Is their a WORD from the LORD?

[color=000066]And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the [u]word of the LORD[/u] from Jerusalem. [/color]

It is interesting to know that the Pharisees memorized at least the first 5 books of Moses. Some say they had to prove a false doctrine from scripture to qualify. They could sermonize and give out many 'words' that were God's law. They could comment on precepts; but they were [u]not[/u] the Oracle of God.

Today many have studied the word. In fact, the proliferation of the Bible has allowed multitudes to even memorize scripture. Bible CD's and tapes have helped even the hardest of minds put to memory whole blocks of scripture. Even children can quote whole sections of the bible.

Add to that the many teachings of systematic doctrine and homiletics and soon even the unregenerate can string together verses that have the 'sound' of a word from the Lord. But is it?

I was sitting in a service once when a brother looked over and later asked, "Is there a WORD from the Lord?" The preacher would have likely gotten angry and responded, "I'm preaching the WORD of God!" But that was not the question. The unregenerate children of the devil the Pharisees preached and taught the 'word of God,' but did they have a WORD from the LORD?

Understand that God intended [u]all[/u] of the gifts of the Spirit to be expressions of His [i]love[/i] towards the churches in particular. This is why I Cor. 13 is sandwiched between all that teaching on the gifts (Chrisma). There is a sense in which God designed to express His grace through apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor/teachers and the other many giftings such as prophesy, healing, tongues, etc.

This is God at work in the midst of the congregation. This is God working in the body using all of the various members. Like a symphony He orchestrates these members and brings forth His grace through the gifts that He gave unto men. And in this type of environment there is [u]no[/u] pretense. Christ is the High Priest tending His responsibility to deliver unto the churches what is needed at that moment in time to address what He 'sees' as their need.

This is not man being a diagnostition. This is men and women waiting on God for direction and believing that Christ is their High Priest. Their trust is in Him and not themselves. They wait to hear the word of His grace that they might respond in faith. Is there a WORD from the LORD? We desperately need to hear from God in our times. Men are dead in the water to answer our condition no mater how learned or how experienced.

We need a freshness of flame upon our mouths and not the charred embers of a bygone era. God had a word to them and He has a word to us. We need a readiness to hear and respond to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

That sentence is mentioned several times in the book of Revelation.

Hear. God wants us to listen, and to obey, and to tell others, as Ezra did in Ezra 7v10.

We read in 1 Kings 22 of the false prophets, who were not able to convince king Jehoshaphat. So much so, that in verse 7 he asks, '..Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of Him?'

However, we still have God's written word when it appears that we are not hearing from God.

It is wonderful, and it glorifies God, when we see His gifts in operation among us.

Emmanuel. God with us.

God bless.

'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'
This is a great verse, you could preach a great sermon just from this one verse.

People want a word from the Lord but then they can't bear it.
Pharisees were experts in the Law and What God has told them through the Prophets, yet they killed the prophets, and wouldnt even obey what they knew to be true of Gods word, thus is why when someone calls a brother or sister in Christ a Pharisee, it is used as a negative connotation.
Having an ear to hear means more than just hearing it, but to listen to it, and then obey what God is saying to his servants.

Yes, may we hear a word from the Lord, and Pray he gives the grace and mercy to have a ear for what He has to say.

Amos 8
11 “ Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord GOD,

“ That I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread,
Nor a thirst for water,
But of hearing the words of the LORD.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
And from north to east;
They shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the LORD,
But shall not find it.

RobertW: Did you happen to hear Ron Bailey on Wednesday in one of the three breakout sessions at Greenock? It is posted somewhere here on SermonIndex. (I call the message Grace: Imparted Enabling). He brushes on this enabling Word and goes on to give a picture of Christ trimming and supplying the lamps today. I ask this because your post addresses this and if you were at another session, you will definitely appreciate this message.

Is there a WORD from the LORD? We desperately need to hear from God in our times. Men are dead in the water to answer our condition no mater how learned or how experienced.

Often we have such a preconceived idea of what God's voice should sound like we may often dismiss what He would like us to hear.

Some people of Christ's time had a difficult time recoginizing His voice standing there with dust on His feet, born of questionable birth (to them anyway), not counting important those things their leaders counted as important... Yet others said, "We never heard a man speak with such authority!"

