YOU HAVE FORCED ME TO TALK THIS WAY, ----- AND I DO IT AGAINST MY BETTER JUDGMENT. --------- BUT NOW THAT WE ARE AT IT, ----- I MAY AS WELL BRING UP THE MATTER OF VISIONS AND REVELATIONS THAT GOD GAVE ME. ---------------------------------------------- FOR INSTANCE, I KNOW A MAN WHO, FOURTEEN YEARS AGO, --- WAS SEIZED BY CHRIST AND SWEPT IN ECSTASY TO THE HEIGHTS OF HEAVEN. --------------- I REALLY DO NOT KNOW IF THIS TOOK PLACE IN THE BODY OR OUT OF IT; -- ONLY GOD KNOWS.------------------------------------------------- I ALSO KNOW THAT THIS MAN WAS HIJACKED INTO PARADISE — AGAIN, WHETHER IN OR OUT OF THE BODY, -- I DO NOT KNOW; ----------- GOD KNOWS. -------------------------- THERE HE HEARD THE UNSPEAKABLE SPOKEN, ---- BUT AS FORBIDDEN TO TELL WHAT HE HEARD. ----------------------------- THIS IS THE MAN I WANT TO TALK ABOUT. ----------------------------------------------------------------- BUT ABOUT MYSELF, I AM NOT SAYING ANOTHER WORD APART FROM THE HUMILIATIONS. - 2COR 12:1 ********************************************** ** You will remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on GOD’S MASTER STROKE, ----- I DID NOT TRY TO IMPRESS YOU WITH POLISHED SPEECHES AND THE LATEST PHILOSOPHY. ---------------------------- I deliberately kept it plain and simple: FIRST JESUS AND WHO HE IS; ------------------ THEN JESUS AND WHAT HE DID ---------------- JESUS CRUCIFIED. --------------------------------------- I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate—I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it—and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. -------------------------------- BUT THE MESSAGE CAME THROUGH ANYWAY.---- GOD’S SPIRIT AND GOD’S POWER DID IT, ---------------------------------------------- WHICH MADE IT CLEAR THAT YOUR LIFE OF FAITH IS A RESPONSE TO GOD’S POWER, ------- NOT TO SOME FANCY MENTAL OR EMOTIONAL FOOTWORK BY ME OR ANYONE ELSE. ---------------------------------------------- We, of course, have plenty of WISDOM to PASS ON to you ONCE YOU GET YOUR FEET ON FIRM SPIRITUAL GROUND, ---- but it is not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so. ---------------------------------------------------------- GOD’S WISDOM IS SOMETHING MYSTERIOUS THAT GOES DEEP INTO THE INTERIOR OF HIS PURPOSES. --------------------------------- YOU DO NOT FIND IT LYING AROUND ON THE SURFACE. ----------------------------------- IT IS NOT THE LATEST MESSAGE, BUT MORE LIKE THE OLDEST — WHAT GOD DETERMINED AS THE WAY TO BRING OUT HIS BEST IN US, ------- LONG BEFORE WE EVER ARRIVED ON THE SCENE. ---------------------- THE EXPERTS OF OUR DAY HAVE NOT A CLUE ABOUT WHAT THIS ETERNAL PLAN IS. -------------------------------------------------------------------- If they had, they would not have killed the MASTER of the GOD-DESIGNED LIFE on a CROSS. ------------------------------------------------------ That is why we have this Scripture text: ----- NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN OR HEARD ANYTHING LIKE THIS, NEVER SO MUCH AS IMAGINED ANYTHING QUITE LIKE IT — WHAT GOD HAS ARRANGED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM. ------------------------------------------ BUT YOU HAVE SEEN AND HEARD IT BECAUSE GOD BY HIS SPIRIT HAS BROUGHT IT ALL OUT INTO THE OPEN BEFORE YOU. --------------------------------------------------------------------- THE SPIRIT, --- NOT CONTENT TO FLIT AROUND ON THE SURFACE , --- DIVES INTO THE DEPTHS OF GOD, ---- AND BRINGS OUT WHAT GOD PLANNED ALL ALONG. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHO EVER KNOWS WHAT YOU ARE THINKING AND PLANNING EXCEPT YOU YOURSELF? -------- THE SAME WITH GOD — EXCEPT THAT HE NOT ONLY KNOWS WHAT HE IS THINKING, ---------------------------- BUT HE LETS US IN ON IT. ---------------------------------------------- GOD OFFERS A FULL REPORT ON THE GIFTS OF LIFE AND SALVATION THAT HE IS GIVING US. -------------------------------------------- WE DO NOT HAVE TO RELY ON THE WORLD’S GUESSES AND OPINIONS. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WE DID NOT LEARN THIS BY READING BOOKS OR GOING TO SCHOOL; --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WE LEARNED IT FROM GOD, WHO TAUGHT US PERSON-TO-PERSON THROUGH JESUS, ----------------------------------------------------------- AND WE ARE PASSING IT ON TO YOU IN THE SAME FIRSTHAND, PERSONAL WAY. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE UNSPIRITUAL SELF, --- JUST AS IT IS BY NATURE, ---- CANNOT RECEIVE THE GIFTS OF GOD’S SPIRIT. ---------- THERE IS NO CAPACITY FOR THEM. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- THEY SEEM LIKE SO MUCH SILLINESS. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SPIRIT CAN BE KNOWN ONLY BY SPIRIT — GOD’S SPIRIT AND OUR SPIRITS IN OPEN COMMUNION. ------------------------------------------------ SPIRITUALLY ALIVE, -- WE HAVE ACCESS TO EVERYTHING GOD’S SPIRIT IS DOING, ------ AND CANNOT BE JUDGED BY UNSPIRITUAL CRITICS. ------------------------ Isaiah’s question, “IS THERE ANYONE AROUND WHO KNOWS GOD’S SPIRIT, --------- ANYONE WHO KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING?” ---------- HAS BEEN ANSWERED: ---- CHRIST KNOWS, AND WE HAVE CHRIST’S SPIRIT. - 1COR 2:1 ************************************************* GOD , OUR GOD, WILL TAKE CARE OF THE HIDDEN THINGS ------- BUT THE REVEALED THINGS ARE OUR BUSINESS. --------------- IT IS UP TO US AND OUR CHILDREN TO ATTEND TO ALL THE TERMS IN THIS REVELATION. -- Deut 29:29 ************************************************* MAY THE GRACE OF GOD BE UPON YOU, AND HIS SPIRIT BE YOUR GUIDE. * * * * * * * * * SHALOM. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 02:35:34 +0000
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