Our duty as Christians is also compared to a watchman upon the tower. Those who are not watchful, prayerful, and vigilant become slothful, sloppy, lazy, and neglect their duty, and the enemy comes upon them when they are unaware and does great harm. Excellent point White Mt. This goes along with the 33rd chapter of Ezekiel, which is one of my favorites in the OT. But according to Ezekiel, we are not just to be watchman for ourselves, but also to warn others as God puts it on our heart to do so.
We had a really good Saturday morning Bible study about this very topic: "What does it mean to 'keep watch?'" We came to the conclusion, looking at how that phrase 'keep watch' is used by Jesus, that it is nothing more than encouragement to be ready for whenever Jesus should decide to return. And that does not just mean his literal, physical return to earth, but speaks more to being ready to die. Some of us know in advance the approximate time of our death, and this is the grace of God to have this knowledge. But many do not have this knowledge, and so there death comes unexpectedly, and they have made no preperations to 'meet their maker.' For those who aren't ready, they will find themselves wishing they had been...
Then the conversation turned to what it means to "be ready." The youngest memeber of the group had the best, most succint answer: you have to 'walk the talk.' Or, to put it a little more clearly, you must live by the words of the Good Book on an everyday basis, to the best of your ability, and continually make it a priority in your life to do so. Of course we are not perfect beings, and we make mistakes all the time. We cannot possibly live accourding to the high morality of the Bible on our own. That's why God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit. By his enabling power, we can live up to the standards that God gives, and even surpass them! That is why the Holy Spirit is of foundational importance in a Christian's life.
This is a reply to a related but contentious discussion from the devotional thread at post 28 over there. I brought it here because contention does not belong on a devotion:
AG , this is not about searching the scripture to confirm some secret personal revelation . This is clearly speaking to the Bereans searching the Jewish Canon for evidence that the Gospel being presented to them by the disciples was indeed prophesied.
I respectfully assert that the passage is relevant to us today. To the Bereans, it would indeed be “searching the scripture to confirm some secret personal revelation.” The Scripture known to them at the time contained less than what is Scripture to us today. But we are following their “noble” footsteps when we receive “the word with all readiness of mind” and search “the scriptures daily, whether those things” are so.
This is not about personal revelation AG it is about their inability to hear or see the evidence of Christ through the clear witness sent by God.
Again, I respectfully disagree. Christ said the reason they did not believe is that they “have not his word abiding in you”. So He told them to “search the scriptures” because they believed in them. It is very much a personal revelation when the word abides in us.
This again is not saying that there is any further personal revelation.. you are reading things into the word to defend your position
Again, I respectfully disagree. The revelation in Daniel 12:4 was personal, it was to Daniel. The revelation in Revelation 10:4 was personal, it was to John.
What was with held and why ? Most agree that what was withheld was a sight so terrible that believers could become fearful instead of hopeful, not some personal secret revelation
Then I do not share the majority view. Then again, perfect love casts out all fear.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. – 1 John 4:18
You continued…
But neither of these scriptures that you have chosen to link together (even though they actually cover different topics ) in any way hint that there is any further personal revelation that will come short of the time we stand in Glory and see Him face to face.
I couldn’t possibly disagree with you more. My entire walk with Christ for the last 44 years has been an ongoing personal revelation through the indwelling Holy Spirit. Prophesy is not simply foresight, it is also insight. The Holy Spirit is alive and well on the planet earth:
But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. – Acts 2:17-21
Now that does not mean to say that every time someone professes to have a special insight or foresight that it is Truth, i.e. from God. The discernment of Truth is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Searching the Scriptures can only take a believer so far. The Word, the Truth, lives within you and confirms or rejects what you hear and read:
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. – John 14:16-17 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. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you. – John 16:13-15
Your next remark sheds much Light on the difference between us:
It is an interesting observation that this chapter actually says that the spiritual gifts of the early church will disappear , that what will remain is faith ,hope and charity
Evidently you believe that spiritual gifts disappeared with the early church. And yet I am the happy recipient of many such gifts of the Spirit and know Him to be very much alive and gift giving in this age.
AG do you know what Gnosticism is ?
It is a catch-all term used by many doctrines to condemn perceived heresies. The history of the term is most informative. But in common usage it only amounts to a pejorative. You conclude:
There is a very fine line between the illumination of the Holy Spirit on scripture as we read and the seeking and the belief in personal revelation that somehow completes the word of God . We must be very careful not to fall into that heresy.
Again, we differ on the Word of God. You see the “word of God” as the written Scriptures. As I explained in post 21, I know the Word of God personally. He is alive from the beginning to the end; He is Jesus Christ. He indwells in the person of the Holy Spirit. Certainly, it is impossible for any mortal to “complete the word of God” – He is God! But more to the point of whole discussion, you are rightfully concerned about people like Joseph Smith, the Pope, Jim Jones and many others who declare to have a personal revelation from God, the only true doctrine and compel others to follow their leader.
But I would put anyone who asks others to follow himself or his private revelation rather than God in exactly the same bucket and that is why I eschew all doctrine and traditions of men – including Calvin and Arminius and seemingly neverending authorities and commentators.
I assert that we must focus utterly on the Great Commandments – to love God absolutely and everyone else unconditionally. We must let nothing whatsoever obscure our view of God. No doctrine, tradition, authority or mortal must get in between unless the Father personally establishes it which He did in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures.