TEACHING

Daryl Wood

(Daryl is a fivefold teacher on the Kingdomquest team.)

WHERE’S THE PLUMB LINE?

I recently posed this question to several in our church family after a dear friend and fellow member, who had walked in a considerable prophetic anointing for a number of years, wandered off into delusion. The particulars of her fall are not important for consideration of this article. What is significant and worthy of examination is her response upon being lovingly confronted by the brethren. She maintained that she must do with her life . . . "what the spirit leads me to do."

Her recent life choices—which she maintained that she made under the direction of the Spirit of God—flew in the face of numerous clear prohibitions from Scripture, and aroused the unanimous angst of the saints who had been her closest friends for more than a decade.

Her spiritualized arguments and adamant insistence that her behavior was "spirit led", and that she must remain "true to what the Lord is showing me, even if I have to go it alone," gave pause for even some of the most faithful. Could we be wrong? Is it possible that the Lord is with her in this thing? From Hosea to Isaiah to Ezekiel, the Lord definitely called prophetic people to some very, let’s just say . . . unusual behaviors!

"Then He showed me: Behold, the Lord stood on a wall made with a plumb line, with a plumb line in His hand. And the Lord said to me, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘A plumb line.’ Then the Lord said: ‘Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore (Amos 7:7, 8)."

The Lord holds us accountable to the truth. The plumb line has been dropped in our midst. We’ve been entrusted with the Holy Spirit, who incidentally, is also called the "Spirit of Truth." He has promised to lead us and guide us into all truth (John 16:13). Certainly the truth is in Jesus (Eph. 4:21).

"Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth (John 17:17)," Jesus prayed to the Father.

All this is clear. Still, when it comes time for an application of these realities we can occasionally find ourselves asking a question similar to Pilate’s—"What is truth (John 18:38)?" Or, taking a little literary license to rephrase that one, "Is the plumb line internal, or is it external to us?"

Here’s an oversimplification, but I think it is a helpful one, nonetheless. Prophetic people rely, more heavily than others, on the inner witness of the Spirit of the Lord to guide them. Teacher types are especially attentive to direction from the Lord that they derive from the Bible. Lastly, there are those souls who consistently defer to the counsel of other saints, particularly those whom they recognize as spiritual authority figures in their lives. In a paradigm clash of all three camps, which strategy prevails?

What is the "safest" default setting for our compasses? In other words, "Where is the plumb line?"

"Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin (Heb. 3:12, 13)." A heart that leaves God behind is deceitful, and desperately wicked. It is incapable of detecting the snares that bind it, even when such a trap is painfully obvious to nearly everyone else (Jere. 17:9). Certainly, an over-dependence on an "inner witness" is not a safe course.

"Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall (1 Cor. 10:12)."

How about the Bible? First, many of life’s questions are not addressed in specific in the Scriptures. This is not to say that the Bible does not provide principles that offer direction for nearly every situation. Yet when it comes time for application, it is still necessary to receive the Holy Spirit’s illumination in order to be able to discern the clear and correct path forward.

Second, without the Lord opening the Scriptures to us we are all prone to "proof-text," and defeat ourselves through our own cleverness. A gifted Scribe can seemingly make a case for just about anything by using the Bible. Therefore, depending exclusively on the Bible for direction is not an airtight solution to this issue.

"You search the Scriptures, for in them you think that you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life (John 5:39)." This didn’t work for the religious people of Jesus’ day, and it won’t work for us either.

The godly counsel of other saints is often an essential resource in hearing from the Lord. Yet exclusive reliance on them, no matter how wise and pure of heart they may be, brings a snare. We are required to "get and keep our own oil for our lamps" (Matt. 25:1-13), lest we be found without in a time of crisis.

Others can be wrong, and in fact are wrong (just as we can be) their share of the time. Ultimately, each of us is responsible for his own choices. We won’t be able to play the "blame game" on judgment day. When we stand before the Lord to answer for things that we’ve done in the body, each of us will be alone (2 Cor. 5:10).

"So then each of us shall give account of himself to God (Ro. 14:12)."

This is true because God has put His anointing within each believer. "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth (1 John 2:20,21)."

John continues, "But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him (v. 27)."

Each of us will probably have one or more experiences when God will require us to stand alone for truth, without having the benefit of support from any other human being. Therefore, reliance on others to hear from God for us is not a healthy course. The counsel of other saints makes a great lighthouse, but an awfully poor headlamp.

I have found that the vast majority of the time the coordinates of truth triangulate beautifully. The inner witness of God’s Spirit within me is confirmed through the Bible and by the "voice of many waters" as I hear Him through others. This brings a wonderful stability and confidence, even in the midst of unpleasant and challenging decisions.

The real difficulties arise when the score is two to one—in other words, when there is some conflict between the inner witness within me, the apparent meaning of the Scriptures, and the clear and consistent counsel of others whom I esteem in the Lord. These fortunately rare circumstances demand resolution. The blaring dissonance of disagreement simply cannot be quelled without it.

Probably, more times than not, a 2-1 split favors the majority though even this axiom is not foolproof. In the final analysis there is no formula that grants us resolution. Our certain hope lies only in the God of Truth to dispel all doubts, and any lack of clarity.

That is exactly what He does, if we will but wait on Him with an honest and true heart. The promise for those who love the truth is this: "The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth (Ps. 145:18)." In contrast, those who will not receive a love for the truth, He gives over to strong delusion (2 Thess. 2:10, 11)."

This brings me back to the subject of my sister. It is a most grievous thing to see people whom we love, and to whom we are committed, turn from the truth. The unfortunate fact is that some will. Either through self-will, as expressed through "God told me," or legalism as defended by "the Bible says," or through a relinquishing of personal responsibility, as reflected in "my spiritual leadership says," some will turn from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

I am grateful that God confirms His Word in multiple ways, multiple times. He is the one who declared three times, "Out of the mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word be established (Deut. 19:15, Matt. 18:16, and 2 Cor. 13:1)." In the instances when the witnesses might appear to be at variance, we only need . . . "draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Heb. 10:22)," . . . in order to see the veil lifted. God has dropped His plumb line. He holds us accountable to align ourselves with it.