| Author | Message | ||
| River Registered user Username: River Post Number: 5540 Registered: 9-2006  |
I would like to take a text from the book of Luke. Luke 16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: Luke 16:20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, Luke 16:21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. Luke 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; Luke 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Luke 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. Luke 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. Luke 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. I want to stop right there at Luke 16:26. Now notice in 16:23 the rich man see’s Abraham afar off, afar off is just about out of sight, the man can barely make out Abraham and there is Lazarus resting in his bosom. In his desperate plight he begins calling out…Heyyyy Abraham, send Lazarus over here! Abraham puts his hand over his eyes and yells, ‘Zat you rich man?’ The rich man says, “Yeh its me, I’m on the hot seat! Abraham yells back,”I can’t do that! Lazarus is resting in my bosom! And besides, we got a gulf of space that is fixed between us.” “He can’t go to you, and you can’t come to us. Sorry dude, that’s just the way it is. This gulf is fixed between a borned again Christian and one that is lost, I mean clearly we can see that. There is a gulf fixed between you and Adventism, they can’t come to you and you cannot go to them. You are resting in Abrahams bosom, resting in faith in Christ, they do not have rest, they look at you from far off. When you came to Christ this is what happened and all of a sudden there is a great gulf that you cannot cross. When you try to bridge that gulf by trying to reason with them, you cannot. Reading on down we have this: Luke 16:31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Even if one of you rose from the dead they would try to proof text around it and explain it away. It is shocking how deep and wide the rift is between Adventism and Christianity, it shocks you to the core when you leave Adventism, and all of a sudden, this wide gulf exists between you and your family that is left way over there. It rends your soul as you try to go to them and cannot. Thank God that through Jesus, there is hope. Only Jesus can bridge that gap. Our hope is in him. I know your soul produces groaning which cannot be uttered at all in your hearts prayer for those loved ones, but we must put our faith and hope in God, and find that resting place of soul. River | ||
| 8thday Registered user Username: 8thday Post Number: 1223 Registered: 11-2007  |
I nearly used this passage in my intro to the book I just posted on my blog - the testimony of my Jewish friend. Even though he has so much more credibility than I do exposing the dangers of modern Judaism, it still will fall on deaf ears to those who are blinded. As I was posting it the phrase kept coming to my mind... "Even if one rose from the dead.. they will not believe" - so I realize the futility in words alone. Groaning in the Spirit are absolutely the most powerful sword we have. Reading Ephesians 6 awhile back (forgive if I said this already somewhere).. about the Sword of the Spirit. I have always heard this was the written word of God. I believe this is true, but the very next verse speaks of praying in the Spirit. I think it's both. When we do that, and the Spirit prays through us, that is ALSO the Word of the Lord, and a sword in battle. In the ESV, it's actually a comma - all one sentence.. Don't know if this is accurate, but it hit me really hard one day. I'd never seen it before. and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, Eph 6:18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. I always thought if I didn't have half the scripture memorized, I couldn't have the Sword.. and I am not downplaying Scripture. It's absolutely necessary and vital. Yet.. we have the Living Word as well. To have both is to be a powerful warrior.. Sondra | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 10413 Registered: 12-2003  |
River, very thoughtful and insightful post. Sondra, you make a very good point. There are texts, though, that identify Jesus as having a sword coming out of His mouth (Rev 19:15) and being "the word of God" (Rev 19:13; John 1:1-3), and since 2 Tim 3:16 states that ALL Scripture is inspired by God, and since Jesus used Scripture to defeat Satan in the wilderness, my only caution is in seeing the Holy Spirit in us as the more immediate and powerful "sword". I don't believe Scripture is powerful in our hands or mouths if we are not born again. Deceptive people use Scripture all the time to make false points...sound familiar? So, being made alive by the Holy Spirit is essential for being able to use and understand Scripture powerfully, because the Holy Spirit IS the Author of Scripture. I don't think you were making any other point than this in your post above; I just wanted to comment on this for the sake of lurkers. Many Adventists, especially younger, collegiate and young-adult-aged ones, bypass the Scriptural gospel and the biblical teaching of Jesus and focus on the Holy Spirit, often being quite "religious" in their "Holy Spirit" and "spiritual gifts" talk. The problem with this Holy Spirit focus, however, is that without bowing the knee to the Lord Jesus and accepting His blood sacrifice for one's sin, one can't be powerfully experiencing the Holy Spirit. If one has spiritual "experiences", I'd have to question their source if the person persists in resisting Jesus as the Sacrifice for one's personal sin who rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of the Father. The Holy Spirit always reveals Jesus. Scripture is essential to identify whether or not one knows Jesus. As you said, the Spirit and the written word work together. So yes--I agree with you, but I see Scripture as being the bottom, immovable "line" that defines one's "spirituality" as true belief or a false gospel. Colleen | ||
| Skeeter Registered user Username: Skeeter Post Number: 334 Registered: 12-2007 |
River, Once again you have hit at the very heart of the problem. For those of us who have been blessed in having the veil lifted far enough for us to get a peek at the truth of the Gospel of Christ as opposed to the falsehoods of Adventism and have chosen to follow "the greater light" of the Bible and set aside all the "Ellenisms".. now that the veil is completely (or almost) lifted it all seems so clear to us now... and it makes us wonder why we did not see or understand the simplicity of the true Gospel before... and yes, we are hurting and groaning in or prayers to God for our loved ones who are still behind that dark veil. THEY think it is WE who cannot see the "truth" of Adventism, and we mourn for them because we KNOW it is they who fail to see the truth. Truly "there is none so blind as he who WILL not see". Not "cannot see" but "WILL not see". All we can do is to keep praying for them , that God will somehow in His mercy left that veil from their eyes as he has done for us. The problem as I see it is that He will not lift their veil if they keep pulling it down tightly over their eyes and REFUSE to allow it to be lifted. If they are content in their blindness... how can they ever accept the gift of sight when it is offered to them..? I don't know... but I will keep praying for the Holy Spirit to make them so uncomfortable with the LIES of the SDA church that they will want to rip off that veil and see the truth. I dont know what else to do but to pray and leave the rest up to God. Francie | ||
| 8thday Registered user Username: 8thday Post Number: 1227 Registered: 11-2007 |
Yes Colleen, I agree completely and thank you for emphasizing that. I do believe that!! |
