Accessing the Light of Scriptures

I really don't know if bible study materials is the best way to go. I could keep the usual style of writing articles but I just thought I should try this.

Text: 1 Cor. 2 &3

Introduction

There is light that can be gained from the study of Scriptures. Ps. 119:105 and In continuation of our last week study on the Necessity of light, we this week focused on who we ought to be to  access the light of Scriptures.

Many times when we are taught how to study the BIble; greater emphasis is laid on the techniques/principles or materials needed for study of the Bible than on the person studying it.

 While having  the correct principles for Biblical interpretation is very important, it is of greater importance to first establish what kind of person we ought to be to accurately interprete or understand the Bible. 

*Points of Study*

1. There are 4 different sources of wisdom listed from 1 Corinthians 2. They are: Human Wisdom, Wisdom of this world, The wisdom of the Princes of this world and the Wisdom of God.

 2. To state clearly, who we are as we study the word, is more important than the principles we employ in its study. Luke 8:10.

Knowing Greek, Hebrew, the contextual meaning of a phrase and the historical setting of a scriptural truth is good but beyond all this, the individual who is studying the Bible is of greater importance.

4. The wrong man using the right principles to study will still not receive the right result. The Pharisees searched the scriptures, as well as the Berean Christians, but did not derive profit for the did not come to Jesus. John 5:39; Acts 17:11

5. There are 3 different kinds of people that we will consider in the study of Scriptures.

a. The Natural Man or unbeliever: 1 Cor. 2:14.

Characteristics of the natural man are: he is unregenerated, does not have the spirit of God and cannot understand the things of God.

b. Carnal Man: 1 Cor. 3:1; Heb. 5:11-14 characteristics: he has God's life or is born again. He is regenerated but does not walk according to God's Spirit. He is a Babe in Christ and can only take milk. Do not exercise themselves in the study of God's word.

Nb. Just as milk is first digested by the mother before being made available to the baby, so these receive revelation through others and are not able to gain more than the basic revelation from God's word.  

c. The Spiritual Man: Characteristics: he is regenerated. Walks by the spirit. He can access the full benefits of the word of God.

Prayer Point.

1. May God give us the right kind of heart to accept the word and profit maximally from God's word.

Next week we will seek to explore in detail the various kinds of men

IN DEFENCE OF THE VALIDITY OF SCRIPTURES

We were in a group on Facebook and some one made a post below:

"In summary, fixation on the bible can make that bible a distraction for any child of God who is mature. The word of God in the bible has led us to the WORD of God who dwells within us. If the bible will drown out the WORD within, then a mature Christian should discard the bible and follow the WORD within. Discard the Bible as a mature Christian and follow the Spirit as the bible is irrelevant and a distraction"

When this was posted "all hell was let loose".

Brethren started turning PLOWSHARES into SWORDS and PRUNINGHOOKS into SPEARS . Some brought out machine guns, some den guns "Chaka Bula" other pulled out catapult. Any weapon possible was drawn out. Some could not handle it they took to a retreat to go and pray and fast and study in the day of battle. Some who had no weapons and ammunition went to go and borrow from Fathers of Old :Martin Luther them, Charles Spurgeon, Tyndale, Wycliffe etc Some sat back to watch this drama unfold before their eyes with popcorn and drinks by the side, while some simply clicked the exit button and left the group.

The debate continued for close to a week.

THEN all of a sudden out of nowhere Someone for the very first time of our being held ransom dropped a TOMAHAWK MISSILE that settled it.

Read his comment below and Praise God for this gift given to us on this day. 

"This is a logical fallacy, and you know it. It is called a false dichotomy. You make it look like the (mature) Christian has to choose between 2 options when in fact there are more than 2 options. You make it look like it is either 

1. the bible 

or 

2. the spirit.  

