DON’T REPLACE YOUR GUIDE, THE WORD OF GOD, WITH SOMETHING ELSE
Psalm 119:105
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
What is the purpose of a light in the dark? To guide, of course.
The word of God is the Christian’s guide. The Bible is a brilliant light guiding the believer in the thick darkness of the world. It leads and directs us in our way.
The Word of God directs the Christian in his conduct and course of life. It leads the children of God in the way of righteousness. You cannot miss the road by following the divine guide - the Bible. You get into trouble with the devil gets you to replace the word with something else.
Many people would rather follow man than the Bible. His ideas and opinions are blindly followed without being examined in the light of the Bible. You tell them, “don’t do that thing, the bible forbids you to do it,” and they reply, “Oh, you are just a cry-baby! Pastor C says we can do it and so I will.”
If the bible forbids you to do something, you just must not do it, period! It doesn’t matter whether Pastor C or Bishop D says to do it or not. And if the bible tells you to do something you just must do it in spite of what any book or person says.
God can guide His children through dreams, visions, prophecies and voices. But you must never make the mistake of replacing your real guide, the bible, with any of them. You can miss the road by following dreams, vision or voice. But you cannot miss the road by following the Word of God. The devil can mislead you through vision, dream, voice, or revelation. But the devil cannot mislead you if the bible is your guide.
2 Peter 1:19
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts
An elderly man confided in Harry Ironside, the famous American Bible teacher, pastor, and author, “I will not go on unless I know I’m saved… I want a definite witness, something I can’t be mistaken about. “
Ironside replied, “Suppose you had a vision of an angel who told you your sins were forgiven, would that be enough to rest on?”
“Yes,” answered the elderly man. “I think it would. An angel should be right.”
“But,” continued Ironside, “Suppose on your deathbed Satan came and said, ‘I was that angel, transformed to deceive you,’ what would you say?”
The man was speechless.
The point Ironside was trying to make was that God has given us something more dependable than vision and the voice of an angel. It is the Bible, the word of God. When you replace the Bible with vision or prophecy or special revelation you are heading for real trouble.
It is surprising how the devil has succeeded in ruining some great ministers through so-called special revelation. When the big ministers begin to teach as doctrines things that cannot be proved with the Bible, they turn wonderful ministries to undesirable sects and cults.
The devil knows that by following the bible you cannot be misled. He knows quite well that if you know the word of God really well you will not be ignorant of his devices (2 Corinthians 2:11).
The devil knows that it is by reading and studying the bible that you may ‘be filled with the knowledge of his (God’s) will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding…’ Colossians 1:9-10.
And that is something that the devil does not want to happen to you.
The bible says, ‘And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures which are able to make wise unto salvation though faith which is in Christ Jesus’ 2 Timothy 3:15.
The devil is aware of all the scriptures that tell people of what spiritual giants they will become and of the marvelous spiritual blessings they will continually receive by following the Bible. That is why he is doing all in his power to prevent the people of the world from reading the Bible and hearing the Bible taught.
