John 14:6 Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by Me.
The Bible gives different definitions than what we usually think of naturally for some words. For example, we think of “truth” as correct facts. If it is correct, we say it is truth. But the Bible gives “truth” a more exacting meaning. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Truth. So when the Bible speaks of truth it is usually speaking of Him. From this we learn that truth is a carrier of His presence, nature, and Spirit - for He is the Truth. This also means that a correct fact is not necessarily truth. If it doesn’t carry His nature, it isn’t truth.
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Jesus says that the devil is the lie. So we understand that a lie, scripturally speaking, carries his nature. Even if what he is saying is correct and even if it is Scripture, it is a lie. Words are carriers and the spirit riding on them is the determining factor of a lie or truth.
Jesus went into the wilderness, after being baptized by John the Baptist, and was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-11). Even though Satan quoted Scripture, he did not speak the Word of God because his nature was riding on it. When it comes out of his mouth, it is a lie and not the Word of God.
What is the Word? Some think of it as information, but it is more than information. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1. And, it still is! The Word is God! Jesus said, It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63. Spirit and life are invisible. The Word is also inaudible to the natural ear. So the Word of God is Spirit and Life. Someone could walk around quoting Scriptures all day and there wouldn’t be any more of God in it than what is in the person. What you are rides on the words you speak.
Deuteronomy 18:18-19 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren,
like unto you, and will put My words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them
all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My words
which he shall speak in My name, I will require it of him.
The Word will be spoken, and God will require it of those who do not hearken unto it. That means we have the responsibility to know if what is spoken is the Word or not. Just because it is Scripture doesn’t necessarily mean it is the Word of God. One pastor held up his Bible and said, “If what is said doesn’t line up with this Bible, it is not the Word of God.” That is not necessarily so. It may line up with the Bible and still not be the Word of God.
Satan is not stupid! He will not try to deceive a Christian with things that aren’t correct. He won’t use doctrines that you do not believe in his effort to deceive you. He will use the things you do believe to deceive you. What you hear may be scripturally correct, a teaching you believe; yet a seducing spirit could be riding on the words to draw you away from the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Why are there so many churches today teaching Biblical principles with very little or no spiritual change in the people? It is because their teachings are not carrying the presence of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 18:20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
There are many today that are presuming to speak a Word in His name that the Lord has not commanded.
Deuteronomy 18:21-22 And if you say in your heart, How shall we know the word
which the Lord has not spoken?
22 When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing follows not, nor
comes to pass, that is the thing the Lord has not spoken, but the prophet has
spoken it presumptuously: you shall not be afraid of him.
If it doesn’t come to pass, it is not a Word from God. That sounds simple until you realize there are prophecies in the Bible that still haven’t come to pass. The evidence of a true prophecy is not whether it comes to pass in the natural realm, but does it come to pass in you? If it is a Word from God, it is carrying His nature. When you receive it, change takes place within you. There is an impartation of His life to your spirit. Then it is a prophecy that has come to pass.
The Word of God is not a language; it isn’t Hebrew, Greek, English, etc. The Word of God is Spirit. We must learn to recognize the Word by discerning the Spirit of the Word. If the presence of the Lord is riding on the words spoken, it is a Word from God. If His presence is not there, then it isn’t the Word. That means, of course, you will have to be spiritual enough to discern the presence or absence of the Lord in what is spoken. Real ministry has Christ in it. If a prophecy is a true prophecy, His life is in it. It is not the information given but the Spirit/spirit in the prophecy that makes the difference.
Ezekiel looked over the valley of dry bones, and God said, “Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel responded, “Lord, You know” (Ezekiel 37:3). Then the Lord said, “Prophesy Spirit to them! Speak life to them!” Those dry bones didn’t need information. They needed life! And that is what we need – life!
Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live.
II Corinthians 3:6 Who (God) also has made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
The Scriptures are life or death to you according to how you relate to them. The Pharisees, for example, only related to them on a natural plane, that which seemed reasonable to them. And Jesus said to them, [You] search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. Life is in them, and it is called Christ! You search the Scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me. And you will not come to Me, that you might have life. John 5:39-40. We must learn how to extract the life of the Lord from the Scriptures. The Bible is like the field with a treasure hidden in it (Matthew 13:44). That is what we have to find. It is the treasure of His life in the Word into which we must tap.
Copyright © 2000 by Henry DuBose