HEARING THE VOICE - I

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FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP

HEARING THE VOICE OF IAUE - I

John 10:1  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

2  But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

3  To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

4  And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

If, after reading the last two postings, you have come to understand that there IS an inspiration “behind” the translations of the Scriptures that we each have in our own native languages; then we can respect the precious value of the words contained in them; for they are vehicles to transport us into dialogue with the author who exhaled and spoke the original words.  If we read our bibles and process and learn only what is written on the page, and we do not enter into a discussion with the Holy Spirit, we will arrive only at an academic understanding of the Scriptures, an accumulation of facts and doctrines that lack the power to change men’s lives. 

In the Christian church, today, such accumulation of knowledge is used to climb the ladder of spiritual hierarchy.  A person with a seminary degree is regarded as more learned, more advanced spiritually, than someone who has not undergone such training and book learning.  A person with a Doctorate of Divinity (a higher theological degree) is considered the superior to a mere seminary graduate (a Master of Divinity).  Many congregations would never consider hiring or submitting to a pastor who has not graduated from seminary.  Still others require a doctorate degree to be qualified to be their church’s pastor.  All this tells us is that these congregations seek the stamp of approval of men and not of IAUE.  Flee from such congregations for they do not share the Master’s values. 

For the past 40 years, I have been accumulating knowledge of the Scriptures well beyond that of my peers…beyond that of seminary graduates.  I have spent more time in a year studying the Scriptures than most believers do in a lifetime; still, the person who bows his/her knee to Messiah this morning, has every bit as much right to speak into my life as someone who has walked in the Spirit for decades.  Why is this?  It is because, if the Holy Spirit says something to a newborn believer that He has not said to me; I need to be open to receiving that word, even from an infant in the faith.  There is no age limit or experience limit in the New Creation that qualifies one to hear the voice of the Spirit more than any other.  Experience can make someone more adept at recognizing His voice; but He speaks to whom He will speak; and everyone in the faith must acknowledge that any disciple can and should hear His voice.  Anyone who has heard the voice of the Spirit speaking has something worthy to say.  My wife is a fairly young believer; yet she has provided me with many insights that I had not seen or heard.  How is this possible?  It is quite simple.  She hears the voice of the Spirit speaking to her and she shares with me what she has heard. Anything the Holy Spirit speaks is worth hearing no matter who is sharing it; no matter how long they have been a believer, no matter how much they have studied the Scriptures.

To try to maintain a distinction between the “clergy” and the “laity” is to participate in something IAUE hates; for the Scripture says that He hates the doctrine of the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:6, 15).  This doctrine made a separation between the church leadership and the congregation; asserting the clergy had greater access to spiritual truth than the congregation; making the congregation subservient to their pastors for spiritual insight and wisdom.  If IAUE hated it then; He hates it now…and there is far too much of this in present day Christianity.

I remember in my days in the military, when I was stationed in Germany; there was a chaplain with whom I spoke, who represented a particular denomination.  He told me that he did not believe a word of what he was preaching; but it was a good job; and he had a good income with great benefits in the military.  This man was seminary trained and he knew how to prepare and deliver a sermon to the satisfaction of his congregation.  He was approved by his denomination to represent the denomination in the United States armed forces; and yet, by his own admission, he was not even a believer.

Paul told us (2 Corinthians 3:6) that the letter (the academic knowledge alone) kills; but the spirit (the revelation that exceeds the academic understanding) gives life.  This brings us to the singular problem.  How do we move from the written words to enter into discussion with the Spirit in order to receive revelation?  How do we move from a purely doctrinal understanding of the Scriptures to receive the life of the Spirit behind the words on the page?  In other words, how do go from the letter (the translation), to the spirit (the life) and find the inspiration?  The answer is, we must become experienced in hearing and understanding the voice of the Spirit.

More than 40 years ago, as a young believer I sought out an elder who was well regarded for his spiritual maturity.  I told him that I was very hungry to learn the Scriptures, but I didn’t know where to start studying.  I asked him, “Where do you begin?”  His reply was three words.  He said, “Just ask Jesus,” then he turned and walked away.  As I watched him walking away, I thought, “Well, that’s just great.  I’m no better off now, than I was before asking him.”

