In today’s continuing discussion of eyes that see and ears that hear we are going to talk about the scriptures we call the Bible, the book most Christians refer to as the Word of God. First however, I want you to know upfront that nothing expressed herein is meant to be offensive to anyone or to anyone’s beliefs, because I guarantee you that little more than a few years ago, had I heard or read what I have written and said this day, I may not have been offended but I would have surely dismissed pretty much all of it as the work of a Biblically illiterate new age fool. Well, I have been accused of many things including doctrinal errancy, but Biblically illiterate I have never been accused of, to which my former teaching credentials alone would stand in defense of. There must be another reason for the different tongue with which I now speak.
So, let’s begin with this question: “Are the scriptures and the Word of God interchangeable terms?” In other words, are the scriptures and the Word of God one in the same thing? Would it be blaspheme to your ears to suggest that they are not? Then too, what does this have to do with the subject of eyes that see and ears that hear? Well, just about everything.Consider what the scripture says in John 1:1. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Would you say that is referring to the scriptures, to the old and new testaments being with God and being God? I would suggest to you that it does not. The scriptures also declare that the “Word (Spirit, Logos)was made flesh”, but they nowhere say that the Word was made paper and ink.Now please don’t think I am suggesting that the scriptures are not inspired of God or that they are not true, because they are both. The point is that the scriptures themselves are the written testimony of Jesus Christ… who IS the Word of God. That is why we call the scriptures the Old Testament (testimony) and the New Testament (testimony) and not the Old Word of God and the New Word or God, for the LORD changes not (Mal 3:6).Consider also the verses in John chapter 5 where Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees, to religious scriptur-totin’ people, who were not only in possession of the scriptures but some knew them very well, like Saul of Tarsus. These verses show how knowing scriptures does not equate to knowing God or to hearing the Word (Spirit) of God… which takes ears that hear what the Spirit (Word) has to say, for as Jesus Christ Himself says in John 6:63, “… the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” That means they are directed to the heart and not to the mind. Here then is Jesus Christ speaking to the religious (Pharisees):John 5:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
Though these religious ones knew the scriptures, they had neither ears that could hear His voice (His will, His desire for them) nor eyes that could see his shape (form, visage, i.e. able to discern His appearance or presence). Why do you suppose that is? Because although they had scripture abiding in their brains, they did not have the WORD (Spirit) abiding in their hearts. They had words on paper which they interpreted as doctrine with their carnal minds and religiously followed to the letter of the law, but they had NOT His Word, His Spirit of Truth, abiding in them.
John 5:38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
Again, where does the Word of God abide? On paper? In a book? Many Christians are led to believe so. Their preachers hold up the Bible in their hands and say “This is the Word of God.” Can you really hold the Word of God in your hands? The answer is no, you can hold scriptures in your hands, but the Word of God you can only hold in your heart… for it is SPIRIT! To wit, the gospel of the kingdom of God is the good news about the Spirit, about the spiritual realm, even the king of the spiritual dominion, not about religion that appeals to the carnal mind and purports to show us how to save our sorry derrieres through performing rituals and ceremonies and keeping certain days, etc., etc. Verse 39:
John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
You can search and search and research the scriptures trying to find eternal life. I know, I did this very thing for forty plus years and I couldn’t even begin to count the number of Bible studies I have either attended or held or done daily on my own, because it would number into the multiple thousands. But the scriptures themselves declare that they are they which testify of the Word of God, who is Jesus Christ, who dwells (abides) IN you. Now I have heard that and even taught that, but I never KNEW that! You see, my heart was hardened by doctrines and traditions of men that fill our carnal minds, which blocked the entrance to the kingdom and prevented me from “seeing” and “hearing” the One who dwells within our hearts.
The point is, if you believe the Word of God is a book, a document, and you keep looking in there instead of where He dwells, you really have not gone to Him, have you? I mean, where do you go to seek Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God? Well… where is the Kingdom of heaven (Luke 17:21)?
