“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (James 3:13-18 ESV)
This time reading this passage of Scripture it brought to mind those who are teachers of The Word of the Lord. For these are people who are to be knowledgeable in the Scriptures, who study them in context, and who do their best, in the power of God, to rightly handle the word of truth. They are also to be those who are living what they are teaching, who are trustworthy and honest, and who are leading by example what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ and to know Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives.
It doesn’t mean that they are perfect in every way, but that they should be people of integrity who are not hypocrites, and who do what they do for the right reasons and not for personal gain. They should be working for the Lord, listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit, and following the leading of the Spirit in what to teach. They should not be trying to teach the Scriptures from their own flesh nor from the teachings of other humans and their programmed Bible lessons. For we need to be guided by the Holy Spirit.
Sadly, it appears in our day and age, at least in the USA, that not many teachers of the Word are people of integrity who are teaching the pure word of the Lord under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit. So many teachers of the Scriptures today are doing so for selfish ambition in order to grow their earthly kingdoms. And that is why so many of them are teaching the Scriptures out of context and are twisting them to say what they do not say if taught in their proper context. For they do not want to offend people.
They do not want to offend human flesh and the ungodly of the world with the truth of the gospel of Christ, for their goal is to “draw in large crowds of people from the world” into their gatherings and to keep them wanting to come back for more. So they entertain them and they dilute the truth of the gospel and the character of God/Christ and of his church, the body of Christ, in order to make them more acceptable to the people of the world. And they are led by the marketing schemes of the flesh rather than by the Holy Spirit.
But that is not the wisdom that comes from God. God is not pleased with his people following the marketing schemes of other humans in order to draw in large crowds of people into their gatherings. Jesus used a whip and drove the moneychangers out of the temple because they were turning the house of the Lord into a place of business, a marketplace. And the Scriptures teach that we are to come out from among the people of the world and that we are not to partner with nor to have fellowship with the ungodly.
“Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.’” (see 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 ESV)
“For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” (Philippians 3:18-19 ESV)
“Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,
‘Come out of her, my people,
lest you take part in her sins,
lest you share in her plagues;
for her sins are heaped high as heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities.’” (see Revelation 18:1-5 ESV)
[Matthew 21:12-13; John 2:13-17; Acts 5:27-32; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Philippians 3:18-19; Revelation 13:5-8; Revelation 18:1-5]
And then we are to walk in the ways of the Lord and to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, and to study the Scriptures in their proper context. And we are to test the spirits to see which ones are of God. And we test not only by their words spoken and taught, but by the fruit that they bear. And we test what they are teaching against the Scriptures taught in their proper context. For too many people are teaching the Scriptures erroneously because they are teaching them out of their appropriate context. Context is critical!
For the wisdom of God is pure. It is unadulterated! It does not pacify human flesh, but it puts flesh to death with Christ on that cross. It does not try to win people over through worldly means and diluted gospels, but via the truth of the Scriptures. And it is impartial in that the same rules apply to everyone and God’s grace is the same for everyone. And God’s grace teaches us to say “No!” to ungodliness and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return (Titus 2:11-14).
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]
Living Water
An Original Work / November 21, 2013
Based off Various Scriptures
My people have forsaken Me,
Their Savior, who died on a tree;
Made idols, and they worshipped them;
So empty, they will ne’er fulfill.
Lord, You are the hope of Your chosen ones.
Those who turn away from You will be shamed;
The Spring of Living Water left behind.
Living Water satisfies.
The thirsty, let them come and drink;
Believe in Jesus as their King;
The gift of Jesus given them,
So they will never thirst again.
Indeed, the Living Water flows within.
It springs up like a fountain cleansing sin.
Eternal life in heaven promised them.
Living Water glorifies.
Oh people, won’t you come to Him?
Obey Him and repent of sin.
Let Jesus come and live within.
Surrender all your life to Him.
My people, won’t you turn your hearts to Me?
Forsake your idols and then you’ll be free.
Won’t you come now to Me on bended knee?
Living Water sanctifies.
https://vimeo.com/379511565
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