Israel was greatly impoverished" because of the Midianites, and cried unto God for a deliverer. In answer to their cry God raised up a man by the name of Gideon. Gideon was threshing grain by (or 'in') the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites, when the angel of the LORD greeted him with strange words:
"The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valor" (Judg. 6:12) God knew Gideon's problem. He knew that Gideon was filled with fear because of the enemy. He knew he was but a weak man in one of the poorest families of Manasseh. He knew that Gideon was the least, and not the greatest, in his father's house. Just the qualities that God was looking for! And so the angel said,
"Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel" (vs. 14) His strength was not to be in his own resources, but in his weakness. And the fact that God SENT him would be the only authority and power he needed.
We all know the story... how God had to whittle down the original army of 32,000 men to a handful of 300. Beloved, why can we not learn from the multitude of witnesses, in both the Old Testament and the New... that strength is not in numbers, that riches consist not of silver and gold, that wisdom proceeds from the way of the Cross, and not from the halls of learning?
Gideon demobilized his army at the command of the LORD, by ordering all the fearful ones to go home. He was left with only 10,000 men. These were all anxious for battle; but God said, "The people are yet too many". God took the matter in His own hands and sent another 9,700 home... discharged them from the army of the Lord! And for what reason? Perhaps many of them wondered why, when they were so anxious to fight for the LORD. Whatever the reason was for the discharge of these 9,700 soldiers, I think God would have us know that in the very ordinary things of life, in and about our daily tasks and occupations, we are being tested and tried of the Lord every day, and we are not always aware of it. They were just down at the water quenching their thirst; but God was watching from Heaven, and trying their hearts, and they did not know it! There is something else very significant. God said if He used the whole multitude, then Israel would take some of the glory. So we know that when God hand-picked these 300 men, He knew they would not take any glory for the victory He would give them. God knew He would get all the glory!
God who searcheth the hearts of men is marking His own for involvement in the battle of the Lord, according to His own requirements of faithfulness, obedience, and submission to His will. His standard of judgment is this: "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that which is much". Do not expect to be commissioned to a post of duty in the army of the Lord if there is indifference or slothfulness or unfaithfulness or dishonesty or disobedience in your day by day existence in the little things. Paul observed that there was one requirement of a steward... he must be found faithful. And Jesus said if a man could not be trusted in his dealings with mammon, the fading wealth of this life, God could not trust him with the true riches.
God chose the 300, not to show how mighty they were; but to demonstrate that in the weakness of man He Himself would be glorified. With a lamp, and a pitcher, and a trumpet, they went forth to battle. That was all they needed, because the battle was the LORD's. And so Paul says,
"We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" (2 Cor. 4:7).
A lamp within the pitcher. But the pitcher had to be broken that the light might shine forth. And then the trumpet sound of God's Word went forth:
"Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!"
Judges 7:20 ESV
The enemy was routed in utter confusion, and actually destroyed themselves. God's battle strategy against the enemy is to throw them into confusion. "Every man's sword was against his fellow, even throughout all the host" (Judg. 7:22) Satan has effectively used this strategy by bringing division and confusion into the midst of God's people; but all this will be reversed in the Day of the LORD.
The hosts of Satan tremble, and are thrown into a confused state of self-destruction when they are confronted with a people walking in the obedience of Christ, in the way of the Cross!
Showing posts with label George Warnock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label George Warnock. Show all posts
Monday, March 24, 2008
Saturday, March 01, 2008
The Church, the Body of Christ
O how this Church, that God ordained to be a wonder and glory in the earth, and in the heavens -- how weak she has become, by trusting in her strength, in her wisdom, in her riches, in her magnificence! And all of it is supposedly in an attempt to cause the nations to bow at the feet of Christ! But there is a Church in the midst of the Church, whose hearts long after God, and it is with these that He has reserved a day of Appointment. It will be a very individual Appointment with those who are "members of His body," as well as a corporate Appointment for the whole body.
God forbid that any one would think that his or her position in the Church, will somehow elevate them in the favour of God. For the body of Christ is composed of many members, and each member of that body is carefully designed by His creative power to function in union with all other members, and to partake equally with them in the Life that God has breathed into that body. For no man or devil or evil principality in the heavens will be able to hinder the mighty work that God continues to perform in the members of His body. His purpose is "that He might sanctify and cleanse it (the Church) with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph 5:26,27).
Let us not hope for Heaven to bring this about. The Last Adam, "the Lord from Heaven" came to earth to do this cleansing, healing work in His people, by the blood of His Cross, and "with the washing of water by the Word." It is not by a sudden stroke of perfection when we enter the courts of Heaven. Jesus Himself, chosen to be the Captain of His people as they war against evil, came to earth as a man that God might make the Captain of their Salvation "perfect through sufferings" (Heb 2:10). It is by testing and trial and affliction while we walk in the midst of a cruel world, that we learn obedience and come to the stature of Christ.
David said that he was fearfully and wonderfully made. But he was speaking prophetically as he described the very intricate workings of God in the body of Christ. For this Church is to be an eternal wonder and glory unto God throughout all ages. David went on to say, "My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth" (Ps 139:14,15). Paul identifies this with our Lord Jesus. "When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things)" (Eph 4:8-10). I believe David was speaking prophetically about this body of Christ that was "made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth." I understand very little about that, but we have much teaching concerning His ascension Glory, where He reigns with all power in Heaven and in Earth. And has sent forth His Spirit into our lives, imparting gifts to His people, and enduing them with power and anointing to bring forth this glorious Body of Christ. Then he declares that God's intention in setting these ministries in the body is that we "grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ" (Eph 4: 15). What marvellous grace, and what a living hope: "that we grow up into Christ!"
One Body . . and Members in Particular
Often there is a tendency to so exalt the truth of God's people being "one body" that we fail to recognize the very individual life that we are to live as a member of the family of God, or as a sheep in the flock of God. Coming into a body relationship must not interfere with that very personal relationship with Christ that He has ordained. A true body relationship among God's people, should enhance and strengthen one's personal walk with God, rather than making it to be subordinate to a corporate body relationship. Just a few scriptures to illustrate this truth:
"Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular" (1 Cor 12:27).
A member in particular, just as my eye, my ear, my hand, my heart, is very distinct, and has a very special function, that benefits the whole body.
"Of one body." For this body is only healthy and complete when each individual member receives the care it needs from the rest of the body.
The sheep hear His voice: And He calleth His own sheep by name (see Jn 10:3-5). This is very individual and personal. The Shepherd knows each sheep by name, and each sheep knows his Shepherd, by name. Very often the sheep do not act as if they know the True Shepherd by name. How many of them have been taught and nurtured by true pastoral ministry, and really know the Shepherd, and walk with Him, and hear His voice when He calls their name? In too many cases this is not even considered necessary. The sheep hear the voice of their pastor, and they thank him for his counsel. But very often they know not the voice of the True Shepherd in their own walk with the Lord. Their pastor, their elder, their prophet, has become their mediator, instead of that One Mediator who reigns at the right hand of the Father. The sheep must individually know their Shepherd by Name, and follow Him!
The New Covenant, a Covenant of Glory
We have mentioned some of those glorious Appointments that men of old had with their God in Old Testament times; and often New Testament (Covenant) believers are inclined to feel that those visitations of God are not for us in the New Covenant. Is not the New Covenant better than the Old? And if God's people in the Old Covenant knew this very individual relationship with God, how much more should we in the New Covenant? The apostles continually remind us of the "better things" that we have in the New Covenant. And Paul goes so far as to say that the ultimate ministration of the Old Covenant was condemnation and death. "But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious?" (2 Cor 3:7,8). Then to cap it off, he makes this very conclusive statement concerning the glory that was manifested in the Old Testament: "For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth" (vs 10).
Surely God has greater things, far greater things, for His New Covenant people, than He did for the Old.
