The Word and the Scripture

Carl Emerson

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As I said - Any place where there are churches (free or underground) God will provide a bible.

Many, many believers in China were without the scriptures for decades. What exactly are you trying to say?
 
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BNR32FAN

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Hi there,

One of our members said the following.

"God works through his word. Hearing comes by believing and believing the word of God. Jesus is the word and the ''word'' is now scripture."

Now this claim that Jesus is no longer the Word poses problems for me.

The theory is that since the scripture is written, Jesus is silent, as His voice is replaced by the scriptures. That means that believers who have the Holy Spirit inside must expect Him now to be silent. Anyone claiming to experience guidance from God is deceived as we now have the bible that has replaced God's voice.

While I hold the bible to be our God given authority on matters of faith and life, we can't understand it unless the Spirit of God speaks. Further no where do I read that the Voice of the Holy Spirit which the Apostles heard, is now silent. I will go as far as to say that those who hold this position and making an Idol out of scripture.

I hold the position that He wants us to enjoy a conversational relationship with Him through prayer as we walk with Him in 'the way' and that this leads to a beautiful life of faith as we hear and obey Him in the detail of life.

Your comments greatly appreciated.

I agree, also I would not limit God’s work solely thru the scriptures. For the scriptures say
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:28‬ ‭NASB‬‬
 
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Carl Emerson

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Religious affiliation and psychiatric disorder among Protestant baby boomers. - PubMed - NCBI Why so much mental health trouble with Charismatics. You don't see in mainline Churches?

Not really sure what point you are trying to make here...

Firstly in our country belief in the indwelling Holy Spirit is common in mainline churches.

Secondly the churches have largely abdicated their responsibility to minister to the mentally disturbed.

Thirdly if the church comes under persecution - is that not a sign of life? Does not the adversary focus on where the life is?
 
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Dave L

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Not really sure what point you are trying to make here...

Firstly in our country belief in the indwelling Holy Spirit is common in mainline churches.

Secondly the churches have largely abdicated their responsibility to minister to the mentally disturbed.

Thirdly if the church comes under persecution - is that not a sign of life? Does not the adversary focus on where the life is?
Pertaining to the article, do you think Pentecostalism attracts the mentally ill where other churches do not? Or do they create mental illness.
 
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Dave L

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Folks dont generally 'seeking of extra-biblical revelations'

I do know that the Holy Spirit within us is not silent if we have an ear to hear. This is biblical.
God only speaks through scripture. Are you saying it does not thoroughly equip us?
 
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Carl Emerson

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God only speaks through scripture. Are you saying it does not thoroughly equip us?

I have already answered this.

Paul was writing to Timothy knowing he was going to be called into ministry.
He was being assured that what they had available at that time concerning what was considered inspired scripture was fully sufficient to assist in his preparation.

This is not a reference to the Holy Spirit becoming silent within us, to claim this is a serious twist of scripture.
 
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Carl Emerson

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Pertaining to the article, do you think Pentecostalism attracts the mentally ill where other churches do not? Or do they create mental illness.

I have already answered this as follows:

Firstly in our country belief in the indwelling Holy Spirit is common in mainline churches.

Secondly the churches have largely abdicated their responsibility to minister to the mentally disturbed.

Thirdly if the church comes under persecution - is that not a sign of life? Does not the adversary focus on where the life is?

You are welcome to respond to these comments.
 
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Dave L

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I have already answered this as follows:

Firstly in our country belief in the indwelling Holy Spirit is common in mainline churches.

Secondly the churches have largely abdicated their responsibility to minister to the mentally disturbed.

Thirdly if the church comes under persecution - is that not a sign of life? Does not the adversary focus on where the life is?

You are welcome to respond to these comments.
What do you base your claims on? And data?
 
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Dave L

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I have already answered this.

Paul was writing to Timothy knowing he was going to be called into ministry.
He was being assured that what they had available at that time concerning what was considered inspired scripture was fully sufficient to assist in his preparation.

This is not a reference to the Holy Spirit becoming silent within us, to claim this is a serious twist of scripture.
To say scripture doesn't thoroughly equip us by claiming extra biblical Revelation is to challenge God's word that says it does.


