Quotes from Today's Readings
Into All Truth by George Davis and Michael Clark
There is one major problem with this. Most of these teachings and writings are based on the supposition that if we find the right pattern or the right regimen we will experience the life and power the early believers knew. This "Field of Dreams" mentality, "Build it and they will come," is a clear case of the cart pushing the horse.
In all God's creation, life precedes form and function. Latent within the acorn is the mighty oak. The kingdom of God is no exception to this rule. What at first seems no more substantial than a mustard seed, difficult to see and handle, with time and the right conditions grows into the largest of herbs. So is it with the things of God. Life precedes form and function.
All form and function of the early church was the spontaneous expression of the overflowing life within.
No, the focus of these primitive believers was purely upon the Christ living, by His Spirit, in the midst of them, individually and corporately.
We believe that Christendom has elevated the head-knowledge of the word (the letter) to a place usurping the experiential knowledge of the living Word (Jesus). Jesus' words to the Pharisees ring as true today as ever, "You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me. Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life" (John 5:39-40 WEB).
Whatever our doctrine, if it does not lead us to an intimate knowledge of Christ, it misses God's mark completely.
The scriptures point to Jesus, yet how sad that many refuse to come to Him. We can find no evidence that Jesus taught his followers to live strictly by a rulebook.
Likewise, the Gospels and the Epistles are not a rule book by which we independently and systematically attempt to approach God in our own merit. They are witnesses of Him, by whose blood we are accepted in the beloved. Christ is the substance that the scriptures give witness of. The scripture is a mirror that reflects His image. They were given to verify the existence and reality of a Person and lead the readers to Him.
Should we study the scriptures? Absolutely! The problem is not the study of the scriptures, but the misguided belief that they are the Source, the Well-spring of life. The scriptures are a witness, and like any good witness, they do not testify of themselves but point to Him who is the fountain of Life.
True church reform, revival, or what ever you choose to call it, has nothing to do with getting the pattern right. Failing to understand this has led reformers to fall far short of the purposes and heart of God in the past. True reformation is not the regaining a previous pattern but is the restoration of the Spirit's rightful place as leader of Christ's ekklesia.
We have concluded that a true spirit-led teacher rarely teaches those led of the Spirit anything new, but rather just confirms them in their faith and trust in the Spirit, assuring them that they can hear His voice.
Allow us to borrow the words of T. Austin Sparks.
The thing about a real windstorm is that it takes the government out of all other hands and proceeds to do as it chooses without reference or deference to conventions, traditions, common acceptances, inclinations, or fixed ideas. While it lasts, it is sovereign."
Christ lives IN and through us by the Spirit's indwelling. The triune knowledge of Jesus being IN the Father and Christ living IN us and us being IN Him can only be realized by virtue of that indwelling.
Much that calls itself "Christian" today prefers to be led by its own light or understanding of what has been spoken or written in the past rather than by He who now speaks.
She spoke of worldly water, the traditions of the Jews, and the teachings of the Jewish and Samaritan fathers. But Jesus answers her from HIS Father's heavenly perspective on each point.
Religious man has codified many of the words of Christ and the apostles into rigid doctrines, rules and regulations that have become dead letters. The Jews took the words of Moses and the prophets that pointed the way to the living waters of the Spirit and the Messiah and got hung-up on interpretations of the letter. They missed their Messiah altogether.
What makes men think that The Living Word of God, His own Son, has ever ceased to speak? By the way men lead the church today, you would think they believe that "God is dead" and it is now all up to them. The Bible speaks of Jesus as the Word of God, but men have chosen to ignore this fact and call the Bible itself "The Word of God." This is symptomatic of what is killing the church.
Complete things make partial things obsolete.
Paul spoke of the problem of looking back to established traditions and creeds as a safeguard against error. On the surface this seems like wisdom, but is it? In the natural, looking back causes you to assume an unnatural position. If held for any length of time, it will make our necks ache and our vision to blur. God created us to look and walk forward. This is why He pointed our feet and eyes forward. Our feet will go best where our focus is. If our eye is on the mark, we will forget those things that are behind and press forward, allowing the Spirit of Truth to lead us on into all truth.
For the Holy Spirit to come was just the same ALL, and FULFILLING of the whole gospel, as a Christ to come was the all, and the fulfilling of the Law. The Jew therefore with his Old Testament, not owning Christ in all his process to be the truth and life, and fulfiller of their Law, is just in that same apostasy, as the Christian with his New Testament, not owning the Holy Spirit in all his operations, to be his only light, guide, and governor. For as all types and figures in the Law were but empty shadows without Christ's being the life and power of them, so all that is written in the gospel is but dead letter, unless the Holy Spirit in man be the living reader, the living rememberer, and the living doer of them. (William Law)
For many years, the church has tried to establish a letter-based unity and it has only resulted in greater division.
