30/08/13

They have not heard even though they have

Romans 10:18 - But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

To understand today's message we need to go to the scripture just above it, which is Romans 10:17 which is to do with faith, something the Lord was teaching us yesterday. People quote this scripture very often yet most do not understand what they state in this scripture.

People state Romans 10:17 as faith comes from hearing and hearing the Word of God (Christ).

Being practical and having experienced God I questioned this scripture for I knew by hearing and hearing faith does not come. We have many people hearing the Word of God in Church but all do not have faith. Each ones faith varies even though they attend the same service together and spend the same amount of time reading and studying scriptures. Was Paul wrong when he wrote this?

Actually Paul did not write 'faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word' but the people who translated this made the mistake of mistranslating it.

When I ask the Lord to reveal the understanding of this scripture for I trusted the Word more than anything and knew it could not be wrong; after many days of persistent following up with God, the Lord led to dig deeper in this scripture. With my past experience I have seen translations doing mistakes so I went to the interlinear and checked the actual Greek text. Even though I do not read or write Greek, when I saw the text I noticed the mistake the translators made. The Greek words translated as 'hearing' and 'hearing' almost looked identical, I said almost identical for I noticed a small difference between the two words. Knowing Hindi I knew every stroke of line or extensions in the characters/alphabets have a meaning.

So I asked the Lord what was the difference between the two hearings, and then the Lord revealed to me one was hearing and the other was listening. Later I came to know from a person who knew Greek well that the first word was in passive tense and the second was in active tense. He too was surprised for even he had not noticed it before.

Faith does not come by hearing and hearing the Word. It comes when one hears the Word and then abides by the Word. Jesus also says in John 8:31-32 when we are His disciple (which means follow Him) we will know the Truth and the Truth will set us free (even this scripture people quote only half which is the later part).

Some translations do quote Romans 10:17 as hearing and hearing by the Word - but this fails to bring the true understanding out.

People have the habit to mug up / repeat like parrots for in many schools they are taught that way by teachers who just want to do their duty / syllabus and are not really interested that the student understands everything.

Let me share something that happened yesterday in the shadow of today's message. I have been learning for my driving license and have just finished a course of 10hrs of driving on a car which is modified for safely teaching driving. The instructor who sits beside the driving student also has control of the clutch and brake. So when he is required he controls the speed or stops the car. Many a times in situations I thought I manoeuvred the car through tight situations well but then realized the instructor was also controlling the clutch and brake. I had to sometimes tell him to keep his feet off the clutch and brake so that I would know how good or bad I am doing. Most preachers do the same with people they lead; they keep the spiritual life of those under them always in the learner seat. They backseat drive the spiritual lives of their congregation. This causes the people to not grow in faith and thus suffer. Coming back to my driving lessons since I finished the course I asked the instructor to accompany me in my own car which does not have any modifications, so he had to trust totally on my driving.

In the morning when I started he had his hand on the hand brake ready to pull it if needed but soon he left it, for he started trusting me. He is born in a Hindu family and as we were driving I started sharing about God with him and at the end gave him a CD with worship songs. In the evening we were to go out again and he came to my place. But this time I took my wife and daughter along for they longed to come with me. When he saw them he was shaken. In the morning was my first session and here I am with my family. He told me later he wanted to deny me and run away but as we sat he played the songs I had given him for he had copied them on his mobile and was hearing them the whole day. He told me had it not been for the songs and what I had spoken to him earlier that day he would have never allowed me to take my family along for the drive. In his 8 years experience of teaching driving, he never faced such a situation where he was afraid.

It was our (both he and me) believing in God that helped me be more confident at the end, and that is how we need to spiritually teach those whom we minister. We need to trust God and this trust grows when we do His Word and see the results happening in our lives. And as we keep experiencing God's goodness we start to trust Him more.

Yesterday the Lord spoke to us if we have faith we will receive more grace in the various areas of our lives. In today's message the Lord is telling us to grow in faith we need to not just hear His Word but apply it in our lives and live by it. If we do not do the applying we will be like those who heard but yet did not hear the Word.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord, You are true and your Word is true. You are God who are spirit and just vocal words do not please You. You know when we speak if we mean it or we do not, in the same way when You give the Word and have meant it but if we do not accept the Word for what it means, it displeases You. Lord, help us remember every Word You have spoken is backed by You and thus it will not fail. Help us Lord to trust in your Word more and more...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference ]
Romans 10:17-18
17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

John 8:31-32
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

The Word of God was given free to us, therefore we should also share it freely with others. (All rights are with God)