There is an obvious stench of
disunity within the Church in these the final days of it, I am not saying that
division is something new among the followers of Christ because there has always
been a lack of consensus among the believer’s even since the early days, the discord is
detected particularly but not solely around the supposed illumination of
Scripture, but I assure you that Scriptural
controversy is not God’s fault and it is definitely not his plan, he is certainly not
the one that has schemed dissension into the Church over how Scripture is
interpreted; he is not the one responsible for the rivalry that exists within
and between Christian congregations.
The dispute over what the Spirit
of God is actually saying through God’s word is to some extend the work of seducing spirits, but all the blame
cannot be credited to these evil spirits that mislead the believer, the believer
is usually led into error because of ministerial egotism but more times than not seducing spirits have their power
because of parishioner laziness, many members of the Church are unwilling to be
like the Berean Jews who investigated the word of God for themselves to see if
what even the Apostle Paul was teaching was true—if the believer back then was
willing to scrutinize the teaching of Paul then today’s teacher is not above having
what he teaches examined.
Why have I started this article
with a seeming rebuke, can I not just indulge you with a good uplifting
inspirational piece of literature, why does the beginning of this written discourse
resemble a reprimand, or is it just possible the attempt to admonish you is disguised
because the introduction of this essay appears to lack sensitivity?
The Lord God Almighty, is three
persons-in-one, God the Father, God the
Son and God the Holy Spirit, each one has taken up the responsibility in man’s
salvation in many and various ways, overall the Father sent his Son to atone
for our sin and bring us salvation, predominantly the Son gave his life so we might receive eternal
life, chiefly the Holy Spirit leads the believer and guides him into all truth,
the Spirit of God is the one that speaks
the word of the Son and then helps the believer to understand and comprehend
it; and then the believer is empowered to explain it correctly.
The Spirit knows how to do his
job but because of the many hidden agendas and countless individual aspirations
within a number of the clergy some of the end-time believers end up spiritually entangled, even confused, because
they hear a myriad of strange voices that
they hope and believe is the word of the Lord but unfortunately the Spirit of God
is often not the one speaking through some of these end-time ministry offices, much of the Church today is
being taught the hidden agendas and personal aspirations of the men behind the
pulpit instead of the true will of the Lord, and this is an important factor
why division lives because of the inconsistency in Church doctrine; one crucial
doctrine where conflict exists within the Body of Christ is in end-time education
even though teaching about the rapture exists
minimally because most ministers refuse to teach it.
Schism with the Church is usually
a result of the misinterpretation of Scripture, one group believes certain Scriptures
say one thing while another group believes the Scriptures say something else,
the fetor of disunity begins to grow because the human ego is a powerful force,
the Spirit of God will not interfere in the will of man, he will allow
individual agendas to supersede his will on the earth at this time, but that
time is almost over as the disposition of man and the personal desires that
drive and motivate the keepers-of-the-sheep is soon coming to an end as the Scriptures predict.
It does not occur to some in the
Church that the Scripture was given to man as way for God to speak directly to them,
especially to everyone sealed with the Spirit of God, but unfortunately even some
ministers ignore the Scriptures and then are thereby deceived when the enemy
speaks to them, they think it is God’s voice they hear but how do they know
when they cannot truly comprehend the word of God, some stand on the platform and
wait to hear a voice come out of the air and when they hear something they
think is God speaking, but usually it is no more than just the voice of the masquerader
they hear.
Everything God speaks is truth
and if you want to hear the truth than God will speak to you through the
Scriptures by the power of the Holy Spirit, the word of God is truth but
because of the differences in interpretation many that supposedly expound the Scriptures
make God out to be either a big fat liar or that he is just the greatest
vacillator of all times, many ministers interpret his word wrapped up with their
own personal aspirations which leave
some to think that God’s voice is no more that just a bunch of fluctuating statements,
his word mutates depending on what fellowship the believer belongs to.
