The Affirmation of Things
[1 Timothy 1:6-7]; From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.
Of the Places of Our Affirmation
The Bible says that men who desire to teach the law do not understand what they say or from where they affirm. There are things you might never be able to explain but yet know how to do them. I might not know how to explain to a man how to heal the sick and I might also not carry the understanding of how the sick are healed but I must carry the affirmation in my spirit of how it works. It is possible depending on who you are ministering to and what kind of thing you are dealing with. It is natural that certain people in this world might not have the understanding of the things they do (even though it is not a good thing) but it is okay if the man does not have the understanding but carries the affirmation. I might not have an understanding of what I give but I must carry the affirmation. When I say we are going to do such and such a thing next year, I know it is going to happen. That is the confidence that we have in Christ. When you tell someone that you are not going to die next year, you ought to know where it is coming from. It is not coming from healthy living and a good diet. Man of God, when you say, ‘I am rich, I am blessed and increasing,’ do you have the affirmation and do you carry the understanding?
The Pendulum
The affirmation of the spirit swings on the pendulum of two things. The first is the revelation of the mind of the spirit pertaining that issue; not your idea. If you have a financial issue, what is the mind of the spirit? If you are sick, what is the mind of the spirit? The place of affirmation means that you carry the revelation pertaining that particular issue. The second thing is that the man receiving it ought to carry the stability to judge matters and the knowledge to execute. I need the mind of the spirit to confirm and explain to me whatever I am dealing with but I also need the stability in the spirit to reconcile judgment and knowledge on that issue.
I may have the mind of the spirit but if I do not have knowledge and judgment to deal with the issue, the stability in my spirit, it means that I might not get the desired results. It is one thing when pharaoh has received the mind of the spirit pertaining the famine. It is another when he does not have the stability of the spirit to carry both judgment and the wisdom to execute which is why he needed Joseph.
You say you are rich, are you sure you are rich? You say that you are blessed, are you sure you are blessed? You say that you will get married this year, are you sure? You might say, ‘No. I am walking by faith.’ Really? Faith is substance. Do you have the substance to make it happen?
Look at the people who desire to preach the law. It means that they neither carry the affirmation, the stability nor the mind of the spirit revealed to them. That is what Peter means when he talks about they who are unlearned and unstable; they twist those scriptures of Paul like they do others to their own destruction.
The mind of the spirit in every child of God revealed in every circumstance is a learning; then comes the stability of things which is the place where a man is well placed in the things of the spirit both to carry judgment and the knowledge of execution.
Of the Fear of the Lord
These men who desire to teach the law know not from where they affirm and end up in endless meats and genealogies. Let me show you an example in Isaiah 29:12 -13. It says;
And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.
Men were separated and alienated from the life of God that when you spoke of the fear of the lord, they taught it by the precepts of men. If you want to understand what I mean, ask a number of Christians why they fear God. What do you do because you fear God? You will realize that it is the precepts of men and not of God. Now if you miss the mind of the spirit, if you are not learned in this, by the time you get to the place of stability, you might not be able to interpret and explain certain things.
There is a preacher who once said that men ought to stop sinning because God is a consuming fire. As a result of such a teaching, someone will say, I will stop sinning because I fear God. If you fear God and desist from doing something because you fear him, do you realize that it does not remove the desire to do that thing? Since it does not remove the desire to do the thing, God ups the game and tells you that if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has committed adultery. If I do something because I fear you yet with my eyes and my mind, I have seen a woman and lusted after her, does it mean I have not committed it? I have. It only means that I have not done it physically.
Do you have the power to deal with that from within when it is a nature issue? You cannot because it is inherent in your system.
Look at Psalms 103:3-5;
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
This is the mind of the spirit on how men ought to fear him. Why is he doing all that? Why does he find a man with issues and just seeks to forgive all his weaknesses? What is his mind on forgiving? The answer is in Luke 7:47. It says; Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
God knows that if a man is forgiven too much, he is going to love much but if a man is forgiven little, he is going to love less. That is why in Psalms 130:3, he says; but there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. According to God, the reason why men fear him is because he forgives a lot but the precepts of men teach that men fear him because he is a consuming fire.
Israel rebelled against God every day and he smote them. They rebelled and he smote them again. He smote them and they still rebelled some more. Up to date, Israel is still rebellious. No amount of beating will change your child. A woman who is forgiven when she wrongs her husband will love him more. However, if he beats her up so that she does not do that wrong thing again, she is less likely to love him. If you beat her up for her not to do it again, it does not mean that she will stop doing it. One day, some people get cold blooded and say ‘I know they are going to beat me but let me do it any way.’ How do you fix that? You cannot win men over by anger. You can only win them over by love. 1 Corinthians 13:8 is clear; love never fails.
I do not understand how a man can refuse to receive the grace of God. Its purpose is simple. It is to remove sin out of you without effort. They claim that we tell people to do nothing because Jesus finished it. Yes, he finished it. He said so. Just receive. He says that we which have believed have entered into rest. I am rested that I am okay. I am rested that my finances and my marriage are okay. Everything is okay.
Do I mean that in salvation there is no struggle? Salvation can either be hard or easy. Choose what you want.
Posted in: Phaneroo sermon
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