The secret is in the seed!

If a slogan were coined for believers in search of their inheritance, it might say, "Everything you need is imprinted in the seed."

God has already given it!

Myriad variations of the "hot dog theology" teach otherwise. You may remember the boy in the comic strips who tied his dog to a little red wagon. Then he attached a hot dog to a string and the string to a stick. He climbed aboard the wagon and dangled the tempting wiener in front of the dog's nose, just beyond reach of his hungry jaws. The animal lunged for the hot dog and pulled the wagon behind him. The boy kept teasing his hound by holding the meat in front of him, and the dog chased the morsel he could never catch, all the while giving the inventive young man a ride down the street.

This picture accurately reveals the effect of certain doctrines commonly taught by segments within the evangelical and charismatic community. (I am not denouncing either the evangelicals or charismatics for I am both.)

That is why I use the term "hot dog theology."

These are the concepts that hold glittering and glorious promises before your eyes, just barely beyond your reach. They seem so easily obtained. But you reach out and they become as elusive as a mirage. And you find yourself in the position of that poor hound, chasing something you desire but never catching it. Instead of capturing the prize, you find yourself fatigued and frustrated from pulling your burdens behind you.

Think about it.

Would God do that?

Jesus said, "It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32).

Does that sound like a God who would hitch you to a heavy load and then tantalize you with spiritual treasure you can never hope to reach?

One example (and there are many) of "hot dogism" is the old chestnut "empty yourself of self." According to this utterly unscriptural teaching, God will fill you to overflowing with His glorious blessings if you reach the point where you are "selfless." Hope? Joy? Abundant life...Ah, yes. It's all yours the moment you have gotten rid of self.

So you chase that morsel all through your days and years. "One more little, bad trait to conquer, one more besetting sin to slay, and then I will be dead to self and the blessings of God will be mine!"

You are feverishly pursuing a mirage. Jesus never said, "Empty yourself of self." He said, "Deny yourself" (Mat. 16:24). If you were empty of self, you would have no self to deny! If there were a spiritual pinnacle you could achieve where you became utterly void of all ego, Jesus would have told you to climb that mountain of achievement. But He didn't. Because he knew you couldn't! Instead He taught us to daily say no to self. He knew self would be there. He knew it would express its demands upon us even after we have been converted many years. So He taught His followers: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me" (Luke 9:23).

"Your cross" is not a means of redeeming your soul. His cross did that (John 3:16). It is not a means of obtaining peace with God. His cross did that (Col. 1:20). Your cross has to do with factors that create a daily consciousness of who you are because of His cross.

The "get rid of self" hot dog only serves to strengthen self-consciousness and diminish God-consciousness. It causes inordinate introspection. Your attention becomes rigidly fixed on "self" and its ugly warts. You become firmly convinced, to your heart's sorrow, that all glorious blessings and sweet hours of prayer are in the distant future when you finally purge out the last vestige of self.

You become like a thirsty wanderer standing in an ocean of burning sand. You look to the horizon for signs of an oasis. Will you ever reach your goal? You groan, "Yes, when I have finally paid the price, I will stand at the place of living waters."

But God says the price has been paid! He says, "Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (Isa. 55:1).

He asks, "Why do ye spend money (pay the price) for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not?" (Isa. 55:2).

"Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear and your soul shall live" (Isa. 55:3).

In effect, those verses say, "You struggle to obtain, but what you seek has been given. Come and take it. What you need is in the word, and the word has been spoken."

"Everything you need is imprinted in the seed."

What seed?

Jesus said, "Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow" (Mark 4:3).

"The sower soweth the word" (Mark 4:14).

"The seed is the word of God" (Luke 8:11).

Everything you need is in that seed.

Because of genes and chromosomes, certain traits are reproduced after their kind in animals and plants. In a very real way, the spiritual genes and chromosomes of Christ are locked in the word of God and are released when conceived in the human heart.

The potential in the word is staggering. It is unlimited!

I will never forget the day this truth struck my place of perceiving reality.

I was talking with a man, a graduate naturalist, who had been employed by the Audubon Society. He has a wealth of knowledge about plants and animals.