My obvious problem was, I knew I could ask Messiah where to begin; but I had no clue how to hear Him answer. That is why I was seeking a wise person to tell me the answer.  His answer only exposed my ignorance and limitations.  Unfortunately, it was true not only of me; but it is true of most believers that they have absolutely no clue what it means to hear the voice of the Spirit.  I have spoken to many believers through the years that have confessed that they have never heard the voice of the Spirit.  Still others say (and this is a doctrinal belief of some denominations) that the Spirit speaks to us today through the Scriptures…through the words on the page.  They believe the bible to be the revelation of IAUE that gives us all the answers we will ever need; that the bible is His voice to us, today.  They believe the Father is speaking nothing new, as He need not speak any more, for they believe the bible is the complete revelation of His will to man.  Such believers also consider it heresy for any to say, today, that the Holy Spirit told them something that was not from the bible. 

Unfortunately, the bible does not tell us which car to buy, which job to take, which spouse to marry, what to do at 3:00 P.M., today; and it doesn’t tell us the revelation knowledge of IAUE.  Neither are the Scriptures intended to be an “open and point” source of guidance (i.e., pray for direction, then open the bible randomly and point at a passage; then read the passage and try to apply it to your need). 

John 10:3  “…the sheep hear his voice…”

4  “…he putteth forth his own sheep…for they know his voice.”

16 “…And other sheep I have…and they shall hear my voice…”

27 “…My sheep hear my voice…”

John 18:37  “…Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice…”

It is the Master’s expectation that absolutely every single disciple should be well acquainted with hearing his voice; else how can he be our shepherd? How can he lead his sheep? How can a disciple be a disciple if he cannot hear his Master’s voice?  Anyone can sit in a room and read the bible; but without hearing and understanding the voice of the Spirit, he might as well be sitting in a dark room.  Yes, it is an absolute necessity for each disciple to become acquainted with the Master’s voice.

There are ways we can enhance our ability to hear the voice of the Spirit.  There also are things that we can do that interfere with our ability to hear the voice of the Spirit.  Most importantly, for the novice, there is a simple way to learn how to recognize His voice, especially for those who think they have never heard Him speak to them.  We will cover all of these in the next few postings.  Until then, I would encourage you to revisit “The Lists” that I discuss in the June 2, 2013 post, titled “The First Lesson in Discipleship-III.” The believer who is not able to honestly deal with “The Lists” does not deserve to hear the voice of the Spirit; and will never be able to be confident in what he thinks he has heard. 

THE SCRIPTURES - II

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FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP

THE SCRIPTURES - II

2 Timothy 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of Elohim, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17  That the man of Elohim may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

“I believe the Bible is the divinely inspired, infallible Word of God from Genesis to Revelation, from cover to cover.  I even believe the leather is genuine.”  (Quoted by many preachers and teachers through the years)

Christendom, as a whole, believes the Bible is the inerrant Word of their Creator.  You hear it proclaimed in one way or another every Sunday morning.  You hear it constantly declared on religious broadcasting networks, both on radio and television; but is what they are saying true?  Do they even know what it is they are saying?  For example, I have a book in my study called, 26 Translations of the New Testament.  It goes through the entire New Testament, verse by verse, and any variations found in the translation of each verse are provided.  Many verses of the New Testament are translated differently in more than a dozen of the 26 versions. Some verses are translated so differently as to appear not to be the same verse at all.  Which one is the “divinely inspired” version? 

“I believe only in the King James Version of the Bible. It is the ‘authorized version.’”

This is another commonly heard quote of Christians showing their loyalty to the KJV translation; but what would they say if they were German, or Russian, or Spanish.  The KJV was written in English.  Which one is the divinely inspired version for the people who speak and read German or Russian or Spanish, etc.? What would they say if they knew the KJV originally was published with the Apocrypha, 15 books nestled in between the Old and New Testaments, that were later deemed to be without divine inspiration?  What would they say if they knew the Book of Yaqob was changed to James just to please the King of England?  What would they say if they knew words were deliberately mistranslated in order not to rock the boat of contemporary Christian practice and belief?  What would they say if they knew the KJV deliberately concealed the name of IAUE 6,300+ times, replacing His name with the name of a pagan deity? Would it still be regarded as the one and only, the true divinely inspired Word of Elohim?  Also, who “authorized” the King of England to “authorize” the translation? 

