© 07 Colin Melbourne
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Now here’s an interesting truth. If evangelists and preachers depended upon their feelings almost nobody would ever hear the Gospel.
I thank God for one mighty preacher I heard in the midst of the Charismatic revival in the early 90s.
All kinds of crazy stuff was going on, some of it was from God, much was flesh, and some was demonic. Well, it’s better to have excess and go over-board than to wither on the vine, and if you walk with God you can easily spot the counterfeits.
When it was fashionable for preachers to display subtle sensitivities, gimmicks, and dubious ‘gifts’ in ministry, this Spirit-filled evangelist (with an unadorned, unprecedented, miracle-packed ministry) stood up and declared, with more than a hint of irony in his voice
“Well I wish I could feel something. I’d love to feel something, anything, just a tingle would do. Oh it would be wonderful to feel a touch, have a sign. But nothing, I’m as dull as a door-knob, flat as a pancake, and all I have to rely on is the word of God. So all I can do is proclaim it.”
He continued on this line, but the point was already beautifully made.
Experiences, feelings, joy, and signs, are wonderful when they are from God, but we must never depend upon them, but on the written word anointed by God’s Spirit.
It is Written
God says it, I believe it, that settles it, was Wigglesworth’s motto.
I like Paul’s even more.
By the grace of God I am what I am: 1 Co. 15:10a KJV
Put that one in your pocket. That single sentence will feed you for eternity.
Paul was referring to his apostleship, but it has broad application to every believer.
Take for example, those struggling with salvation by works; former cult members lured by demons to trust in their works to save them. They’ve come out of the cult, and been genuinely saved, but the Devil tempts them.
They feel more saved after they have done some good deed or proclaimed the Gospel. Seducing spirits tempt them to believe they have some part to play in their salvation.
No! A thousand times no! I am what I am by the grace of God! Not by works so nobody can boast. (Eph. 2:9)
He did it all, He saved me, I just heard about it, believed it, called on Him, and He saved me: Done!
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ro. 10:13 KJV
Feeling lonely?
Or the ageing widow feeling lonely and vulnerable in an increasingly wicked world. Should she look for a new husband to care for her? Why no, she reads God’s promises of companionship, provision, and protection, then recalls His faithfulness. She declares,
By the grace of God I am what I am: Protected, provided for, and pledged to Him. Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. I am in Christ Jesus, safe and secure. It is written, it is so.
The widow sees off the Tempter with the word.
He shows you how
Recall Christ being led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by Satan.
This was immediately after Heaven opened at His Baptism, and Father spoke audibly confirming Jesus Christ to be His Son. Mtt. 3:13-17. Quite an experience, unprecedented, unique, and perfect endorsement.
Straight away the Devil challenged Christ’s divinity with an if.
“If thou be the Son of God…”
It was laughable to doubt His divinity after what had just occurred, and Christ could have responded along the line of,
“You saw and heard what happened at the River Jordan. Heaven opened, the Spirit of God descended visibly upon me, and God spoke audibly confirming that I am the Son of God.”
But Jesus did not say that, He didn’t point to that experience, valid though it was. He had learned to depend upon something even more established, something eternal and utterly dependable. The Holy Spirit brought to His remembrance what He read as a child, and Mtt. Ch. 4 records His reply,
It is written…
Three tests, Satan threw triple temptation at Jesus of Nazareth, and each time Christ depended not upon feelings, or experiences, but upon what God had said in His word.
He set the example we are to follow.
Learn that lesson now.
Train yourself to take feelings with a pinch of salt, good or bad, and trust entirely upon the word of God anointed by His Spirit.
You will often have blessed feelings, the joy of Heaven, and your heart will thrill with holy pleasure, but wean yourself from relying on such things, and eat the Bread of Heaven, the Lamb of God, to grow strong in the Lord.
That is what Jesus did, and what Father wants you to do always.
© 07 Colin Melbourne