I have always marveled at the way a tiny seed can become a large, fruit-producing plant. I asked him, "How can a huge oak tree come from something as small as an acorn?"

He said, "The mature tree is imprinted biochemically in the acorn."

The moment he said those words, a light flashed in my soul!

Could this possibly apply to the seed of God's word? Are the faith of Christ, the joy of Christ, the peace of Christ, the wisdom of Christ and the other characteristics of the Saviour imprinted in His word? Does the seed contain everything we need to become spiritually mature?

I immediately went to my Bible and found, after some study, that the answer is a resounding yes!

Don't let this pass you by. Don't look at this on a superficial level and say, "Oh, yes, I understand all that."

This is a profound truth.

It totally contradicts the most common practices and ideas about obtaining Christian maturity.

It is God's will that "we all come to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13).

One school of thought will say, "We reach that stature by our struggles, trials and efforts." As though our labors, even our most sacred labors, could reproduce the character of Christ. No. Never! This only leads us into the position of an imposter. We are like the stage personality doing an imitation of Christ. We try to appear Christlike by suppressing our human traits and acting a godly role.

The Pharisees did that.

Now consider the difference.

On one hand, we have man trying to create godliness by his religious efforts; on the other, we have the character and nature of Christ being reproduced in the human heart by means of the divine seed.

The word does the work!

So many people try to get the buckboard to pull the horse. It doesn't work that way! The wagon cannot pull the horse. People who try to produce spiritual fruit in their lives by scrupulous attempts to obey "God's word" are just like those who whip the wagon to draw the horse. Spiritual fruit can only be created by the energies locked in the seed. In fact, even the power to truly obey can only come through the released potential in the word. The word does the work. The word provides the power to draw the loads of life. We do not provide the power to draw burdens imposed by the word.

But to many the word contains a heavy load of obligation and responsibility to be hauled through time into eternity. Those who have learned the secret of letting the word do the work are sitting on the wagon riding and resting.

Are you sighing and straining, or resting and riding?

Are you trying to reproduce the attributes of Christ by human effort? Remember, Jesus said, "An evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit" (Mat 7:18). And all human nature is innately evil (as opposed to divine nature).

Jesus said, "Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not, and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these" (Luke 12:27).

The character traits of the lily are imprinted in the seed and when that seed is planted in a proper life environment it sprouts and blossoms.

When the lily awakes to the early morning sun and shakes the dew from its petals, it doesn't say, "Today I must try very hard to be a good lily. I will strain and struggle to be a beautiful flower."

No, the God-energized flow of life within the lily produces the fragrance and color. The plant itself does not "toil or spin." It only absorbs the life God offers.

That is precisely what I mean when I say, "Let the word do the work."

But we continue to "toil and spin."

You can see "toilers and spinners" in almost every prayer meeting. I cannot number the people who have said, "Clinton, will you pray for me?" and then, as we pray, they will squint their eyes tightly and attempt to drive every negative thought from their mind. Their methods to accomplish this are numerous. Some are "huff-and-puffers." They rapidly draw breath through clenched teeth and blow it out again. Others say, "Praise God," or "Jesus," or "Hallelujah," over and over again. Others seem to feel that noise is the key, as if they could knock down every hindrance to answered prayer by bellowing their supplications. They try to drown out every negative thought and influence by sheer volume.

But repetition and racket are merely human attempts to create faith, and all they produce is that great imposter...positive thought.

Positive thought is to faith what a flashlight is to the sun.

It is a synthetic imitation.

It can bring forth no miracles because it contains no divine life. It is not a product of the "seed."

True faith is a gift of God. It cannot be reproduced by any form of "toiling and spinning."

Faith is a product of the word. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17).

And why is that important?

Because "the just shall live by faith" (Gal. 3:11)..."a man is justified by faith" (Rom. 3:28)..."being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1)..."by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand" (Rom. 5:2)..."even the righteousness which is of faith" (Rom. 9:30).

Right standing in God's sight. Justification. The ability to stand against adversity. Peace. The capability of assimilating the benefits of God's grace...all of these things and many more are the fruits of faith created by, and only by, the word.