Well, there are more than those 2 options:

3. THE BIBLE & THE SPIRIT.

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. He used the scripture in His engagement with the tempter. Are we to assume it was not the Spirit that animated those words of the scriptures in His spirit at that moment? Why didn't he use His direct access to the Father to get a response for the tempter. Why take the pains of saying "IT IS WRITTEN "? Why didn't He just use the scripture without the "it is written" bit?  

The Apostles in acts 6 said "we will give ourselves CONTINUALLY to PRAYER and to the STUDY OF THE WORD." You have found a new truth they never knew. Yea!!

Turn it on its head. 
Colour it.
Embellish it.
Reword it.
Spice it. 
And temper it all you want.

So long as the grain of your position is that at some point (of maturity) a Christian can discard the Bible for the Spirit, you will be taking a position alien to that of Jesus, the first Apostle's, the patristic fathers and the Christian community through the centuries. 
 
You are all on your OWN (OYO) all by your self.

And what will be next to be discarded (by the mature) after the bible? 

It is a brave new world!
                                       - Gideon Odoma​

THE NECESSITY OF LIGHT-BIBLE STUDY

Text: Gen. 1:4; 2 Sam. 22:29; Ps. 28:9; Job 29:1-4

Introduction

Why was it important for God to have light before He could begin creation? We know that it is an established  fact that He knows what is in darkness (Dan. 2:22). Darkness and Light are the same to Him(Ps. 139:11-12). Yet in creation; He first commanded light to emerge out of darkness. 

Outline 

1.  There are various sources of light by which men may walk. - Rev. 22:5

2. In the tabernacle there was Sunlight ( natural or Human wisdom) that provided illumination for those in the outer court. In the Holy place there was the lampstand( written word) that provided illumination while in the most Holy place, the presence of God provided light.

3. The light by which a man walks determines his discernment and judgement of issues.

4. Every man must come under the light  of life- John 1:4-5. 

5. Things come under judgement as there true nature is  revealed under the brilliance of the light of God. When men's life come under this light we will discover our true state like Isaiah did in Isa. 6:1-2

6. Light is that which reveals the true nature of a thing. Without the true light, our judgements of matters will not be accurate.

7. When God sort a help meet for Adam, He presented Adam first with all the animals to see what he would call them. It took the light within Adam for him to discern the true nature of each animal before him and he also named his wife after awaken from a deep sleep, this meant his mind was unfruitful in naming Eve also.

8. Our great need for light by which we  can navigate through darkness is great at a time when various wisdom are coming forth.

Prayer Point

1. Grant us the wisdom we need for every area of our life.

THE GOSPEL UNVIELED.........Part 1

Note from the Writer:

Dear Silent Reader (or at least I hope there is a reader out there not just individuals who click the links and move on.) I started a write up that I would like to share with you. Its different from my other writings in the past but I would like to bounce it off you to get a feel of what you think. I began to write on my understanding of the gospel and the work of grace in the life of a believer. I have written 5 pages only but I really would like to know what people think and also if it would be something you would like me to publish on this blog. The extract is below...Please get back to me on what you think. Thanks

Many have taken up different aspects of the gospel as an emphasis that God intends for man. While I agree that God intends for man to be prosperous, healthy and enjoy other benefits in life, the emphasis of the gospel does NOT end only in the well-being of man.  Many preach a gospel that lays great emphasis on meeting the needs of men but I would like us to examine the scriptures again to determine what God sort to emphasize.

The fall of Man

According to Economics the basic need of man is Food, clothing and shelter. This clearly were not the basic needs of man until man fell in the Garden of Eden. In the book of Genesis, all the basic needs of man were provided for before Adam was created.

 His food was available before he was even created according to Gen. 1:29-30, man was clothed in the glory of God and never knew shame from being naked (Gen. 2:25), and his shelter was in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:8).

The story became different after the fall. Man now had to sweat in order to produce food to eat (Gen. 3:19), the glory of God that covered him was withdrawn and man realized his nakedness (Rom. 3:23, Gen. 3:10-11) and finally man was thrown out of the Garden, which was his shelter (Gen. 3:23-24). So Food, clothing and shelter became the basic needs of man, after the fall of man and not before.