I am confident that God will in these last days perform such wondrous things through His people (who seek Him and walk with Him), that they will be known as walking signs of the Mighty God they serve. Paul quotes from the prophet Isaiah: "Behold I and the children which God hath given me" (Heb 2:13). The full quotation from Isaiah is this:
"Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion" (Isa 8:18). The people whom the Father gives to the Son, are "for signs and wonders." Their very lives, and the works they perform, will make them to become a sign and a wonder in the earth. Let us never entertain the thought: O well, I know God said He was going to have a glorious Church, without spot or blemish -- but it can't happen till we get to Heaven. Jesus came from Heaven to earth to bring this about. And the Father has given Him sons and daughters from the earth, born of the same Spirit by which Jesus was born. And they are predestinated "to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Rom 8:29). "Many brethren" in the Family of God, but each son and daughter a very distinct member of that Family – each son and daughter knowing the Voice of their Elder Brother, and following in His footsteps.
God's Appointments are in His Time
We must not fail to emphasize God's Timings. And we must know that God's timings are always related to eternal purposes. In union with the Father, Jesus not only did the Father's will, but He always moved in the Father's time. It wasn't a case of -- I'm the Prophet, so I'm going to prophesy. Or I'm the Teacher, so I'm going to travel far and wide and teach God's people. Jesus only did these things as He moved in the Spirit of the Father, and it was all according to God's eternal purpose and timing. He was always in God's place, doing God's will, in God's time. Therefore He could say to the people gathered in the Synagogue at Nazareth, that on that very day He was fulfilling scripture.
"And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the minister, and sat down."
Then as they waited, perhaps for some word of exposition, "He began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Lk 4:17-21). This is God's way of "doing the will of God," doing what God tells us to do, indeed. But also moving in the Spirit of Truth. And if we move in the Spirit, it will always be in God's time. Jesus would not be pressured by others. He would say to His brethren who urged Him to go down to the Feast: "My time is not yet come: but your time is always ready" (Jn 7:6).
It was especially grievous to Mary and Martha, whom He loved -- that He refused to go and heal their brother Lazarus when his life was ebbing away. When He got the news, "He abode two days still in the same place where He was" (Jn 11:6). He could have gone and healed Lazarus, or spoken the Word from a long distance, and healed him by a spoken Word. But He moved in the mind and in the will of the Father; and He must remain where He was till Lazarus was dead. All because God had a purpose in mind, and the Son always walked in the way of God's Appointment for Him.
Does it not seem strange how men have been able to turn this all around, and ordain pastors and teachers and apostles and prophets to be in a place of lordship, rather than in a role of servitude? Paul and many others were apostles, but Paul said, writing to the Romans: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ," and the word servant here means bondslave. Many of these great ministries today do not appear to be in the category of bondslaves, but rather as lords over the flock. And God's people do them a great injustice, by exalting them to a place of reverence and esteem in the House of God, rather than as servants ministering truth to the flock of God.
God forbid that any one would think that his or her position in the Church, will somehow elevate them in the favour of God. For the body of Christ is composed of many members, and each member of that body is carefully designed by His creative power to function in union with all other members, and to partake equally with them in the Life that God has breathed into that body. For no man or devil or evil principality in the heavens will be able to hinder the mighty work that God continues to perform in the members of His body. His purpose is "that He might sanctify and cleanse it (the Church) with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph 5:26,27).
Let us not hope for Heaven to bring this about. The Last Adam, "the Lord from Heaven" came to earth to do this cleansing, healing work in His people, by the blood of His Cross, and "with the washing of water by the Word." It is not by a sudden stroke of perfection when we enter the courts of Heaven. Jesus Himself, chosen to be the Captain of His people as they war against evil, came to earth as a man that God might make the Captain of their Salvation "perfect through sufferings" (Heb 2:10). It is by testing and trial and affliction while we walk in the midst of a cruel world, that we learn obedience and come to the stature of Christ.
David said that he was fearfully and wonderfully made. But he was speaking prophetically as he described the very intricate workings of God in the body of Christ. For this Church is to be an eternal wonder and glory unto God throughout all ages. David went on to say, "My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth" (Ps 139:14,15). Paul identifies this with our Lord Jesus. "When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things)" (Eph 4:8-10). I believe David was speaking prophetically about this body of Christ that was "made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth." I understand very little about that, but we have much teaching concerning His ascension Glory, where He reigns with all power in Heaven and in Earth. And has sent forth His Spirit into our lives, imparting gifts to His people, and enduing them with power and anointing to bring forth this glorious Body of Christ. Then he declares that God's intention in setting these ministries in the body is that we "grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ" (Eph 4: 15). What marvellous grace, and what a living hope: "that we grow up into Christ!"
One Body . . and Members in Particular
Often there is a tendency to so exalt the truth of God's people being "one body" that we fail to recognize the very individual life that we are to live as a member of the family of God, or as a sheep in the flock of God. Coming into a body relationship must not interfere with that very personal relationship with Christ that He has ordained. A true body relationship among God's people, should enhance and strengthen one's personal walk with God, rather than making it to be subordinate to a corporate body relationship. Just a few scriptures to illustrate this truth:
"Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular" (1 Cor 12:27).
A member in particular, just as my eye, my ear, my hand, my heart, is very distinct, and has a very special function, that benefits the whole body.
"Of one body." For this body is only healthy and complete when each individual member receives the care it needs from the rest of the body.
The sheep hear His voice: And He calleth His own sheep by name (see Jn 10:3-5). This is very individual and personal. The Shepherd knows each sheep by name, and each sheep knows his Shepherd, by name. Very often the sheep do not act as if they know the True Shepherd by name. How many of them have been taught and nurtured by true pastoral ministry, and really know the Shepherd, and walk with Him, and hear His voice when He calls their name? In too many cases this is not even considered necessary. The sheep hear the voice of their pastor, and they thank him for his counsel. But very often they know not the voice of the True Shepherd in their own walk with the Lord. Their pastor, their elder, their prophet, has become their mediator, instead of that One Mediator who reigns at the right hand of the Father. The sheep must individually know their Shepherd by Name, and follow Him!
The New Covenant, a Covenant of Glory
We have mentioned some of those glorious Appointments that men of old had with their God in Old Testament times; and often New Testament (Covenant) believers are inclined to feel that those visitations of God are not for us in the New Covenant. Is not the New Covenant better than the Old? And if God's people in the Old Covenant knew this very individual relationship with God, how much more should we in the New Covenant? The apostles continually remind us of the "better things" that we have in the New Covenant. And Paul goes so far as to say that the ultimate ministration of the Old Covenant was condemnation and death. "But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious?" (2 Cor 3:7,8). Then to cap it off, he makes this very conclusive statement concerning the glory that was manifested in the Old Testament: "For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth" (vs 10).
Surely God has greater things, far greater things, for His New Covenant people, than He did for the Old.
I am confident that God will in these last days perform such wondrous things through His people (who seek Him and walk with Him), that they will be known as walking signs of the Mighty God they serve. Paul quotes from the prophet Isaiah: "Behold I and the children which God hath given me" (Heb 2:13). The full quotation from Isaiah is this:
"Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion" (Isa 8:18). The people whom the Father gives to the Son, are "for signs and wonders." Their very lives, and the works they perform, will make them to become a sign and a wonder in the earth. Let us never entertain the thought: O well, I know God said He was going to have a glorious Church, without spot or blemish -- but it can't happen till we get to Heaven. Jesus came from Heaven to earth to bring this about. And the Father has given Him sons and daughters from the earth, born of the same Spirit by which Jesus was born. And they are predestinated "to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Rom 8:29). "Many brethren" in the Family of God, but each son and daughter a very distinct member of that Family – each son and daughter knowing the Voice of their Elder Brother, and following in His footsteps.
God's Appointments are in His Time
We must not fail to emphasize God's Timings. And we must know that God's timings are always related to eternal purposes. In union with the Father, Jesus not only did the Father's will, but He always moved in the Father's time. It wasn't a case of -- I'm the Prophet, so I'm going to prophesy. Or I'm the Teacher, so I'm going to travel far and wide and teach God's people. Jesus only did these things as He moved in the Spirit of the Father, and it was all according to God's eternal purpose and timing. He was always in God's place, doing God's will, in God's time. Therefore He could say to the people gathered in the Synagogue at Nazareth, that on that very day He was fulfilling scripture.