All forms of "toiling and spinning" can only synthesize the fruits of faith like the manufacturer of plastic flowers produces synthetic lilies. They look real but have no life.

All efforts at laboring to produce the Christian life by means of law are useless strivings because they can only bring forth a lifeless facsimile.

The Bible says, "If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law" (Gal. 3:21).

Life cannot be created by legislation.

Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).

He said, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63).

Christ reproduces Himself in our hearts through the life of His word. We cannot possibly reproduce His nature by external obedience to religious precepts. All that He is and all that He has for us is imprinted in the sacred seed. When this potential is released, we begin to understand the meaning of the words, "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27).

His love, His faith, His courage, His wisdom, His righteousness are all in the seed. Let the word do the work.

Someone will say, "But I read His word all the time and I don't have these things."

My answer is "Oh? Then you are not hearing His word. You have ears to hear but do not hear?'" (Mark 8:18). The fruits of His word are peace, joy, hope and faith. His word cannot produce fear, guilt, emptiness and frustration any more than a lily could produce thorns.

If the word is not doing the work, then I suggest you are not hearing the word. You are hearing something else.

Jesus said, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit..."

But millions of Christians have settled for something else. The letter of the word, not the spirit of the word.

The letter of the word cannot produce the genes and chromosomes of Christ in the human heart because it contains no life.

Anyone wanting to be an effective minister must communicate the spirit of the word. That is why Scripture says that God "hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life" (2 Cor. 3:6).

Please consider, very carefully, the following sentence:

THE LETTER OF THE WORD IS TRUE, BUT IT IS NOT THE TRUTH.

What is "the letter of the word"? It misleads more people than all of the efforts of all of the world's atheists combined. The damage done by the letter of the word is so great it makes the trouble caused by Madalyn Murray O'Hair tiny by comparison. In fact, O'Hair's blindness has been caused by a "letter of the word" approach to the Holy Scriptures.

I watched her one evening on a television interview. Her jowls shook with laughter as she ridiculed a Biblical statement. "Oh, ha, ha, ha!" she said. "Just look at this. 'The voice of the turtle is heard in our land'" (Song 2:12). She went on to draw a verbal caricature of a talking turtle. The host of the talk show and the studio audience laughed along with her at the thought of an old turtle creeping along, mumbling as he went.

How many millions in the TV listening audience were left with the impression, Why read the Bible if it has such silly things as talking turtles?

Actually, the word used in Scripture is the Hebrew towr, which means turtledove, a symbol of the Holy Spirit. "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him" (Mat. 3:16).

So Mrs. O'Hair and the audience fixed their eyes on the letter of the word, never for a moment pondering about a deeper meaning, and they missed the glorious truth concerning the voice of God heard in the land by the Holy Spirit. And, apart from the Holy Spirit, no human can possibly expect to hear God's voice or comprehend His truth.

It is not strange that an atheist would zero in on the letter of the word, but what about believers who are also hung up on the letter? It's tragic! But it's true. Many who have received the Holy Spirit and have their hearts sensitized by God's light are still forlornly entangled with the letter of the word.

I have been in this trap. Even as a minister and Bible teacher.

What about you?

Is it possible that you might have blocked out spiritual truth because you have accepted the letter of the word, thinking you were receiving His truth and hearing His voice?

A plant rooted in truth is able to produce fruit, and Jesus said, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit" (John 15:8).

The appearance of fruit is not glorifying to God. Because the plant rooted in the letter of the word can only show the appearance of fruit.

Anyone rooted in the life of the word will bear fruit (faith, hope, love, joy, etc.). And that fruit is the result of the word reproducing the nature of Christ. There is no effort on the part of the "plant" (the believer). The word does the work. That is why true spiritual fruit glorifies God. It is His handiwork.

The letter of the word cannot do this work because it has no life. So, in order to appear fruitful and spiritual, the one rooted in the letter attaches synthetic fruit to his life. He does this by personal effort. He tries to be good, he tries to be happy, he tries to be obedient, he tries to be loving, he tries to be forgiving...the result is an outward show, causing men to say, "My, isn't that person a wonderful Christian?" or "Doesn't she have great faith?"

