Scriptures and Power

What should we learn from what Jesus told the Sadducees in what we call Matthew 22:29? He said that they didn’t know the Scriptures and they didn’t know the power of God.

The Sadducees had the Scriptures memorized, but Jesus said that they didn’t know the Scriptures. Their religious experiences and teachers had trained them that anything someone reported to be supernatural was just some myth or superstition.

Many church theologians today are teaching the same ideas – nothing should be read from the Scriptures to imply that we should expect miracles or other spiritual giftings today, because there never have been any such things. No power displays that happen today are real. The worst teachings in this set of bad teachings are those that seem to be quoting the Pharisees – that any powerful action today is caused by demons.

I saw someone post recently on a chat room I had been invited to that to ask God to speak to you through a prophet was going to get you a word from a deceiving spirit. I thought about responding with the statement that the advice was as foolish as telling someone not to ask God for money to pay your bills because there is counterfeit money. I felt led though, not to annoy someone who was not seeking truth.

Clearly, “knowing” the Scriptures is not equal to being able to recite them from memory. Knowing who someone is by name or recognition of their face is not equal to knowing them in a relationship. We need to have a relationship with the Scriptures. We need to have, likewise, a relationship with the power of our God. We gain opportunities to know His power in situations in which we need His power. Sickness, shortage, warfare, threats, failures – you know the rest of that list – those are the times and places in which we can learn His power.

So – learn the Scriptures, let them influence your life; expect His power when you need His power in your life.