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            A God-trained believer allows God to reveal any lack of faith, and then will trust Him to inspire them with faith to make spiritual corrections.  The young ruler was told his spiritual lack, and was instructed Luke 18:22 to sell, give, and trust God each day by following Jesus in faith; but the man did not accept the advice and Luke 18:23 “was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.”  Only the spiritual mind can understand spiritual truth.

          1 Corinthians 2:14 ”The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”  A God-trained believer will see the terrible spiritual condition of the average church today.  Jesus reprimanded the religious teachers Matthew 15:3 about how they “break the command of God” concerning honoring parents for the sake of outward show, and then adding 7-8 ”You hypocrites!  Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’”

The Pharisees “were offended” but Jesus said 14 "Let them alone: they are blind leaders of the blind.”  If the Pharisees were offended, that is unfortunate, Jesus meant, because He had given them His Father’s Truth, and they not only rejected it, but hindered others from accepting it—“if the blind leads the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."

          Our only hope of heaven is to be trained by God Himself, who wants to give us the true spiritual nourishment of the full gospel of Christ, so we can grow spiritually—that is the backbone of the true Christian life.  Spiritual light and understanding must come from God, because John 3:27 “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.”

          God can use many things, different situations, or other believers as instruments in teaching us spiritual truths.  We should always be ready to learn, when God sends a message of truth.  Hebrews 3:7-8 “As the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”  The disciples heard His voice and were instruments of God to declare His Truth.  Jesus said Luke 10:16 "He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects [despises] you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."

          King Asa was offended when Hanani the prophet told him that he made a serious mistake in seeking help from Ben-Hadad in fear, instead of depending on God in faith.  2 Chronicles 16:10 “Asa was angry with the seer because of this; he was so enraged that he put him in prison.”  The prophet was used by God to give a message of truth.  When the king rejected the prophet, he was rejecting the Lord.  The king added sin to his sin—”At the same time Asa brutally oppressed some of the people.”

          Asa had previously been in the will of God—during the earlier part of his life when he relied on the power of God, but when he sought human help, he lost spiritual ground.  The prophet asked 2 Chronicles 16:8-9 “Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen?  Yet when you relied on the LORD, he delivered them into your hand.  For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the [whole] earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him; [to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him].  You have done a foolish thing."

          It was a very foolish thing not to accept a message of God from the prophet of God.  After taking this rebellious attitude, the king was oppressed physically.  2 Chronicles 16:12-13 ”In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet.  Though his disease was [exceeding] severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians.  Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his fathers.”

          The king refused to correct his unscriptural attitude, so he received the results of sin, rather than the reward of repentance.  God, in love, sent the prophet to warn the king of the seriously wrong choice he made.  The king could have repented and received eternal life—if he had continued to trust God, instead of turning to man, but he refused the message of God by the mouth of the prophet, and received the results of rebellion.

          God can use anyone, or any method, to give His Truth to someone—when He sees they are willing to be trained.  It is always spiritually beneficial to spend much time in God’s Word—asking Him to give spiritual understanding, and a believing heart.  Human intellect cannot discern spiritual truth, but the Holy Spirit can teach us the full Truth John 16:13.

          As we depend on God each day, the Holy Spirit teaches us lessons of trust, and will train us on principles of truth from the Bible.  We are righteous in the sight of God, when a believing faith is on the Son of God.  Colossians 2:9-10 ”For in him [Christ] dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.  And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.”

          The apostle Peter was an instrument of God to give a message of truth to Cornelius, who only had to listen to a few minutes of teaching on the atonement.  Cornelius said Acts 10:33 ”Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us."

          The apostle then told of 38, 43 ”how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.  All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

          Reading about the truth of God from the Word of God is first priority everyday.  It took God forty years to teach Israel Deuteronomy 8:3 “that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”  The most important training instrument the Holy Spirit uses to teach spiritual truth—is the Word.

          Jesus said to Jews who believed on Him John 8:31, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  What a gift from a loving Father—a written word of truth that tells us how to be delivered from sin, healed of oppression, and prepared to meet Jesus!  We can thank God every day.

          The Word of God is powerful enough to give every gift of God.  Mark 11:22-24 "Have faith in God.” Jesus said.  "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  ‘Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.’”

          We must be on scriptural ground, if we want to be protected from Satan’s attacks.  We must deliberately place ourselves under the protection of the shed Blood of Christ.  The Word of God is used to defend against attacks of the devil.  We are to use the Word as a weapon against the evil one so we can stand victors on the battle field.

          Whatever, or whoever, is used as an instrument of God, we must be ready and willing to learn.  It was Jesus who appointed some Ephesians 4:11-13 to be “apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man [mature], unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”

          God bestows the gift of teaching, so that others can learn the truth of the Word, but God is the supreme Teacher and Headmaster.  What teaching we accept is of major importance, because we are to listen only to those whom God has taught, trained, and sent.  2 John 1:10 ”If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching [doctrine], do not take him into your house or welcome him.”

          There are more false teachers today than ever.  Every message must be tested by every Word of God.  Isaiah 5:20 ”Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness.”  Not many ministers teach what Jesus taught about faith, trust, and salvation—which is only through a believing and enduring faith in Him.  Matthew 19:21 Jesus said to the man, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

          Not many today are speaking about the faith of first century believers—concerning finances and possessions.  First-century believers acted in faith Acts 4:34-37, “from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet.”  Joseph “sold a field he owned” and gave the money to the poor, because Matthew 6:21 “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

          Not many today are teaching the full Truth of God’s divine healing power for those who believe in, and trust on, the Atonement Blood of Christ.  Acts 3:16 ”It is His name—faith in that name being the condition—which has strengthened this man whom you behold and know; It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him.”  Many times Jesus said “Your faith has healed you” Luke 8:48.

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First Century Gospel Church © 2011
PO Box 24283
PHILA PA  19120-5283
contact@fcgchurch.org