When we build doctrines or establish mindsets out of reaction to anything instead of following the Spirit of Truth, error is close at hand and mind-numbing legalism is hot on its heels. To observe today's churches, you would have to conclude that Jesus told the disciples in John 14:26, "But the Bible which the Father will send in My name, it will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." Believe us, this is NOT what Jesus promised the church to keep it from error, but rather the Holy Spirit. The Godhead is not the Father, the Son and the Holy Bible.
The book we commonly call "The Acts of the Apostles" would more correctly be titled "The Acts of the Holy Spirit." It is evident that the Holy Spirit was the only Counselor and Guide in the early Church. We can nowhere find, within the pages of the New Testament, where believers were led about by scripture. They referred to scripture, but that was not the primary guide.
Waiting on God or Holy Presumption by George Davis and Michael Clark
The word wait in the above passage is from the Hebrew word qavah, which means "to bind together by twisting." So waiting in this case is not speaking of inactivity, though inactivity might be required for a season. Rather it speaks of being joined to God in such a way that His desires become yours, being attentive to His vision and interests and acting only when He acts and moving only when He moves. It is being so melded together that His life is your life. It is being so intertwined with God, attuned to His pulse, that when He rests, we rest and when He works, we work. The object is not the work or the wait, but rather a complete unity in Him.
Paul warned the church in Galatia that they could not perfect in their flesh what God planted in them by the Spirit. It also holds true that He will not perfect in the Spirit what we start in the flesh!
Remember, the race does not go to the swift nor does the battle always go to the mighty (Ecclesiastes 9:11), nor is youthful zeal and strength enough. It goes to those who wait upon the Lord for that new strength that comes down from above in His time and for His purposes as they are intertwined with Him alone. It goes to those who have no sufficiency except the sufficiency of God. These are the ones He knows intimately and who know Him, His heart, His pulse and His timing (see Matthew 7:21-23).
There is one major problem with this. Most of these teachings and writings are based on the supposition that if we find the right pattern or the right regimen we will experience the life and power the early believers knew. This "Field of Dreams" mentality, "Build it and they will come," is a clear case of the cart pushing the horse.
--------------
In all God's creation, life precedes form and function. Latent within the acorn is the mighty oak. The kingdom of God is no exception to this rule. What at first seems no more substantial than a mustard seed, difficult to see and handle, with time and the right conditions grows into the largest of herbs. So is it with the things of God. Life precedes form and function.
--------------
All form and function of the early church was the spontaneous expression of the overflowing life within.
--------------
No, the focus of these primitive believers was purely upon the Christ living, by His Spirit, in the midst of them, individually and corporately.
--------------
We believe that Christendom has elevated the head-knowledge of the word (the letter) to a place usurping the experiential knowledge of the living Word (Jesus). Jesus' words to the Pharisees ring as true today as ever, "You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me. Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life" (John 5:39-40 WEB).
--------------
Whatever our doctrine, if it does not lead us to an intimate knowledge of Christ, it misses God's mark completely.
--------------
The scriptures point to Jesus, yet how sad that many refuse to come to Him. We can find no evidence that Jesus taught his followers to live strictly by a rulebook.
--------------
Likewise, the Gospels and the Epistles are not a rule book by which we independently and systematically attempt to approach God in our own merit. They are witnesses of Him, by whose blood we are accepted in the beloved. Christ is the substance that the scriptures give witness of. The scripture is a mirror that reflects His image. They were given to verify the existence and reality of a Person and lead the readers to Him.
--------------
Should we study the scriptures? Absolutely! The problem is not the study of the scriptures, but the misguided belief that they are the Source, the Well-spring of life. The scriptures are a witness, and like any good witness, they do not testify of themselves but point to Him who is the fountain of Life.
--------------
True church reform, revival, or what ever you choose to call it, has nothing to do with getting the pattern right. Failing to understand this has led reformers to fall far short of the purposes and heart of God in the past. True reformation is not the regaining a previous pattern but is the restoration of the Spirit's rightful place as leader of Christ's ekklesia.
--------------
We have concluded that a true spirit-led teacher rarely teaches those led of the Spirit anything new, but rather just confirms them in their faith and trust in the Spirit, assuring them that they can hear His voice.
--------------
Allow us to borrow the words of T. Austin Sparks.
