“In that day, the deaf
shall hear the words of the book…”
Isaiah 29:18
Let us consider how hearing Him is foundational to the Christian life and the cornerstone of our relationship with God.
“My sheep hear My voice,
and I know them, and they follow me:
And I give unto them eternal life…”
John 10:27-28
We live in a dark day of “believism,” where our belief has become the basis of our standing with God rather than the evidential Life of Him being expressed through us. We banter with words in our desire to win over the world and each other rather than revealing the latent power of the living Christ.
Jesus said the world would know that we are His disciples because of the “agape” we would exhibit towards one another. The eternal life that Jesus offers to all who come under His dominion expresses itself through this divine attribute of love. There is a mystery to this love that is NOT OF THIS WORLD. The power of it can only originate from the Lordship of Christ within the human heart.
“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ IN you, the hope of glory”
Colossians 1:27
Hidden within this mystery is the Glory of God. When the church loses the Mystery, she is bereft of His Glory.
Christ IN you
The HOPE of Glory
There is no hope for mankind apart from the indwelling Christ moving, pressing and transforming us from “glory to (a greater) glory.” Only as we “hear Him” whispering, convicting and leading us, will we touch the great Mystery of God. This is the fundamental power of HIS Gospel. It is impossible to separate the “gospel of Christ” from “the power of God.”
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:
for it is the power of God unto salvation…”
Romans 1:16
Paul warned the Galatians that they were departing from the Gospel of Christ unto another by those “determined to pervert the gospel of Christ.” Galatians 1:6-7 (LITV)
When our relationship with Him is relegated to doctrines and teachings, our desperate need for HIM and His indwelling presence fades, and the church becomes satiated with words rather than the reality of Him.
Paul also strenuously cautioned the Church of God at Corinth that their faith should not rest on anything other than the living Christ:
“And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”
1 Corinthians 2:4-5
Whenever the faith of His people stands in the wisdom of men, there will be an absence of the “power of God” and His manifest Presence in our midst.
Related Article: In Christ Alone
“The man who is satisfied, because he thinks he is safe, who feels that he has religion enough, because he thinks he has enough to save him from hell, is as ignorant of the power as he is a stranger to the consolation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
— Gardiner Spring
Brian Troxel
I Corinthians 4:20: “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.”
We are tripartite: body, soul and spirit. We can hear with our physical ears, we can hear (or comprehend) with our intellects or we can hear with our spirit (perceive with our spirit). When people talk about God without the anointing of the Holy Ghost, it grows rather tiresome: it is not edifying, it does not build us up, it does not strengthen our faith in God.
When someone is anointed with the power of the Holy Ghost, hungry hearts are drawn towards them and they are strengthened by their words. The power of the Holy Ghost can be more powerful than written words or spoken words. When Jesus walked into a room or into a crowd of people, everyone knew that there was a powerful Presence in their midst. When He spoke, they either listened intently or else ran away (the demons in them did not like the Holy Ghost in Jesus) — or else Jesus would cast the demons out of them.
We see through a glass darkly. There is so much that we cannot see in the heavenly realm. If we keep our lights burning, if we stay in the powerful Presence of God, everywhere we go we will have a great impact on the people around us. The Kingdom of Heaven is growing stronger, the Satanic world system is growing weaker every day.
Isaiah 19:1: “The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.”
Amen
“…13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away…”
2 Corinthians 3:13-16
I think that much of the church is living under a layer of belief where they are walking blindly, perhaps even groping for some sense of understanding.
But, for the most part they lack revelation, that “learning to breathe” quality of spiritual life. Most of what the church believes is for church time only but not a life pursuit,a hunger, a thirst or desire.
Their minds are clouded until the light of God shines in their hearts (2 Corinthians 4:6).
Blessings Brian