April 5
“So He said, ‘Go forth, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.’ And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind, and earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire, the sound of a gentle blowing.” (1 Kings 19:11-12)
I’d like to say a few more words about the Spirit of God and where to find Him and where to not find Him, because if we are unsure where to look for Him, we may be misled and pursue things that He isn’t working in or working through. By saying this I am thinking again of what we discussed yesterday regarding pursuing the gifts of the Spirit and putting our confidence in displays of power rather than the purity of our souls in the quietness of our own consciences.
In the story of the prophet Elijah, quoted above, Elijah was fasting for forty days and meeting with God on Mount Horeb. The LORD sent a great wind, earthquake, and fire to the place where Elijah was, but we are told that the LORD wasn’t in any of these. Then there was a gentle blowing (the footnote in my Bible says “literally, ‘the sound of gentle stillness’”), and when Elijah heard that, he stepped outside the cave he was in and spoke with God, the implication being that God was in the gentle stillness.
When I was a very young Christian college, I was invited to a meeting by a friend in the dorm, and at the meeting was a traveling person named Joseph Smith (not Mormon, however) who was said to be a prophet and have gifts of healing. College kids in the meeting were jumping up and down after believing they had received healing for their condition of weak knees, and others were believing themselves to be healed of various things. Whether they were healed or not, I cannot say because I don’t know their stories or details, but I can say that no one with an obvious medical condition was obviously healed of it on that day.
(I was saddened to see my friend several months later walking around without his glasses, which he desperately needed, being told that he was healed of his poor eyesight, which he obviously was not. Of course, when he had to eventually put on his glasses again, I suppose he was led to believe the problem was his fault due to a lack of faith on his part. Groups like these won’t admit their doctrine is faulty and that the problem lies with their them, even when it stares them in the face. At least the rest of us should wise up and head for the doors as fast as we can.)
The reason I am bringing this up is because this Joseph Smith claimed that he did not sin anymore! I couldn’t believe it. Even as a baby Christian, I knew the verses in 1 John, and when John says, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us,” he included himself when he used the word “we.” Some groups claiming to be “Christian” can have such mixed up and false doctrine, including those that boast great spiritual gifts and great workings of the Spirit. Don’t be fooled by these, and don’t be misled into putting the emphasis on these types of gifts instead of the still, quiet working of the Holy Spirit of God in our hearts, producing inner peace and holiness that comes from obedience to His leading according to all the Word of God.
Obeying the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit to resist temptation in the inner man, to eliminate sin from all our thoughts, words, and deeds, is far superior and to be sought after more than the greatest of gifts and displays of miracles. Without the former, the latter is deceptive and possibly a further stumbling block to us.