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Teaching the Way of God More Perfectly
[Mark 8:22-25; Acts 18: 24-26]
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The Bible tells us that Apollos was a Jew of Alexandria, an eloquent man and one mighty in scriptures. He preached mightily that Jesus was the Christ, but when he came to Ephesus he met Aquila and Priscilla. And when they realized that he was instructed in the way of the Lord but knew only the baptism of John, although he was fervent in spirit, they took him in and expounded the way of the Lord more perfectly to him.

Aquila and his wife Priscilla took Apollos into their home and taught him the greater light they had of Christ, the Bible says explicitly. But implicit in that statement is the fact that he was willing to receive their teaching. Indeed, further scriptures indicate that he did receive it and continued his preaching, or else why would some of the carnal Christians split themselves into fractions, as immature and carnal Christians do, by saying I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, Cephas? [1 Cor. 1:12] Clearly, he went on to establish himself among the mighty preachers of that early church era. [1 Cor. 3:6; 16:12]

The point I raise in this analysis, however, is that Apollos was an eloquent man who was mighty in scriptures, and he was willing to learn the way of God more perfectly. This is the way of a child of God or a man of God: he is humble enough, eager enough, and desirous enough to learn the things of God he does not know; he is intelligent enough to realize that he does not know, and he augments his knowledge where it is deficient. It is the way of the intelligent to augment his/her intelligence. The fool pretends he/she knows when, in fact, she does not know; that is a rejection of knowledge and God will reject that person. [Hos. 4:6]

King David of old said that the deep calls unto deep. [Psa. 42:7] That which is within the core of an individual will take him/her to the way of his core. When the disciples were scattered after Jesus' crucifixion, Peter (and other disciples also) went back to that which he knew--his deep called unto his deep; Jesus said they would be scattered, and so they were. Jesus went to regroup his wayward disciples and found Peter and others out fishing.

Odysseus, in Tenneyson's Ulysses, said, "…the deep moans round with many voices." Indeed, intelligent, godly people are those willing to receive more of God. The foolish, who claim to be in God, will close their minds because they are not really in God.

Apollos was a man of God, even though he had only the baptism of John; he did not hesitate in receiving the greater light that was present in Aquila and Priscilla, and he augmented that which he already had of God. This is the behavior of true people of God. But many today are being destroyed because they are rejecting the greater light of God's word, preferring the limitations of their own minds--such limitations are convenient and self-serving rather than God-serving, but they will die in their rejection of God's truth and light.

Unlike Apollos, many refuse to learn the way of God more perfectly for many reasons: many are simply not men of God or children of God but children of Satan and ministers of greed. They prefer their own righteousness to that of God's, and have, as Paul said, gone about to establish their own righteousness after rejecting and being ignorant of God's righteousness. [Rom. 10:3] Of course, there is a consequence to that behavior: All of man's righteousness is merely filthy rags in God's sight--it is insufficient. [Isa. 64:6]

Many of these self-righteous ministers and church members willingly not accept God's righteousness because they would have to change their way of behaving and that would show all that they have been wrong all these years. These are they who are more concerned about their standing among men and human praises than they are concerned about their standing with God.

Some will not receive the greater truths of God because that acceptance of the greater truths would cut off a lucrative source of income that they have as they make merchandise of God's people through a wrong teaching of New Testament tithe and other man-concocted systems of financially raping God's people. This financial raping has becomes a most widespread problem today, a problem, which preachers in mass have turned to and away from God's word, corrupting his word to merchandise his people that they may become rich in this world's goods without working for them: Think about the millionaire ministers--the Clefo Dollars, Benny Hins, Kenneth Copelands, etc--as they jet around in their own private planes, ride in their expensive cars, live in their gated communities, wear their expensive clothing; Jesus said that men clothed in such a way and living in such a way are in kings' houses; these are not the prophets or God. [Mat. 11:8]

Yes, we are kings and priests unto God, and we are the children of God and joint heirs with Christ, but for anyone to think that the way of the kingdom and our heirship is down here now manifested in the things of this world, such a one does not know the scriptures AT ALL! Or such a one is deceiving you!

Those who would be rich here and now fall into temptations, snares, lusts, and foolishness and drown men in destruction and perdition--that is exactly what the gospel of wealth preachers do to their followers; for the love of money, he wrote, is the root of all evil.

Paul said that they who have such love have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Of course, they are not humble enough to admit it. But the man of God is to flee these wrongful desires. [1 Tim. 9:8-11] If a man preaches tithes to New Testament Christians or the gospel of wealth down here and now, he is blind and has erred from the faith because he probably has a love of money-spirit. But Paul said that spirit will cause one to err. [Read our extensive analysis of tithes and our essay on Gospel of Wealth Preachers and receive the word of God more perfectly]

This ministry has received a number of reports that because some ministers have the word of God more perfectly on tithes and a number of other issues, but especially tithes--the bread and butter of many unlearned ministers--they have not been able to share the truth of God's word on tithes or anything else in their local assemblies. The pastors have locked them out from exercising their ministries among God people at local assemblies run and ruled by pastors.

I have steadfastly taught irrefutably that tithing has NOTHING to do with New Testament Christianity, and I have challenged all who take the Bible as the word of God to prove it--the drivel I have heard is just that, DRIVEL. But mostly this ministry has gotten anger and many such deceptive ministers have forbid THEIR members from our books and from a study of our ministry. Some wicked ministers, unable to refute the truth of God's word in us, have personally labeled me, by some form of defective reasoning, as jealous and other things to their congregations but not to me because they have no Bible legs to stand on. Yet the word of God says prove all things!

