Topic: Messing With God’s Message [Tony Evans Ministry 16 January 2020]
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Messing With God’s Message
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book. – (Revelation 22:18)
The fact that the Bible is completely authoritative and cannot be broken is a wonderful doctrine for the Christian faith. But the power of God’s Word can be nullified in your experience if you refuse to let the Word speak to you as it is or you start mixing it up with your human viewpoints.
The Bible itself cannot lose its power or authority.That will never happen because God said His Word is “forever settled in heaven.” But the Bible’s power may be blunted in your life when you do not respond to God in humility and obedience.
A lot of people who try to mix their own thoughts with the Bible’s teaching have many degrees after their name. Education is fine, and the church has benefited from well-trained commentators and scholars who seek to understand what the Word means. But if it takes us away from God’s Word, it is miseducation.
This thing of truth and authority is at the core of why the Holy Spirit is not doing more in our lives. The Spirit is the Spirit of Truth who is obligated only to God’s Word. So when you start diluting the Word with your human viewpoints, the Spirit steps back, because He is not going to bless your speculations. The introduction of human opinion nullifies the effectiveness of benefits that the Scriptures are designed to give you.
Just before the closing benediction in Revelation, we find a dual warning to anyone who either “adds to” or “takes away from” the words of this book (Revelation 22:18–19). God pronounces a curse when people start messing with His message.
Aligning your perspective with God’s perspective enables you to tap into the power that comes from the authority of His Word.
Reflection: When God’s Word and a teacher or a preacher say different things, which one do you believe? What does Dr. Evans mean when he says, “The power of God’s Word can be nullified in your experience if you refuse to let the Word speak to you as it is or you start mixing it up with your human viewpoints”? Ask God to help you take seriously the need to get truth from God’s Word and not your own ideas.
Lord, it’s easy to get away from Your perspective, especially with so much noise and clutter in our world today. Keep me ever in front of Your Word so that I can align my thoughts and choices under You