How does this look from God's vantage point? Scripture says, "Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7). Most of the world's religions teach decency and goodness. What I am about to say may be shocking to some. Nevertheless, it's true...a person laboring to create the appearance of holiness, even though he claims to be doing it as a Christian, is no different from a Buddhist monk, a Hindu or an orthodox Jew.

They are all sincerely attempting to fashion their lives after a form of godliness. Some might say, "If they are sincere, that's all that matters." Oh, no! They are actually playing God. They have assumed the role of the Creator. This is exactly how Adam and Eve fell from God-consciousness into self-consciousness and sin. The serpent beguiled them by saying, "In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods..." (Gen. 3:5).

Every religion in the world is merely a human attempt at playing God. No matter how self-effacing, no matter what disciplines are rigidly followed, and no matter what drastic measures of obtaining humility are employed.

It's all fruit from the Eden tree. The knowledge of good and evil. It has the same effect on man today as it did on Adam then. "I heard thy voice in the garden...because I was naked; and I hid myself" (Gen. 3:10).

Then it was called "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil"; today, it is called religion. Adherents may claim to follow Moses, Buddha, Mohammed, or even Christ, but they are really sampling the fruit offering the beguiling promise, "ye shall be as gods." Satan said, "I shall be as the most High God" (Isa. 14:14) and was banished from Heaven. Adam and Eve tasted the forbidden fruit to "be as gods" and they were alienated from God's presence.

The knowledge of good and evil hangs heavily on the branches of every known religion on this globe today. It only results in self-righteousness and separation from God.

That is all religion can produce or ever hope to produce.

And that is what sets the teachings of Jesus Christ apart from all religion (including orthodox Christianity).

Jesus did not come to start "Christianity." He did not come to establish a religion. All religion is the invention of men. Christ came to offer something infinitely more precious.

He came to make it possible for the life and nature of God to be reproduced in the human heart.

Not that we should "be as gods," but that God would be Himself in us and reflect His glory through us.

Jesus made an astonishing claim. And it's true. He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6).

Now go back and ask yourself that question once again...What is "the letter of the word"?

One definition is "the knowledge of good and evil."

Keep in mind "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life" (2 Cor. 3:6).

The "knowledge of good and evil" doctrines reduced to their simple essence say, "Learn right from wrong. Shun the wrong, do the right and you will enter into life."

But the Bible says, "If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law" (Gal. 3:21).

Law cannot give life!

That is why Scripture says, "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).

What is the word?

Most Christians will say, "The Bible is the word of God."

I cherish the Bible. I believe the Bible. It's true every word! It's true but, in itself, it's not the word of God.

The Red Sea literally opened, the walls of Jericho fell, blind Bartimaeus was healed, Lazarus was raised from the dead, lepers with flesh putrefying on their bones came to Jesus and were restored to perfect health...all of these miracles and all other wonders described in Holy Scripture literally happened. They are not myths, not fairy tales, not mere allegorical lessons...they literally occurred. It's all true. But...in itself it's not the Word of God.

Jesus is the Word of God.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God" (John 1:1).

"And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14).

I saw a scowling preacher on TV pick up a leather-bound volume and say, "The Bible is God's word. In fact, the King James Bible is the only word of God."

Which came first...the chicken or the egg? It's an old question and here is one like it. Which came first...the Bible or the word of God?

The answer is obvious. The word of God! "In the beginning was the Word..."

Are we to believe that eons ago, before this universe was created, a huge King James Bible was suspended in nothingness and "all things were made by it; and without it was not anything made that was made"?

Of course not!

"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear" (Heb. 11:3).

Are we to believe that the molecular structure forming all substance was "framed" by the King James Bible?

Isn't it absurd when you hold it in that light? Then why do we so stubbornly cling to our dogma about a page, printed by a man, being the word of God.

"And the Word was God" (John 1:1). Can a man create God? Does the printer at the Bible publishing house perform some sort of industrial transubstantiation?

The Bible itself says Jesus is the Word of God..."And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God" (Rev. 19:13).

