Musings and Memories
By Doug Dezotell
The late Rev. Dr. Adrian Rogers told the following story:
There was a King who asked several slaves who were on one of his ships, “Why are you in chains?”
One man replied, “I don’t know. I was in a crowd when a crime was committed. I am innocent.”
He asked another man who said, “I am not guilty, but I am a victim of false witnesses.”
The King proceeded to ask each man the same question and each had a reason why he was innocent.
That is, until one man responded, “I am here because I deserve to be here. I have sinned against my God and against my King. And now I am paying the penalty.”
The King stepped back and said, “What are you doing here among so many so-called ‘innocent’ men? Guards, release him!”
And they did.
Just like those slaves on that ship, it’s not until we admit our sinfulness that we are going to receive the Grace, Mercy, and Forgiveness of the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords.
God wants us to be Honest with Him, after all we can’t hide anything from an All-Seeing, All-Knowing God.
Romans 4:7 says: “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.”
Over the years, I have seen people come along claiming that Believers in Christ can have a great New experience with the Holy Spirit, such as laughing uncontrollably or making animal noises (they claim it’s the Holy Spirit making them do it).
Some claim that the Holy Spirit fills their teeth with gold, or that The Spirit drops gold dust on them.
They claim those things are the result of the moving of the Holy Spirit, and people being filled with the Holy Spirit.
I always want to jump in and say, “Pardon me, Fella, show me where that is in the Bible?”
You see, I believe that if I can’t find those kind of experiences in the Bible, then I’m not buying it, and I don’t think it’s really a movement of the Holy Spirit.
I believe that if it’s not in God’s Word, then it is not of God.
So much of what takes place in the name of Jesus Christ is simply sinful man being manipulated by the devil, making a mockery of a godly life.
Christian people need to repent, turn from their sin, and turn to God. Yes, I said Christian people need to repent. And to live a repentant life. And read God’s Word, and study God’s Word, meditate on God’s Word, and live God’s Word.
Rev. Greg Laurie said, “We should always be able to have a scriptural basis for what we are doing. By that I don’t mean spiritualizing a text and taking it out of context. I mean truly having a biblical basis where we can say, ‘Here it is happening in the Book of Acts, taught in the Epistles,’ and so forth.”
When someone claims to be a Prophet of God with a New Revelation for the church that has never been revealed before, just remember that if “it is new, then it is not true.”
And if it is true, then it is not new.
King Solomon wrote, “There’s nothing new under the sun.”
Pastor Laurie said, “I am not looking for a new revelation; I have more than enough in the Bible.”
Yet, there are people today who are looking for “new words from the Lord” when they’ve never even read God’s written word, the Bible, from cover to cover.
We shouldn’t be looking for new revelations.
Instead, we need to look to The Bible and always have a scriptural basis for everything that we say and do.
The Apostle Paul wrote to his son-in-the-faith, Timothy, “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” (1 Timothy 4:16)
——————————————————————————————-
Columnist Doug Dezotell serves as the pastor of Cannon UMC. He may be reached at dougmdezotell@gmail.com or call him at (931) 607-5191.
