Have you ever wondered why Christ is so rich, and yet, you are so poor? Why Christ is so strong, and yet, you are so weak? Why Christ overcame the world, and yet, you are overwhelmed by it?
"Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?" — Luke 24:32
People study God’s holy word as if there are no Scriptures to be "opened up". You know what I mean? Delusional bible students are void of prayer while feeling ready tohear God as they read the Bible.
"I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now"— John 16:12
At last, let us realize! One may read Scripture from a page, but only God can write it upon the fleshly table of the heart Your Pastor is eloquent of speech. But do you hear him speak much about kneeling before God in prayer? If not, who is "the Preacher" ...really? Is it God the Holy Ghost, who alone can do the work The entire duty of these men is to be "laborers together with God" Everyone should be trying to stay out of God's way while they engage in the work. Today men know nothing of what it means to be "a vessel...meet for the Master's use" And Preachers are rich in pride because they are powerless to pray.
"Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to...anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see"— Rev. 3:17-18
Do you see? Have you ever wondered why Christ is so rich, and yet, you are so poor? Why is Christ so strong, and yet, you are so weak? Christ overcame the world, and yet, are you overwhelmed by it? Have you ever wondered why the treasury of Christ’s wisdom and knowledge is not opened up to you If so, look closely at the burden of the apostle Paul which drove him to his knees in continuous prayer:
"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you...
"the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him"
"the eyes of your understanding being enlightened"
"that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding"
"that ye...may be able to comprehend...to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God"
- Ephesians 1:15-19, 3:14-21, Colossians 1:9-12
All men have understanding! But very few men have a "spiritual understanding". All men have eyes! But very few men have "the eyes of their understanding enlightened". All men seek knowledge! But very few obtain it by "the spirit of wisdom and revelation". Do you know what these things are?
"And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?"— Luke 24:31-32
Has God opened up the Scriptures to you? Has Christ's actual, experiential, and communing Presence become the chief end of your learning and knowledge? Are you one of those people who have been effectually called by God "unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord" When a man is "filled with all the fulness of God" this is when the knowledge of God is comprehended, or rather, when the incomprehensible is Divinely revealed, for it is God that must open the eyes and ears of seekers by unlocking the scriptures and illuminating the mind.In all your learning, if you have not learned this, then you haven't learned anything of substance. In all your learning, Seminarian, are you learning God? Counting the hours, have you learned to pray? Or can it be said of you that you cannot continue with Christ for one hour in prayer? Do you think that you know God, and yet, you cannot speak to Him at length, nor He with you?
We live in a day when men think so well of themselves as Preachers. How flippant is the calling sought after, and without gravity, engaged!? Men have no problem preaching because what they have learned is not a mystery. They are not, therefore, stewards of the mysteries of God If you are truly ordained by God as a Pastor, how did you get your ordination? Did it come by prayer and fasting Was there any prophetic element to it? Most men cannot even keep the candle of their first love burning in the night with their prayers ascending like the flaming heat is continually rising. Can such men be called Pastors? True Pastors "watch for your souls as they that must give account" May God give us mercy to hear that divinely inspired question again: "Who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?" Who among the Seminarians are obeying the command of Christ, "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning" If Christ comes to you "in the second watch, or come in the third watch" of the night, how will He "find" you? Will Christ include you in the number of those saintly few, and say, "BLESSED ARE THOSE SERVANTS" Proud graduates of Seminary like to think of themselves as learned and educated "Masters of Divinity", and yet they have never learned discipline and bodily subjection in the eternal cause of prayer, being invigorated thereto by a godly fear of God’s castaway wrath Christian academia is worthless when it exists in “word only” Having loved the “enticing words of man’s wisdom”, are you oblivious to what Paul called the “demonstration of the Spirit and of power” This learning - which is a spiritual experience - is the blessed portion of childlike believers. This is what God calls “HIDDEN WISDOM”
If men would pray, how would this affect their preaching?
“No preacher is going to skip into the pulpit with the “good news” that the church won the top honors in the interchurch bowling league if he has come from the closet of prayer with eternity blazing in his eyes.” - Leonard Ravenhill“No preacher leaves the closet with a sweat on his soul and offers a world of rebels the feeble utterance, ‘God loves you,’ without also stating, ‘God is angry with the wicked every day (Ps. 7:11).’” — Leonard Ravenhill
In all your learning, have you ever come near to God, as it were, gazing upon His glory!? Have you ever abode in the thick cloud of His presence until time and sense seem no more, until suddenly, you are “endued with power from on high” In all your learning...have you learned God?
These are perilous times. The inspiration of the Word of God has been attacked in recent times more than ever before. Questioning the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture is an attack on its inspiration.
Modern academia applauds the fair speeches of ancient Greek philosophers, men like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the like; and the gullible minds of educated men are sincerely impressed. Meanwhile, the apostle Paul remains thoroughly unimpressed!
Peter was arguing for the equality of Scripture in the Old and New Testaments. The “vision” that Peter was referring to was already written down, canonized, and circulated as Scripture through the Gospels (Matt. 16:21-17:13, Mk. 8:27-9:13, Lk. 9:29-35).
John MacArthur, over the past many years, has served as a beacon of hope to many for theological conservatism and fundamentalism. But in the already precarious year of 2020, he joined together with the Lockman Foundation
However, this complicates the issue by presenting to the reader a number of various definitions to choose from which slightly or significantly alter the meaning of the verse in question.
All that really matters is if the Prophet is turning people from their sins and from the wickedness of their doings (Jer. 23:18-22). Passion does not equal power. Passionate preachers these days can stir up congregations into a frenzy of celebration.