Hundreds of sinister cults, mind-destroying doctrines, dictator-like church policies have emerged from the Bible. But none from the Word of God!

False prophets have taken the Bible and started the fires of a thousand flaming heresies. Schisms, divisions, and bitter interchurch squabbles have been caused by something in the Bible. But never from the Word of God.

Ugly hypocrisy, arrogant self-righteousness, soul-darkening despondency and unreasonable fear can be stimulated by the Bible. But never from the Word of God.

The Bible contains a myriad of contradictions. But there are none in the Word of God.

"A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit" (Mat. 7:18). The Word of God, at work in the human heart, brings forth peace, joy, faith, hope and love.

All Scripture is inspired of God. But for a specific purpose. When the Scripture is used for other than that purpose, it is no longer Scripture. Like the staff of Moses, it was only a stick until God spoke. Cast down, it became a snake; picked up and restored to its proper place, it was an instrument of miraculous delivery. The specific purpose of all Holy Scripture is to reveal Jesus Christ. No life can be drawn from its pages when they are read for any other purpose. The reader can be inspired by its poetry, educated by its history, moved by its drama, or made religious by its laws, but none of these things contain the miraculous power to reproduce the life and characteristics of Christ in the human heart.

You might say, "This is so confusing. How do I know if I am reading the Bible correctly?"

You don't have to worry about that. If you prayerfully open the pages of your Bible to fill your heart's longing for God, the Holy Spirit will lead you unto all truth.

Notice.

I said "to fill your heart's longing for God."

It is so simple. Desire for God is the key. An educated doctor of divinity might labor on a book to impress his theological peers. During the course of this endeavor, he might spend many months studying the Bible, perhaps in the original Greek and Hebrew. Yet this man might never touch a ray of truth. But a dear, precious, old black woman in Harlem, who can barely read, will pick up her well-thumbed Bible and hold it lovingly between her hands. Perhaps she will sit in her rocking chair and close her eyes, singing softly, "Jesus, Jesus, how I love you, Jesus." Then she prays, "O Lord, your Word is so precious. Feed me with your Word." She opens her Bible and, within a matter of minutes, that uneducated woman is communing personally with Christ...The Truth

Could it be more just? If God had placed truth only within the reach of those who could achieve scholastic heights, that would have eliminated much of the world's population. No, education is not the way to truth!

Desire for God Himself leads any man or woman quickly through the chilly labyrinths of the dead letter and into the presence of Christ, the Word of God.

Then the Bible becomes the most wondrous volume in the world. When you truly hear the Word of God, the Bible is the hyssop that sprinkles cleansing blood, the banquet table where you drink new wine and feed on the Passover Lamb. It is the ram's horn sounding a note of deliverance in your soul. It is Elijah's fiery chariot transporting you to the very throne of God. No longer is it a duty to open its pages and read. Instead, you pick it up with eagerness and delight, saying with the prophet of old, "Thy words were found, and I did eat them" (Jer. 15:16).

Wherever these two elements exist, it is impossible to hear God's Word:

1. Literalism

2. Reliance on religious tradition and parental teaching

Literalism is just another way to say "letter of the word," and nowhere is it more starkly demonstrated as when Jesus said, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you" (John 6:53).

After that, many of his own disciples said, "This is a hard saying. Who can hear it?" and "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him" (John 6:66).

These religionists failed to understand because they took Him literally. They thought He was asking them to cannibalize Him. To actually devour His flesh with their teeth. But Jesus was speaking spiritually. He said, "It is the spirit that quickeneth (makes alive); the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63).

Jesus was saying, in effect, "You partake of me spiritually by my words." He had already told them, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever" (John 6:51).

A man is not a body. The body is only the house of clay where the true man dwells. That is why the Bible says, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Mat. 4:4). When Christ looked at these people and told them to feed on His flesh and blood, He was not addressing the physical man. He was looking into their eyes and speaking to the inner man. And the inner man cannot eat anything of material substance. The man within feeds on thoughts, words, images and ideas. But these religionists intercepted the words of Jesus and applied them literally before they could communicate truth to the inner man. That is why Jesus said, in another place, "Let these sayings sink down into your ears" (Luke 9:44). In other words, "Let my words penetrate to your innermost being."

