'Some Christians neglect the Word and seek only the subjective experience,' said John Morgan, a Confederate cavalry officer in the American Civil War.
Comparing the Christian life to an ancient Roman aqueduct he said that just as those stone waterways brought water from nearby mountains into parched cities, so the objective word of God channels the flow of the subjective experience of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Morgan added, 'Without the solid Word of God to contain and channel that experience, the experience itself drains away into error and is lost. However, other Christians boast well-engineered aqueducts based on extensive knowledge of the Bible, but they are bone dry.' I always say that the Word without the Spirit is nothing more than theoretical theology. The Spirit without the Word tends to Christian mysticism, but the Word and the Spirit is Emmanuel God with us.
The Bible is a compilation of 66 writings, written over a period of about 1,500 years by many people who received visions and revelation from the Holy Spirit. The whole Bible is wholly inspired by the Spirit of God and has been supernaturally preserved through millennia until today.
The Bible, God's Word, reveals his principles (that is doctrines), his purposes (that is promises) and his precedent (that is processes). Therefore, the Word confirms the acts of the Spirit of God. However, the Bible without the manifest fellowship of the Holy Spirit is just theoretical theology. Take care!
The Holy Spirit is God. He is the presence and the person of God living and moving with us on earth, today. The Holy Spirit was promised by Jesus and poured out on all flesh on the first day of Pentecost after Calvary. The Spirit works miracles and manifests his gifts in the Church still today. (God never changes. How he behaved and worked in Bible times he still behaves and works today.) The Holy Spirit works together with the writings of the Bible to bring it to life. Therefore, the Holy Spirit activates the Word of God. However, the acts of the Spirit without the confirmation of the Word tend to be greyed out and lend themselves to abuse as Christian mysticism. Beware!
As God-trackers then, we are called to base our life's track on not just the objective Word or just the subjective acts of the Spirit but upon both Word & Spirit. Therefore, we need to be sure that we don't exclude either the theology of the Bible or the manifesting acts of the Holy Spirit from our lives. The Word & Spirit are synonymous the sword of the Spirit is the word of God!
Signs and wonders by the Holy Spirit follow the preaching of God's Word. If Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever then his word still stands today, and his manifest power still stands today as it did when he walked the earth. In other words, subjective miraculous manifestations, like miracles, signs, healings, and the gifts of the Spirit, as well as the objective principles, purposes and precedents of the Word are still as relative and active to us today as they were 2,000 years ago. Indeed, God never changes! So, open your heart to the flow of the manifest acts of the Holy Spirit through the solid aqueduct of God's Word, today.