Cheryl Schatz

Curtis,
You wrote:

I do believe, that in a Church service where ministry is being performed that wives, or even husbands should keep silent as that does cause a disruption to others.

In the early Church all believers were allowed to speak and there was an opportunity for one to take over from the speaker.

1 Corinthians 14:29–30 (NASB)
29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment.
30 But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent.

You wrote:

The Word of God is easy to be understood by those who have the Spirit of God as their teacher, and can easily be detected in those who have that same Spirit

Much of the Word of God is easy to understand, but there is a portion that is very hard and takes a lot of work. Peter tells us that some things that Paul wrote are hard to understand.

2 Peter 3:15–16 (NASB)
15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,
16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

We are also told to be “diligent” in handling of the Word.

2 Timothy 2:15 (NASB) Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

The term “diligent” means to have an intense desire and to make every effort. A workman is a labourer, one who works hard at a task.

We can recognize the spirit of the teacher in what is taught, but it is a lot different than working out what the Scriptures say. It can be hard work.

I do agree that God does not contradict Himself nor is He the author of contradiction. I believe that this is why we are told to test everything by the Scriptures because they alone are the test of truth. Our subjective feelings can be deceived at times and many have gone down a wrong path because they listened to deceivers. We should not expect that God will keep us safe when we ignore what He has already said in the Word. His Word does not contradict itself for sure!

Thank you so much for your comments.