"And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the minister, and sat down."
Then as they waited, perhaps for some word of exposition, "He began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Lk 4:17-21). This is God's way of "doing the will of God," doing what God tells us to do, indeed. But also moving in the Spirit of Truth. And if we move in the Spirit, it will always be in God's time. Jesus would not be pressured by others. He would say to His brethren who urged Him to go down to the Feast: "My time is not yet come: but your time is always ready" (Jn 7:6).
It was especially grievous to Mary and Martha, whom He loved -- that He refused to go and heal their brother Lazarus when his life was ebbing away. When He got the news, "He abode two days still in the same place where He was" (Jn 11:6). He could have gone and healed Lazarus, or spoken the Word from a long distance, and healed him by a spoken Word. But He moved in the mind and in the will of the Father; and He must remain where He was till Lazarus was dead. All because God had a purpose in mind, and the Son always walked in the way of God's Appointment for Him.
Does it not seem strange how men have been able to turn this all around, and ordain pastors and teachers and apostles and prophets to be in a place of lordship, rather than in a role of servitude? Paul and many others were apostles, but Paul said, writing to the Romans: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ," and the word servant here means bondslave. Many of these great ministries today do not appear to be in the category of bondslaves, but rather as lords over the flock. And God's people do them a great injustice, by exalting them to a place of reverence and esteem in the House of God, rather than as servants ministering truth to the flock of God.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
The Weakness and Foolishness of God
- From The Hyssop that Springeth Out of the Wall
"But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:23, 24).
So He is to them that believe. But to those who believe not, God seems to do some very foolish things, and to manifest a lot of weakness for One who is supposed to have made a whole Universe. However, it is in these very things that God is pleased to reveal His glory and His wisdom: to baffle the wisdom of the wise, and to bring to nought the counsels of men. Therefore, in the midst of the apostasy of modern day Christianity, and the hypocrisy and artificiality of modern day religion, we who know somewhat of God's ways can rejoice in the fact that it is just like God, in times like these, to rend the heavens and come down in power and great glory... and yet in ways that will seem strange and foolish in the eyes of the world. We are confident that the darkness and the gloom about us will once again become the fitting background for the display of the gems of His glory. Some good Christian people are trying to set the stage for God to work, but God always has to bypass these efforts, for He has prepared the stage upon which He will reveal His sons who are moving in Harmony with His will. For it is consistent with God's character and way, and with the Jealousy of His Glory, that the greater the work He will perform in the earth--the greater will be the measure of weakness and foolishness that He will cause an unbelieving world to behold.
"But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:23, 24).
So He is to them that believe. But to those who believe not, God seems to do some very foolish things, and to manifest a lot of weakness for One who is supposed to have made a whole Universe. However, it is in these very things that God is pleased to reveal His glory and His wisdom: to baffle the wisdom of the wise, and to bring to nought the counsels of men. Therefore, in the midst of the apostasy of modern day Christianity, and the hypocrisy and artificiality of modern day religion, we who know somewhat of God's ways can rejoice in the fact that it is just like God, in times like these, to rend the heavens and come down in power and great glory... and yet in ways that will seem strange and foolish in the eyes of the world. We are confident that the darkness and the gloom about us will once again become the fitting background for the display of the gems of His glory. Some good Christian people are trying to set the stage for God to work, but God always has to bypass these efforts, for He has prepared the stage upon which He will reveal His sons who are moving in Harmony with His will. For it is consistent with God's character and way, and with the Jealousy of His Glory, that the greater the work He will perform in the earth--the greater will be the measure of weakness and foolishness that He will cause an unbelieving world to behold.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
"Hemmed In" - The Long Way Around
"And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: but God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea..." (Ex. 13:17-18).
This is a day of "fast" things: fast foods, fast trains, fast cars, fast planes, fast pleasures, fast communications. But God's way into the life of the Spirit is still the long way around. Many do not think so, and there are many in the Church who deride the thought of exercising "patience" in order to win the race that is set before us. "Let us run WITH PATIENCE..." may sound a little contradictory to a man in a race; but it remains God's way of winning "the race that is set before us" (Heb. 12:1). God's direct route to Canaan life is the long-way-around. There may seem to be a shorter way, a more direct way, and many continue to explore that route, only to end up rolling in the dust. "God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near..." Now the word "Philistine" comes from a word meaning "to roll in the dust, to wallow." And though it is a well-beaten pathway, as it was in the days of Israel, and though it would seem to lead in a more direct route to the land of our inheritance, it will leave the one who travels this road wallowing in the dust. And why? Because there is nothing in common with the way of the Philistines and the way of God. The Philistine spirit is that spirit of the world, of the natural man, that knows nothing of the Spirit of God. But because it is a well-worn pathway, and because it seems to be leading in the general direction of our pursuit for God, it is enticing to the natural mind. It is the logical approach to the things of God. It is the positive, the most direct approach to things spiritual. But it leaves you wallowing in the dust of the old Adamic life, rather than soaring into the heights of the Spirit of God.
"You do not have to take that long, uncharted, entangled way into the things of God... We can show you a simpler way... We can point you to a shortcut... You can know the joy of Canaan living without all the distress of becoming entangled in the wilderness." This is the reasoning and counsel of the natural mind.
But the fact remains, we did not choose the wilderness way. We simply chose to go God's way. It is He who goes before--by day in a pillar of cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire--to give direction and light for the journey. It is by the Light of His Glory that we find ourselves entangled in the wilderness. He leads us this way that He might have all the glory, and that our enemies might be consumed in the very midst of our own perplexity and dismay. For it is only when we find ourselves "hemmed in," with no place to go, that we are inclined to go to God for help. This is why He hems us in... that we might flee into His arms. God knows the Enemy will say,
"They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in" (Ex. 14:3). And so God deliberately sets a trap for the Enemy by bringing us into that place where we have no other recourse, but in God alone. As long as there is room for the heart and mind of man to calculate and plan his own deliverance, God is left out of the picture. We don't really need Him, or so we think. But if we are followers of the Cloud, God will lead us into areas of utter hopelessness and despair, that we might prove Him to be the God who makes a way where there is no way, and a path in the mighty waters...
"Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known" (Ps. 77:19).
"The LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters" (Isa. 43:16).
People of God, beware of the shortcuts. There are many that are offered in this day and age, shortcuts to true spiritual life and progress, but they will not bring you there. You may try to find an easy way into spiritual gift and blessing. You may learn how to get, and how to operate spiritual gifts the easy way, without total commitment, without waiting upon God, but sooner or later they will fade away. You may think you have discovered a secure and safe covering in some church structure or institution, assuring yourself that you are being spared the pangs of finding your own way in the entangled wildernesses of life. You feel that if you trust in certain leaders, in certain apostles and prophets, in a certain "New Testament Church Order," that it is a much safer, much easier pathway. But sooner or later you are going to discover that the rest and comfort you sought in sheltered areas of this nature, are nothing less than the bondage of Babylonish systems; and you will discover that this is far more distressing and more captivating than the way of the Lord from which you sought to escape. When you see the "wars of the Philistines"--the striving for lordship, the striving for power and authority and for a place of preeminence--your hearts will become discouraged, and you will wonder why you ever chose to walk in that kind of a pathway. If we would examine our hearts, we might discover that what we are really looking for is some kind of a religious system that will make it easy for us or for our children. We want to shrug off the heavy burden that is associated with finding God for ourselves by way of total commitment to Him. So when someone offers us a place of rest in some kind of a structure that promises clear direction, we are quick to grasp it. God does want us to have fellowship with one another in Christ; but there is no true fellowship except as "we walk in the Light." And in our searching after God, there is no such thing as immunity to the trials and struggles and heart-searchings and perplexities that have always been the appointed lot of any man or woman who seeks to come into a living, vital relationship with the Lord.