John 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
But some will ask, “Isn’t Jesus Christ the Living Word of God and the Bible the Written Word of God?” The answer to the former is yes and the answer to the latter is no… because again, spirit isn’t something you can write down on paper. The actual written Word of God is that which is written and engraved in the hearts and minds of His children who love Him. In fact, that is the very essence of the New Covenant (Heb 10:16). It is not scripture knowledge, but rather Love (God is Love). It is Spirit, even the Spirit of Truth.
But wait, doesn’t 2 Tim 2:15 tell us to study the scriptures in order to show ourselves approved unto God? Actually… no it does not!
2 Tim 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workmen that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
The word “study” used in this verse simply means to endeavor or to be diligent. It has absolutely nothing to do with studying a book. Look up the word in any concordance you like. Even so, the thing that one is to be diligent towards or endeavor to keep, to rightly divide, to make straight, is the word (spirit) of “TRUTH”… and that doesn’t mean determining correct doctrine from Bible study. It is a spiritual matter (word) that has to do with “making straight” (which is what rightly dividing means) which simply means to do the right thing, rightly dividing the spirit of truth from the spirit of error (deceit), 1 Jn 4:6.
On the other hand, as the succeeding verses in 2 Tim 2:16-18 explain, if you keep listening to profane, idolatrous, and vain Bible teachings from preachers and teachers (like Hymenaeus (god of weddings… except to the true bridegroom) and Philetus (amiable… as in loveable, likeable preacher), who are nothing more than a couple of Bible spin-doctors promoting errant doctrines of men, then prepare for cankers, as in spiritual ulcers and gangrene resulting from the deceit.
You see, Jesus Christ, who is the Word (Spirit) of God, is the mediator between God and man, and brings forth the good will (the voice) of the Father from the kingdom of heaven (your heart) to the earth (your mind). That is why we pray “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Now there is also a subtle serpent (with many aliases) in the garden who speaks directly to your woman within, the flesh of your flesh (remember we are all created both male and female). The question is: “Who are you going to listen to?” Or better yet, “Who do you listen to?” Or even better yet, “Do you even know or ever consider who you are listening to… not outwardly, but inwardly from the spirit?”
Let me try to expound on these questions a little bit. I once had an older wise mentor and very good friend whose name was John. Actually Jack, as everyone called him, was my sponsor in AA back in 1982, the year I imbibed my last adult beverage. I was having a conversation one day with Jack, probably discussing the sorrowful subject of “me, myself, and I”, and all the “woe is me” things in my head related to that pitiful one, when he turned to me and said something very profound: “Lance, you need to learn to talk to yourself in better company!”
Now it is true that I have never really given myself good advice and I always took that statement to mean seek wise counsel from competent others and not rely solely on my own knowledge and limited mental and intellectual resources. For sure this will always serve you well in the world.
But then not long after my visitation in 2005, I began to clearly see and understand and experience from His ensuing judgment, the division of soul and spirit that takes place when the Lord suddenly comes to His temple. I even asked the question to several friends of mind, which question is somewhat still comical to me, “When you talk to yourself, who is doing the talking, and who is doing the listening?” I’ll answer part of that question for you: Yourself is always doing the listening.
Now a great deal of what goes on in our daily lives relates to the winds blowing and the sea and waves roaring, which are metaphors for our thoughts and emotions respectively, which things are of the earthly realm. We see what happens when we react solely to these in the example of the disciples in Mat. 8:24-27 and Mark 4:37-41, who because of the magnitude of the great storm (tribulation) in their lives, became worried and fearful. However, things dramatically changed when they went to Christ, who was already in their ship, for He was able to immediately calm the winds and the seas (their thoughts and emotions) and restore peace and serenity in their lives.
You see, it is that which emanates from heaven, your heaven, even that which emanates from the throne of your heart, which affects and manifests itself in the earth, meaning your earthly life. Of course whosoever resides on that throne would necessarily determine what spirit(s) comes forth, right? So who is it that presently sits in the temple of God, which temple you are?
