Monday 4 February 2013

ABOUT DIVINE REVELATIONS

(REPONSE TO A COMMENT)
The cannot take the place of the Bible...not at all!
But take for example, if I come and say, “Church, the Lord appeared to me in a vision and said to me that there is laziness in the fold, and that the church should beware of laziness because it is a sin before Him and can deny His people a place in Heaven”. Now, these words, have they contradicted the Bible? Of course NO. Did the Bible teach us about laziness? Yes. But, are there people in church who just take laziness as a way of life and nothing more of eternal significance? Yes. So, what has “my revelation” done? Reminder! Is it (the revelation and reminder) contrary to the Bible? NO. Is it confirmatory? Yes. If by the revelation people repent and revival follow with the people repenting of every form of laziness including the areas they do not see as laziness, and make fresh/renewed commitment to work...has “my revelation replaced the Bible as standard?” The same way, for the spiritual and spirit-filled, these revelations (those genuinely from God and confirmed by our spirits as believers) are meant to confirm the Word and not to replace them.

“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8, 9)
I also like to add that there is a difference between what is ‘contradictory’ and what is ‘confirmatory’. Paul warned against a contrary gospel. But like I said, it is our responsibility to test every spirit. When one is filled with the spirit, the revelations that are true will convict and not condemn.
The other day I taught about a generation despising eternal lifeline. I referred to what transpired between ‘father Abraham’ and the rich man. The rich man requested that someone be sent to warn his brothers about the realities of Hell. Abraham told him that if his brothers would not believe/hear the prophets, they would still not believe even if someone were to rise from the dead and warn them. But what do we have today, God in his mercy has even gone ahead to justify those words, because there are people who have died and were taken to see the realities of Hell and Heaven, and they “rise” from the dead to share their encounters....however, people still do not believe them;  they argue that those stories are too hard to be true and some even say such people had deep hallucinations. Alas ‘father Abraham’ was right! May we not be among the generation that will despise eternal lifeline.
My prayer is that we should not become too narrow-minded on the narrow way; it is dangerous. We owe our eternity the responsibilities to first and above all, test all spirits (including these revelations), and then we hold fast to the truth.
Should I find any revelation contradictory to the Bible, I have the Spirit of God to lead me. But, the truth remains that the revelations have confirmed the Word of God. Look at these; people have argued that smoking is not a sin. Homosexuals have contested that it is God (God forbid) who made them homosexuals from birth (or say Heaven). They have made their own Bible called Queen James Bible (can you see how far humanity can despise eternity). Now, some people even quote scriptures to support their stand that smoking and alcohol are not sinful, and they have even been taught that they are but bad habits. But they are blinded to what the Bible repeatedly calls “uncleanness”.
Now, Jesus has taken someone to Hell and shown the person a place for homosexuals, lesbians, smokers, and alcoholics there. Should this person share this testimony/revelation, do you say it is trying to replace the Bible or take its place? That will not be correct. Rather, those revelations became necessary as a form of eternal lifeline to confirm and establish what the Bible already says about these things which people are ignorant of or despise. If these revelations make people to repent, do you now say it has taken the place of the Bible?
Let us search in our spirits what is ‘confirmatory’ as against what is ‘contradictory’. May God give wisdom and understanding to our hearts.

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