Jesus is both the living and written WORD:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-3, 14 ESV)
Now I want to take you through a tour of 20 portions of Scripture where it proves that the Bible is the final say and litmus test for every Christian on the face of the earth:
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17 KJV)
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15 ESV)
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV)
Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:2 ESV)
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4 ESV)
If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. (1 Timothy 6:3-5 ESV)
For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 ESV)
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby. (1 Peter 2:2 KJV)
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:12-14 ESV)
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105 ESV)
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:8 ESV)
But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28 ESV)
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (James 1:22 ESV)
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. (Matthew 24:35 ESV)
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (Matthew 7:24 ESV)
But He answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4 ESV citing Deuteronomy 8:3)
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32 ESV)
Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. (Proverbs 30:5-6 KJV)
The words of the LORD are pure words: As silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. (Psalm 12:6 KJV)
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel. (Ephesians 6:17-19 KJV)
Satan from the very beginning set out to undermine and misuse God‘s Word, but notice how Jesus replies back with no other weapon than the proper use of the Word:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.” (Genesis 3:1-4 ESV)
Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command His angels concerning You,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear You up, lest You strike Your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Matthew 4:5-7 ESV)
The difference between Old Testament and New Testament Believers is the Baptism of The Holy Spirit that all NT Believers have access to. Before Pentecost, the Apostles resorted to casting of lots, which was never used again after Pentecost:
And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. (Acts 1:24-26 ESV)
Instead, for us today it is our Bible, which has the final say, hand-in-hand with Holy Spirit discernment:
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. (Ephesians 6:17-18 ESV)
“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:4 ESV)
Now to the reason I am writting this article. I got an email from a young woman who wants to earn money to go through her third year at Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM). When she gave the update of how much she has learned over the past two years, I was deeply troubled in the Holy Spirit. There was no mention of devouring the Bible. Instead, in her words, “I am learning how to hear Jesus’ voice both for myself and others.” This is what BSSM website says: “We’ll equip you to walk in the gifts of the Spirit, prepare your noble character, and empower you to follow Jesus as He moves powerfully on the earth today.” Two red flags are raised. First, it is the Bible that is Jesus’ voice, not learning how to hear His voice through man made teaching. Second, the Holy Spirit empowers, not a man made ministry.
This young woman also was excited how she will be directly working under Kris Vallotton, senior associate pastor at Bethel. Let me expound on this. Kris Valloton loudly and falsely prophesied that Donald Trump would win the 2020 presidency. What does the Bible say about false prophecy:
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.” (Jeremiah 23:16 ESV)
Fortunately for Kris Vallotton, we do not live in an OT theocratic society as the Israelites did:
But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. (Deuteronomy 18:20 ESV)
As I look around me at the Christian Churches in these End Times, I see that the world has influenced and infiltrated the Churches rather than the Churches influencing the world. I believe the number one reason is that Christians no longer devour the Word of God the Bible. They truly have itchy ears. The number one sign Jesus warns us of in the End Times is deception, which will cause a great falling away which Paul speaks of:
And as He sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” (Matthew 24:3-4 KJV)
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first. (2 Thessalonians 2:3 KJV)
What advice can I leave you with? Simply this from Ephesians chapter 6, “Take (devour) the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.”
“Beloved, when we get the Word so wonderfully into our hearts, it absolutely changes us in everything. As we feast on the Word of the Lord, eat and digest the truth, inwardly eat of Him, we are absolutely changed every day from one state of grace to another.” (Smith Wigglesworth)
“Unless we are lined right up with the Word of God, we will fail in the measure in which we are not righteous.” (Smith Wigglesworth)
“We will never be able to stand unless we are firmly fixed in the Word of God.” (Smith Wigglesworth)
Annointing 