The Scriptures and the Power of God

During these days of renewal and restoration it is of paramount importance that the Bible is given its recognition as the final source of authority, for without a return to fundamental biblical truth there can be no effective revival. The two foundational pillars, as stated by Jesus, are the Scriptures and the Power of God. Any person or Church that denies either or both of these will inevitably flounder.

There is currently an alarming move away from the Bible being the literal revealed Word of God, including in the evangelical circles, where it now merely 'contains' the Word of God. If the Bible 'contains' the truth rather than 'is' the truth, then any individual passage need not necessarily be literally true but merely contains a truth, possibly metaphorically or allegorically. For example, the story of Jonah can be seen as allegorical and the big fish poetic licence. The story of creation itself need not be literally true but illustrative of a general principle that God was in charge of whatever time-span it took. The inevitable result of this is to question whether any passage is literally true as it need not necessarily be so. Major questions then arise, for example, whether there will literally as a heaven and hell or the thousand-year reign of Jesus on the earth tat Revelation 20 refers to.

It is an awesome responsibility to challenge anything in the Bible for two reasons. First of all Jesus Himself accepted the whole of the Old Testament as being literally true, including creation in six days, Adam and Eve, Jonah and hell being a physical place, as He specifically referred to all these during His ministry. In Mark 10, when questioned on divorce, Jesus replied in verse 6 that from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. Jesus did not believe that man evolved from apes and taught both creation and a literal Genesis. There are 9 places where Jesus referred to Jonah. The most direct is:

"For as jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matt. 12:40, NKJV).

A literal hell

Let us consider the question of a literal hell. We should all have the fear of hell if we reject Jesus as Savior.

Jesus said: "But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him" (Luke 12:5)!

It is now becoming intellectually unacceptable to believe in a literal hell. I was told a well-known evangelist was asked by a news reporter whether he believed there is a literal hell with a literal fire and a literal worm. He repeatedly avoided saying 'yes' even when the question was pressed again. Finally he merely said that we have to be serious about hell, the the flames would not necessarily like those we have in a living room fire. Jesus, on the other hand, was quite straight about hell including its real flames!

Jesus said: "And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched - where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire - where 'Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched'" (Mark 9:45 - 48).

If there is no hell God has deceived us and is a liar, and if we cannot believe Jesus about hell then we cannot believe Him about anything else including our salvation! It is wholly out of character for God to misrepresent the truth and God is not a man that He should lie. The Bible is true, and if we disagree then we are the ones who are wrong.

Science versus the Bible

During the last fifty years science has advanced so much that it has become the great infallible god. People believe that eventually man will discover everything, including the origin of the universe, and be able recreate life itself. Many Christians, if faced with a choice, would say that science is more accurate and more reliable than the Bible. They support the theory of evolution dispite the strong evidence for life appearing suddenly on the earth, and say that the Bible was never meant to be a literal account of how life started anyway.

Let us consider the case of Noah's flood. Prior the flood the earth had a uniform climate. There had been no rain (Gen. 2:5) and because the mist acted as a kind of canopy the global temperature was uniform, which is way the stars were given to mark the seasons (Gen. 1:14). scientists are now just beginning to discover this, and that a global flood rather than an ice age could have been responsible for the identifiable geological changes, yet still the Bible is felt to be inaccurate unless it agrees with science when really it should be vice versa. Evolution has been elevated from a hypothesis to the status of a proven fact. It is in fact a philosophy, because it presupposes that there is no creator God, and that given the right set of circumstances and enough time(whatever that means), then life will appear. Science is basically fine (the word simply means knowledge) provided that we work from the evidence forwards and not from the conclusion backwards, looking for evidence to slot in conveniently, however much it has to be maneuvered. If you had live 400 years ago you would have been assured that science had proved that the earth was flat, even though Isaiah writing several thousand years before Christ stated that it was round (Isaiah 40:22). It's all a question of how much we know, and more and more scientists are now opting for the sudden life theory, although they may not be willing to call it reaction because their model excludes the possibility of a Creator God. Christians must not accept science as a higher authority than the Bible, which will ultimately be proved correct, as has happened with much of the archaeological controversy over the dating of early historical events.

God is in control

The Bible indicates that life started approximately six thousand years ago. The earth was not created in a random sort of way. God in His foreknowledge knew what man would do and planned our salvation accordingly. If man sinned in the Garden of Eden it would seem logical for the Savior to come immediately to redeem fallen man. God, however, had everything under His control.

Paul said. "For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly" (Roman 5:6).

God's timing was perfect. There is a day coming when the Holy Spirit will be removed from the earth in order for Antichrist to appear and rule - "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way" (2 Thess. 2:7).

The point is that God determines the time when evil shall have free reign on the earth as part of the close of the age and it is not a random timing. The overall framework parallels creation. Just as there were six days of activity and one day of rest God wanted this established as a principle on the earth, which is why the Law of the Sabbath was given. There was not only to be one day's rest in seven, but also the land had one year's rest in seven as well (Lev. 25). Every seven sevens, i.e. in year forty-nine they had the Sabbath year followed by a year of Jubilee. The principle of a day being a thousand years (2 Peter 3:8) is part of the reason for the thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth. That is precisely why Satan is locked up for a thousand years (Rev. 20:2), in order that the earth might have rest. Those that believe the Second Coming to be near are in fact saying that the six thousand years are almost over, by implication, based on 2 Peter 3:8, whether they realize it or not. We have in fact overrun it by a few years and are living in a period of grace. Time is actually up and God could close the six thousand years any time. It is only grace that has added in a few extra years so that more can be saved. But this is not an open-ended extension fo unlimited time.

