Quote:
Originally Posted by Nell
Paul,
If you read the original post, Matt shared an experience he had with the Lord where the Lord told him essentially that he was believing something that was not true. What should Matt have done? Should he have told the Lord...no Lord...I'm not deceived. I'm good.
The point is to test all things, especially in spiritual matters. I believe this is both scriptural and healthy.
As believers, when we were born again, we were babes. We were not born again with a full knowledge of the truth. We need to grow and mature. In every area of our Christian lives, we need to grow and mature. We have an enemy who lies to us...the father of lies. We are told, in the beginning, that the serpent was more subtle than every beast of the field. Don't believe everything you hear...test.
In the "early days" I remember hearing an elder who was speaking to the congregation say "something" and my immediate reaction was "he didn't mean that like it sounded...". I KNEW something was wrong, but I ignored the alarm. I wish I remembered what he said, but I don't. I do clearly remember the warning but I didn't pay attention, I continued down a long road of ignoring warnings until I couldn't ignore them anymore.
I assumed what I heard in the meetings was true, when the Spirit of God told me otherwise...in a way that I remember many years later...to this day. So this is the point. Test all things...including what I said...as you have done. Thank you.
Nell
|
Nell,
I’m all for testing everything, and more than that. After my experience with the LC, I triple check and then some. But the bigger question is, what and how does anyone test things? And what is the ultimate and final confirmation of everything? Is there one? I believe so, and without questions, that’s revealed for us by the Word of God. You can only test something against another thing if you know what 100% true answer is.
But the bigger issue, that I believe has destroyed and damaged a lot of people, is the issue of misunderstanding (in my personal opinion) of the function of our spirit vs the Bible’s description of being filled with the Holy Spirit, and walking by His guidance. The LC, and some others, including all of the people that were instrumental in mentorship of both man that invented the “recovery”, abandoned the idea of Biblical approach when it comes to this issue, and promoted the idea of “self or personal spirit guidance”. If you read closely, a lot of their writings, even the quote that you posted here, you will see the subtle distortion to Biblical approach, that’s replaced by own “renewed faculty” approach.
I believe that we should ask ourselves these questions;
1). Can my own spirit even be functioning without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit?
2). Does the Bible, as the written Word, instructs us to be led by our own spirit or to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit?
3). Do we, as human beings, have power over the Holy Spirit, or can commands, demand, or even direct it as how it leads us and how it flows?
4). What does the Holy Spirit do, and how does He lead us and where? How do you test all these “leadings”, and have 100% certainty that it is genuine work of God?
All of those answers are available in the Bible, and I believe that misunderstanding and even subtle distortion of those things, will end up leading you away from the walking by faith, to seeking guidance and walking by sight. Looking for experiences to receive personal confirmations, testing things with your own “renewed faculties”, and abandonment of the Holy Spirit led, and guided life.
LC is a perfect example of that, in it’s promotion of “own spirit guidance”. How many times you were told that you need to “get into a spirit”, or you need to do spiritual gymnastics, rather than ask Holy Spirit to lead you?
In John 3:8 it says about how spirit operates,
8*The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
That’s the life of a true born again believers, who don’t trust in anything of their own, zero, but trust and totally rely on the work of the Holy Spirit. And where does He leads you? Only to Christ, points you to His work, His Word, which is the only and the ultimate confirmation of all testing and all revelations and leadings. After my experience in the LC, I’m very aware now how easy it is to exchange those two aspects, and end up being guided by your own imagination, conforming to an image or spirit of another man, or even worse, by some spirit that will lead you where you don’t want to go.
As I try to always say when it come to these difficult subjects, this is where I am, and that’s what I try to do, and practice for all of my testing, all of my confirmations. Even when it’s 99% true, but there is that last bit that just makes you feel uneasy, I will just toss it in the pile of my own imagination and desire, and wait until that beautiful leading comes like a wind, that’s in the perfect harmony with and confirmed by the ultimate test, the Word of God. I would just encourage people to pray and search the scriptures for answers rather than another source that may lead you further into the woods. Don’t fall for another man, you will be disappointed once again.
Remember, most things that we were taught by the LC, were claimed to be true leadings, or true revelations, “I’m one with the spirit of God”, or even going as far as claiming they know all Gods heart’s desires beyond everyone that existed prior to these man. Unfortunately, most if not all of their leading and revelations have ultimately failed the test of written Word.
So what, and who was leading them? And was there any testing to even speak of, or just “I was told so and so, therefore it was God?