“God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” Romans 3:4 (KJV 1900)
 
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Carl Emerson

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To say scripture doesn't thoroughly equip us by claiming extra biblical Revelation is to challenge God's word that says it does.


“God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” Romans 3:4 (KJV 1900)

Exegesis 101...

Who is the audience?

Answer: Timothy.

What is the context?

Answer: Preparation for ministry

Question: was Paul making a statement that the Holy Spirit within believers was henceforth silent?

Answer: NO
 
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Religious affiliation and psychiatric disorder among Protestant baby boomers. - PubMed - NCBI Why so much mental health trouble with Charismatics. You don't see in mainline Churches?
Dave Hunt's book "Seduction of Christianity" gives some good answers to that. He has written another book dealing with the extent of the Occult which has invaded the church, and these two books opened my eyes to the extent in which pagan mind-control and the occult has invaded the main-stream Charismatic movement. That turned that side of my theology on its head!

I think it was God's grace and protection that I got introduced to Puritan theology earlier on in my Christian life, because it has provided a strong, sound, doctrinal foundation which has remained strong when I knew I had to turn away from many former Charismatic practices which I, on close examination of the New Testament, I couldn't find in it.

Charismatics treat everything supernatural as coming from the Holy Spirit. Therefore if a telepathic "voice" is heard, many cannot distinguish between what they are hearing which could be from the Holy Spirit, and what could be a psychotic schizophrenic episode! Therefore it is no surprise that those who are depending on "voices" fall into mental health problems, because they are hearing the wrong voices!
 
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I wonder how many young women have married a man after he told her "God told me you are to be my wife" not because she loved him, but because she did not want to disobey the Lord.

I know of many charismatic churches that have had huge disputes when someone claimed they were given "a word from the Lord" over some practical matter which the others disagreed with. There are even "duelling prophets" claiming to have contradictory prophecies.

Clearly the idea of God giving instructions via a person's thoughts is wide open to abuse, as well as being unbiblical.
It is marvelous to me that all these years of debate between us, we are basically on the same page as far as these things are concerned. I have viewed around 45 hours of John MacArthur's ministry now, and I can't get enough of him. He ranks as one of the best, along with the best Puritan Bible teachers that I have read and enjoyed. It is like, after 50 years in the faith, getting a refresher course in the basics.

He is largely correct in what he says about the Charismatic movement. The only bit that I don't agree with is his Cessationist views, and you know that pretty well after all the discussions and debates we have had about that. But that is the only issue I have with him. After reading Dave Hunt, and viewing John MacArthur's ministry, I don't think I could associate with a Charismatic church that practices the things that both Mr Hunt and MacArthur identify as pagan mind-control or the occult.

The real power of God is the Holy Spirit working with the gospel of Christ. Paul said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God unto salvation for all those who believe". The real miracle is a sinner turning to Christ, because only the Holy Spirit can genuinely convert a person to Him. If more Charismatics (and others) spent more time with God asking and pleading with Him to exercise His power to save souls from Hell, than trying to have sensory experiences and bodily manifestations, we would have much stronger, more effective churches in our communities which would indeed change our societies for good.
 
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Carl Emerson

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Oscaar,

I understand your concerns and would have to agree that in terms of conversion growth modern churches are in a valley, because they have bought the lie that the church has to be presented as attractive to the world, and have adopted worldly ways of doing this.
In so doing, the power of the gospel is not being appropriated and the visible unity of believers (which is meant to attract the world) is being ignored.

But that is probably a topic for another thread.
 
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swordsman1

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Paul was writing to Timothy knowing he was going to be called into ministry.
He was being assured that what they had available at that time concerning what was considered inspired scripture was fully sufficient to assist in his preparation.

This is not a reference to the Holy Spirit becoming silent within us, to claim this is a serious twist of scripture.

The whole of 1 & 2 Timothy was addressed to Timothy. Does that mean we ignore the whole of those 2 epistles? In fact most of the epistles in the New Testament are addressed to a specific person or church. Should we tear those from our bibles as well?

