the words of a preacher are the word of God

anyone... anyone?

::cricket... cricket::
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"sometimes a little more than you think you want is still a little less than you actually need"
"brilliance seems too often masked by stupid people"

Hieromonk Joined : 20 May 2008 Posts : 154

Yes, I believe a preacher full of the Holy spirit is preaching God's word. Of course those words have to align themselves with scripture. They cannot conflict with scripture and its upon us to search the scripture to see if the words are true.

The bereans were praised because they did exactly that.

Xenophile Joined : 09 May 2008 Posts : 147

I thought I had replied to this, but I can't for the life of me remember what I replied. Or figure out why it didn't post, hmm.
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the whole idea scares me... i'll admit
_________________
"sometimes a little more than you think you want is still a little less than you actually need"
"brilliance seems too often masked by stupid people"

Xenophile Joined : 09 May 2008 Posts : 147

I never did remember what I originally typed. However here's my basic understanding of things. We are like ambassadors or diplomats for God and his kingdom. How we speak and act is representative of our kingdom, and in many cases we speak directly on behalf of our kingdom. As human beings though we are prone to be either excellent, bad, or forgettable ambassadors for our kingdom. So when we preach, proclaim, or otherwise witness to the good news of Christ we are speaking on behalf of God and his kingdom. Now you could go past that and go into the whole spiritual side of things, but I think that covers things sufficiently for myself.
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nathan...
so you're saying we speak on behalf of the kingdom... not so much "the words of God"... is that correct? Interesting thought.
I suppose an ambassadors words are still pretty important and can cause or avoid war... hmm scratch

_________________
"sometimes a little more than you think you want is still a little less than you actually need"
"brilliance seems too often masked by stupid people"

Xenophile Joined : 09 May 2008 Posts : 147

Well...

It all depends really. How do you view speaking in tongues? Is that speaking the words of God or the Holy Spirit? How we speak can be a representation of what we believe to be true. If we are truly representing God, then we could be speaking truth, and thus speaking the words of God as truth.

You could choose to take it on a purely spiritual level and say that the words of a spiritual shepherd and a prophet, etc. are all the words of God. I suppose it all depends on the nature of the words spoken. If they are from one's own mind, then you are speaking your own words, but if on the behalf of another, you are representing them. If the words spoken are inspired by God, then you are being used as a vessel of sorts to speak directly on the behalf of another in both a spiritual and physical sense.

I think Paul demonstrates this when he indicates which parts of his writings are inspired and which are his human opinions. I don't think that the majority of pastors today take enough care to make these sorts of distinctions and so it is really hard to apply it in today's religious settings.
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