Now Concerning Visions And Gifts

Paul was upset at the Colossians for letting deceivers disqualify them by "going on in detail about visions" (cf. Col. 2:18, ESV).  It is easy to get sidetracked from the exposition and preaching of the Word as commanded by relating personal experiences.  The Bible is complete and everything we need to know is written and canonized. ("[P]reach the Word ..," says 2 Tim. 4:2a, ESV.)  I have been in fellowships believers got carried away about visions of angels and revelations.  I have met believers who convincingly can relate personal encounters with the Lord or their guardian angel, yet our personal experience is meant to strengthen our faith, not someone else's.  

What I'm saying is that this is not the right track to go down for a Bible-based church--though it is widespread among charismatics wherein spiritual gifts are stressed in excess and have a tendency to downplay sound doctrine.  We have to learn that God doesn't exist to provide us with experiences and experience isn't the measure of maturity or growth. Oswald Chambers said the the true measure of faith is obedience, not experience or ecstasy. 

God speaks through the Word and doesn't need our help to make it more colorful or real--the Holy Spirit illumines just fine. A prophet is one that speaks forth to the people what God has told him and Pentecostals believe this gift is still intact and alive; however, our faith must rest on the Word of God and not on personal revelation.  

It is immature and naive to share subjective experiences without being asked to and unsolicited, because the recipients will get the impression of being inadequate or that they are missing out on something; this is why Jesus said that "those who have not seen and yet believe" (cf. John 20:29) are blessed.  In my understanding of Scripture, the measure of a man of God is not his experiences, but his faithfulness:  For it is written, "...'The just shall live by his faithfulness [or faith]'" (cf. Rom. 1:17; Hebrews 10:38; Habakkuk 2:4). We must not divorce these two concepts. 

The conclusion would be that we don't need expositors, biblicists, or exegetes of the Word if we have people getting it right from God--how do you think cults get started?  People wonder what they are missing and are tempted to follow suit into mysticism and reject sound doctrine.  You cannot trust a person's charisma or personality to lend any credence to what they say.  A rivalry between believers and personalities in a church can lead to forms of spiritual one-upmanship, and it is hard to argue against the perceived clout of someone saying that God told him such and such.  

One believer will say, "I don't need to study the Bible because God will tell me something if I listen to Him more--He will tell me what I need to know! This attitude is a rejection of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding and is anti-Christian, spiritual suicide, and not an option for the believer.

It must be emphasized that God speaks through His Word and we need to heed it, even though He is not obligated to only do so; and this does not preclude God's audible voice--even dreams have not been retired, rescinded, or made void but are still in effect.  In other words, dreams cannot be ruled out, but we shouldn't depend on them or put more stock in them than the Bible, which is the ultimate authority. Sometimes dreams and visions are the best vehicles to get a point across.  As we can see that Joel prophesied about young men seeing visions and old men dreaming dreams, but nowhere does he say they are to make them public; however, I concede this is a judgment call.

Churches should refrain from "strange fire unto the Lord," i.e., worship or testimony that is unwarranted by Scripture or the church. There isn't anything mystical about a living relationship with Christ. Bear in mind that the Bible is always the standard of truth.  "But all things should be done decently and in order," (1 Cor. 14:40).  Some people are out to promote their personal agenda, or get into the limelight by relating their subjective, personal experiences--even Paul hesitated to boast but was compelled to do so.  To this day, I'm suspicious of excessive charismatic expression in the church meeting. The spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet and this goes for all gifts. 

Some people erroneously believe that effectiveness in prayer is how much effort or spirit you put into your prayers; indeed I concede that "a heart without the words is better than the words without a heart" though (source unknown). Some people are more stoical, others more demonstrative by nature. Obedience is the key factor in love as Jesus said you would obey Him if you love Him.

[Biblical Prayer formula: It must be to the Father, in the name of the Son, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, done in faith according to the will of God per Eph. 2:18.]  God looks at the heart, and faith is what pleases God, though we ought to obey wholeheartedly and have compassion;  our faith is not emotionalism, maudlin sentimentality, or personality.  Matt. 9:29 says, "Be it done unto you according to your faith [not feelings]."   Soli Deo Gloria!

Faith And Preaching

"Where there is no prophetic vision, the people cast off restraint..." (Prov. 29:18).

Some of us think in our pride that we were wise enough to have faith, more so than the poor unbeliever. Some think we conjured up our faith on our own efforts. Some think we got it by osmosis or being around other Christians and it just rubbed off on us. Richard Dawkins thinks we got it like a virus become we were naive. Sigmund Freud thought all religion was a neurosis or even psychosis. The fact is, is that it came from God! "Faith comes by hearing, and by hearing, of the Word of God," according to Rom. 10:17. There must be preaching of the Word--that is God's modus operandi. We are all called to preach the Word, not just preachers.

