256. Two Kinds of Revelation

Jesus lifted up his eyes toward His disciples and said: “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” Luke 6:20.

When Jesus lifts up His eyes toward you and says: “Blessed are you poor, for the kingdom of God is yours,” then you have received the best tribute that can be given to man. Nothing is more corrupting than being rich, satisfied, and mighty in one’s own spirit. Haughtiness and contempt for others follow in its steps. Poverty in spirit takes us thousands of miles away from this worldly spirit—a distance that is as blessed as the kingdom of heaven itself. When an ungodly person comes, mocking comes with him, along with respect of persons and every other evil thing that cause pain and distress. The one who is poor in spirit is totally devoid of all this and for this reason is an abomination in the eyes of the ungodly. However Jesus says of him: “Blessed are you who are poor in spirit.” Thus all richness and self confidence in spirit, whatever is not laid hold of through poverty and faith, is totally excluded from everything that is extolled as blessed. The self-confidence of the human mind in spiritual matters is nothing less than stubbornness, rebellion, and the sin of witchcraft. It is the flesh’s opposition to Christ and is the manifest enemy of all poverty.

Poverty draws down the kingdom of God into one’s life, while the richness of the self-willed makes him resist both God and man. There is more hope for a fool than one who is wise in his own eyes. It is a sorrow and a suffering just to ponder on all the times one has heard people in their self-certainty and carnal zeal assert doctrines of their own invention, doctrines lacking in any true conviction, that would never have seen the light of day had they come from poorness of spirit and the kingdom of heaven. However, just as the poor in spirit receive revelations into the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, so those who are arrogant have a connection with Satan as an angel of light. The difference between these two kinds of revelation is: revelations from God come through poverty of spirit and lead to brotherly love, whereas revelations from Satan lead a person away from fellowship in brotherhood and lead into darkness.

No word of Scripture is ever given for private interpretation. When Satan gives revelations, they are carnal, sensual, and demonic. Such revelations are not born out of poverty of spirit, but out of arrogance, envy, and the desire to be someone great and have something that no one else has. This again is pride—the very opposite of poverty.

So, if you have received revelations, make sure you establish the source.