This is a day of "fast" things: fast foods, fast trains, fast cars, fast planes, fast pleasures, fast communications. But God's way into the life of the Spirit is still the long way around. Many do not think so, and there are many in the Church who deride the thought of exercising "patience" in order to win the race that is set before us. "Let us run WITH PATIENCE..." may sound a little contradictory to a man in a race; but it remains God's way of winning "the race that is set before us" (Heb. 12:1). God's direct route to Canaan life is the long-way-around. There may seem to be a shorter way, a more direct way, and many continue to explore that route, only to end up rolling in the dust. "God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near..." Now the word "Philistine" comes from a word meaning "to roll in the dust, to wallow." And though it is a well-beaten pathway, as it was in the days of Israel, and though it would seem to lead in a more direct route to the land of our inheritance, it will leave the one who travels this road wallowing in the dust. And why? Because there is nothing in common with the way of the Philistines and the way of God. The Philistine spirit is that spirit of the world, of the natural man, that knows nothing of the Spirit of God. But because it is a well-worn pathway, and because it seems to be leading in the general direction of our pursuit for God, it is enticing to the natural mind. It is the logical approach to the things of God. It is the positive, the most direct approach to things spiritual. But it leaves you wallowing in the dust of the old Adamic life, rather than soaring into the heights of the Spirit of God.
"You do not have to take that long, uncharted, entangled way into the things of God... We can show you a simpler way... We can point you to a shortcut... You can know the joy of Canaan living without all the distress of becoming entangled in the wilderness." This is the reasoning and counsel of the natural mind.
But the fact remains, we did not choose the wilderness way. We simply chose to go God's way. It is He who goes before--by day in a pillar of cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire--to give direction and light for the journey. It is by the Light of His Glory that we find ourselves entangled in the wilderness. He leads us this way that He might have all the glory, and that our enemies might be consumed in the very midst of our own perplexity and dismay. For it is only when we find ourselves "hemmed in," with no place to go, that we are inclined to go to God for help. This is why He hems us in... that we might flee into His arms. God knows the Enemy will say,
"They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in" (Ex. 14:3). And so God deliberately sets a trap for the Enemy by bringing us into that place where we have no other recourse, but in God alone. As long as there is room for the heart and mind of man to calculate and plan his own deliverance, God is left out of the picture. We don't really need Him, or so we think. But if we are followers of the Cloud, God will lead us into areas of utter hopelessness and despair, that we might prove Him to be the God who makes a way where there is no way, and a path in the mighty waters...
"Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known" (Ps. 77:19).
"The LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters" (Isa. 43:16).
People of God, beware of the shortcuts. There are many that are offered in this day and age, shortcuts to true spiritual life and progress, but they will not bring you there. You may try to find an easy way into spiritual gift and blessing. You may learn how to get, and how to operate spiritual gifts the easy way, without total commitment, without waiting upon God, but sooner or later they will fade away. You may think you have discovered a secure and safe covering in some church structure or institution, assuring yourself that you are being spared the pangs of finding your own way in the entangled wildernesses of life. You feel that if you trust in certain leaders, in certain apostles and prophets, in a certain "New Testament Church Order," that it is a much safer, much easier pathway. But sooner or later you are going to discover that the rest and comfort you sought in sheltered areas of this nature, are nothing less than the bondage of Babylonish systems; and you will discover that this is far more distressing and more captivating than the way of the Lord from which you sought to escape. When you see the "wars of the Philistines"--the striving for lordship, the striving for power and authority and for a place of preeminence--your hearts will become discouraged, and you will wonder why you ever chose to walk in that kind of a pathway. If we would examine our hearts, we might discover that what we are really looking for is some kind of a religious system that will make it easy for us or for our children. We want to shrug off the heavy burden that is associated with finding God for ourselves by way of total commitment to Him. So when someone offers us a place of rest in some kind of a structure that promises clear direction, we are quick to grasp it. God does want us to have fellowship with one another in Christ; but there is no true fellowship except as "we walk in the Light." And in our searching after God, there is no such thing as immunity to the trials and struggles and heart-searchings and perplexities that have always been the appointed lot of any man or woman who seeks to come into a living, vital relationship with the Lord.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
The High Calling
Let not the height of the Vision dismay you, or discourage you as you walk towards it. Remember this.., that the high calling is not too high for you, or God would not have called you to it. And take courage in the fact that the HIGH calling is really an UPWARD call, as the Greek word means, and as it is translated in some versions. It is an UPWARD call! This gives us hope and courage. If it were simply "high," I could very well look up and say, "It is just too high for me." I might gaze at the heights of the call, and flounder in discouragement. But it is an UPWARD call! God is saying to you and to me, "I am calling you UPWARD... I want you to go on... I want you to come higher... I do not want you to stay where you are, frustrated and perplexed and bewildered. The reason you abide in those realms is because you do not see the Vision. And if you see it you think I have set before you a goal that you know you can never reach. You do not understand that I only ask you to take one step at a time, and I only ask you to climb the steps with Me, as you take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me... for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
And so we take but one step at a time, and God is pleased. But we must not lag behind or yield to the enticements that come our way from time to time to take a shortcut. For there are many that appear to be good. You can get gifts of the Spirit freely. You might even develop for yourself a ministry, that may satisfy your heart for a season, and from which you might find a certain fulfillment. And certainly you need His gifts! But pray God that He will cause you to sit and learn from ministries that will lead you to His feet... ministries that will encourage you to take His yoke, and follow His ways. Gifts and ministries must not be considered to be in any sense ultimate... they are but means to the end... and the end pursuit of gift and ministry is to come to know Him, to be joined in like spirit unto others in the Family of God who are seeking to come to the "fullness" of Him... so that together you might be able to comprehend, to apprehend, to receive fully... the living Christ, in the full expression of His Being.
And let us not be dismayed when in spite of all our noble efforts to climb higher we feel... we just know... that we are getting lower and lower. For as we travel this way we are going to discover, as men and women of all ages have discovered... that...
The way UP is DOWN...The way OVER is UNDER...The way to SUCCESS is through FAILURE...The way to true PROSPERITY is through spiritual BANKRUPTCY...The way to the true RICHES, is through POVERTY...The way to VICTORY, is through DEFEAT...The way to LIFE, is through DEATH.
And therefore, for the people of the UPWARD WAY God has set before us a very clear pattern and example:
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God (Or, 'He did not consider that equality with God was something He should grasp after'): but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name" (Phil. 2:5-9).
For the Son of God, the Captain of our Salvation, the Author and the Finisher of our faith... for Him the UPWARD CALL was one that brought Him lower, and lower, and lower... even unto the death of the Cross.
And so it must be with you and me. God deliver us from all that striving we see today to excel... striving for highness, for exaltation, for greatness, for bigness... even among many who profess to know the "end-time" message, and who profess to be heirs of the "Kingdom." Let us make no mistake about it... the pathway of SONSHIP leads to none of these. It takes one lower, and lower, and still lower... in order that in the Spirit of Christ we might rise higher... and higher, and still higher...
And so we take but one step at a time, and God is pleased. But we must not lag behind or yield to the enticements that come our way from time to time to take a shortcut. For there are many that appear to be good. You can get gifts of the Spirit freely. You might even develop for yourself a ministry, that may satisfy your heart for a season, and from which you might find a certain fulfillment. And certainly you need His gifts! But pray God that He will cause you to sit and learn from ministries that will lead you to His feet... ministries that will encourage you to take His yoke, and follow His ways. Gifts and ministries must not be considered to be in any sense ultimate... they are but means to the end... and the end pursuit of gift and ministry is to come to know Him, to be joined in like spirit unto others in the Family of God who are seeking to come to the "fullness" of Him... so that together you might be able to comprehend, to apprehend, to receive fully... the living Christ, in the full expression of His Being.
And let us not be dismayed when in spite of all our noble efforts to climb higher we feel... we just know... that we are getting lower and lower. For as we travel this way we are going to discover, as men and women of all ages have discovered... that...