Faith is the gift of God according to Eph. 2:8-9, and it is through grace that we believe, according to Acts 18:27, and it has been granted unto us to believe, according to Phil. 1:29, and God opens the door of our heart to pay attention and heed the gospel (Acts 16:14). No, we were no wiser than anyone else, nor educated, talented, refined, or lucky. It was God's sovereignty in choosing us in eternity past before we were born and had done anything good or evil. Jesus said, "Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice" (John 18:37). We don't need arguments to prove God to us, because we have the witness in us, ourselves. The proof of the pudding is in the eating! We just know and that is all there is to it. It is like knowing that honey is sweet; if you don't know that I can't help you. 1 John 5:9-11 says that we don't need the witness of man, because we have the witness of God in us.

It is dangerous to believe that faith is a work--it is a work, but the work of God in us, though it is our act (God doesn't have faith). If you believe faith is a work you are being saved by works. Romanists believe faith is a "meritorious work" and this is a denial of sola gratia, one of the slogans of the Reformation (grace alone). The main cry of the Reformation was sola fide or faith alone. Not faith plus works, but faith alone saves--but a faith that is alone, not producing works of love is dead and cannot save. "We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone," they proclaimed.

Faith is not our righteousness, it is the instrumentality of our righteousness, as we take the step of faith believing in Christ. We turn away from sin toward Christ. Looking to Christ, coming to Christ, committing our lives to Christ are all the same thing. Genuine faith involves repentance as the flip side--they go hand in hand. Faith cannot be both our righteousness and the instrumentality unto righteousness. Nowhere does it say faith is our righteousness or we are saved on account of faith. We must exercise our faith in Christ. It is not faith that saves us, but faith in the object of Christ.

We need great expositors of the Word that don't go around the text, but give you the experience of the text, not just "wowing" you with their scholarship, but knowing where the parishioners are at. We need exegetes that can delve into the original Koine (common, vulgar Greek), Hebrew, or Aramaic text and see something the English conceal. We also need people that can just preach and explain the Scripture plainly for the common man. Remember the common folk heard Christ gladly. But we need preachers who aren't afraid to preach the Word, no matter what it says. The agenda should be the gospel, to the glory of God--Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy and the scarlet thread of the Bible. The better we know Jesus, the better we know Scripture. We need modern-day prophets who don't foretell the future, but forth tell what is going on right now, not being afraid to stand alone, take an unpopular stand, or preach against sin in the congregation. When the preacher has faith, it rubs off on the hearer--we don't need another lecture, or a story-teller, or a joker, we need someone serious that knows the Bible. Most of all we need the whole counsel of God--not just their favorite passages or doctrines. Paul said that he had not failed to preach the whole counsel of God.

The Old Testament false prophets told the people what they wanted to hear.   Isa. 30:10 says that the people asked them to prophesy illusions and good things. They just thought that the true prophets were just telling bad news. Today we have many preachers who are just telling the parishioners what they want to hear--they are tickling their ears. The people itching for prosperity, wealth, health and peace of mind, mental health, among other things more than the gospel. There is only one gospel--there is no social gospel (that is a misnomer).

There is no prosperity gospel, either. Jesus never went after numbers, but quality. He never toned down his stringent requirements. The paradox is that through the gospel of salvation is free, it costs everything. You may not have to give up your life or property, but you must be willing to. Many preachers today are afraid of "killjoy" words such as "sin" or "repent" and try to stay "upbeat." We need preachers that will tell it like it is. Prosperity, popularity, fame or clout are no indication of God's blessing or of real success. Jesus says, "Woe unto you when all men speak well of you" (Luke 6:26).
Soli Deo Gloria!

Preachers With Visions

Some preachers unashamedly go on and on in great detail about visions, (Col 2:18 ESV warns against this) thinking this is some sort of credential or approbation of God to their testimony. We don't need visions to tell us what to believe, but should "rely on the Word."

I think of Thomas asking to see Jesus, and being told, "Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believed." Seeing a vision is not something to be sought after. I know we live in the last days, and Joel prophesies that young men shall see visions, but I don't think that this is a promotion per se, and shouldn't necessarily be shared--what on earth is their motive, except to perhaps exalting themselves. This is not the norm, and to talk about visions can be very discouraging for those who have to rely on simple faith.

There is a great possibility of being led astray by false mysticism and the deceived. Visions are not edifying and the Bible never says to preach visions, but to preach the Word. Preachers should be expositors, exegetes (doing exegesis or explanation/analysis of the text), encouragers, or modern-day prophets (having a vital message for our day) who are in tune with the Word, and not only with their own spirit and personal experiences.

Let's not forget Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church of South Korea who claims to have live conversations with Christ. This is dangerous territory and I think any preacher who feels led to share a vision should do it in a humble way so as not to seem to be exalting himself or making it seem normal. One has to wonder about the motive for sharing his vision. Paul was very humble and hesitated to share his vision. If one wants to boast, he should boast that he knows the Lord (Jer. 9:24). When the Scripture says in Prov. 29:18, "Where there is no vision, the people perish..." it does not mean we're supposed to have visions, but be visionaries.   Soli Deo Gloria!

I think Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Church expounds on this theme.