sows seed (See Matthew 13:8 and 23). We will (God willing) touch on these kinds of soil next week, but for now, I hope that you are able to see that without our spirit being good ground, the mysteries will remain hidden to us. We have the Holy Spirit in us, to teach us, but we must also make sure that our spirit and soul be good ground, so our primary teacher (the Spirit) can reveal to us the hidden things of the kingdom. The good ground that produces the eyes and ears that are essential for understanding God’s word comes by a particular action, which I will reveal next week. I have already mentioned it in today’s blog, but I will further discuss it next time. The hidden things are there on the pages of our Bible, but we must first put on our spiritual eyes and ears, to hear what the Holy Spirit is communicating what he has already heard from the Father.