The thing about a real windstorm is that it takes the government out of all other hands and proceeds to do as it chooses without reference or deference to conventions, traditions, common acceptances, inclinations, or fixed ideas. While it lasts, it is sovereign."
--------------
Christ lives IN and through us by the Spirit's indwelling. The triune knowledge of Jesus being IN the Father and Christ living IN us and us being IN Him can only be realized by virtue of that indwelling.
--------------
Much that calls itself "Christian" today prefers to be led by its own light or understanding of what has been spoken or written in the past rather than by He who now speaks.
--------------
She spoke of worldly water, the traditions of the Jews, and the teachings of the Jewish and Samaritan fathers. But Jesus answers her from HIS Father's heavenly perspective on each point.
--------------
Religious man has codified many of the words of Christ and the apostles into rigid doctrines, rules and regulations that have become dead letters. The Jews took the words of Moses and the prophets that pointed the way to the living waters of the Spirit and the Messiah and got hung-up on interpretations of the letter. They missed their Messiah altogether.
--------------
What makes men think that The Living Word of God, His own Son, has ever ceased to speak? By the way men lead the church today, you would think they believe that "God is dead" and it is now all up to them. The Bible speaks of Jesus as the Word of God, but men have chosen to ignore this fact and call the Bible itself "The Word of God." This is symptomatic of what is killing the church.
--------------
Complete things make partial things obsolete.
--------------
Paul spoke of the problem of looking back to established traditions and creeds as a safeguard against error. On the surface this seems like wisdom, but is it? In the natural, looking back causes you to assume an unnatural position. If held for any length of time, it will make our necks ache and our vision to blur. God created us to look and walk forward. This is why He pointed our feet and eyes forward. Our feet will go best where our focus is. If our eye is on the mark, we will forget those things that are behind and press forward, allowing the Spirit of Truth to lead us on into all truth.
--------------
For the Holy Spirit to come was just the same ALL, and FULFILLING of the whole gospel, as a Christ to come was the all, and the fulfilling of the Law. The Jew therefore with his Old Testament, not owning Christ in all his process to be the truth and life, and fulfiller of their Law, is just in that same apostasy, as the Christian with his New Testament, not owning the Holy Spirit in all his operations, to be his only light, guide, and governor. For as all types and figures in the Law were but empty shadows without Christ's being the life and power of them, so all that is written in the gospel is but dead letter, unless the Holy Spirit in man be the living reader, the living rememberer, and the living doer of them. (William Law)
--------------
For many years, the church has tried to establish a letter-based unity and it has only resulted in greater division.
--------------
When we build doctrines or establish mindsets out of reaction to anything instead of following the Spirit of Truth, error is close at hand and mind-numbing legalism is hot on its heels. To observe today's churches, you would have to conclude that Jesus told the disciples in John 14:26, "But the Bible which the Father will send in My name, it will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." Believe us, this is NOT what Jesus promised the church to keep it from error, but rather the Holy Spirit. The Godhead is not the Father, the Son and the Holy Bible.
--------------
The book we commonly call "The Acts of the Apostles" would more correctly be titled "The Acts of the Holy Spirit." It is evident that the Holy Spirit was the only Counselor and Guide in the early Church. We can nowhere find, within the pages of the New Testament, where believers were led about by scripture. They referred to scripture, but that was not the primary guide.
Waiting on God or Holy Presumption by George Davis and Michael Clark
The word wait in the above passage is from the Hebrew word qavah, which means "to bind together by twisting." So waiting in this case is not speaking of inactivity, though inactivity might be required for a season. Rather it speaks of being joined to God in such a way that His desires become yours, being attentive to His vision and interests and acting only when He acts and moving only when He moves. It is being so melded together that His life is your life. It is being so intertwined with God, attuned to His pulse, that when He rests, we rest and when He works, we work. The object is not the work or the wait, but rather a complete unity in Him.
--------------
Paul warned the church in Galatia that they could not perfect in their flesh what God planted in them by the Spirit. It also holds true that He will not perfect in the Spirit what we start in the flesh!
--------------
Remember, the race does not go to the swift nor does the battle always go to the mighty (Ecclesiastes 9:11), nor is youthful zeal and strength enough. It goes to those who wait upon the Lord for that new strength that comes down from above in His time and for His purposes as they are intertwined with Him alone. It goes to those who have no sufficiency except the sufficiency of God. These are the ones He knows intimately and who know Him, His heart, His pulse and His timing (see Matthew 7:21-23).
posted by GBT at
Monday, May 23, 2005