Eating is partaking. It's experiencing...tasting. And that is the only way to find God!

Describe honey. You really can't except in general terms, such as "sweet" or "sticky." Man can analyze honey in a chemical breakdown and define every trace of its contents. He can look at honey under a powerful electronic microscope and photograph its molecular structure. But that still does not give him the ability to define its taste. No. Anyone wanting to know its taste, or receive its nourishment, must eat for himself.

That is what Jesus was telling these religionists when He said, "It is written in the prophets, And they shall all be taught of God" (John 6:45).

He was saying, "Taste for yourself."

When we eat His Word, we taste His nature. "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious" (1 Pet. 2:2, 3).

In the traditional process of education, a teacher "eats" or experiences a subject matter and then attempts to communicate by language to his students.

But God's way is enlightenment, not education. This means every person who would know must taste for himself.

Jesus came from heaven. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). The living Word of God, the fountainhead of all truth and light, stood before those people and offered to root their lives in everlasting truth. Yet, because they had received something else as "the word," they rejected Him. "He is despised and rejected of men" (Isa. 53:3).

Their "word" was a traditional, literal interpretation of Scriptures. They pointed to the Biblical scrolls and said, "This is the word of God." But Jesus said, "Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life" (John 5:39, 40).

They had placed the letter of the word above the true Word. And Jesus told them even the letter in which they so trusted would condemn them..."Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" (John 5:45-47).

It is easy for us to look back and say, "How could they be so blind? Jesus did miracles and demonstrated His power in so many ways...why didn't they see?"

But many today are blinded to truth by the very same factor. Tradition. God had been interpreted to them by traditional theological concepts and adherence to those concepts. God was represented, in their mind, by the organized religion of the day. And it was very impressive! Crowds thronging the temple on feast days, the grandeur of the temple itself, and the breathtaking pageantry of religious ceremony. Add this to the fact that everything they saw was steeped in centuries of sacred tradition.

Millions had embraced this belief. Could so many be wrong? It made a powerful psychological impact. It still does. Organized religion, with its pomp and tradition, still keeps people from beholding the Living Word and "tasting" for themselves. Some of this is parental influence. When confronted with the living Christ, those ancients referred to "our fathers," the inference being "Our parents and forefathers were righteous, godly people; they could not have been misled!" Much of the anger directed at Jesus came because His word refuted teachings some of His hearers had heard at their parents' knee. This stings the ego! No one wants to believe his mother or father was wrong. But it is a possibility that must be faced on the journey to truth!

Today, millions are kept blind by the traditions and beliefs of long-dead grandparents and great-grandparents. "My father believed this way and his father, and his father before him...so I will believe this also."

But no man's father can find God for him. I am a minister. Six precious, little children live under my roof and I cannot experience God for any of them. They must each "taste" for themselves. They must seek and find. They cannot dwell in the light I have found. They all must have their own roots in the thoughts of God.

You are a born-again Christian so you know the truth of those words. However, when I said "tradition," what did you think?

It is possible that you thought of the historical churches, such as Roman Catholic or Episcopal. But do you realize that evangelical and "fundamental" Christianity is shot through with blinding tradition?

In fact, there is every likelihood that you are hindered in some areas by letter-of-the-word teachings accepted as truth by traditional evangelicals.

If you are touchy and defensive about what you "know"; if you think because you believe it, therefore, it must be true...there is little hope that the true potential of the word can be released in your life. Saved? Oh, yes, of course. Beloved of God? Definitely! But you will never know the riches of your inheritance. You will never experience the excitement of revelatory truth bringing quickening insight to your heart.

Why?

Because every time your roots move close to the light in the mind of God, you will draw them back in haste. Instead of realizing Christ is revealing truth, you will think Satan is trying to deceive you.

When confronted by new and deeper dimensions of the Word, you will clutch to what you already know, as though someone were trying to snatch life itself from you.

Whenever truth clashes with the literal platitudes or traditional interpretations in your mind, you will view truth with suspicion and hold even more firmly to your letter-of-the-word concepts.

