[aron]

Originally Posted by aron

If we truly want to walk upon the sea of glass, I believe that it's necessary to see the Lord. If we "exercise our spirits" in the word we will eventually say, "I have seen the Lord!"

Just seeing is of course not the same as doing. Everyone, including LSM, preaches this. It's not doctrines but behavior. Lip service alone to God doesn't cut it.

But without seeing, what doing is there? The doing of the blind, the lost, the confused. I was recently touched with Paul's reminder to the Corinthians of his ministry among them. I was touched by two aspects: "spirit" and "word". The word alone is dead letters. But the spirit unharnessed by the word is directionless. Paul claims that in his ministry they were fused, as they had been in Him who he declared, Jesus Christ.

1Cor 2:4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power.

1Cor 2:13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.

1Cor 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power

Back to my previous post (#462), what if I'm the word, wrestling with God as it were, and the Spirit comes and reveals Jesus Christ to me? Suddenly the "parousia" to some extent occurs, the word becomes "living and operative", and "witnesses with my spirit", and begins to "dwell richly" in me. Suddenly like Mary, I can exclaim, "I have seen the Lord!"

And then, what if my friendly neighborhood Bible expositor, says, "No, that's just a word from fallen men, according to their vain concepts". What then? And what if this particular Bible expositor is so dominating of the flock, so controlling, and insisting on "one accord", that the churches be "exactly identical" and "speaking the same thing" that essentially my vision makes me persona non grata, unwelcome? What then to do with my vision?

Actually that's not an easy question. The simple answer is "walk away" but if we all walked away from the flock every time we got a vision that not everyone else picked up on, what kind of a flock would it be? A flock of quarrelsome, divisive "seers"... no, we have to bear with one another, visions and all.

But I digress. The point I wanted to make is that the Spirit opens the word and reveals Jesus Christ. That's what Paul was doing, speaking in Athens and Philippi. That's what Peter did, standing with the eleven, after the flames came down from heaven. That's what John did, writing his Apocalypse. The Spirit uses the Word to reveal Jesus Christ to us, and this saves us. To me that's foundational. This provides the necessary lamp to our feet, the basis of our subsequent behaviors. My time in the LCs was all part of the journey. "Exercising my spirit" in the word. Like the writer to the Hebrews said, "we see Jesus" (2:9).

But at the same time, ultimately there's a decision, whether to follow the Spirit of power, or the words of men. Because at some point, these may diverge, and then one must choose whether they want "words taught by the Spirit" (1 Cor 2:13) or words taught by men. Because to maintain contact with the Spirit of the Word, they'll have to pay a price.

Acts 5:29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.."

Galatians 1:10 "Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ."