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Stace
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May 11 2008, 04:21 PM
Post #1
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Fatherly Talk 3.03 The Importance of the Word of God
Dearly Beloved,
The Word of God holds central place in all of God’s dealings with man and in His work on the planet earth. ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away by My words will by no means pass’ Jesus declared (Matthew 24:35). Without faith it is impossible to please God, and faith can only come through the hearing of the Word of God (Hebrews 11:6; Romans 10:17). Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). Jesus did many wonderful works and signs while on earth but in His prayer in John 17, He was most concern about the keeping of His words and teachings which He has left with the disciples (John 17:6-8). If we abandon the Word of God in a revival, we abandon the only weapon we have (the sword of the Spirit) against the forces of darkness (Ephesians 6:17; in fact all the other pieces of the armour can also be shown to be indirectly related to the Word of God). The true work of the Holy Spirit is to confirm (not replace) the Word of God with signs following (Mark 16:20).
Some may protest that the Word of God in many churches are dry and stale but this is not because of the abundance of the Word of God; rather it is the lack of the Word of God which has been replaced with man’s tradition and customs. The Word of God delivered by the unction of the Holy Spirit can never by dry and stale. In the early days of the 1950s revival, people abandon the Word for the Spirit in their enthusiasm to be part of the move of God and went into extreme errors. In the 1980s people began to get back into the Word but they lost a lot of the understanding of the power of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Today there is a new wave of hunger for signs and wonders again and many people want to abandon the Word and just get into the Spirit. This would be only the return to the 1950s and the church at large would not be any better as the same mistakes would be repeated and made. The revival that God is bringing forth in this decade is a revival of both the Word and the Spirit. Do not be contented with the demonstrations of the Spirit nor be satisfied with the teaching of the Word; but be zealous for both the Word and the Spirit.
He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches: the revival that God is sending in this decade is a revival of both the Word and the Spirit. There will be those who want to move only in the Spirit and others who only want to remain in the Word; the first group will be lead astray for lack of teaching, the second group will be left high and dry for lack of Spirit refreshing. But those who hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and yield to both the new move of the Word and the Spirit will tap into the next wave of revival that is unmatched and unseen before in the last century; it will be a manifestation that only this century has been privileged to see and experienced.
The revival in the book of Acts was a revival of both the Word and the Spirit.
In Acts 1, the disciples obeyed the Word of the Lord in continuing in Jerusalem in prayer for the Spirit (Acts 1:8-14).
In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit came down and the Word was preached; three thousand were saved (Acts 2:1-4, 37-41). The Spirit confirmed the Word with sings and wonders (Acts 2:43).
In Acts 3, the Spirit through Peter brought healing to the lame man and the Word was preached – the number of the disciples grew to five thousand (Acts 4:4).
In Acts 4, the disciples ask God for boldness to preach the Word by stretching His hand to do sings and wonders (Acts 4:29-30).
In Acts 5, the Holy Spirit demonstrated His power and many signs and wonders; and the apostles were told by the angel to preached the Word of God (Acts 5:12-16, 20).
In Acts 6, the Word of God grew and spread after the appointment of the seven deacons because the apostle wanted to focus more time on the Word and prayer; and God did signs and wonders by His Spirit through Stephen (Acts 6:4, 7, 8).
In Acts 7, Stephen preached an entire Word sermon recounting the history of Israel and while filled with the Spirit prayed a martyr’s prayer that set in motion the conversion of Paul.
In Acts 8, those fleeing the persecution preached the Word of God and signs and wonders followed them (Acts 8:4, 13).
In Acts 9, Paul was converted and preached the Word that Christ was the Son of God and the He was the Christ, and the church walk in the comfort of the Holy Spirit and multiplied (Acts 9:20-22, 31).
In Acts 10, the angel told Cornelius to get Peter to preach the Word to him and as He preached, the Spirit fell on them (Acts 10:36-38, 44).
In Acts 11, the church in Antioch was set up through the preaching and teaching of the Word by the leadership of Barnabas who was a man full of the Holy Spirit, and who brought Paul from Tarsus to help teach the Word of God (Acts 11:19-26).
In Acts 12, there was a supernatural Spirit and angelic deliverance of Peter after which the Word of God grew and multiplied (Acts 12:24).
In Acts 13, The Spirit sent Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey to preach the Word with signs following; Paul taught the Word of God in every synagogue he found, and was led to also preach the Word to Gentiles (Acts 13:1-2, 46).
In Acts 14, they were preaching the Word of the gospel and God did a sign and wonder before they return from their first missionary journey (Acts 14:7, 9, 26-27).
In Acts 15, the apostles and elders of the church sought doctrinal accuracy and the Word and the testimony of the Spirit settled the issue for them (Acts 15:12-15). With the doctrinal question on the Gentiles settled Paul and Barnabas continued preaching and teaching the Word of God (Acts 15:35).
In Acts 16, the Holy Spirit stopped them from preaching the Word of God in Asia Minor but sent them to Macedonia where God established the Philippian church.
In Acts 17, Paul preached the Word and was well received by the Bereans who loved the Scriptures but persecuted by others (Acts 17:2, 11).
In Acts 18, Paul was compelled by the Spirit to testify of Christ and made a decision to preached the Word to Gentiles after Jewish rejection (Acts 18:5-6). The ministry of Apollos, who was well skilled in the written Word, took off when he met two of Paul’s disciples (Acts 18:24-28).
In Acts 19, Paul found a group of Ephesians whom he laid hands on to receive the Holy Spirit and after daily ministry of teaching the Word of God in the school of Tyranus for two years, God did unusual miracles by His Spirit (Acts 19:6, 10-11). The Word of God grew mightily and prevailed (Acts 19:20).
In Acts 20, Paul commended the Ephesians leaders to the Word of His grace telling them that he has taught the whole counsel of God, and exhorting them to be faithful to the position the Holy Spirit has given them (Acts 20:27-28, 32).
In Acts 21, Paul had two prophecies delivered to him through the Spirit but kept on in the direction that he discerned the Will of God was for his life (Acts 21:4, 11, 13-14).
In Acts 22, Paul preached the Word of his testimony to the Jews while being arrested.
In Acts 23, Paul continued to share his testimony before the Jews, and the political leaders of his time.
In Acts 24, Paul shared his testimony and reasoned of righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come (Acts 24:25).
In Acts 25, Paul testifies and appeals to Caesar.
In Acts 26, Paul testified before Agrippa and said that he speaks Words of truth and reason (Acts 26:25).
In Acts 27, Paul as a prisoner spoke the words given to him by the Spirit supernaturally to bring physical safety to those in the ship.
In Acts 28, Paul while in detention of the Roman guard continued to preach the Word of God.
It is obvious from the whole story of Acts that the revival revolved around the Word of God and the Spirit confirming the Word that was preached. Our Lord Jesus was the Word made flesh and He was anointed with the Spirit without measure (John 1:11; 3:24). A revival is already beginning and we must know and understand that with every revival, history has shown that there are extremities in doctrine, practice and style. We must remain the mainstream of the revival and not the side stream or the extreme tangents. Many revivals do not last because of the lack of balance of both Word and Spirit. Let us be the generation that will tap on the fullest manifestation and allow the Word and the Spirit to flow through our lives until we are fully transformed to Christlikeness and the church is ready for Jesus at His coming.
Remember the five qualities of a genuine revival we shared in Fatherly Talk 3.01: Word level, Worship and prayer level, Church growth level, Signs and wonders level and Holiness level. Don’t be satisfied with just one level, press into all five levels of a full-fledged revival.
In the Old Testament Tabernacle of Moses, there are six pieces of furniture in it: the brazen altar and the laver in the outer court (representing the body), the candlestick, the table of showbread and the incense altar in the holy place (representing the soul) and the ark of the covenant in which is the Tablet of Moses, the rod of Aaron and the manna all located in the Holy of Holies (representing the spirit). The laver, the showbread and the manna respectively also represent the washing and renewal power of the Word, the mountain-moving faith power of the word, and the revelation power of the Word. The Word of God works upon our body, our soul and our spirit. It is through the triple working of the power of the Word that we are able to be tuned to the Spiritual realm.
Also remember that when the Spirit pours out in a new wave from the Spiritual realm, wherever you are as long as you love God and are hungry for Him, you will receive the outpouring. It is never geographically limited when it is time for God to show forth another of His wave.
In Christ’s love
Ps Peter Tan
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