The way UP is DOWN...The way OVER is UNDER...The way to SUCCESS is through FAILURE...The way to true PROSPERITY is through spiritual BANKRUPTCY...The way to the true RICHES, is through POVERTY...The way to VICTORY, is through DEFEAT...The way to LIFE, is through DEATH.
And therefore, for the people of the UPWARD WAY God has set before us a very clear pattern and example:
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God (Or, 'He did not consider that equality with God was something He should grasp after'): but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name" (Phil. 2:5-9).
For the Son of God, the Captain of our Salvation, the Author and the Finisher of our faith... for Him the UPWARD CALL was one that brought Him lower, and lower, and lower... even unto the death of the Cross.
And so it must be with you and me. God deliver us from all that striving we see today to excel... striving for highness, for exaltation, for greatness, for bigness... even among many who profess to know the "end-time" message, and who profess to be heirs of the "Kingdom." Let us make no mistake about it... the pathway of SONSHIP leads to none of these. It takes one lower, and lower, and still lower... in order that in the Spirit of Christ we might rise higher... and higher, and still higher...
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
IT IS THE SPIRIT THAT BEARETH WITNESS BECAUSE THE SPIRIT IS TRUTH."
When God's people, even just a nucleus of them, will come to this kind of commitment: "Lord, I will do what You say--I will go Your Way--as You give me the grace and the power to do it," then we are going to see a "nuclear" spiritual reaction that will set in motion THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE in the Body of Christ, in ways that will exceed our fondest expectations. But where is that passionate longing and desire for the return of His Lordship to our midst? As long as we are content to know that blessed state of justification by His blood--without having a passionate desire for Christ to be Lord of His Church, without knowing that earnest commitment to walk in His way and become identified with His Cross--we are not going to experience that mighty presence of the Spirit in our midst that will bring cleansing and deliverance and holiness to the people of God.
I am confident that the Lord is rising up in His Church in this hour with those burning "eyes of fire" to sweep away the dross from His people, and to bring us back to the Cross from which we have strayed; and that He is going to set in motion the forces of resurrection life in the Body of Christ that we might know and experience in our daily lives the blood of His Cross, and the power of His resurrection. But do we really desire this to happen? Do we really desire to discover our cross?
If we do, this must bring us to the place where we are ready to cancel our plans, desires, pursuits, ambitions--be they base and worldly, or noble and spiritual. THE ONE MOTIVATING PRINCIPLE THAT GUIDED OUR LORD JESUS WAS NOT GOD'S PLAN FOR THE WORLD, OR GOD'S PLAN FOR THE KINGDOM, OR GOD'S PLAN FOR THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL--IT WAS SIMPLY AND ONLY A PASSION AND DESIRE TO WALK IN THE WILL OF THE FATHER. Everything that He did--everything that was good and righteous and beautiful--sprang out from this simple commitment:
"I CAN OF MINE OWN SELF DO NOTHING: AS I HEAR, I JUDGE: AND MY JUDGMENT IS JUST; BECAUSE I SEEK NOT MINE OWN WILL, BUT THE WILL OF THE FATHER WHICH HATH SENT ME" (Jn. 5:30).
I am confident that the heart of God is heavy and grieved as He listens in to the cries of a very zealous, but a very wretched and miserable Laodicean Church, for more preachers, and more church buildings and temples, and more seminars, and more television, and more radio, and more music, and more money, money, money, "to get the job done." If we had ears to hear what He is saying, we would sense the grief of His heart, and His longing for a people who would come to stillness, and hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches...
"My son, give Me thine heart."
"My people, will you not become broken bread in My hands, that I might do as I will?"
"Where is the house that ye build unto Me? and where is the place of My rest? For all those things... have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My Word" (Isa. 66:1-2).
The Accusation Of The Lord Jesus
"And they crucified Him... and set up over His head His accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS" (Matt. 27:35, 37).
Jesus seemed to be a little evasive when Pilate asked Him if He was a king. Not because He was unwilling to tell the truth but because His Kingdom was vastly different from what Pilate understood about kingdoms. But when Pilate insisted, "Art thou the King of the Jews?" Jesus gave a very direct answer: "My Kingdom is not of this world: if My Kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight... Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth..." (Jn. 18:36-37).
Our Lord Jesus never promoted His Kingdom except as it related to proclaiming the Truth, walking in the Truth, living the Truth; for this is the whole character and ultimate essence of the Kingdom of God.
Once again as in the days of Jesus there is a lot of expectation concerning the Kingdom of God; and it is still as greatly distorted and misunderstood by God's people as it was back then. Jesus made it clear that His Kingdom did not relate to eating and drinking, to the economy, to political movements, or to externally getting involved with the kingdoms of this world. On one occasion they even tried to force Him to be their King. BUT WHEN THEY FULLY UNDERSTOOD THAT HE CAME TO CHANGE THEIR HEARTS RATHER THAN THEIR GOVERNMENT, THEY WERE QUICK TO CRUCIFY HIM. The Jewish Sanhedrin understood the nature of His mission much more than most of our Christian leaders do today:
"If we let Him thus alone, all men will believe on Him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation" (Jn .11:48).
And then there was a very remarkable prophecy by the High Priest in which He not only prophesied the death of Jesus, but went on to say things that he himself did not understand: that this One would not only gather together the people of God there in their own nation, but would reach out and gather together the people of God wherever they were in all nations.
THIS PROPHECY BECAME THE CRUX OF THE WHOLE MATTER, for we are told: "Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put Him to death." (See Jn. 11:48-53).
What was the sentence, and what was the accusation of the Lord Jesus? THAT WHICH JESUS CLAIMED TO BE, THAT WHICH HE ACTUALLY WAS--THIS BECAME THE ACCUSATION AGAINST HIM. Pilate wrote it out in bold letters for all men and all nations to read, for it was written "in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin" (Jn. 19:20). I believe the Lord wanted it in the language of all men, for His Cross was to have great implications for the whole world. Pilate would not change the reading of it, even though the Jews pressed him to revise it to read: "This is Jesus who claimed to be the King of the Jews."
"THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS."
This became His accusation.
I emphasize these things, because once again there is great expectation for the Kingdom of God, and rightly so. The truth of God is beginning to shine afresh in the hearts of men. But once again it is shining forth in the darkness. God knows how to sort it all out. He still knows how to divide the light from the darkness, as He did in the beginning. It looks like a polluted mixture-and it is. Nevertheless God is preparing a people for His Glory. He is preparing--
And perhaps we should mention one more, although no one is laying claim to it, But the great apostle Paul used it much--Bondslaves! Jesus Himself took this role, even though He was the firstborn Son, and highly exalted over all creation. Not that we as God's people are called to be "bondslaves." We are called to sonship and to liberty--and foreordained to be conformed to the image of the Firstborn.
But what we are by calling--And how we attain to this high calling--These represent two different things.
For the "calling" is according to God's plan and purpose... But the attainment of it is according as we learn obedience and walk in His ways.
How important it is that we recognize God's WAY. Certainly God wants us to know the "hope of His calling." BUT HE ALSO WANTS US TO KNOW THE WAY INTO THAT CALLING. Our Lord Jesus was KING, but He took the position of a bondslave, and discovered in this pathway of obedience THE HIGHWAY TO THE THRONE. "Wherefore God hath highly exalted Him, and gave Him a Name which is above every name--" Why? Because He emptied Himself, made Himself of no reputation, and came in the form of a BONDSLAVE. (See Phil. 2:8-9).
Getting involved in "the ministry" is not the high calling. This could very well lead to conceit, high-mindedness, and a sense of superiority and achievement--especially if one is successful. But the "high calling" is achieved by seeking out the pathway of God that would identify us with the sufferings of Christ. (See Phil. 3:8-10). In this pathway you might find yourself walking in a very unexciting, very ordinary, very unpretentious, very restrictive, very unfulfilling pathway. If you had to write your biography it could be very boring, as you would talk about working in shops and factories, about tending the children, about washing pots and pans, about tilling the field, or hammering nails, or bending tin. And in it all, of course, experiencing the ordinary joys and sorrows of ordinary people. BUT IF THIS BE GOD'S WILL FOR YOU, IT IS GOING TO BE RIGHT THERE IN THE PATHWAY THAT GOD ORDAINED, THAT YOU WILL COME TO KNOW HIM IN A VERY MEANINGFUL WAY, AND BECOME THAT SPECIAL TREASURE THAT HIS HEART IS LONGING FOR.
