Morning Light – September 2nd, 2016: The Character of the Word Revealed

Morning Light – September 2nd, 2016
Today: [Psalm 119 Continued] The Character of the Word Revealed. In this section of Psalm 119 we see the need for transmission of the things of God from one generation to the next. There have been whole generations of men and women in recent history much more rooted in the things of God than the church alive today is experiencing. In Psalm 119 the writer declares the faithfulness of God that transmigrates from the testimony of one generation to the next. The word of God is to us like the milk and honey that the Israelites found waiting for them in the promised land – as we move toward it we partake of its bounty.
[Psa 119:90-120 KJV] 90 Thy faithfulness [is] unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. 91 They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all [are] thy servants. 92 Unless thy law [had been] my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction. 93 I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me. 94 I [am] thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts. 95 The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: [but] I will consider thy testimonies. 96 I have seen an end of all perfection: [but] thy commandment [is] exceeding broad. 97 MEM. O how love I thy law! it [is] my meditation all the day. 98 Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they [are] ever with me. 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies [are] my meditation. 100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
We continue in this lesson the study of Psalms 119. Verse 90 says that the faithfulness of God is from generation to generation. What is the significance of this statement? Every generation of believers alive at a certain point in time have a responsibility to convey before humanity the faithfulness of God. There are lessons, understandings and testimonies in each living generation that do not survive to the next unless they are transmitted faithfully from the existing generation to the younger generation. If you mention to young people today the names of men like Branham, or Seymour, or FF Bosworth, or TL Osborn – most of these names mean nothing. Yet these men were pioneers in the things of God and laid groundwork by lives of sacrificial service for many of the privileges we enjoy today in the things of God.
Likewise we can look back to times in the body of Christ that its character was much more spiritual than it is today. In the 1960’s and 70’s there was a much stronger spirit of unity in the body of Christ than we currently see. The testimony of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the spirit manifest among the people was in earlier years much more encouraged than it is today. There has been in the last 30 years a great compartmentalization of the church that now is divided among individual churches much the same way as we were divided by denominations in decades prior. Competition, insecurity among leaders, dictatorial, insular leadership styles are the norm and prevailing leaders see no reason to change their ways. There is little or no understanding of the need for the anointing of the Holy Ghost. Even in the Assemblies of God – once the flagship for Pentecostal faith – while their numbers are exponentially increasing, unfortunately likewise the numbers of those who believe in speaking in tongues and the gifts of the spirit are plummeting. We ministered at a church in Virginia last year where the pastor refuses to teach on speaking in tongues or the gifts of healing for fear of losing members. How can this happen? It comes about because the transmission of faith from one generation to the next is not taking place.
What is the answer? I believe the time has come, in fact God spoke this to me 30 years ago that we can no longer rely on the institutions of religion to faithfully uphold our Christian values and testimony. We as leaders must teach men and women under our care to get for themselves what they have traditionally looked to leadership for. It is no longer safe to assume that the Sunday School or youth programs will faithfully transmit our values. We cannot cast off our responsibility to fulfill the Great Commission and leave that to the evangelists who today are mere rehashing for the most part the same old themes to churches full of people who already know Christ. The lost are neglected. We must teach people as INDIVIDUALS to take on the mandates of the kingdom as their personal responsibility. We may not be able to effect change institutionally but we can and have responsibility to maintain the fire of God in our belly and go out in our life and proclaim the gospel that we might have a generational testimony of the things of God that will outlive us.
101 I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word. 102 I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me. 103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! [yea, sweeter] than honey to my mouth! 104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. 105 NUN. Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. 106 I have sworn, and I will perform [it], that I will keep thy righteous judgments. 107 I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word. 108 Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments. 109 My soul [is] continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law. 110 The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts. 111 Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they [are] the rejoicing of my heart. 112 I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, [even unto] the end.
Verse 103 speaks of the words of God as being honey to the writer’s mouth. 1 Peter 2:2 tells us to desire the sincere milk of the word. When Moses led the people to the Promised Land they were certified by God in Exodus 3:8 that the land would be a land of milk and honey. These things are a metaphor of the word of God. Milk represents the scripture that comes to us from the twin breasts of the Old and the New Testament. Milk is what is produced when cattle digest the grass of the field and feed their young. In the scripture cattle represent those who have a servant’s heart. They take the grass (which represents flesh) and through the influence of the Holy Spirit transmigrated their natural lives onto the pages of the scripture and their experiences, their successes and failures become holy writ to us on whom the ends of the age have come.
What does honey represent? The prophet Deborah’s name means “a honey bee”. Honey is a type of the prophetic word. So we see as Paul taught in Ephesians the two edged of the sword of the Spirit are the honey of the prophetic and the milk of the logos of the scripture. Proverbs 25:16 tell us that too much honey makes one vomit. Likewise 1 Thess. 5:20 warns us not to despise prophesying. Honey represents the prophetic word through the mouth of the prophets. Notice that prophesy is not represented by something bitter or vile to the taste. The prophetic word according to 1 Cor. 14:3 is all about edification, exhortation and comfort. Most prophets these days absolutely fail to get this. They think they have a “007” anointing to denounce, and repudiate and excoriate people. You will not find ONE New Testament prophet who prophesied in this manner. When the disciples wanted to act this way in Luke ch. 9 Jesus rebuked them saying that the Son of Man did not come to destroy but to save. Most of these strutting little Napoleon prophets will counter – BUT PEOPLE NEED TO REPENT! I absolutely agree – but Rom. 2:4-5 tell us that it is the GOODNESS of God that leads men to repent. In other words if men do not repent because God is good – He is not interested in the repentance that comes because they have been brow beaten by a snarling prophet claiming to speak for God.
113 SAMECH. I hate [vain] thoughts: but thy law do I love. 114 Thou [art] my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word. 115 Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God. 116 Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope. 117 Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually. 118 Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit [is] falsehood. 119 Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth [like] dross: therefore I love thy testimonies. 120 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.
Verse 113 says that the writer hates vain thoughts. Every thought contrary to the scripture is vanity. We are surrounded by a culture whose underpinnings have been established wholly separate from God’s words. Christians are mocked today. We are considered outmoded. Out of step. Intolerant. Even among those who claim to represent us – when they are pushed hard enough will reveal their scorn of the values espoused by the Scripture. This is especially true in the arena of politics. The Republican party since the days of Ronald Reagan have claimed to be the party of “God and Country”. From the 1980’s the RNC has rose to the ascendency politically on the vote of a gullible Christian electorate that believed the false promises they made to restore Christian ethics to our great society. Let us not forget that it was a Republican dominated Supreme court that handed down Roe v. Wade in 1974, thus legalizing abortion – a modern day holocaust by any metric. Let us not forget that it was a Republican dominated Supreme court that handed down the decision in 1962 that took prayer out of schools and condemned our children to the godless mandates of secularized education. It is time for the sleeping giant of the body of Christ to wake up and throw off the garment of lies and deception that the conservative party in this country has sold us.
Does this mean that we turn to some other party for assistance? No – Zech. 4 says it is not by might, nor by power but by My Spirit says the Lord that the things of God will be accomplished in the earth. As the writer of Psalm 119 declares we must once more agree that any philosophy, or political bent outside the parameters of the scripture is vanity and will not and cannot bring about righteousness in our land. As the writer of Psalm 119 we look to God as our hope and not man.