God the Father called Jesus Christ His Son, God. Jesus Christ is the Author of the entire Bible, everything in it are His instructions and commands to us.
Hebrews 1:8 "8 But regarding the Son He says,
“Your throne, God, is forever and ever,
And the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of His kingdom."
God also said that all believers who have the Holy Spirit should be teachers. Nowhere does it say that only men should teach although men and women have different roles within the church gathering, men teaching and women not, we are free and even commanded to all be teaching someone when not in the gathering.
Hebrews 5:12-14
"12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.
14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil."
Those who love the Lord with all their heart cannot hold back the truths and principles of Christ. The Holy Spirit remains silent in the hearts of stubborn Christians who will not obey His voice. They are saved but have not trusted Christ for everything in their lives. These people remain spiritual infants led by their emotions and desires even though they may believe in Christ and may have been changed by Him into a new creation, they do not seek Him in all things.
1 Corinthians 2:14
"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."
In this passage, we see a person who is unsaved who says they believe in God but have never been born again. Those who have been born again still have a choice to obey Christ in them and are secure but are lacking so much so that if they do not repent they will lose rewards in heaven and the benefits of sweet fellowship with the Holy Spirit Who lives in them.
1 Thessalonians 5:19-22
"19 Do not quench (silence) the Spirit,
20 do not utterly reject prophecies,
21 but examine everything; hold firmly to that which is good,
22 abstain from every form of evil."
1 Corinthians 3:15 "
"If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire."
Those who look to their own cleverness and have a desire to be superior to others will choose to believe what is advantageous to themselves as they neglect to consult with the Holy Spirit and do not listen when He speaks to them. They are more likely to listen to people and their culture than they are to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. These are those who extract passages from their context to make them say what they want to believe rather than believing what Christ actually said.
This is so prevalent in the Christian church that it has become difficult to know who is born again and who is a pretender.
Matthew 7:21-23
I Never Knew You
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"
Many people do kind acts to proudly elevate themselves while expressing little concern about the well-being of others. They love to parade their good deeds to be seen by others, but will not perform them unless someone can see them or they can talk about them to others.
1 Corinthians 3:13 "…12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward."
Matthew 6:1-2 "1“Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward."
Matthew 23:5-7 "…5 All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. 6 They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 the greetings in the marketplaces, and the title of ‘Rabbi’ by which they are addressed."
Those who love the Lord with all their heart don't care if anyone notices their good deeds, they only care about pleasing their Father and Jesus Christ through obedience to the Holy Spirit.
One thing I notice is that those who are walking with Christ have no need to boast of their spirituality or good deeds to others, they are joyful and happy without ever needing recognition. People will notice their steady joy and the fruit of the Spirit of Christ even if they never say a word.
Galatians 5:22-23
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
This fruit is not works or outer appearances, they are inner heart qualities of Christ that only the Spiritual man can discern and unbelievers notice but do not know what they are seeing.
May every believer learn to enjoy obedience to Christ without a need to be elevated as special by people.
John 12:42-43 "42 Nevertheless, many of the leaders believed in Him; but because of the Pharisees, they did not confess Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue. 43 For they loved praise from men more than praise from God."
There are many false preachers and pretenders in the church today because people love the praise of men. They are careful to order their words to fit man's wishes with ear-tickling to have a personal following.
The apostate church and its leaders are more concerned about this life and their own personal pleasure than they are about the gospel of Jesus Christ or obedience to His commands and principles.
I have a deep sorrow to realize that so many people lack the love of Christ and His fruit even though they attend gatherings every week impressing people who don't really know them but are enamored with their outer appearance.
1 Corinthians 13:1-2
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."
Those who place their attention on appearing special and perfect do not walk in love. Self is on the throne of this person's heart.
May we all evaluate ourselves to see if we walk in the Spirit of love or if we walk according to fleshly pride.
When we focus on lifting up Christ we will not be concerned about what others think of us, we will care only what Christ thinks.
1 Corinthians 14:4
"The one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but the one who prophesies edifies the church."
If we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit we will not be focused on ourselves at all, our thoughts will always be what God thinks of everything we do.
