Subject: The Problem with WoF in a nutshell |
Bible Note: Brothers, please be careful not to condemn brothers who are preaching Jesus, and Him crucified. I believe they are sincere in their desire to expose the truth of faith in God's Word, and that God expects, nay, demands faith from all believers, in Him Heb. 11:16, and his word, John 14:23, 24 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. 253 John 14:24 "He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me. So you see God does expect us to be creatures of faith, not of flesh, but therein lies the problem. Most "Christians", the true believers as well as the pretenders, are falling into the same trap that the early church suffered from. We have operated so long in the flesh that it's difficult for us to yield to our spirit, when God is trying to guide us by His Spirit. Furthermore, today's "Church" has been reduced to trying to explain and impart spiritual truths intellectually. Spiritual things are learned through spiritual experiences, not through academic proliferation. You do realize, of course, that there was no written New Testament for years and years after Jesus was taken back to heaven. The early believers operated in supernatural faith or we, you and I, would not have the bible in the form it is in today. It wasn't until men began translating the bible, an acedemic undertaking, that there were difficulties with understanding what God had said. If we spent more time in our fellowships helping people to understand the spiritual things there would be less arguing about things like having faith in faith as opposed to having faith in God. When you operate in the spirit, there is no need for translation. God imparts His will and wisdom and power through His Spirit to us when we meet Him spiritually, as opposed to intellectually. I am not advocating doing away with the written word, but rather placing it in it's proper perspective. I own an automobile. It came with a manufacturer's handbook that explains how everything works, and when I am ready to go somewhere, after having read the handbook, I get into the car and drive to my destination. I don't drive the handbook, it was merely the instruction book on how the vehicle functions, and that's what the bible is meant to be, a handbook on how to live in the sprit. Read the handbook, and go try out doing what it tells you to do. I assure you if you do that you will quickly become a proponent of believing God's word literally. Now I will concede that men are are just men and somtimes, who knows for what reason, God knows, they have a tendency to overstate God's word in their enthusiasm, and that may not be the best thing to do, but at least they are trying to impart spiritual knowledge to fleshly beings as if to transform them into spiritual creatures. The brothers who are part of the Word Fellowships, aren't try to misdirect people away from God, they are merely trying to get through to people who haven't yet yielded to God's Spirit to the degree required for them to be able to function as spiritual beings. Certainly a brother or two may run too far with a doctrine, or a tenet in his enthusiasm, but this should not be a reason to tear him/them down. These are your brothers and sisters in the Lord, and you are going to spend eternity with them, or at least I hope you are born again and baptised in the Holy Spirit, so that will be true. If you want to expose truth to the brethren I suggest you find someone who is preaching heresy,and reveal the truth about them. In Paul's second letter to Timothy he explains who it is to look out for. 2 Tim 3:1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 Tim 3:2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 2 Tim 3:3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 2 Tim 3:4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 2 Tim 3:5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. 2 Tim 3:6 For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, 2 Tim 3:7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Tim 3:8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. Be very careful brothers that you too might not be opposing the very work of God the Father. I trust you will prayerfully consider what I have shared with you. En Agape, Jim |