God worked by speaking through men who were “borne along.” These are beautiful, evocative words that convey the idea of being carried and moved by Divine energy and in a certain pathway. Here is how the King James version puts it, “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21). If we take the Amplified Version it states, “For no prophecy ever originated because some man willed it (to do so)- but as men spoke from God who were borne along (moved and impelled) by the Holy Spirit.” This is a fair rendering of what Peter said. Perhaps you noticed that the King James describes the men who spoke as holy men whilst all the other versions omit the qualifying adjective. This reflects that the old Greek text from which the King James was taken includes the word holy whilst the later text does not. Some might say that it does not matter much, but then again, we ought not to think that the Holy Spirit will co-habit and consistently bear along men who are not holy.
But we ought to get to the matter of the test and do some self-examination and scrutinize our church (most of us are part of a local church) too. What is it that carries us, and our church along? First, it is important to realize that it is ‘spirit’ that bears people along, something invisible to the naked eye though its effects are clearly manifest. What ‘spirit’ am I borne along by? Every teaching, philosophy, idea, doctrine, notion, and fashion is the emergence in a concrete way of some kind of spirit. Culture is not neutral; it is of the nature of spirit. Obviously in the verse we are considering Peter tell us that many things originate in the will of man, they may be well intentioned but they are sure to fail, from the flesh they come and so will ever remain flesh in their outworking. However this is not so with the true prophetic utterance by which God wants to bear each of us along, and His churches likewise. We must take a long look at ourselves and answer the question as to whether we in our personal and family life are being shaped by the counsels of God coming freshly through by the Holy Spirit or by some other power. In this context Paul the apostle wrote, “be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). There is a spirit at work in the world system in which we live and multitudes are borne along by it, shaped by it, its teachings are everywhere. Are the priorities of our lives directed by the Holy Spirit of God, are we being transformed into the likeness of Jesus or still molded by another power? For instance, political correctness with its lying doctrine of toleration is influencing, shaping many in the churches. We seek a ‘nice’ gospel; we have no desire to ‘offend.’ We must face the fact that such ideas come not from the Holy Spirit of God; at best they have their rise in an easy to please politically correct gospel and from this message emerge all sorts of moral aberrations which many regard as acceptable behavior in the churches including the immodesty of dress is evident everywhere. It is God’s people allowing themselves to be moved along by the spirit that is at work in the world.
When we examine the scriptures, every unfolding step in God’s holy purposes was accomplished as He laid hold of men and women who were moved by Him and prepared to live opposed the spirit at work in their world. We cannot be moved of the Holy Spirit and be in accord with the spirit that is shaping the masses of people in our society. Peter tells us that in the old time false prophets were among the people of God and it would be the same today. Yes, we can see that everywhere, the idea of cultural identification peddled so attractively by certain men and women, a comfortable Jesus and a comfortable gospel that does not demand serious change is evident in some churches. If we test them by the criteria of “holy men spoke as they were borne along by the Holy Spirit” we can say that many are carried by another spirit and this is why they do not confront with the message of the Lordship of Christ effective in every department of life and a baptism in the Holy Spirit by which a person is immersed in the life of God and so begins to share His holiness and power. God’s gospel is not a ‘nice’ gospel. It offends the incipient self-absorption, self-pleasing and man pleasing with which our world is rampant. God’s gospel sets His people apart; it makes them different for they speak and live from another Kingdom. If we scrutinize our churches with honesty we see an almost complete absence of the prophetic Holy Spirit coming through with His word of authority. The fresh word from God that calls us into the joy of the obedience of holiness unto the Lord is seldom heard, instead we can hear the spirit of the kindly teacher who strokes us in our lethargy and presents a take it or leave it message because God loves us anyway and has mechanisms for sorting things out later on if we do not embrace Him one hundred percent now.
Great cost is involved in the making of holy men borne along by the Holy Spirit; the prophetic ministry that will transform the churches involves profound sacrifice. It takes time for God to mould His men and women, making them fearless for Him. The accent on Christian apologetics prevalent today is almost certainly a testimony to a lack of holy prophetic ministry. Although some Christian apologists do have the marks of God’s fire upon them it is possible to err and fall into the trap of reasoning for the sake of it. No one can be persuaded into the Kingdom of God by logical argument. Conscience must be struck a mortal blow by God’s Spirit. This is called conviction of sin and has to come to the soul. The mind must agree with God and the will of man brought to bow the knee to the loving demands of Him Who is Holy Love. Every Old Testament man of God went against the prevailing winds at work in his world. These men were not conformists, afraid to challenge and upset the status quo, the lukewarm and corrupted states that pertained amongst God’s people. They burned with holy passion; they were men with fire words. God burned within them and they were consumed with the desire that He would be glorified. Even today I received an email from Thailand in which I was told of certain men in God’s ministry who are moving against the tide prevailing around them and suffering for it, they have a holy fire burning within them. Now let everyone of us test ourselves in the light of these things. Not every member of the church is called into the preaching (prophetic) ministry but whether we are or are not, what spirit is it that bears along in our daily life? We must make no excuses, to be a member of God’s church each of us must be born of His Spirit and share thereby in His life. They prove their pedigree in that they are borne along by that same Spirit and not by the spirit at work in the world.
Let us test our own hearts and examine our home church carefully. Are we borne along by the idea of more seminars about this and that, by the desire for better music and a more charismatic leadership that can present the message in a seeker friendly way? Does the attractive notion of having lots of discussion meetings when everyone can throw in their two cents worth take precedence over the word of instruction that bears the prophetic note of holy authority from God? Are those who are church leaders carried along by the latest idea of how the church can be effective in these so-called postmodern days?
Peter says that, “This voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount” (2 Peter 1:18). It was a voice that came from the excellent glory (2 Peter 1:17). It was the unmistakable, humbling, rebuking, encouraging, powerful prophetic voice of God that spoiled Peter and his friends for anything else. There was nothing like it and it bore them along against the tide. We have more than that now for we have the scriptures, a more sure word of prophecy, “unto which we should take heed as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in our hearts (2 Peter 1:19). Now, let us test ourselves, by what voice do we live, that which comes from the excellent glory and sounds from heaven or are we borne along with the puerile and culturally acceptable ‘nice’ idea of Christ and His gospel that leaves us in our sin and worldliness and makes us hope for deliverance from a God of love when we die and go to heaven? That these are strong words I grant, but it is incumbent upon us all to examine ourselves solemnly before God the Holy.
