HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR BIBLE?

HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR BIBLE?

                To start this article I would like to quote from Mark Virkler at a time when he was making a transition from the traditional to the Spirit filled life. HE said:

                “I used to scorn (Christian) liberals who had “demythalized” away the supernatural parts of the Bible. I was glad I was an evangelical, a Bible-believing Christian. However, one day the Lord pointed out to me that I did not believe the whole Bible was for me either. HE reminded me that I believed the Old Testament was for the Jews; the Gospels were about the supernatural lifestyle of Jesus and not a way of life I could experience myself; the Book of Acts was transitional and not for today; and the Book of Revelation was for the future. All I had left to me was the teaching portions of the Epistles that did not speak about the supernatural such as the gifts of the Holy Spirit. “

                “I was appalled! I repented for my dispensationalism and told God I wanted my Bible back, so I could live it from cover to cover. If you don’t have your whole Bible to live, I suggest you. Too, may want to take a moment right now in prayer and repent for allowing it to be stolen from you and tell God you want it all back for you to live today.” Mark Virkler from his book, “4 Keys to Hearing God’s Voice.”

                Is it not true that we believe the Bible as God’s Word… as a resource of information about God and His works through time, but when it comes to actually living the things that are spoken of there; we draw back into the more comfortable position of theory? We love the stories, but we don’t dare try to live them, or to walk in their power.

                So, is the Bible an account of what used to be, or is it an instruction manual for living now?

                The wise men followed a star and found the Baby Jesus. Peter and Paul and the rest of the disciples laid hands on the sick and they were healed. They cast out demons, they raised the dead, and they heard God’s voice and obeyed. They took counsel from the Holy Spirit and followed it. They saw angels and heeded their instruction. They heard God’s voice accurately and wrote it all down… for us!

                Is Jesus still alive? Did He send us His Holy Spirit? Is His Holy Spirit still alive? Did God change His mind or do we not have a divine commission to take this Gospel of the kingdom into the entire world?

                Well here is another question: Does Jesus expect us to do His work without His power?

                Let’s picture a race car driver. He wins hundreds of races during his life, but as he grows older he hands the car over to you and tells you to go out and win races just like he did… only he is going to keep the engine for Himself, but he is going to expect you to win your races like he did, only without an engine.

                We need to re-think our theology don’t we? We can’t go on attributing the works of Christ to the devil as we sit in our classes and hash and rehash our theories about the Christian life. At some point we are going to have to go out and live the life of Christ. At some point we are going to learn how to put the engine back in. At some point we are going to have to fulfill HIS promise and command that the works HE did and even greater works shall we do because He has gone to the Father.

                Of course we need spiritual discernment. The devil is out there counterfeiting everything that Christ did. But if we back off because Satan is doing it too, then He will have won.

                Now, let me be very frank here. I am not writing as someone that has arrived, but rather one who is searching. I am not satisfied with the level of God’s power in my life. I cry out to God, “Where is the engine and how do we put it back in? When will you pour out your Spirit again as in days gone by?

                What is it going to look like? Are we going to roll on the floor laughing uncontrollably, or barking like dogs? I don’t think so.  The disciples had an urgent and important message about the kingdom and they demonstrated the powers of that kingdom with signs and wonders so that people would come into it and be saved. It was a message of repentance and obedience, of death and of taking up our cross and following after Jesus.

                The early church was not out having loud hallelujah parties and Christian rock festivals. Usually they were hidden behind closed doors, praying for their friends who were in prison. They carried portions of scripture and spread the Gospel at great risk. They depended wholly upon them Holy Spirit to empower them and guide them.

                So I want to close this by saying that I see persecution and war and surveillance such as mankind has never seen before, coming to our land and we need to seriously pray that God will help us to re-engage with the Holy Spirit in such a way that we can begin to live the Bible and not just use it for a dusty textbook about history.

                We were designed to be temples of the Holy Spirit. We were designed to hear God’s voice. God is not far off, but near us even in our mouths as we speak. Romans 10:8

                “Now unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works WITHIN US…” Ephesians 3:20

                Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers were provided for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ. “Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:10-14

                This fullness of maturity, this knowledge, this growing up in all aspects into Him who is the head even Christ, is not just a static imitation of holiness, but a forward moving, mission driven fullness of Christ along with His love and His power.

                Again I refer to the race car driver. If we are to grow up in all aspects into the Stature of Christ, are we to do so without an engine?  No… and the church is weak today because of long standing traditions and doctrines over which we haggled, that have no meaning apart from the power and purpose of Jesus Christ. So moving into the fullness of Christ means moving beyond dead doctrine and tradition, to a living pursuit of the life of Christ… to have our foundations planted not in the Book, but in the Person… the God of the book.

                Like Jesus so aptly said, “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is these that bear witness of Me, and you are unwilling to come to Me that you may have life.” John 5:39

                We need to meditate upon John chapters 5 and 6. In these chapters are many keys for moving from dead religion to a living and vibrant life. Actually the whole book of John is a book for putting the engine back in. this book moves us beyond Christian theory to the Person of Jesus Christ in whom is all power and glory forever and ever. Amen.