A.W. Tozer : Testing the Spirits
Many tender-minded Christians fear to sin against love by daring to inquire into anything that comes wearing the cloak of Christianity and breathing the name of Jesus. They dare not examine the credentials of the latest prophet to hit their town lest they be guilty of rejecting something which may be of God. They timidly remember how the Pharisees refused to accept Christ when He came, and they do not want to be caught in the same snare, so they either reserve judgment or shut their eyes and accept everything without question. This is supposed to indicate a high degree of spirituality. But in sober fact it indicates no such thing. It may indeed be evidence of the absence of the Holy Spirit. Gullibility is not synonymous with spirituality. Faith is not a mental habit leading its possessor to open his mouth and swallow everything that has about it the color of the supernatural. Faith keeps its heart open to whatever is of God, and rejects everything that is not of God, however wonderful it may be. Try the spirits is a command of the Holy Spirit to the Church. We may sin as certainly by approving the spurious as by rejecting the genuine. And the current habit of refusing to take sides is not the way to avoid the question. To appraise things with a heart of love and then to act on the results is an obligation resting upon every Christian in the world. And the more as we see the day approaching.
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The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
English: The stained-glass window number 27 (detail) in the Sint Janskerk at Gouda/Netherlands: “The parable of the Pharisee and the publican” Deutsch: Das Glasfenster Nummer 27 (Detail) in der Sint Janskerk in Gouda/Niederlande: “Der Pharisäer und der Zöllner” Nederlands: Gebrandschilderd Glas 27 (detail) in de Sint-Janskerk in Gouda/Nederland: “De farizeeër en de tollenaar” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
“The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God I thank You that I am not like other men–extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.
‘I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.
“And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner.’
“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Christ Teaches on the Second Coming
The Second Coming of Christ window at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Charleston, SC. Franz Mayer & Co. of Munich, Germany represented by the studios of George L. Payne of Patterson, New Jersey 1966. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Christ Teaches on the Second Coming
Luke 17:20-37
Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation;
“nor will they say, ‘See here!‘ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
Then He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.
“And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do no go after them or follow them.
“For as the lightening that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day.
“But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
“And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:
“They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
“Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;
“but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.
“Even so it will be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
“In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back.
“Remember Lot’s wife.
“Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whomever loses his life will preserve it.
“I will tell you, in that night there will be tow men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left.
“Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left.
“Two men will be in the field: the one will be take and the other left.”
And they answered and said to Him, “Where, Lord?” So He said to them, “Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”
Take the Lowly Place
the first page of the Gospel of Luke (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Luke 14:7-14
So He told a parable to those who were invited, when He noted how they chose the best places, saying to them:
“When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him;
“and he who invited you and him come up to you and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place.
“But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you.
“For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friend, your brothers, your relative, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.
“But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.
“And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
Power of Faith Mark 11:20-24
On the trees, figs appear when summer is near (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”
So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.
“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says.
“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
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Debate Over Tradition Matthew 15:1-20
Christ and The Pharisees (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying,
“Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat the bread.”
But He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?
“For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother‘; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’
“But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me has been dedicated to the temple”—
‘is released from honoring his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.
Hypocrite! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
And in vain the worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the
commandments of men.’ “
Then He called the multitude and said to them, “Hear and understand:
“Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”
But He answered and said, “Ever plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.
“Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”
The Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”
So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding?
“Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?
“But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.
“For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
“These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”
True Vision and True Blindness John 9:35-41
The Pharisees Turn Away from Christ - medieval stained glass detail, Canterbury Cathedral (Photo credit: chrisjohnbeckett)
This begins after Jesus has healed the blind man and the blind man has witnessed to the Pharisees and was cast out by them:
John 9:35-41
Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”
Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.
And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”
Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”
Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see,’ Therefore your sin remains.
Christ Witnesses to Nicodemus John 3:1-21
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do, unless God is with him.”
Jesus answered and said to him. “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless on is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
“The wind blows where it wished, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher if Israel, and do not know these things?
“Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.
“If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things.
“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
“that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
“For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. “But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