The fact is that it is only the “original” autographs (the actual original writings of Scripture) that were divinely inspired.  The moment that you translate them to another language, you are no longer dealing with the words that the Holy Spirit inspired men to write.  With any translation, you are dealing with men’s best effort (and we have no way of determining even that it is their best effort) to render the original manuscripts as faithfully as possible in the new language.

The Old Testament Scriptures were faithfully passed down from generation to generation by sophers who copied the Hebrew manuscripts with meticulous care.  The Hebrews even had laws that governed the manner in which they copied them.  When a copy was completed, the characters were counted from front to back, and back to front.  They had to end up with the exact number of characters; and the middle character had to be the exact one.  This way, they could be assured of having an exact copy.  If they found even one error, the entire scroll was destroyed, and they started over from the beginning.  Such was (and is) the Hebrew’s reverence for the sacredness of the writings that comprised the Scripture.  The problem, however, is two-fold.  The obvious one is, most of the world does not read, write or speak Hebrew; thus making access to the Scriptures in their original language an impossibility.  The second problem is, even the Jews ceased reading, writing and speaking Hebrew for many years.  When the language was restored into contemporary use, there was a loss of some vocabulary and the definitions of some words were unknown or uncertain.  So, even using the Hebrew manuscripts, there is a question as to what was in the mind of a Hebrew reading them 2,000 years ago versus one reading them, today.

The New Testament, as we know it, today, is derived from an assimilation of thousands of separate Greek manuscripts, none of which are “original” autographs.  Many of the manuscripts have slight variations from one to the next.  Many manuscripts are just of a single book or of parts of a book.  Collectively, they are overlaid from Matthew to Revelation in multiple overlapping layers; and scholars have established their best “guess” at what the original manuscripts must have said based on interpolating the pieces of manuscripts available.  From this final Greek rendering, translations have been made into all other languages.  The history of the New Testament documents in no way mimics the meticulous care of the Old Testament documents.  Additionally, there is considerable scholarship to support the notion that the New Testament books were not actually written in Greek, but rather in Hebrew; but there are no Hebrew manuscripts available, today, to be used as a source for translating into other languages.

I am not trying to paint a picture of despair.  IAUE works all things according to the counsel of His will.  If He wanted us to have the original autographs of the books that comprise the Scripture, He surely would have made them available.  Knowing man, they would probably have become holy relics and worshipped by the ignorant masses. Translations are necessary.  Not many Germans, Russians, Spaniards or English speaking westerners, for example, read Hebrew or Greek.  What I am saying is that there are inescapable problems associated with translating anything from one language to the next; and that is not just Scripture, but anything. 

When the name of the Messiah was transliterated from Hebrew to Greek, the Greek language did not have the capability of rendering either the “Y” or the “SH” dipthong.  Instead of Yahushua, we ended up with “Iesous.”  This is clearly not the same name.  The name of our Master has been lost in the translation.  Aside from alphabet limitations, there are vocabulary limitations.  Consider the following story from the Gospel of John (actually, it’s the Gospel of “Yohannes”).

John 21:15  So when they had dined, Yahushua saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Master; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
16  He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Master; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
17  He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Master, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Yahushua saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

This is generally how every English translation renders this passage of Scripture.  Because of the limitations of the English vocabulary, it is impossible to see what anyone reading a Greek version of this can readily see.  The first two times that the Master asks Peter if he loves him, in the Greek, it uses the word “agape” for “love.”  Agape is a selfless love that seeks only the best for others.  It is wholly devoted to their well-being. Peter’s response the first two times is, “Yes, Master, you know that I ‘phileo’ you.” Phileo is referred to as “brotherly love,” the kind of love a person has for a friend.   Peter does not acknowledge having agape love for Yahushua. The third time, however, the Master asks Peter if he even has “phileo” love for him.  Yahushua challenged Peter if he even loved him as a person, as a friend.  This transaction cannot be seen in any English translation of the Scriptures.  Understanding this, can we say that any English translation is divinely inspired?

I have taught Bible studies in many different States in the USA and in Germany.  There always came a point in each of these study groups that I would take the Bible I was using and literally toss it across the front of the room with the same callousness and disregard that one might discard an old phone book that was out of date and worthless.  There were always spontaneous gasps from among those in attendance, reacting as though I had desecrated something holy and sacred.  I would always tell them that it was just a book, one I could replace tomorrow by going down to the nearest book store.  There is nothing holy about the translation of the Scriptures that is printed and sold commercially to millions of people every year.  We do not gild our bibles in gold and preserve a dedicated and revered place for it to sit in our homes like a shrine.  No, they sit on our coffee tables or our bookshelves unread for the most part.  Those who do actually read and study the Scriptures carry it with them wherever they go.  It gets used and worn, and the pages get torn, and the verses that are special to us get underlined or highlighted; and eventually it wears out and we replace it with another copy.  Instinctively, we recognize the importance of the Scriptures.  We acknowledge how important the message and words are that is contained within them; but we do not handle the book, itself, as though it was the divinely inspired inerrant word of the living Elohim. 

Subconsciously for many, quite consciously for others, we understand that there are differences in the renderings of various translations.  We even have a preference of one over the other.  I know many believers who embrace the King James Version over all others.  I know some who will read only the New American Standard Version.  Still there are others who are devoted to the New International Version.  Though these three versions are extremely similar in content, they also are quite different in their word-for-word renderings of the same Hebrew and Greek manuscripts which are relied upon as the anchor of their translation.  Which one is divinely inspired?  None of them.  Which one is the best translation?  Who can tell?  What standard determines what makes one better than the other?  Even the King James Version has a “New” King James Version, that seeks to remove much of the Elizabethan English and bring the vocabulary of the 1600’s into the modern English usage.  Which one of these two is the better?

In our last post, I challenged you to determine for yourself whether or not the Scriptures were the divinely inspired word of IAUE.  Without that certain conviction based on personal evidence and experience, our faith cannot truly regard the Scriptures as an anchor; and our lives will constantly fluctuate between reliance upon the spirit and reliance upon the flesh.  We cannot have faith in the Scriptures because someone else believes it to be divinely inspired. 

In this post, it is my sincere desire that you recognize that divine inspiration may be ascribed only to the original writings; and much of that inspiration related to the culture and time at which the writing was given.  The historical attitudes and cultures that were present at the time the Scriptures were given cannot be reproduced in a modern translation.  All translations suffer loss from whatever language is being translated.  Does this mean that we cannot rely on our bibles?  Absolutely, not; but it does mean we need to learn a more effective way of relating to them.

John 5:39  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
40  And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

Reading the Scriptures as an end unto itself will only bring us to a wrong place in our lives.  In this passage we see that the most religious people of the day studied the Hebrew Scriptures and completely missed their divinely inspired purpose.

We must acknowledge that whatever translation we are using is an attempt to bring to our native language the words that were divinely inspired.  No other “book” on earth can make this claim.  No other book can represent that it is as close as man can come to hearing the words of Elohim as He originally delivered them.  With confidence we can relate to the Scriptures in whatever version or translation we possess to provide a venue within which we can begin a discussion with the actual author of the original writings; and listen to Him explain to us what we are reading and what He intended to be understood.  Though He could meet and speak with us through any literary work, the Scriptures are dedicated to this objective.  We can absolutely expect to meet with the Holy Spirit every time we open the Scriptures to find Him there. 

THE SCRIPTURES - I

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FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP

THE SCRIPTURES - I

2 Timothy 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of Elohim, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17  That the man of Elohim may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

It is necessary, before becoming too involved in our study, to deal with the perceptions that exist regarding the Scriptures; and to establish the working concept upon which this study will be based.  There are many opinions regarding the nature of Scripture as to its inspiration, its integrity, its purpose, and the legitimacy of the translations that exist.

It is safe to say there are two primary camps regarding the Scripture.  One denies any special value of the Scriptures over any other literary work, though possibly acquiescing to the notion that it contains some wise sayings.  The other camp ascribes to it a divine origin and the basis of the authority to their faith in Elohim. 

Though it is obvious I am not of the first camp, I do subscribe to the idea that every individual disciple should determine for themselves that the Scriptures are of divine origin and what that means to them.  This is something that generally never happens.  Of the millions of professing believers in the world, today, I doubt a significant number have grappled with the issue of the divine inspiration of the Scriptures.  For centuries, we have grown up in cultures that have passed down from generation to generation the belief that the Scriptures are divinely inspired and serve as the irrefutable foundation for all spiritual truth, today. 

The “Bible” serves as this anchor for all Christian and Catholic churches throughout the world; so the religious masses for centuries have provided the consensus opinion that forms the basis of each contemporary believer’s perception of the Scriptures.  The problem with this is that faith cannot be based upon what someone else believes.  The #1 reason why so many believers yield their trust in certain “promises” of the Scriptures to take up worldly solutions can be attributed to the fact that they have never established the authenticity of the Scriptures for themselves.

