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Topic: Mighty Power of Spiritual Fellowship
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KnowHim
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( Jeremiah 23:16-22 ; Jude 12-13 )
Jeremiah is having revealed to him the corruption of the false prophets of Godthey speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord (23:16). If the preaching of a servant of God does not make me brace myself up and watch my feet and my ways, one of two things is the reasoneither the preacher is unreal, or I hate being better. At some time or other all of us have had a detestation of being better. The rage produced by being faced with a life which in reality is better than our own, awakens either a desire to be like it, or else hatred without cause against that life. They hated Me without a cause, said Jesus.
These men are
without fear. They prophesy continued peace and well-being to the despisers of God. Ye shall have peace; . . . No evil shall come upon you.
without water. For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard His word? Jeremiah implies that none of the prophets have stood in the counsel of the Lord; he himself is there and he knows the Word of the Lord because of the prophetic vision that comes with it. These prophets are not in the counsel of God, there is no water (cf. John 7:37-39), no life or liberty or freedom, no lift into the presence of God, because they are not believing in God, they are expounding a theory. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. The words I speak . . .; the devil does the quoting. God makes His Word living by speaking it to you. There is a feeling of deep settled peace when the Holy Ghost brings a word, full of light and illumination, you know better than you can express, The Lord said that to me. A false worker banks only on the statements of God divorced from communion with God. God has said that, now stick to it. Never cling to the Word of God in an experience as something separable from God; if you do, the result will be perplexity arising out of a false confidence not rooted in God. The one test is, Am I so abiding in Jesus that every word of His is like the one He did speak? Beware of the obstinacy of belief in a word God spoke once your connection with Him is severed. The obstinacy Jeremiah alludes to is a sensual firmness, I dont intend to budge. You never find a noble, pure character obstinate; every trace of obstinacy means sensual selfishness somewhere; it is not strength of will, but lack of will.
without fruit. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. The test that prophets preach from the presence of God is that fruit appears, not in the shape of converts, but in the shape of godly living. Ye shall know them by their fruits. The test isHow many people stop being mean, being impure, stop committing sin? how many people learn to live rightly? The sign that God is in the word and making it living is the fruit of godliness in the lives of those who speak it and in the lives of their hearers.
The quest of spiritual power while forgetting the uses of such power is an unlighted rock that ends in destruction. Pride submerges itself and becomes piety, but it is just as devilish. Why do I want to be sanctified? Why do I want to understand Gods Word? Why do I want to be pure and upright? It is quite possible to covet and put yourself on the quest for high spiritual power and end in the blackness of darkness. Spiritual power means abiding in the vine until there is nothing but the vine, absolute effacement of myself for Jesus Christ. The false mood will creep in from the submerged part of your life whenever you get the idea that you have to be a written epistle. Of course you have, but you have not to know it! Beware of the ideaNow I am in Gods showroom, I must be careful what to say and do because I am a specimen of His work. The branch knows nothing about the fruit; all the branch knows is that My Father . . . purgeth it. I am the Vine, said Jesus, not the root; I am everything there is; you are the branches.
From The Bible Training Course Monthly Journal
Vol. 8 September 1939 No. 6
Notes on Jeremiah
Chambers, O. (1999, c1936). Notes on Jeremiah (electronic ed.). London: Oswald Chambers Publication Association, Ltd.
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I think we need to listen to Jeremiah today and not think all is well. There are many, many false prophets out there so please don't became one of their flock .
Posts: 3276 | From: Charlestown, IN | Registered: Jun 2002
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