When a minister who claims to be leading God's people forbids God's minister from sharing with God's saints, he is cutting off saints' opportunity to go on unto perfection, which is the second step of salvation--we are born again so that we may GROW INTO HIM, and that is perfection, which can be achieved only by all the ministries functioning in the church. [1 Pet. 2:2; Eph. 4:11] He is killing God's saints, and he will not be counted blameless.

Apostle Paul said, God has given his church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers for the express reason of perfecting the saints. And when the saints are perfected, then is the ministry at work, and when the ministry is at work, then the body of Christ is edified. If the body of Christ is not edified, we cannot come to the unity of the faith. For when views of the word of God are not allowed to blossom and be accepted or spiritually and scripturally challenged so a clear understanding is arrived at, we will NEVER come to a unity of the faith. Furthermore, the foolishness that is so evident among so many ministers and God's people will continue masquerading as godly correctness, which it is not! The foolish men who lord over the Lord's inheritance have no idea the harm they do, as they secure their financial base. We know from scripture that only iron can sharpen iron. [Prov. 27:17]

The Bible cites what scriptural nobility is: it says that the Bereans were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word of God with readiness of mind and searched the scriptures to see if what was taught was in fact correct. [Acts 17:10-11] Where has this nobility gone today?

Today, ministers are teaching any type of foolishness they conceive of, and the people who love to have it so present no challenge to these lying ministers and pastors. [Jer. 5:31; 1Thes. 5:21] Instead, many are throwing money at them as they preach another gospel, which is not a gospel at all; the Apostle Paul says it is one that troubles you. And such a one may have the popularity of men, but he is accursed of God! And that is steadfast, whether he or we are willing to receive the greater truth of God or not. [Gal. 1:6-10]

A person wrote me, asking that I touch not God's anointed, Clefo Dollar and the other such Gospel of Wealth preachers; I will continue to say that these are deceivers in such teachings and in obtaining their lofty wealth off God's people--and so says the scriptures--and, believe me, I am not touching God's anointed at all because they are wrongly cast as God's anointed. Those who fall into the trap of thinking of them as God's anointed are blinded with the same blindness that was present in Jeremiah's day: deceived people did not want to hear Jeremiah because he called out their preferred ministers as not God's ministers, and as it was in that day, so is it today--the prophets prophesied lies, the priests ruled by their own means and the people love it so! [Jer. 5:31; 14:14;23:25-26; Lk. 17:26]

That's where we are today, and when men love darkness rather than light, they will see false prophets are correct and God's prophets as upsetting their delusion. Because these seven women have taken hold of this one man, Christ, it does not mean that he has taken hold of them. They have, as Isaiah said, only taken his name as some type of disguise to take away their reproach, the wrong way! [Isa. 4:1]

The true people of God will receive his word with readiness of mind and search to see if the things preached really comport with God's word. Paul taught those saints in Thessalonica to prove ALL THINGS AND HOLD FAST TO THAT WHICH IS GOOD! [1Thes. 5:21]

I admonish all to prove this ministry, as well as all other ministries. Men too often lie! Paul says prove a ministry; that is the noble way. That is the wise way. That is the way of those who love truth!

Apollos was mighty in scripture and eloquent, but he only knew a small portion of the way of Christ, John's baptism, and when Aquila and Priscilla, having the greater truth, came to him, he received it. He was noble, even as the Bereans were. Suppose he would not have received their truth, he would have been blind with a partial sight that was defective. In Mark 8, this truth is clearly seen.

As Jesus came to Bethsaida, he was brought a man blind whom they wanted him to touch. Jesus did touch the man--he took the blind man and lead him out of the town and spit on the man's eyes and put his hand on the man. He, thereafter, asked the man if he saw anything. The man said he saw men as trees. walking. That was not how men are. That is partial, but defective sight. Men are not as trees, though they do walk. Many ministers, see things somewhat, but somewhat defectively and need to be taught the word of God more perfectly. In this instance, Jesus took the man and put his hands again upon his eyes and made him look up, and he was restored and saw clearly. [Mk.8:22-25]

Certainly, Jesus does not make mistakes. This act was for us to understand that many ministers and many people have been touched by God, but they still need to learn the word of God more perfectly, they still need another touch from Jesus to see things clearly. This scripture represents one of those ways God speaks in his word and to his people. Apollos got a second touch from God and saw things clearly after God's true minister took him aside.

Today, there are many ignoble ministers and church members who really know not God and will not allow themselves to be taken aside by God's true minister and expounded the word of God more perfectly. Instead, they want to be called by God's name to take away their reproach. [Isa. 4:1] They are not only not noble, but they are alienated from the life of God and the true fellowship of the household of faith!

Those who receive the word of God and prove it, searching the scriptures daily to see if the things which this minister or any other minister says are so, will know who are the anointed of God and who need to learn the way of Christ more perfectly.

Apollos was fervent in spirit, but he needed a second touch from Jesus to know the way of Christ more perfectly. If you think this minister is off the mark, I submit you need a second touch of Christ that you may see things clearly. Examine yourself! []

See another essay on this subject.

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