To the leaders Christ said, "Why can you not understand My speech?...

Yes, and amen, We definately need ears to hear, ears that are not plugged up with the noise of the confusion all around us.

I wonder why too often are we all standing on the side of the mountain waiting for the thunder when instead the quiet voice has been speaking, and not stopped.

Far too often when I pick up my Bible and I read through it, it is more than mere words or learning, it is as if the voice of God Himself was speaking to me, for my time saying, "I have it under complete control. Do you trust Me? Stand still and see the glory of the Lord. What you can not see is what I see until the end of time itself. It is not for you to see, it is only for you to trust!"

Anyway, that is the latest word to my heart from the Words of God to my Spirit.

Blessing to all in Christ,
Lori

Quote:

"We need a freshness of flame upon our mouths and not the charred embers of a bygone era. God had a word to them and He has a word to us. We need a readiness to hear and respond to what the Spirit is saying to the churches."

The prophet Amos said that the time will come when there will be a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. How could this be when we are hearing many men that say they are giving us the word of the Lord?

Unless the Spirit of God breathes upon the Word of God and speaks to us, the Word of God will be nothing but a dead letter to us. There is much mental assent to the Word but little revelation of the Word that only the Spirit of God can give to the Church.

Jesus said that "my sheep hear my voice". Hearing the voice of the Lord should be the normal Christian life. We are not going to hear the voice of the Lord unless we seek after Him with all of our hearts. Our pursuit must be to grow in the knowledge of the Lord, not just knowledge of doctrine, but a personal, experential knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those that truly know the Lord will hear the Word of the Lord. The Words of Jesus are spirit and they are life.

Mike

Hi Joan,

I ask this because your post addresses this and if you were at another session, you will definitely appreciate this message.

I did hear the message of Ron's. It was wonderful to hear. Ron has an experiential grasp of this issue that I had not heard or experienced before. I think it is what God is saying to us in this hour. I believe this is New Testament church life. I need it desperately.

So I think the post and his message are similar for sure. Just a desire to really hear from God. Not a sermon and not a teaching, but the Word of the Lord as it comes forth in various ways.

But one thing I want to emphasize is the loving and graceful way in which God speaks to us. I learned in Greenock (as one of the replies mentions) that God speaks in many ways and He deals with things in our lives on levels we may not be prepared for, but [i]He[/i] prepares us for.

When I left for the UK I was desperate for a fresh word from God. I really needed God to do a work. I did not know what I really needed or the true nature of my condition. But God knew. The word of the LORD came to me in Liverpool in a most unique way. It came as folk waited on the Lord and allowed Christ to tend the candlestick (as Ron would say).

When I arrived in Greenock God continued the work. The prayer meeting was AWESOME Tuesday before the meeting. People were praying with the unction of God. Denny did a wonderful job ministering. The Lord carried us along by the wind of His Spirit. Wednesday night an angelic like worship went up before the Lord as He quickened us to worship Him. It was like we were in Isaiah 6 or Revelation 4. I felt a sense of liberty as if the manifest presence of God was moving into the building.

It was at that moment that my chains fell off. A bondage to legalism and fearfulness left me and my mind suddenly was snapped on as clear as a bell. My tongue became the pen of a ready writer once again. So powerful was the sense of freedom, and I was probably as close to Carter as anyone, that he burst forth and danced before the LORD. That was way out of character- but that was the FREEDOM that was manifest in that place.

Let others hug their chains, but I shall bask in the liberty of which Christ has made us free. And it all started when the WORD of the LORD came to me in Liverpool.

RobertW wrote:
Just a desire to really hear from God. Not a sermon and not a teaching, but the Word of the Lord as it comes forth in various ways.

A while back I struggled with what the difference was in so much teaching and preaching that goes on today, yet with so little effect, as compared to a time I heard Ravenhill speak.

I finally figured it out, at least for me. Today we have many in many forms telling people how to live a better Chritian life. But God Himself spoke through Ravenhill drawing men to Himself. We need more preachers, teachers, singers and writers who have been with God to the extent that when they do what they do, it is a proclamation of what they have heard in secret.

It is God's fresh, annointed and powerful word that is full of life.