Another way of looking at it is that just as we see these three things, the heavens, the earth, and the seas without, so too are they within us. (The things that aren’t seen are understood by things that are made.) And we can visibly see in the hierarchy of nature that the heavens are higher than the earth and the earth is higher than the seas. And so it is we see this very analogy used in Isaiah 55 to help us “see” invisible (spiritual) things:
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
The thoughts of your carnal mind are on a lower level, a lower plane, a lower realm or kingdom, than the thoughts/desires of your heart. That is why there must first be a new heart (a new heaven) before there can be a renewing of the mind (a new earth). So when the man of sin, aka the son of perdition, is revealed to you (after the crucifixion at the renting of the veil) and he is subsequently dethroned by Jesus Christ at His coming, the old heavens are rolled back and the old earth passes away… because the new heaven, your new heart (not a changed heart… but new heart), now reigns (even rains) from above.
Isa 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
This is how God works in us! Isn’t it a great and marvelous thing?
Hebrews chapter 4 vs. 12 also shows how the word (spirit) of God works in us?
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Eyes that see and ears that hear come from God, from the word of God, and show you the thoughts and intents of your heart! How’s that for POWERFUL? Are you tuned in? Do hear and understand? Again, we are talking Spirit here. You see, it is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, that discerns, divides asunder, separates your carnal thoughts (soul) from that which is spiritual… so you know whose voice (will/desire) you are listening to.
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
So what’s it going to be? We can continue wandering in the wilderness (which is analogous to church) and allow doctrines and the vain imaginations of the carnal mind (outlined in the seven churches of Rev. 2-3… all of which need to be overcome) that are preached by amiable ministers and scholarly Bible teachers, who though well intentioned have not eyes to see or ears to hear themselves (literally), or do we begin “To day” to hear what the spirit has to say and hear HIS voice… instead of the spirit of error?
Heb 3:7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
Heb 3:8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Heb 3:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
Heb 3:10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Again, it is not a matter of erring in scriptural knowledge and Biblical interpretations. His thoughts and His ways are HIGHER than that which is served up by churches, which spiritually speaking are dry, desolate places… wilderness indeed. Please do not misunderstand. I am not judging them nor do I condemn them. I wandered in the wilderness and led many people around the same for most of my life… but now Moses is dead.
Look, the bottom line to having eyes that see and ears that hear is that one must first experience the cross whereby Jesus is crucified and goes away to the Father from whom He was sent. What that means is that you will no longer see him as a man, in the form of a man! Does that offend you? In other words you will no longer see Him with earth-realm eyes that are only capable of seeing images for He will have been transfigured into the Light of Truth. This happens after six days, meaning on the seventh day, the Lord’s day… the day He reveals Himself to you and you (with your spiritual eyes) see Him as He is. Then you shall hear the voice of the Father… out of the cloud, a metaphor which we will have to discuss at a later time… for Christ was taken up and a “cloud” received Him out of their sight… and Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every (spiritual) eye shall see him.
Mat 17:1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
Mat 17:2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
Has Jesus been transfigured into white Light, the pure Light of Truth, before your eyes?
Mat 17:3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
Mat 17:4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
Mat 17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
Then too, when Jesus goes away it also means that you will no longer “walk with Jesus” for He will have ascended to the throne to sit down with his Father, a spiritual place the overcomers can likewise (spiritually) ascend to and sit down (i.e. rest) with Christ.
Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
By now you should know where this heavenly resting place is!
So, AFTER Jesus goes away from your carnal view, having been crucified at the place of the skull (cranium), a metaphor for your carnal mind, rents the veil before the Holy of Holies and ascends to the Father, He THEN sends the Spirit of Truth… which proceeds from the Father, not from the pages of scripture and text! This I tell you not from studying the Bible or the commentaries of scholars, but from the reality of my personal experience to which some of you were also witnesses. The following verses describe this happening. They themselves are not the happening, but merely give witness to what happens in our lives. It is written history, for it has already happened to many. It is written current events, for it is happening to many now, and it is a written future witness for it will happen to many tomorrow.