On the other hand, you might choose to walk in some kind of a "spiritual ministry," and if you have certain ministerial qualities you might become very successful in that. BUT IF IT IS NOT BY GOD'S APPOINTMENT YOU WILL NOT COME TO KNOW AND EXPERIENCE THE HIGH CALLING OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS. FOR THIS "HIGH CALLING" IS RESERVED FOR HIM THAT IS PREPARED TO LAY DOWN HIS LIFE, IN ORDER THAT HE MAY FIND THE LIFE OF CHRIST THAT PROCEEDS FROM A WALK OF TOTAL OBEDIENCE TO HIS WILL.
But we are talking about the accusation of the Lord Jesus, because it is in this context that we want to speak about our accusation, if we truly walk in identification with Him. What Jesus was, a King of righteousness and truth, this became His accusation at the hands of a world He came to reprove. It was a perverted charge, of course; but it was because of who He was, and who He claimed to be, that He was crucified. Now who are you? Who am I? Part of a glorious and triumphant Church? Members of the Holy Bride of Christ? Overcomers? Sons of God, being prepared and groomed for manifestation? Kings and Priests unto God? I trust we are...
BUT IF YOU AND I ARE ANY OF THESE, NOT IN OUR DOCTRINE ONLY, BUT BECAUSE WE HAVE COME TO VITAL UNION WITH CHRIST, THEN THESE TITLES OF THE HIGH CALLING WILL BE THE CAUSE OF OUR ACCUSATION. AND IF WE WALK IN THE PATHWAY OF OBEDIENCE TO THE WILL OF GOD, THESE TITLES OF HONOR WILL BE NAILED ABOVE OUR HEAD ON OUR CROSS BY MEN WHO SEEK TO PERVERT THE TRUTH IN ORDER TO BRING ABOUT OUR DESTRUCTION.
It is not because we live in a "democracy" that we are free from persecution. It is because we are bringing no vital reproof to the world of darkness about us.
"But we had the SENTENCE OF DEATH in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead" (2 Cor. 1:9). Paul was sentenced to death. He was on death-row. Not by the Roman Government--not yet. But right there in His walk with God--the word he preached, the word he lived, brought him into collision with the world about him; with his brethren in Judaism, and with false brethren in the Church, He was "crucified unto the world." The world was "crucified unto him" (Gal. 6:14).
For men of truth, who not only know the truth but walk in it, are always nailed to the very cross they are constrained to declare. Paul carried his cross around with him wherever he went--NOT BECAUSE HE MINISTERED DEATH, BUT BECAUSE HE MINISTERED LIFE. He didn't carry a gold cross on a chain about his neck; but he was nailed to one wherever he went. It had to be this way because he spoke the truth and walked in it. He didn't try to make a cross so he could boast he was like Jesus. The world made it for him, and nailed him to it, because he walked as Jesus walked.
We might continue on as we are--teaching, preaching, evangelizing, establishing churches, healing the sick, writing books, singing songs--and we could go on and on enumerating the various areas of service that God has committed into the hands of His servants in the House of God--And all this may be bringing joy and blessing and deliverance to many of God's people--BUT BE PREPARED, IF YOU WANT TO BE TOTALLY COMMITTED TO THE WILL AND THE WAY OF GOD--BE PREPARED FOR THE DAY WHEN MEN WILL TAKE DOWN YOUR BANNER OF HONOR, AND NAIL IT ABOVE YOUR HEAD ON YOUR CROSS--Because the truth of God is sterile as long as it remains a teaching or a doctrine; but it becomes offensive to the world about us when we begin to walk in it.
I am confident that the Lord is rising up in His Church in this hour with those burning "eyes of fire" to sweep away the dross from His people, and to bring us back to the Cross from which we have strayed; and that He is going to set in motion the forces of resurrection life in the Body of Christ that we might know and experience in our daily lives the blood of His Cross, and the power of His resurrection. But do we really desire this to happen? Do we really desire to discover our cross?
If we do, this must bring us to the place where we are ready to cancel our plans, desires, pursuits, ambitions--be they base and worldly, or noble and spiritual. THE ONE MOTIVATING PRINCIPLE THAT GUIDED OUR LORD JESUS WAS NOT GOD'S PLAN FOR THE WORLD, OR GOD'S PLAN FOR THE KINGDOM, OR GOD'S PLAN FOR THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL--IT WAS SIMPLY AND ONLY A PASSION AND DESIRE TO WALK IN THE WILL OF THE FATHER. Everything that He did--everything that was good and righteous and beautiful--sprang out from this simple commitment:
"I CAN OF MINE OWN SELF DO NOTHING: AS I HEAR, I JUDGE: AND MY JUDGMENT IS JUST; BECAUSE I SEEK NOT MINE OWN WILL, BUT THE WILL OF THE FATHER WHICH HATH SENT ME" (Jn. 5:30).
I am confident that the heart of God is heavy and grieved as He listens in to the cries of a very zealous, but a very wretched and miserable Laodicean Church, for more preachers, and more church buildings and temples, and more seminars, and more television, and more radio, and more music, and more money, money, money, "to get the job done." If we had ears to hear what He is saying, we would sense the grief of His heart, and His longing for a people who would come to stillness, and hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches...
"My son, give Me thine heart."
"My people, will you not become broken bread in My hands, that I might do as I will?"
"Where is the house that ye build unto Me? and where is the place of My rest? For all those things... have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My Word" (Isa. 66:1-2).
The Accusation Of The Lord Jesus
"And they crucified Him... and set up over His head His accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS" (Matt. 27:35, 37).
Jesus seemed to be a little evasive when Pilate asked Him if He was a king. Not because He was unwilling to tell the truth but because His Kingdom was vastly different from what Pilate understood about kingdoms. But when Pilate insisted, "Art thou the King of the Jews?" Jesus gave a very direct answer: "My Kingdom is not of this world: if My Kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight... Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth..." (Jn. 18:36-37).
Our Lord Jesus never promoted His Kingdom except as it related to proclaiming the Truth, walking in the Truth, living the Truth; for this is the whole character and ultimate essence of the Kingdom of God.
Once again as in the days of Jesus there is a lot of expectation concerning the Kingdom of God; and it is still as greatly distorted and misunderstood by God's people as it was back then. Jesus made it clear that His Kingdom did not relate to eating and drinking, to the economy, to political movements, or to externally getting involved with the kingdoms of this world. On one occasion they even tried to force Him to be their King. BUT WHEN THEY FULLY UNDERSTOOD THAT HE CAME TO CHANGE THEIR HEARTS RATHER THAN THEIR GOVERNMENT, THEY WERE QUICK TO CRUCIFY HIM. The Jewish Sanhedrin understood the nature of His mission much more than most of our Christian leaders do today:
"If we let Him thus alone, all men will believe on Him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation" (Jn .11:48).
And then there was a very remarkable prophecy by the High Priest in which He not only prophesied the death of Jesus, but went on to say things that he himself did not understand: that this One would not only gather together the people of God there in their own nation, but would reach out and gather together the people of God wherever they were in all nations.
THIS PROPHECY BECAME THE CRUX OF THE WHOLE MATTER, for we are told: "Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put Him to death." (See Jn. 11:48-53).
What was the sentence, and what was the accusation of the Lord Jesus? THAT WHICH JESUS CLAIMED TO BE, THAT WHICH HE ACTUALLY WAS--THIS BECAME THE ACCUSATION AGAINST HIM. Pilate wrote it out in bold letters for all men and all nations to read, for it was written "in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin" (Jn. 19:20). I believe the Lord wanted it in the language of all men, for His Cross was to have great implications for the whole world. Pilate would not change the reading of it, even though the Jews pressed him to revise it to read: "This is Jesus who claimed to be the King of the Jews."