This is caused by fear and insecurity.

That is why Scripture says, "Trust in the Lord... and lean not unto thine own understanding" (Prov. 3:5).

The religious leaders of ancient Israel had made the people terrified about being deceived. So when Jesus said "he that eateth me, even he shall live by me" (John 6:57), they ran away. Those with courage remained and their names are revered to this day. John, Peter, James, Andrew, Matthew and the others.

Did you ever think of how much courage it took to remain with Jesus, a carpenter from Nazareth, while all of the noted religious leaders denounced Him?

Where did they get that courage?

The Bible says, "Perfect love casteth out fear" (1 John 4:18). They understood at that time hardly anything He was saying. And almost everything He said contradicted what they had learned as children.

But they were in His presence, and His presence is love. They were secure in His love so they trusted Him.

What about you?

Do you love and trust Him that much?

Jesus said, "What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Mat. 7:9-11).

If you ask Him for the Bread of Life, will He give you hard, lifeless teachings? If you ask Him for a "fish" (something to feed you and make you grow), will He give you a snake to kill you? (Something from Satan, the serpent, the conniver from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.)

No! You can trust Him!

There are many teachers who will tell you otherwise. They won't say, right out, "You can't trust Him." Instead, they will fill you with fear about being deceived and then soothe you with the implication, "But you can trust me. I won't lead you astray. My teaching is Christ-centered. It is right from the Bible. I wouldn't think of deceiving you, but beware of those others!"

Let's get something straight. I am not telling you any such thing. Clinton White is a human being, subject to all the weaknesses and blind areas in understanding that beset every human being.

The purpose of this message is not to indoctrinate you with my concepts.

Jesus said, "Every man shall be taught of God" (John 6:45).

If you can hear God's voice, then He will teach you. If you cannot hear God's voice, then it is pointless for any man to try to teach you. Outside of personally hearing His voice and experiencing His thoughts, there is no enlightenment--only indoctrination, stereotyping, and fruitless mental gymnastics that swell the ego and starve the spirit.

God uses teachers. But teachers who place themselves in the position of interpreting God for others are not teachers from His school. Teachers who take you under their wing and are defensive and protective of you at first appear to be compassionate and loving. But soon you realize they consider you to be one of "their people," and they begin to dictate what you should read, what preachers you should hear, what Christian groups are "in error," where you should go to church, and even what you should think or believe.

God did not make you a mindless puppet to jump around on someone's doctrinal strings.

He has given you a sacred individuality. There is no one on earth like you! When God's Word is working freely in the development of your personality and reproducing the nature of Christ within your heart, you will reflect a facet of His glory no other human being on this globe is capable of revealing.

The Burpee Seed Company has acres of flowers covered with tightly woven netting. This is their method of creating look-alike hybrids. The netting is to prevent natural pollination by bees. To develop a seed that will produce flowers of exactly the same shading, color, and shape, careful attention must be given to prevent any cross-pollination. If cross-pollination does occur in a few cases, that flower is called a "rogue" and is quickly discarded.

Many teachers embrace the "Burpee Seed Company" technique. They endeavor to create "Christian hybrids" who talk alike, think alike, and give the impression of believing alike in all matters.

The Apostle John spoke about a man like this. His name was Diotrephes, a leader in an early church Christian Group. In a letter to a man named Gaius (the Third Epistle of John), we read, "I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loved to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not" (vs. 9).

Diotrephes was trying to create his own little "flower garden." He took great care that no outside thought would "cross-pollinate" his hybrids. When representatives came from the Apostles, he spoke against them and warned people about being deceived. Those who did receive other teachers were thrown out of the local church. John said, "Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbideth them that would, and casteth them out of the church" (vs. 10).

Don't let anyone make you a hybrid!

And don't be afraid of some Diotrephes or Christian hybrid calling you a rogue.

Don't let some teacher throw a net over you.

Dare to be whatever God wants you to be!

Open your heart to pollination from God's Word.

You can hear Him!

Set your sights on one goal, "the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him" (Eph. 1:17), and you will reach a new and delightful dimension in your walk with God.