"Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and [that] no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." I Corinthians 12:3
AMEN. Yet Bible-reading, made knowable by the Holy Spirit, is the way God has chosen to reveal Himself to us.
And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." -- 2 Timothy 3:14-15 "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
Christ, the word of God made flesh. Scripture, the word of God made known.
Indeed, the people Jesus is addressing below were physically hearing Him, but they could not spiritually hear Him. They did not have "ears to hear."
Why do ye not understand my speech? [even] because ye cannot hear my word. John 8:43
AMEN. I was just reading John 8 this morning...
"He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God." -- John 8:47
That's quite an indictment. But the glory of God is such that anyone with a contrite heart who asks for new ears to hear the truth and new eyes to see the truth will not be turned away because it is the Holy Spirit working within them to desire such things, and thus they were always "of God."
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." -- John 10:27-28"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me;
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. - Revelation 1:8
AMEN!
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Matt 4:4
Give us this day our daily bread. Matt 6:11
I am that bread of life. John 6:48
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. - Hebrews 4:12