HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div
There is a wedding that must occur which precedes the banquet between the Lamb and the Bride. It is the marriage of truth and mercy. Psalms 85:10-11 says: “Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed. Truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven.”
Throughout Scripture, you find the yoking of truth with mercy. Proverbs 16:6 says: “In mercy and truth, Atonement is provided for iniquity.” And Psalms 25:10: “All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to such as keep his covenant and His testimonies.”
The embrace in Psalm 85 is a clear picture of the need for the prophetic and the pastoral to come together. Most of us know this but few of us see it occurring. Verse 11 gives us a clue as to why.
“Truth shall bring out of the earth,” it says. The root word of “humility” is humus, which Webster’s defines as “the dark organic material in soils produced by the decomposition of vegetable or animal matter.” Truth should be earthy and humble.
Humility is the decomposing of the arrogance of the flesh. While it’s not good to be worldly, it is good to be “down-to-earth.” The prophet William Branham often expresses his thankfulness for growing up on an Arizona farm because it made him “earthy’.
Unfortunately, few pastors think of prophets as being humble and earthy. They often see prophets as mystical and ethereal. Air-heads, in other words.
The young prophet is often unstable because his “earth” is still the red clay of the Adamic nature. The fierce windstorms of testings force him to anchor himself in Christ. As he dies to the flesh the soil beneath him becomes enriched with nutrients. Rich soil, once watered by mercy from above, can produce life! While it is misperceived that the prophetic is ethereal, there is a mercy that is far more mystical and less earthy than the prophetic.
The pastor who always looks for the best in people may be operating with mercy born from false hope. This is sensual and natural and comes from the unredeemed areas of his soul. If a prophet were to prophesy from this realm we would use the terms “soulish”, “mixture”, and even “psychic.” If he persisted his way would be bent into manipulation and control. This we call witchcraft.
TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW …..
