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Presumptuous Sins
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[To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.] The heavens declare the glory
of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth
speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech
nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone
out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In
them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom
coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run
a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit
unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. The
law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of
the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD
are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is
pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring
for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous
altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much
fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them
is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great
reward. Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret
faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall
be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and
the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength,
and my redeemer.
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(Psalms 19:1-14)
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By the Providence of God, I was shown most of these Scriptures in a period
of forty eight hours, and am aware of some of the implications that the
Holy Spirit has shown. Too many professing Christians follow this teacher
or that author, believing that they will receive the blessings of God in
the process, or else they want their belief titillated. They choose a teaching
that suits their pocket, so to speak. Serious seekers after truth however,
use the method as laid down by the Creator, Author and Finisher of our
faith.
Jesus once said:
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But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh
such to worship him.
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(John 4:23)
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I believe that this means that we must worship Him with the guiding hand
of the Holy Spirit while studying the truth, the Bible.
This is why it is so important to use the Spiritually inspired word
of God such as the King James Bible and not one that Satan has been allowed
to corrupt. However, this is not the subject of this dissertation.
I am at this period of time making a study of the gift of tongues,
one hopefully without being coloured by my own presumptions and prejudices.
Many words have been written on this controversial subject, some for and
some against the belief. The only way is to continue, in the faith
that the Holy Spirit, who is at the centre of this controversy, will guide
me into all truth.
For example, many Christians have heard of the powerful ministry of
Smith Wigglesworth of the early part of this century. In a book written
by his daughter and son-in-law, it is stated that he went to another town
to receive the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" or the gift of tongues. After
being there for a few days, he heard no-one speak in tongues and did not
receive this gift. On his way home he called in to say goodbye to a minister's
wife, who, when he commented on his disappointment, laid hands on him and
he commenced speaking in tongues. Now this is impressive, but is it Biblical?
No! Can people be led astray by false teachings? Yes!
I have taken the liberty of highlighting those passages of the following
Scriptures that I believe have a bearing on the subject under discussion.
May the Holy Spirit guide and bless you as you remove all deceit from your
walk with The Creator.
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Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ,
and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For
we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in
them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death;
and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient
for these things? For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God:
but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
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(2 Corinthians 2:14-17)
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Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!
saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the
pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them
away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil
of your doings, saith the LORD. And I will gather the remnant of my flock
out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again
to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set
up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more,
nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD. Behold,
the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous
Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment
and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel
shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called,
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the
children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The LORD liveth, which
brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north
country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall
dwell in their own land. Mine heart within me is broken because of the
prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom
wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his
holiness. For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the
land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and
their course is evil, and their force is not right. For both prophet
and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness,
saith the LORD. Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways
in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will
bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the
LORD. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied
in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. I have seen also in the prophets
of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies:
they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from
his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants
thereof as Gomorrah. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning
the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink
the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone
forth into all the land. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto
the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they
speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the
LORD. They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said,
Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after
the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. For
who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard
his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind
of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall
fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the LORD shall
not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts
of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.
I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them,
yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had
caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them
from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. Am I a God
at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself
in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I
fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. I have heard what the prophets said,
that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy
lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;
Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which
they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my
name for Baal. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and
he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is
the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. Is not my word like as a
fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in
pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the
LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. Behold, I am
against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say,
He saith. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams,
saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies,
and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore
they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD. And when this
people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying, What is
the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What burden? I will
even forsake you, saith the LORD. And as for the prophet, and the
priest, and the people, that shall say, The burden of the LORD, I will
even punish that man and his house. Thus shall ye say every one to his
neighbour, and every one to his brother, What hath the LORD answered? and,
What hath the LORD spoken? And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention
no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted
the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God. Thus shalt
thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee? and, What hath
the LORD spoken? But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus
saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I
have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD; Therefore,
behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and
the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my
presence: And I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you, and a perpetual
shame, which shall not be forgotten.
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(Jeremiah 23:1-40)
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Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards
of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a
man be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I
should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own
self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but
he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time,
until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of
darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall
every man have praise of God. And these things, brethren, I have in a figure
transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye
might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written,
that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. For who maketh
thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst
not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory,
as if thou hadst not received it?
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(1 Corinthians 4:1-7)
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For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones,
wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day
shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire
shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide
which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's
work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved;
yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that
the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God,
him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple
ye are.
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(1 Corinthians 3:11-17)
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Please also read Numbers 15:27-31; Deuteronomy 18:18-22;
2 Kings 10:18-32.
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart,
be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer
(Psalm 19:14)
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