There are many different interpretations
of God’s word out in the church world today, I am not talking about the various translations of the Bible
but the diverse explanations of certain passages of Scripture, especially
pertaining to the end-times, many ministers forbid education about end-times in
their congregation because it will interfere with their personal goals, as far
as some ministers are concerned the rapture of the Church can wait until their
agenda has been fulfilled, they hear from the one that masquerades as an angel
of light and his word to them sounds familiar to their personal aspirations so
they gladly buy into the deception because it is too hard for them to turn down,
so now they interpret the word of God to line up with their agenda even though
their agenda does not line up with end-time prophecy.
Some minister’s follow the voice of the masquerader
because it benefits them personally and as a result their ability to hear from
God in the Scriptures becomes dull, the deceived minister then begins to
misinterpret other portions of Scripture because he is confused by the two different
and competing voices, the voice of the masquerader in whom he follows to fulfill his aspirations and the voice of
God that will actually truly benefit him in the end if he would only actually obey
the Spirit of God.
When a minister unconsciously follows
the voice of the masquerader it is because his message is more delightful to
him than what is actually written in the word of God, cluelessly he then begins
to misinterpret other promises that God has given in the Scriptures to the Body
of Christ because his knowledge of the Scripture is weak, he cannot really hear
the Spirit of God because the seducing spirit that has become part of his life
has drowned out the voice of the true God—sometimes the minister does perceive that
his message is different than what the word of God says but all that matters to
him is his agenda which is more important to him.
A Scripture passage can have one
or more even many layers to it depending on the section, but if one of those
layers in that segment contradicts another layer than the contradiction has not
been given by the Spirit of God, furthermore if a layer from one passage
contradicts another layer from another passage than the Spirit of God has not
spoken it either, rather it would be a seducing spirit’s voice the interpreter is
hearing, when a minister realizes that he has misinterpreted a Scripture
passage he should then confess that he did not hear from the Spirit but rather
was misled in his understanding of that Scripture, if he does not confess his
sin then pride will take root and grow in his life and will become the predominate spirit in the ministers further
attempts to understand and explain the meaning of Scripture, thereby leading
his hearers astray, this is one of the works of seducing spirits; unfortunately
some ministers are tightly bound with
these spirits and the Holy Spirit is shut out of their life and ministry.
Another important promise, other than end-time prophecy,
is the healing power of Jesus Christ for the believer, there are far too many ministers that have given the
Church false information concerning God’s will for the believer’s health and his
miraculous healing, the God of the Bible desires that his children be healthy
all the days of their life on the earth, Jesus actually suffered not only so
that the believer could be forgiven of his sins but also so that he could be
healed from all sickness and disease,[1] the
provision for healing was made by the wounds the Christ suffered the night he
was betrayed and handed over to be beaten by the Roman soldiers.[2]
Some ministers have taught that the believer must
suffer with sickness and disease unless God shows the afflicted mercy and then graciously
heals them, this is what many churches teach, they believe that it is God’s
will to heal certain individuals but not others, they make it sound as if the
affliction is the believer’s destiny in
life or that it is his fate, it is highly
likely they get this idea from their ministerial experiences which has then dragged
them into deception, seducing spirits have led many ministers into false
doctrine and therefore many believers into error because it is certainly not the
Spirit of God revealing this lie to them, because of erroneous teaching many believers have been led astray
because they do not practice the Berean way and examine what they have been
taught, some do not study the Scriptures for themselves or they would find out
that it is God’s will that every believer be healed of all sickness and
disease, it is a promise and benefit of our salvation.
They key in receiving God’s
healing power is that first and foremost the child of God has to believe that
it is God’s will he be healed and he must have sincere faith in God that what he says is true, if the
believer doubts even one miniscule then he cannot receive anything from God, he
is like a man that has two minds, one mind is of faith and the other is of
doubt, the doubt will wipe out the faith, he must believe that Christ has
already made the provision for his healing by the wounds he suffered at the
hands of the Romans.
Isaiah prophesied the outcome of
the Christ’s work on the cross, looking forward God showed him that the Messiah
would carry not only our sin to the cross but also our griefs and our sorrows,[3] griefs
and sorrows are a poor English translation from the Hebrew words ‘choliy’ and ‘mak’ob,’
in that they actually mean: choliy—sickness, disease and anxiety; mak'ob—pain,
both mental and physical pain, the beating and scorching that Jesus endured
actually has brought us healing,[4] the
Apostle Peter even reminds the believer that the follower of Christ has already
received healing because of the wounds Jesus suffered;[5] the
Greek word he used was ‘iaomai,’ which means to cure, healed, made whole.