For here was One crucified for an apostate but very religious people--the Hebrews.
Here was One crucified for the intellectual and the wise--the Greeks--and by His Cross He would bring all their wisdom to nought.
Here was One crucified for the strong and the mighty--the Romans--but by that Cross He would bring all their power to nought.
For the Hebrews professed to have knowledge and truth, yet walked in darkness.
The Greeks were noted for their quest after wisdom and knowledge, yet they never found God in all of their searching.
The Romans had become that powerful empire that Nebuchadnezzar had seen in his vision--strong as iron--but by the Cross their kingdom would be crushed and scattered like the dust of the threshing floor.
"THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS."
This became His accusation.
I emphasize these things, because once again there is great expectation for the Kingdom of God, and rightly so. The truth of God is beginning to shine afresh in the hearts of men. But once again it is shining forth in the darkness. God knows how to sort it all out. He still knows how to divide the light from the darkness, as He did in the beginning. It looks like a polluted mixture-and it is. Nevertheless God is preparing a people for His Glory. He is preparing--
A Glorious Church.. A Holy & Cleansed Bride.. A Godly Remnant.. A Firstfruits ... Sons of God.. Kings and Priests.. Overcomers..
And perhaps we should mention one more, although no one is laying claim to it, But the great apostle Paul used it much--Bondslaves! Jesus Himself took this role, even though He was the firstborn Son, and highly exalted over all creation. Not that we as God's people are called to be "bondslaves." We are called to sonship and to liberty--and foreordained to be conformed to the image of the Firstborn.
But what we are by calling--And how we attain to this high calling--These represent two different things.
For the "calling" is according to God's plan and purpose... But the attainment of it is according as we learn obedience and walk in His ways.
How important it is that we recognize God's WAY. Certainly God wants us to know the "hope of His calling." BUT HE ALSO WANTS US TO KNOW THE WAY INTO THAT CALLING. Our Lord Jesus was KING, but He took the position of a bondslave, and discovered in this pathway of obedience THE HIGHWAY TO THE THRONE. "Wherefore God hath highly exalted Him, and gave Him a Name which is above every name--" Why? Because He emptied Himself, made Himself of no reputation, and came in the form of a BONDSLAVE. (See Phil. 2:8-9).
Getting involved in "the ministry" is not the high calling. This could very well lead to conceit, high-mindedness, and a sense of superiority and achievement--especially if one is successful. But the "high calling" is achieved by seeking out the pathway of God that would identify us with the sufferings of Christ. (See Phil. 3:8-10). In this pathway you might find yourself walking in a very unexciting, very ordinary, very unpretentious, very restrictive, very unfulfilling pathway. If you had to write your biography it could be very boring, as you would talk about working in shops and factories, about tending the children, about washing pots and pans, about tilling the field, or hammering nails, or bending tin. And in it all, of course, experiencing the ordinary joys and sorrows of ordinary people. BUT IF THIS BE GOD'S WILL FOR YOU, IT IS GOING TO BE RIGHT THERE IN THE PATHWAY THAT GOD ORDAINED, THAT YOU WILL COME TO KNOW HIM IN A VERY MEANINGFUL WAY, AND BECOME THAT SPECIAL TREASURE THAT HIS HEART IS LONGING FOR.
On the other hand, you might choose to walk in some kind of a "spiritual ministry," and if you have certain ministerial qualities you might become very successful in that. BUT IF IT IS NOT BY GOD'S APPOINTMENT YOU WILL NOT COME TO KNOW AND EXPERIENCE THE HIGH CALLING OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS. FOR THIS "HIGH CALLING" IS RESERVED FOR HIM THAT IS PREPARED TO LAY DOWN HIS LIFE, IN ORDER THAT HE MAY FIND THE LIFE OF CHRIST THAT PROCEEDS FROM A WALK OF TOTAL OBEDIENCE TO HIS WILL.
But we are talking about the accusation of the Lord Jesus, because it is in this context that we want to speak about our accusation, if we truly walk in identification with Him. What Jesus was, a King of righteousness and truth, this became His accusation at the hands of a world He came to reprove. It was a perverted charge, of course; but it was because of who He was, and who He claimed to be, that He was crucified. Now who are you? Who am I? Part of a glorious and triumphant Church? Members of the Holy Bride of Christ? Overcomers? Sons of God, being prepared and groomed for manifestation? Kings and Priests unto God? I trust we are...
BUT IF YOU AND I ARE ANY OF THESE, NOT IN OUR DOCTRINE ONLY, BUT BECAUSE WE HAVE COME TO VITAL UNION WITH CHRIST, THEN THESE TITLES OF THE HIGH CALLING WILL BE THE CAUSE OF OUR ACCUSATION. AND IF WE WALK IN THE PATHWAY OF OBEDIENCE TO THE WILL OF GOD, THESE TITLES OF HONOR WILL BE NAILED ABOVE OUR HEAD ON OUR CROSS BY MEN WHO SEEK TO PERVERT THE TRUTH IN ORDER TO BRING ABOUT OUR DESTRUCTION.
It is not because we live in a "democracy" that we are free from persecution. It is because we are bringing no vital reproof to the world of darkness about us.
"But we had the SENTENCE OF DEATH in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead" (2 Cor. 1:9). Paul was sentenced to death. He was on death-row. Not by the Roman Government--not yet. But right there in His walk with God--the word he preached, the word he lived, brought him into collision with the world about him; with his brethren in Judaism, and with false brethren in the Church, He was "crucified unto the world." The world was "crucified unto him" (Gal. 6:14).
For men of truth, who not only know the truth but walk in it, are always nailed to the very cross they are constrained to declare. Paul carried his cross around with him wherever he went--NOT BECAUSE HE MINISTERED DEATH, BUT BECAUSE HE MINISTERED LIFE. He didn't carry a gold cross on a chain about his neck; but he was nailed to one wherever he went. It had to be this way because he spoke the truth and walked in it. He didn't try to make a cross so he could boast he was like Jesus. The world made it for him, and nailed him to it, because he walked as Jesus walked.
We might continue on as we are--teaching, preaching, evangelizing, establishing churches, healing the sick, writing books, singing songs--and we could go on and on enumerating the various areas of service that God has committed into the hands of His servants in the House of God--And all this may be bringing joy and blessing and deliverance to many of God's people--BUT BE PREPARED, IF YOU WANT TO BE TOTALLY COMMITTED TO THE WILL AND THE WAY OF GOD--BE PREPARED FOR THE DAY WHEN MEN WILL TAKE DOWN YOUR BANNER OF HONOR, AND NAIL IT ABOVE YOUR HEAD ON YOUR CROSS--Because the truth of God is sterile as long as it remains a teaching or a doctrine; but it becomes offensive to the world about us when we begin to walk in it.
Monday, June 11, 2007
What Is God Looking For?
If we know what God is looking for, and what He is waiting for, we would scrap all those theories and dates about the coming of the Lord. If we know for sure that our Lord Jesus is on the throne of glory, interceding for His people to bring them into the fulness of God’s intention... then we would be more concerned that His intention be realized than in speculating about when He is coming back. What is He waiting for? And what is He coming back for? And what is He doing about it right now? He is waiting for a family of sons and daughters in His image and likeness. He is preparing an army who will overcome “by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” (Rev 12:11) He is building a habitation for Himself, a building made up of “living stones”, a temple “not made with hands”. He has found “a pearl of great price” a pearl that is formed from a mere grain of sand, but transformed into a gem, by marvelous grace. For it is the Spirit of God who takes the virtues of the living Christ and manifests them in His Church to bring about this precious gem. He is cleansing for Himself a Church, “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing...” And how? “With the washing of water by the word” (Eph 5:26). He looks for a Holy Bride, and John saw her in prophetic vision coming down out of heaven, and “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev 21:2; see 2 Cor 11:2). He looks for fruit from the Vine that was planted in the earth; for Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit” (Jn 15:5). For God is not only Architect, Builder, and Artificer... He is also Bridegroom, and Gardener. And so He tells us, “I am waiting for the precious fruit of the earth.” He is not waiting around for the clock to strike the midnight hour. He is waiting for something that will be the fulfillment of His heart’s desire, His holy Church, His spotless Bride, His Pearl of great price, His precious Fruit. And while he is waiting for that, He is diligently preparing His people for “the praise of His glory”. And because He patiently waits for that, He admonishes us... “Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (Jas 5:8)
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Winds of Judgment
God wants His people to be assured that a Spirit-filled, Spirit-taught, Spirit-anointed, Spirit-led people is the only answer that God has for human need; and that He is in the process of creating such a people. Apart from national repentance and a turning toward God, the Bible gives no hope whatever for the renewal of our society--nor are we to try to change it by any other means. When men desire to continue in their rebellion, God literally withdraws His restraining grace, and gives the society over to greater and greater wickedness, and finally to a "reprobate mind," which means, "a mind void of moral discernment"... it is no longer capable of knowing right and wrong, but it calls GOOD evil, and EVIL good... and actually believes the lie. (See Romans 1:24-28).
