“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105)
I had a short conversation with a man whom I believe has been born-again a few days ago. one who reads nothing but the Scriptures. When I mentioned the name of a few authors that the Lord used to pen words for His glory, Ironside, Bernard, Tozer, he saw no need to read their works, but replied that he garnered all he knew from the Word of God.
There is a problem with this, and it has been revealed to be a very serious problem at times, for this is how cults begin, this is how religions are born.
In the many books I have read by men of God, often they will reference other works, other books written by men who had a burning desire to know Christ and Him crucified, to live their lives for the glory of God, and this is how I have learned myself, from those who came before us.
“Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” (1st Cor. 10:11)
The problem lies in the nature of man, our sinful nature based in pride, and one who studies from nowhere but the Scriptures has great opportunity to be incorrect, they may begin to presume that how they interpret a verse is the only way that it should be interpreted.
This man was not willing to accept correction, he would listen to none of my reproofs, and was quite adamant that what he regarded as truth was indeed truth. And the sad part of all this is that he is teaching a class on marriage to couples.
Paul was nearly three years in the Arabian desert, being taught personally by the Lord Jesus Christ, three years learning that not all he thought of as truth was truth.
“And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” (Acts 9:5)
We start with the Word of God, every time, we check everything we read or are taught against the Scriptures, we test the Spirits against what the Holy Spirit reveals to us, and we accept as truth only that which can be verified by the Word of God. Everything else is cast aside as useless.
A few well-placed questions and suggestions to this man revealed to me that his opinions have, in some regards, overridden the truths of the Scriptures, and although this is not to say he is not saved, he is deceived, and that by his own self. I have met pastors who stand on this same shaky ground, and to offer to those who sit in the pews of their churches revealed truths of the errors of that man behind the pulpit is to find yourself not welcomed any longer.
“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.” (Jer. 17:5)
Men of God are being pushed aside by men who profess to know God, who do not believe, nor will they listen to the truth of Proverbs 6:23, “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:”
Pride does not place blinders on us my friends, it blinds us, it makes that glass we see through darkly today even darker, but those who believe themselves to be correct, even when they have been shown to be incorrect, believe themselves to have received the light.
I do not think that most of us realize how important it is to test the Spirits, to check everything against not only the Scriptures, but against what honest, God-fearing men who have come before us have said, and the truth of 2nd Timothy 3:13 is being revealed in these days because of that.
“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”
Every cult, every works-based religious organization has their roots in the Scriptures, but those roots are on shallow ground, and will not stand in the day of the Lord.
If you are under the tutelage of someone, be it a pastor, a Bible study, or an individual, test everything they say against the Word of God.