In any case 2 Tim 3:16-17 is a general statement of fact about scripture, not a personal instruction to Timothy.

You'll have to do better than that in trying to deny the sufficiency of scripture.
 
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swordsman1

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Dave Hunt's book "Seduction of Christianity" gives some good answers to that. He has written another book dealing with the extent of the Occult which has invaded the church, and these two books opened my eyes to the extent in which pagan mind-control and the occult has invaded the main-stream Charismatic movement. That turned that side of my theology on its head!

I think it was God's grace and protection that I got introduced to Puritan theology earlier on in my Christian life, because it has provided a strong, sound, doctrinal foundation which has remained strong when I knew I had to turn away from many former Charismatic practices which I, on close examination of the New Testament, I couldn't find in it.

Charismatics treat everything supernatural as coming from the Holy Spirit. Therefore if a telepathic "voice" is heard, many cannot distinguish between what they are hearing which could be from the Holy Spirit, and what could be a psychotic schizophrenic episode! Therefore it is no surprise that those who are depending on "voices" fall into mental health problems, because they are hearing the wrong voices!

Agreed. Telepathy, extra-sensory perception, premonitions, out of body experiences, hypnotic trances, obsessions with the supernatural and other psychic phenomena are the trademarks of New Age mysticism and the occult. They have no place in Christianity.
 
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swordsman1

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It is marvelous to me that all these years of debate between us, we are basically on the same page as far as these things are concerned. I have viewed around 45 hours of John MacArthur's ministry now, and I can't get enough of him. He ranks as one of the best, along with the best Puritan Bible teachers that I have read and enjoyed. It is like, after 50 years in the faith, getting a refresher course in the basics.

He is largely correct in what he says about the Charismatic movement. The only bit that I don't agree with is his Cessationist views, and you know that pretty well after all the discussions and debates we have had about that. But that is the only issue I have with him. After reading Dave Hunt, and viewing John MacArthur's ministry, I don't think I could associate with a Charismatic church that practices the things that both Mr Hunt and MacArthur identify as pagan mind-control or the occult.

The real power of God is the Holy Spirit working with the gospel of Christ. Paul said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because it is the power of God unto salvation for all those who believe". The real miracle is a sinner turning to Christ, because only the Holy Spirit can genuinely convert a person to Him. If more Charismatics (and others) spent more time with God asking and pleading with Him to exercise His power to save souls from Hell, than trying to have sensory experiences and bodily manifestations, we would have much stronger, more effective churches in our communities which would indeed change our societies for good.

Hehe. Not even I agree with every nuance of John MacArthur's teaching on cessationism. He is a sound bible teacher though.
 
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Agreed. Telepathy, extra-sensory perception, premonitions, out of body experiences, hypnotic trances, obsessions with the supernatural and other psychic phenomena are the trademarks of New Age mysticism and the occult. They have no place in Christianity.
The chilling thing is that much of this is invading the Charismatic movement and many are unaware of what is happening. It seemed that they are bewitched to believing that much of this is of the Holy Spirit. If blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is attributing His work to the devil, is it not the same the other way around - attributing the work of the devil to the Holy Spirit?
 
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The whole of 1 & 2 Timothy was addressed to Timothy. Does that mean we ignore the whole of those 2 epistles? In fact most of the epistles in the New Testament are addressed to a specific person or church. Should we tear those from our bibles as well?

In any case 2 Tim 3:16-17 is a general statement of fact about scripture, not a personal instruction to Timothy.

You'll have to do better than that in trying to deny the sufficiency of scripture.
Either you are particular in only reading the letter or are particularly double-minded.
 
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Carl Emerson

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The chilling thing is that much of this is invading the Charismatic movement and many are unaware of what is happening. It seemed that they are bewitched to believing that much of this is of the Holy Spirit. If blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is attributing His work to the devil, is it not the same the other way around - attributing the work of the devil to the Holy Spirit?

As some on this forum do...

Claiming that any guidance from the indwelling Holy Spirit is anything but just that, or that He has been silenced within is equally serious.
 
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