Scientists are frequently wrong and revise many of their theories. God on the other hand never is and His truth will stand eternal. It's a question of who you choose to believe. The god of this world has blinded many minds and the father of lies has partially succeeded in deceiving even the elect.

Once you are born again you have the witness of the Spirit that you are a child of God and the Eternal God is your Father in heaven and that you are not the result of some freak circumstances in the atmosphere (Romans 8:15, 16).

We have allowed science to be exalted above God and this has affected Christians as well as everyone else. we need to place the Bible once again in its position as the supreme authority otherwise we shall be deceived and misled.

Any challenge to Scripture questions Jesus' integrity. Furthermore, there are serious warningto those who belittle the Word of God in these days of easygoing compromise. In Matthew 5 Jesus warned that those believers who teach other than Biblical truth will be called least in the kingdom of God. It will be an eternal stigma and those that do this will have to give an account. But they won't of course lose their salvation.

Jesus said: "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5;17 - 19).

An equally direct warnign is in Revelation 22: "For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written this book" (Rev. 22:18, 19).

Although this specifically refers to the Book of Revelation it underslines how seriously God takes His Word.

The reality of demons and divine healing

There are two areas in the Scriptures that are currently under attack (apart from the usual attack on creation and heaven and hell). The first is the question of demons and their operation and the second is divine healing.

The reality of demons

Intellectualism, science and psychology have deceived many Christians into denying the reality of demons and therefore seeking help from doctors and psychiatrists rather than spiritual men with discernment. The Scriptures refer repeatedly to demonic activity, and Jesus both discerned it and dealt with it. The inability of many Churches to deal with this area reflects how urgently correct Biblical teaching is needed to redress the balance. Because this ministry has been left to so few, delieverance is seen as a fringe activity practiced by those who see a demon in everyone, and it is either avoided or rationalized away, with the result that someone genuinely oppressed is not taught how to get free and stay free, but is instead treated as being mentally ill in some way. The fact is that you cannot have a medical cure for spiritual sickness. What we need in the Body of Christ is men with an awareness of principalitites and powers prepared to minister deliverance in the Name of Jesus to those whose problem are spiritual. We should not quench the liberating work of the Spirit in this area but rather seek to have the same ministry as Jesus (Luke 4:18, 19).

Deliverance has not been replaced by psychology or drugs and the Church needs to be much more aware of its responsibility to be equipped to deal with it.

Divine healing

Divine healing (healing in the Name of Jesus) is an integral part of Jesus' ministry to fulfill the Isaiah 61 prophecy about Him that He Himself quoted in the synagogue in Nazareth in Luke 4. The disciples were commissioned to heal, and it is included in Jesus' instructions of Mark 16.

"And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover" (Mark 16:17, 18).

The Holy Spirit is healing many people today in the name of Jesus, and we should all be seeking to be used by the Lord in healing under the anointing of the power of God, as Mark 16 does not suggest that these ministries are limited to a selected few.

There is, however, a tremendous amount of unbelief in this area that quenches the Spirit and blocks the healing flow of God. If Jesus could do nother in Nazareth because of their unbelief (Matt. 13:58) the same will apply elsewhere.

Biblical basis for divine healing

Healing was provided in the Old Testament, for example through the serpent on the cross that Moses lifted up as foreshadowing of Jesus (Numbers 21:9) as well as through the prophetic ministry of Elisha in response to prayers to the Lord. It was not however generally available in the way God actually wanted because Israel repeatedly voilated the Deuteronomy 28 covernant and therefore came into the curses for disobedience, among which sickness is listed.

Sickness is a curse as the result of sin, not just specific individual sins but the whole Fall of man so it does not follow that the worst sicknesses affect the worst sinners or vice versa. All under Adamic curse are vulnerable to sickness. If sickness came into the world after the Fall of Adam then the Second Adam (Jesus) in redeeming us from the Fall also redeemed us from the consequences. In other words, healing is included in the atonement. If is was not then our salvation is incomplete.

Conclusion

We all need to be sure that we know the Scriptures and the power of God and not be deceived about our standing before the Lord, like those described in 2 Timothy 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. The Laodicean Church which some consider typifying the last phase of the Ghurch on the earth, said about itself: "I am rich, having become wealthy, and have need of nothing" (Rev. 3:17). But Jesus saw them as wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. Jesus was in fact outside knocking to try to get in (Rev. 3:20)! Some of the harshest words of Jesus were for the official priest, the ministers of His days, for preventing the people from entering into the Kingdom and giving them tradition instead of truth. Tradition and religion can be real enemies of the true work of God and we need to be aware how they can usurp the Lordship of Jesus and deny the power of the Spirit. We must live by the Scriptures and experience the power of God in our homes and Churches.