TREATING THE WORD AS THOUGH IT WERE A COMMON BOOK is heart reason for spiritual failure. It is the reason why in daily life, the believer breaks down, why the adversary has no trouble in overthrowing him in a crisis; the reason why he is a spiritual hitchhiker, always depending upon someone elses prayers, someone elses wisdom, someone elses interpretation of the Word. He has no life of his own; independent of others. In the Family of God, he is a yes man, but it is always, yes in the wrong place. Paul describes him in Heb. 5:12. I shrink from giving you this Scripture; it is so personal in so many lives. For when by reason of time ye ought to be teachers, (ought to be leaders and soul-winners), ye have need again that someone teach you the very rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God. It is a pity, you seem to have forgotten the first steps in this Divine Life. Instead of walking out into the fullness and liberty and riches of His grace, you have halted. There has been no growth, no development in your life. The Word doesnt mean much to you. Oh, there are certain Scriptures you know that condemn you and make you feel miserable, but there is no life in the Word for you. The Word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my pathway. but it isnt that to you. The Word hurts and cuts and bruises and makes you feel unhappy when you read it, when it should be manna and food for you. Notice how tenderly he said, that someone teach you the rudiments, the very beginning of the faith life. Why? Because instead of living it, acting it, and taking your place in the Word, you have remained a babe, an undeveloped spirit. Your mind has never been renewed by the Word. You see it cant be renewed until you begin to practice it. Jesus hit the tap-root of it in Matt. 7:24. He said, Every one that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto a wise man, who built his house upon the rock and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon the rock. But he that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them not, is like unto the man that built his house on the sand. The first high tide swept him out into the sea. I am sorry for such folks. They have to be fed with milk all the time. You find them in the nursery. They always have a bottle. Some of them have the wrong bottle. It is not filled with the sincere milk of the Word. They are babes in all their conduct. Paul in I Cor. 3:3, And ye are yet carnal. That means they live in the senses; they are ruled by the senses; they are guided by the senses. All their diseases are sense made. He says they are walking after the manner of men, or as mere men of the world. Just world folks. There has been no change, no growth, no development in their life whatever. They are treating the Word as though it is a common book. They cant get their healing. Others have to pray for them and they are a burden upon the Church. They are a spiritual liability. If they happen to be men and women of ability and of standing in the community, and the Church gives them office or a place of responsibility, they become a deadly burden to the Church. They are never in the Bible class. They do not have family prayer, and seldom ask the blessing at the table. They belong to the A Class of hitch-hikers. Their faith is always weak. You will see them going to the altar but they never get anything. The altar is a place for babes to get an impulse to go to the Word and feed on it. It is not a means to an end. It is just a beginning. But if you see them going to the altar year after year, you know they have become habitual, spiritual cripples. Satan rules them through the senses. They are afraid of death. They are afraid to meet the Lord. They have thrown away Lifes privileges because they lightly esteemed the Word of God. Some Facts We Ought to Study in This Connection When I ask another to pray for my healing or to pray for any of my chronic needs, I reject the gift of my healing, and I doubt the Word of the Giver. I repudiate my own Righteousness in Christ, and I refuse to take my place in Christ as a Son. I know that no one has a better standing than I have. No one has a better place in the Vine than I have. No one can draw life from the Vine more readily than I can. I am what He made me in Christ. My Righteousness was given to me in Christ. My right to the use of Jesus name is a gift, but I have repudiated the whole thing. I have neglected to develop my gift. I have ignored the admonition of my Lord. I do not study the Word to live it! I know that my sickness is because of a spiritual condition. I know that I have walked according to the senses rather than according to the Spirit. I know that healing cannot be permanent in my body until my spirit is adjusted to the Word. If sickness is not spiritual, He couldnt have made Christs spirit sick with my diseases, and if my body is filled with disease, it is because my spirit is not in harmony with the Word. I am rebelling against the sickness and fighting against the pain, but I dont fight the cause of my sickness. I fight the effect of it. You see, until I take my place in Christ and begin to act the Word and become a doer of the Word instead of a talker, I remain a failure. Sickness is threefold, Spiritual, Mental and Physical. All are sick in spirit before they are sick in body! You see, here is where the trouble is. Jas. 1:22 tells us, But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves. One can stay in that condition, until after awhile they begin to believe they are right and God is wrong, and you will hear them whining, Why does God put these things on me? and some unwise teacher will say, He is trying to discipline you. I tell you, He never uses the devil to discipline His children. Disease is of the devil. You are suffering the results of refusing to take your place in Christ. You refuse to study to show yourself approved unto Him. You have refused to feed on the Word. You had opportunity to study but you didnt take it. You would rather read the literature of the hour than to read the Word from Heaven. For this reason I have arranged three Correspondence Courses. The great heart of the Master is yearning over you. His intercession has been ineffectual so far. It cant be effectual until the Word works effectively in your spirit. You must study to show yourself approved of God. New Creation Realities
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 09:00:00 +0000
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