What then did God create man for, If not to work for his food, clothing and shelter? The answer lies in fellowship with God and the exercise of dominion upon the earth. At this point let me explain briefly that the dominion that God actually intended that Adam express on the earth, is to be able to access the mind and will of God in the heavens and implement it in the earth. God’s intention was not for man to God around like the chieftain of the world without referring or gaining direction from God. Adam was God’s enforcer upon the earth to establish God’s Kingdom upon the earth. Adam was to mirror the government of God in the heavens and execute same upon the earth. In fact the greatest Adam could do was to seek to accurately mirror what he saw in heaven. It is not about commanding your world to align to your every whip and desire, if we are to exercise dominion, our cry should be, THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. He was called like Moses to function according to what he saw in Gods Kingdom. Man was called to keep the garden and tend it. To keep implies to protect or safe guard, while tending means to maintain or make continuous improvements. I will stop here on this.

The implication of that which man was commissioned to do in the exercise of dominion means that man must maintain vital communication with God, in order to replicate His will and Kingdom upon the earth. Hence, his strongest asset was his connection to God and ability to communicate with heaven. This was what Satan targeted in his temptation of man, knowing that if man loses his vital communication with God, he can develop according to the will and design of another. Hence, when Adam sinned man was cut off from his life source which is God. That separation from God is what God spoke about in Gen. 2:17, when he said that man will surely die

To be continued....... 

Lets Think: WHO DID CAIN MARRY AFTER HE KILLED ABEL?

Who did Cain marry after he was cursed? Were there other humans on the earth?

Have you ever been asked this question? Or maybe you have wondered about this secretly.

Wondering how Cain could have found a wife after killing his brother and leaving the only other two individuals who were on the earth. You may have accepted this by faith before now and boldly declared your trust even though your understanding was unfruitful. I commend you on this because I too have tried to explain this, in an all too unsatisfactory way, in the past.

Let me try to help your faith by helping provide what I believe is a clear answer from scriptures. This will equip you to answer this question in a world that increasingly distances herself from what they consider mere 'faith'.

So here goes.

The scriptures rightly says that Cain left His parents and established a civilization and got married but please note that it did not state the time it took for all these events to take place. It also does not provide us with any detail on Cain's age so we can try to predict how long it took for this to happen. This is a very telling fact in providing a response to the question posed above.

You see, most times because we read biblical events that occur immediately after the other in their narrative, we fail to appreciate how much time may have passed between one sentence or verse in the bible to the next sentence or verse.Between the time it took Cain to leave and when he married, several years must have passed.In fact enough time for Adam and Eve to have given birth to Seth and other sons and DAUGHTERS (Gen. 5:4). I also believe that even the DAUGHTERS born to Adam had enough time to give birth to other DAUGHTERS and so on, enough for Cain to be spoiled for choices, when he decided to get married.

In case you are wondering why I can boldly make the above statement, consider that these people lived very much longer lives than we live today! From scripture their average lifespan, haven't calculated but I think you can accommodate a guess here, was more than 700years! With that kind of time on your hands you would be a mere 'teenager' at 100 years of age! After-all, Noah had enough strength in him to build an ark at close to 600.

So if we agree up to this point, can you then agree that if Cain killed Abel at 20 years for example. Adam's descendants had more than enough time to multiply, even by our standard, for him to get a bride or several choices of brides.

Think about this.

Secret and Silent Labours

Mat.6:4: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
Mat 6:6  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Mat_6:18  That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. 


God sees in secret but rewards in the open.

The above statement though seemingly simplistic carries a lot of instruction for anyone who truly wants to make an impact that will register in eternity.Please note that I do not speak of an impact that will affect men, only in the time that we have to spend upon the face of this earth, but beyond that. To leave a legacy in time could be achieved once we impress men but to even leave an imprint on eternity, we must be aided to do so.  In essence, that which we can do without the help of God, which never originated from God will never make any eternal impact.

