Years which pass into decades

July 28, 2007

Joel Akin

 Imagine you were beneath the throne of God. The throne of God is where those souls cry out "How long oh Lord?" Of course we who are here don't know that it is us. We are the ones who cry out how long. True there are some who don't but they are those who are beneath the throne of God as well. For we don't think outside the box. We don't realize that God had a rapture and the rapture was for the living who were dead. And we who were alive and remain didn't have it yet. We are the ones who were dead. Yet Christ gave us life. Only we didn't miss it we just happen to be under the throne. We are there for our protection. And I know this to be true not because I read but because I hear. I hear a song in my heart and it is the song of life.

 For if I pray without ceasing I end up dead. For I still need to breathe and I still need to eat. And if I communicate with the world by buying groceries then I may minister but that is not prayer. Prayer is communication with God. Ministry is expositing with men. And so if I minister it isn't the dull routine of life which has an affect so much as the pull of the Spirit into a specific direction.

 In Acts I read a mystery. Here is Paul who knew more about the leading of the Holy Spirit yet he deliberately ignored the warning of the Spirit of God. He claimed it was because of the sake of Jesus Christ. So if Paul could ignore the warning of the Spirit of God then why go to Jerusalem? The answer is to fulfill a vow. And that meant the vow of men was more important to him then the pull of the Holy Spirit.

 Now some in this age might read that and think "That is just Paul being warned." But suppose God warned him a dozen times not to go. Would we ignore that kind of warning and still be on fire for God? To answer that we need time and prayer and I fought it today. I fought in a way I didn't like. I fought it because I was weak. I stayed home from garage sales and prayed. And for me that is a sacrifice.

Now I didn't give up garage sales. I just put them aside. And so if God blesses I'll try next week. I have been sick with shakiness and I am trying to do what is right. I have been in shakes for years and it is painful. I go out and do things when I can but most times I can't. I do simple things and those things lead to simple things. And so I write as its the only thing I can really do besides watch TV or visit the Net. And so that is pretty much my life.

 Yet it is this battle which is why I fight. It is this which lead me to read of Paul and his vow. It was this which made me realize Paul was still in the law. He could have ignored the vow but it was of men who were with him. And so they had to fulfill the vow. And if the vow were contrary to the work of God then Gods Spirit would harbor anger towards Paul. And that is because he refused to bend in his vow. So if he were given a tormenting spirit it could be because he refused to bow towards the things of God.

Now I am not in trouble as far as I know. I want to put God first in all things. But scripture is clear that Paul forsook the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is clear he had to fight the rest of his life to deal with that refusal to bow. And it is this which is bent our life. For we know people who follow Paul to the exclusion of the rest of the Bible. They see him as the greatest man who ever lived including the life of Christ. Christ perhaps was God and thus they can ignore his teaching as it was aimed not at the Gentile but at the Jew. So his life was cast off as well.

Now there are preachers in our denomination which is Pentecostal who have publicly proclaimed the Old Testament is now without value to our age. They have said this in front of other preachers and none of them rebuked this man. They listened and heard his teaching. And I know youth who have said the Bible is boring but that is probably just youth. But they also ignore the Old Testament as with little to no value. And they also are born again Christians. And it goes on and on and on how we pick pieces of scripture and we build world upon world. And so when time comes for us to preach we preach our theology because that is how we were trained. And if we can tell them "Hey. I find the Bible without value except maybe for Paul" then who would fight us? Perhaps we might argue with some but the fact is the Book of Acts is the most straightforward account of Paul and his work. He failed in his early years to heed the leading of the Holy Spirit. He gave no credence to the leading of God. And he did follow the work of Christ to the exclusion of the Holy Spirit.

Yet those who read it find no problem with that theology. The Holy Spirit is left in the corner and we watch as the world goes by. And the Holy Spirit is ostracized from life and we don't seem to care.

Yet if that is to be the way of the world then why do we pray? We do so because God is showing me that I am fighting for the work of God. I am fighting for life. I am wedging in a volley to the enemy who has ostracized the entire church into a valley of death. We don't speak of a shadow but an actual valley.

Now you have a right to ask "What does that mean?" So lets say I'm right and we ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit. Lets say the church puts God in the background and we put our priority of men first. The book of Acts shows us exactly what happens when a man puts men first. They have to fulfill their vow and if that vow is one created by men then it is bent. And if it is bent it is shadow of death. But if people fall for it and say "You must go to this person to be prayed for" then ask "Who said that?" Now if I get in trouble for it then I pray forgiveness. But if Paul were off in his early ministry then what happened that we could not see it? What happened that we were blind to it? For I know he was wrong. I know its been preached on more then once and yet I've never heard he was wrong. I only heard it stated as "Poor Paul" and then it ends.

So what if we are either blind to it or we say I'm wrong? What if I am? Why ignore warnings of the Holy Spirit?

If you can answer that then tell me. Because as a Christian I find if God warns me multiple times not to do something and I do it then who is in the right? God or me? If you say you are then that is part of the problem of the church. The church doesn't get it. The church doesn't pay attention to Acts. We saw Paul as a trouble maker in his early years. He grew up. He matured. His works are scriptural. Yet he saw himself as the Chief of Sinners but not in the beginning. He still tarried overmuch at pride. And it was that pride which lead to him being the Chief of sinners. And I know I say it both Sinner and sinner but that is because Paul was just a man. A man who knew how to forgive and how to heed the leading of the Spirit of God. But it wasn't in the beginning. It was only later in life.

Now I am sure others knew this and wrote of it but it didn't become common as teaching. We put it on the back burner because it meant it taught a valuable lesson on humility of men vs God. It taught us to heed the liberty we have in the Holy Spirit. It taught us to heed the leading of God over the leading of a man. And if you follow the teaching of Paul that is fine. He was a man called to help the Gentile people. I speak here of his early year and his ignoring of the leading of God. That in itself is a sign to our age. For we have turned to men again and again only to find they don't have the answer. And they are men like you and I.

Perhaps Paul realized that men would be men. If so he had a concept called life. He saw the leading of God in his year of change. And that vow was important to him. Yet it was the leading of God to prove to him that he was meant to follow. And to follow meant to see truth from things we call fiction. For if fiction is the like of things then fact is the truth. And so if fact is the future of Acts then facts is what God wanted to show you. That God is going to change everything in our world. And to do that He has to find a wedge. And a wedge is a way of giving us insight into what really took place in the Bible. That God showed it and let us as men decide. We chose to put Paul on a Bible stating with other men of the Bible. So God let it be. We put men into position of authority. And again God let it be. We asked God for a word of life and God let it be. We put God into all things but He was still God. We could have said "God is just God" or "God is just" and left it blank because we couldn't think of anything to put in after just. But suppose I do? Suppose I add ice to everything called drink? Now that then means I add aid to lemon and fish to sticks. Well, it is justice in a way.