There happens to be some that do
not like the following kingdom policy, but
nevertheless; it is the believer’s responsibility
as a child of God to have faith in Jesus and truly believe what he says, he has
to trust in the Lord with all his heart that his word is true and not just think
that just maybe his word is true or that even possibly he can do miracles, even
Jesus could not do many miracles in his hometown but only heal a few sick
people because they did not believe in him, they had no faith in the Son of
God, if they were to receive his miracle working power they had to believe that
Jesus could and that he would heal them, which is no different for the believer
today, if the believer does not believe that
God has already made provision for his healing then he will not be healed, he has
to believe with all his heart that he has already been healed no matter how long
it takes for the manifestation to occur,
if the disease happens to overtake the believer before the manifestation of
healing occurs then that does not mean the provision has not already been made
or that the believer was not already healed, to believe otherwise is not
interpreting the word of God properly; as long as the child of God believes the
word of God and puts his faith into practice he then has nothing to be ashamed
of when he stands before God and gives an account for his faith.
The believer will give an account
for how he practices faith, our faith really isn’t our faith at all, it is God’s
faith, he gives it to us as a gift, it is produced within us by the word of
God, and as the word of God is taken care of within us like watering it and
feeding it growth will happen and faith will increase, you cannot live off of another
person’s faith, they cannot deposit their faith within you, you can only be
inspired by someone else’s faith, their faith can motivate you to feed on the
word of God so that faith will become powerful within you but you cannot rob
them of their faith.
The afflicted believer can have
someone pray for them but they still must personally have faith that God has
already healed them, I did not say that God will heal them but rather I said
that God has already healed them and that by the wounds Jesus has already suffered,
the afflicted child of God must believe that the Christ has already carried their
sickness and disease in his own body along with their sins, if Jesus did not
carry our sickness and disease then he did not carry our sins either, God who
lives in eternity already sees the believer healed, putting ones faith into
practice means that you confess the word of God over your situation, you speak
it over the doctor’s diagnoses and believe what the word of God says and that
is that you are healed by the wounds Jesus suffered for you.
The believer participates in the divine
nature of God[6]which
not only allows him to escape evil but also to appropriate God’s power of healing, the believer has the gifts
of the Spirit within them and they are not only used for the good of others but
also for oneself when needed, God “calls things that are not, things that one
cannot see, things that are blind to the eye, as though they were”[7] which
means that he gives life to the dead, what is not seen with the eye is made
real or brought into actuality by the word of God, by God’s word the worlds
were created, he spoke them into their physical being out of nothing, when the believer
speaks God’s word persistently and diligently over his affliction doing it by
faith believing that what he is speaking is undoubtedly true the healing will
manifest at some point.
Below is a number of Scriptures
to help the believer to have faith in God to receive his healing power.
a) Exodus 23:25, “Worship the
LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take
away sickness from among you.” (NIV)
b) Psalms 30:2, “LORD my God, I
called to you for help, and you healed me.” (NIV)
c) Psalms 103:2-3, “Praise the
LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and
heals all your diseases.” (NIV)
d) Psalms 107:20, “He sent out his
word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.” (NIV)
e) Proverbs 4:20-22, “My son, pay
attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your
sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body.” (NIV)
f) Isaiah 53:4-5, “Surely He has
borne our griefs {choliy—sickness, disease, anxiety} and carried our sorrows {mak'ob—pain,
both mental and physical pain}; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God,
and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for
our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes
{chabbuwrah—his wounds and bruises caused by the beating and lashings, and the
punches to his head} we are healed {rapha'—to heal, or make healthful}.” (NKJ)
g) 1 Peter 2:24, “He personally
carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and
live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed {iaomai (Greek)—to cure,
healed, made whole}.” (NLT)
h) Matthew 8:16-17, “When evening
came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the
spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was
spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our
diseases.” (NIV)
[1] Psalms
103:2-3
[2] Isaiah
53:4-5
[3] Isaiah
53:4
[4] Isaiah
53:5
[5] 1
Peter 2:24
[6] 2
Peter 1:4