Acts 19:13  Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Master Yahushua, saying, We adjure you by Yahushua whom Paul preacheth.
14  And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
15  And the evil spirit answered and said, Yahushua I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
16  And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

Here we see seven brothers recognizing the efficiency by which the apostle Paul cast demons out of the afflicted, and correctly ascertained that it was Paul’s faith in the name of Yahushua that was connected to his results.  These brothers had no relationship with Yahushua. They were not disciples.  They did not have the faith in the name of Yahushua that comes from personal experience.  You see, in this passage, the results of what I call “second generation faith.”  This incident demonstrates the point I am making.  One really cannot have unyielding faith in the words of Scripture without personally validating its authority, without personal experience that provides the conviction that the Scriptures are divinely inspired. That does not come from believing what others believe about the Scriptures.

This personal validation of the Scriptures can come through many different means.  It does not necessitate extensive academic research on the historical path of the original writings to their current form in your native language; though it can be through this path.  Ultimately, it is going to be through the means the Holy Spirit will choose to bring this conviction to your heart.  It is important to recognize there are 39 separate books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament.  There are even more books in today’s Catholic version of the Bible, as it includes an additional 15 books in the Old Testament referred to as the Apocrypha.  (These books were contained in the original publication of the 1611 King James Version, and remained there for 274 years before being removed.) There have been centuries of controversy over the inclusion of the book of James in the New Testament, and even dispute over the inclusion of the last half of the 16^th chapter of the Gospel of Mark. There has been controversy over the inclusion of 2 Peter, 2 John, 3 John, Jude and the book of Revelation.  There is disagreement over whether the New Testament books were written in Greek or Hebrew; but we have no Hebrew manuscripts to support an original autograph. Many believers have never heard of the Peshitta, an Aramaic version of the New Testament, which purports to be based on manuscripts more ancient than the Greek manuscripts which serve as the foundation for virtually all current translations of the New Testament.  Also, If you should find that the Torah (Pentateuch: Gen, Ex, Lev, Num, Deut) is inspired of Elohim, that still leaves 61 other books.  The Scriptures we have today, a compilation of 66 books, were written over a period of 2,000 years.  These 66 writings are not a single book; however; if we believe they are divinely inspired, we believe they all have the same author.

One could say, “Well, just look at the opening verse used in this post.  It SAYS that ‘all Scripture is given by inspiration of Elohim.’”  The apostle Paul said that; and to what writings was he referring, and what authority does he have to identify those writings as Scripture?  You could reply, “In 2 Peter 3:16, the Apostle Peter refers to the writings of Paul as Scripture, therefore Paul was speaking under the inspiration of Elohim;” but then, by what authority does Peter have to declare this for us, knowing that even the inspiration of the book of 2 Peter has been a subject of challenge?

There are also several writings referred to within the accepted Scriptures that we do not have included in our “bibles,” today.  Should we believe we are missing some of the revelation intended for us, today; or should we believe that if those books were to be included that the Holy Spirit would have intervened in the affairs of man to insure they were available for inclusion? 

Considering these facts, you can now better understand why I insist that every believer must establish for himself/herself the authenticity and reliability of the Scriptures, if they are going to form the basis for their faith.  Now, I can well imagine this idea would cause considerable unrest in some who read this posting.  This “homework assignment” I am giving you challenges the very foundation of your faith; but let me assure you, until you pursue this question you can have no real confidence in the Scriptures to provide you with the unchallengeable authority you say it already has in your life.  You must have some evidence that personally convinces you that the Holy Spirit can speak to you through the Scriptures because they are authored by Him.  If you do not have that, your trust in the Scriptures is based on something that cannot support your faith.

The first century disciples did not have the New Testament.  They are the ones who wrote the New Testament books.  When the early church referred to the Scriptures, they were referring to what we call the Old Testament.  The Jews referred to it both then and now as the Tanakh.  Interestingly, it was their final authority for all things spiritual…all things pertaining to Elohim, even to confirm the veracity of the gospel message itself.

Acts 17:10  And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

We must have a personal reason to trust the Scriptures, today.  It cannot be our father’s faith, or our church’s doctrine.  I encourage you to pray and to seek this confirmation for yourself.