You may not agree but God in scriptures reveals to us that He examines what SORT our works are of, not just the amount of labor. It is not only the quantity of  what has been done but the quality of what has been done, that God checks.(1 Cor. 3:13)

The labor that carries very little human recognition or away from the eyes of men is reserved for the eyes of God alone. Many Church members are quick to seek recognition for the very visible works they carry out in Church. They would join only the teams or units that will give visibility to their talents or gifting. Few join the cleaning crew that cleans the church before service and even fewer still will join the prayer group that will weep at night.Pastors, as humans, easily recognize the works that are evident as men but God sees in secret.

In fact, a lot of the important things that God does with a man, he does it in secret.Intimacy with God is not achieve in the 'open'. God brings men to His secret place. He seeks to have a secret life going with you. Don't seek the recognition of men but seek the approval of this God that sees in SECRET.

Men will often see the open reward but not know the Secret labors!

Friends, God calls us to join him in the secret place where He can work on the privacy of our hearts. Do you pray in Secret? Is the audience that you focus your prayer on God? or do you pray eloquently to impress those that listen? Do you pray long so men can acknowledge your prayer prowess? if you are doing any of these, then you already have your reward.

Where are the men who engage in secret labors? 

I use to think that the only way to serve God was in some form of visible act that men can see and acknowledge, until I read of Prophetess Ann, who the bible recorded as SERVING God through prayer and fasting. 

Service is in secret.

CIRCULAR MOTION- A ROUND ABOUT JOURNEY

Deu 2:1-3: Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days. And the LORD spake unto me, saying, Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward.

As I was mediating on the above scripture, a few things disturbed me about how Israel arrived at a place where they made circular motions without any advancement towards the land promised them.

Please consider this, moving in a Circular motion will expend ones energy and will give a false sense of advancement because there is motion. It will involve repetitive passing of certain landmarks or sites that should have served as a warning that no advancement is being made but these landmarks will be ignored either deliberately or due to the fact that we do not pay close attention.

Israel was in the wilderness, an unpleasant place to spend a long time in, so why would they be satisfied with keeping up a circular motion for many days? If the wilderness was a pleasant place, I think we can understand their desire to stay longer in such a place but who chooses a wilderness to a land flowing with milk and honey?

Their choice to continue making this movement around a landmark concerned me. My concern increased when I saw that the last command that God gave them about their journey was by the way of the Red Sea.

I worry today that many are engaged in this futile exercise. Messages are being recycled, direction was last received long ago but movement still continues. Fleshy energy is being expended and things seem to be happening but no one wants to admit that it seems that we have passed these same landmarks before. We whistle to encourage ourselves and refuse to observe that we are no closer to knowing God with all these intellectual joggling of words that has excited us without transforming us. Month in month out themes are recycled and no one asks the very obvious question, where are we heading to with all these? Instead we whistle along to keep hope alive, ignoring the fact that we have made little advancement.

Order has been established and a strict regime that we have become comfortable with has set in. Our reliance on prayer manuals(good as we think they may be) can wean us of our dependence on the Holy Spirit to help our infirmities in the place of prayer.

Please stop and evaluate your walk with God, are you making any advancement towards your God ordained destiny?

It took the voice of God to give Israel an understanding of what they have been doing and how futile it had been. May He also speak to break us out of the routine that we have come to be comfortable with. Let us seek to hear God and break out of the routine. Our advance in the things of God must be sponsored by the life of the spirit.

Jesus told us that without Him we can do nothing!  I do not think that this means that from a human stand point we will do nothing but from Heavens stand point the best we can do without Jesus is Nothing! For instance, Paul said of a man that gives his body to be burned without love, that it profits him nothing. Lets stop and seek His guiding voice for our journey.