Joh 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
Let’s read where Jesus explains to His disciples that He must go away before they get eyes that see!
Joh 16:1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
To be “offended” does not mean the same thing I used in the opening paragraph, as in upset or fraught. Here it means to stumble or to be hindered. Jesus Christ is a stumbling block to many… to all those who see Him with earth-realm eyes in the un-transfigured form of a man.
Joh 16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
Joh 16:3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
Many religious people know a lot of scriptures, but they know them as doctrine and not as the witness and testimony of Jesus Christ, who they know not.
Joh 16:4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.
Again, when the time comes for you to experience the crucifixion and see Jesus go away, if it has not happened to you already, you will find the witness of it right here!
Joh 16:5 But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou?
Joh 16:6 But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.
Disciples do not want to give up the Jesus they love, the Jesus they have walked with and talked with most of their lives.
But here’s the point. Here’s the truth of the matter. UNLESS He goes away (from your carnal mind, meaning the image you have of Him in your mind), He cannot send the Comforter, the SPIRIT of TRUTH to you. Therefore you won’t hear the Father’s voice out of the cloud! Why not? Well, if you see the un-transfigured Jesus as a man instead of the Christ… you don’t have eyes that can see and therefore you cannot see Him as He is! So it is for your GOOD, i.e. it is expedient, that He DEPARTS from you!
John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
And when He is come, the following things will happen to you, to your world.
John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
John 16:9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
John 16:10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
John 16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
Oh yes, you will know exactly who the prince of this (your) world is.
John 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
To “bear them” means to “receive them”. They cannot receive the things He has to say because the veil hasn’t been rent yet. One cannot receive “revelation” when the veil to the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary of the heart, is still hanging there in tact.
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Then when you speak (your voice, your will) you will know it is the Spirit of your Father which speaks (His voice, His will) in you. That’s right, you will know who’s doing the speaking… within… from your heart. Are you listening with ears that hear what the spirit has to say… or just what your mind thinks?
Mat 10:20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
Guess who the Spirit of your Father is? That’s right! Jesus Christ, the Word of God He sends forth into the world, your world… because He so loved the world!
The other point is, you won’t need a preacher or teacher to guide you into all truth. You see, it is the “Revelation of Jesus Christ”, after He is crucified and goes away, that will show you (spiritual) things to come!
Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
1 Jn 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
The law is the school master that brings us to Christ. But once Christ has come, we no longer have to be told of or be schooled about His coming by teachers and preachers, do we? Besides, no one can teach you a spiritual experience. He or she can tell you all about it, even prepare you for it as Christ is doing in John 16 concerning His going away, and you may well believe it to be true, but you won’t KNOW it until it happens to you. Then you can testify to it being true and give witness to it. So believing and knowing are not the same thing.
Let’s return to John 16.
John 16:14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
John 16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
John 16:16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.
In other words, you will no longer see Him with your earth-realm eyes. You will now see Him with your Spirit-realm eyes… all transfigured… because with the veil having now been rent, you will have eyes that see Him and ears to hear His voice.
John 16:17 Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father?
Remember, if He doesn’t go to the Father… and be taken up in the cloud (out of your sight) whereby He disappears from your carnal view… then you will still see Him as you always have, with flesh eyes. And you won’t be able to bear the things He has to say, because you can’t hear Him.
John 16:18 They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith.
John 16:19 Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me?
John 16:20 Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
John 16:21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
John 16:22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
John 16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
John 16:25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.
Listen, until He gives you eyes to see and ears to hear, until your time of the travail has come, the words of Jesus Christ are all proverbs and parables, for the carnal mind is not able to understand the things of the Spirit. But when you “see” Jesus Christ, you will “see” the Father also, for as we just read, He will show you plainly of the Father.
Well, that is all for now. In our next segment we are going to journey inward, even to the inner chamber of the temple… and see both the old heaven and the new heaven. All I can say is that the views are incredible and eye opening indeed.
Again, may God grant you eyes to see and ears to hear.
Amen
… to be continued.
