The practice of the modern church is steeped in centuries of tradition regarding its practice of worship. The bulk of these traditions were not held by the pre-Constantine era church and are not at all Judeo-Christian in origin. Instead, they are Pagan. God has blessed the church through the centuries and called many to faith despite our worshiping Him in Pagan fashion but I believe that there is a new work of the Holy Spirit in the church today. Many believe that the church is dying but I am beginning to see that it is these old traditions that are beginning to die and with them the institutionalized church is losing its power. However, Christ's church is alive and well it is simply leaving the building and returning to the meeting place and the form of worship of its origin. That of very simple worship that is in Spirit and Truth as they meet in the homes of other believers.
I have never thought of myself as a traditional believer but tradition can blind us simply by its length of duration. Tradition can warp our perception of truth by measuring received truths in the wrong context. For me, because of my traditional bent, it is strange for someone to say they are a prophet and that God speaks to them and through them. I expect to hear the Word preached by men who have studied long and hard and have taken at least a week to prepare their sermon. I have only recently learned that this was not the case for over three hundred years after Christ's crucifixion and assention into Heaven. The early church was blessed with prophets who were not as yet, reduced to total dysfunction by the Pagan traditions that would later be introduced. Those who were gifted as prophet and prophetess would stand up in their meetings, which were always in homes, and deliver the message given them by the Holy Spirit. These messages were not contrived or prepared but came directly from God through those gifted as prophet to speak directly to those gathered for worship and according to their present need. These words were not add-ons to scripture but Spiritual illuminations of scripture.
I am glad to say that God has removed another layer of spiritual blindness that I unknowingly have suffered because of wrong tradition. I am sorry that I did not recognize Timothy earlier as a dear brother with a gift that is a blessing to all who love Jesus Christ. I mistook his insistence upon the authority of the Words that God gives him to speak as being insistence upon his own authority over others. Timothy is my brother and he is no authority over me or anyone but as all who are in Christ, he too is under the authority of the Head which is Jesus Christ. To me and to all who will hear him, he is a gift.
There are many, many false prophets among us at this time. They are drawing away thousands to themselves and away from the only true God, the God of all living, and His Son Jesus Christ. These false teachers make their appeal to the hearts of those whom they are deceiving. They flatter and their message is soft. Some of them may seem strange and bizarre to us but many more others have made themselves quite palatable to the traditional Chrisitan palate. They speak of peace, prosperity, acceptance with no need to change and they are adored by all who desire these things above Jesus Christ. They don't want to hear of pain or sacrifice and these surely do come with a life that is lived for Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man. They also don't want to hear of the suffering and evil that our sins bring into the world or of the wrath of God that burns against those sins. They are blind and deaf and can't see or hear that God, Who is Love, cannot help but be angry against that which has brought only death to His Creation, to his children, which he has made in His image. God is long-suffering and has allowed us to go our way for a long time. He has given us over to the fullness of our ways that in every thing that we suffer because of sin, we might be turned toward Him to receive life. Now at the end of this age, God will give us over completely to our sin and the consequences of it. We are at the precipice of the final, full season of evil upon the earth. False prophets abound crying, peace, peace, as they coax many toward destruction. However, God in His Mercy is also sending His own prophets who speak the truth. Their message is not sweet and palatable to the human heart but it is true. They not only speak that which is true but they point to He Who is Truth for in Him only is there peace with God and safety in the terrible time that is about to come upon us.
Do not despise the gift of God that He is giving us in these His true prophets. These are dark and confusing days and many voices are calling to draw us away after them. They say the Christ is here or over there but we who are in Christ know that Jesus lives in us and whether we are here or there He is with us. Let us be thankful for those whom He sends into our lives to tether and strengthen us in our calling by the call that He has also placed upon them. Be thankful as I now have become fully thankful for Timothy, my fellow member in the body of Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, we grow up together, fully blessed and protected in His Nurture. As the Lord hastens the day when the faith shall be made sight and every eye will see Jesus and confess Him as Lord.
Even so, come Lord Jesus! As we wait for that coming, Lord keep us from the great deception and delusion that is coming upon all who deny that Jesus is the Christ. Thank you for blessing us with Timothy and with fellowship with all who trust in the Name of Jesus Christ. Lord keep us all in right standing with you. Amen.
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Romans 14:21
21 What is good is not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.
John 3:29 "The Bridegroom is the one who has the bride; but the bridegroom's friend, who stands and listens to Him, is overjoyed at the sound of the Bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must become more important, while I become less important. 31 "He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the earth is from the earth and talks from an earthly point of view; He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies about what He has actually seen and heard, yet no one accepts what He says! 33 Whoever does accept what He says puts his seal on the fact that God is true, 34 because the One whom God sent speaks God's words. For God does not give Him the Spirit in limited degree -- 35 the Father loves the Son and has put everything in His hands. 36 Whoever trusts in the Son has eternal life. But whoever disobeys the Son will not see that life but remains subject to God's wrath."
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