And so as God releases His hand of restraining grace, the forces of evil are being given free course in this last hour, this day of Harvest. Just as the mystery of Christ comes to fulness in His people; so the Mystery of Iniquity comes to fulness in the seed of the Evil One. There is to be an acceleration of evil in the last days... as well as an acceleration of righteousness. "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still... he that is righteous, let him be righteous still" (Revelation 22:11). Let him carry on in it... let him increase in it... LET HIM COME TO FULNESS!
Winds of judgment are about to be released in the earth; and when the tables are turned, and God' s judgments engulf the earth, God would have us to know the reason for it all. It will be...
BECAUSE the hearts of men have become utterly depraved and corrupt, as it was in the days of Noah and of Lot... and a holy and righteous God can no longer stay His hand in judgment.
BECAUSE our educators and intellectuals have succeeded in brainwashing the nation and persuading our youth that they are but animals in the process of evolution... just a spontaneous outgrowth from the slime of some primeval ocean bed... and now after many eons, just a hairless ape... but gradually rising higher and higher, by his own knowledge and wisdom... that there is really no definite standard of righteousness or morality... and whatever a society deems to be right is right... or if they deem it to be wrong it is wrong... that there is no such thing as a man created in God's image who sinned against his God... that God (if there is a God) is not a holy and perfect Being with whom we have to deal, but merely some kind of impersonal force whose name we still have to use on occasion because of our inability to define certain aspects of the universe that seem as yet to be beyond the understanding of science... and little by little as science is able to understand these mysteries and explain them, then the whole idea of God as a Supernatural Being can be dispensed with altogether...
BECAUSE the hearts of men have become so hardened towards sin and immorality that there is no longer a true sense of moral values. and the basest of sins are considered to be proper and honorable... sins so vile that one would almost hesitate to mention them by name in polite conversation, or even to put it in writing... and in and through it all they are upheld and honored even by men who hold high positions in the land as a people to be desired and lauded. As the apostle Paul puts it: they "not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them" (Romans 1:32).
BECAUSE those who profess to be Christian, and to honor the Bible... have in fact become the lukewarm Church of prophecy, concerning which Jesus said, if they would not repent, "I will spew thee out of my mouth..." Jesus said, "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt hath lost his savour... it is thenceforth GOOD FOR NOTHING, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men" (Matthew 5:13).
But in the midst of all the chaos and turmoil that shall arise in the land, let the "little flock" not despair, who cry unto Him day and night, because of all the abominations that are committed in the earth and in the Church... and may they take courage in the promise of our Lord, who said, "Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily" (Luke 18:7, 8).
And so as God releases His hand of restraining grace, the forces of evil are being given free course in this last hour, this day of Harvest. Just as the mystery of Christ comes to fulness in His people; so the Mystery of Iniquity comes to fulness in the seed of the Evil One. There is to be an acceleration of evil in the last days... as well as an acceleration of righteousness. "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still... he that is righteous, let him be righteous still" (Revelation 22:11). Let him carry on in it... let him increase in it... LET HIM COME TO FULNESS!
Winds of judgment are about to be released in the earth; and when the tables are turned, and God' s judgments engulf the earth, God would have us to know the reason for it all. It will be...
BECAUSE the hearts of men have become utterly depraved and corrupt, as it was in the days of Noah and of Lot... and a holy and righteous God can no longer stay His hand in judgment.
BECAUSE our educators and intellectuals have succeeded in brainwashing the nation and persuading our youth that they are but animals in the process of evolution... just a spontaneous outgrowth from the slime of some primeval ocean bed... and now after many eons, just a hairless ape... but gradually rising higher and higher, by his own knowledge and wisdom... that there is really no definite standard of righteousness or morality... and whatever a society deems to be right is right... or if they deem it to be wrong it is wrong... that there is no such thing as a man created in God's image who sinned against his God... that God (if there is a God) is not a holy and perfect Being with whom we have to deal, but merely some kind of impersonal force whose name we still have to use on occasion because of our inability to define certain aspects of the universe that seem as yet to be beyond the understanding of science... and little by little as science is able to understand these mysteries and explain them, then the whole idea of God as a Supernatural Being can be dispensed with altogether...
BECAUSE the hearts of men have become so hardened towards sin and immorality that there is no longer a true sense of moral values. and the basest of sins are considered to be proper and honorable... sins so vile that one would almost hesitate to mention them by name in polite conversation, or even to put it in writing... and in and through it all they are upheld and honored even by men who hold high positions in the land as a people to be desired and lauded. As the apostle Paul puts it: they "not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them" (Romans 1:32).
BECAUSE those who profess to be Christian, and to honor the Bible... have in fact become the lukewarm Church of prophecy, concerning which Jesus said, if they would not repent, "I will spew thee out of my mouth..." Jesus said, "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt hath lost his savour... it is thenceforth GOOD FOR NOTHING, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men" (Matthew 5:13).
But in the midst of all the chaos and turmoil that shall arise in the land, let the "little flock" not despair, who cry unto Him day and night, because of all the abominations that are committed in the earth and in the Church... and may they take courage in the promise of our Lord, who said, "Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily" (Luke 18:7, 8).
Friday, March 30, 2007
Desire of the Humble
God knows the desires of our hearts. And as we are seeking to walk in His ways, and to walk in humbleness of heart and mind, He will prepare our hearts, and bring us to steadfastness of vision. David said, "LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear" (Ps 10:17). But even as we seek to walk in His ways, we must learn through many strange experiences that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are our ways, God’s ways (Isa 55:8).
Knowing that it is God’s will that we prosper in His ways, we look for it--and like His servant Joseph we find ourselves prospering... but in a prison house that we did not choose. And yet we are free. For who is more free, or prosperous, than one who is a bond-slave of the Lord? (Gen. 39:3; 1 Cor. 7:22; Eph. 4:1).
Knowing that He would make us to be co-heirs with Him in His everlasting Kingdom, we ask to know the way, and He makes us to be the least of all, and the servants of all. For He who is King of all kings became a bond-slave, that He might show us the way to the throne. (Matt. 23:11; Phil. 2:7-9).
We ask Him to make us loving and kind and patient with others--and He brings across our pathway those who are embittered with life, unloving and uncaring, that the springs of love and charity might be able to flow forth in healing streams. For charity suffereth long, and is kind... charity never faileth… (1 Cor. 13:4-8).
We ask that we might bear abundant fruit for the Kingdom of God, and He lays us low in the dust; for He knows that except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit. (Jn 12:24).
We ask for true peace and rest... and He sends us into a world where all is turmoil and confusion, that we might know His peace in the midst of the storm. And He bids us to take His yoke upon us, that as we labour with Him we might know His rest. (Jn. 16:33; Matt. 11:29).
We ask for a forgiving spirit, and we find even our loved ones may turn against us, that the forgiving virtue we desire might be nurtured and released. And in the flow of forgiveness we ourselves are inwardly healed and liberated, even before they have felt the pain of their wrong, or the joy of forgiveness.
We ask for a lowly and humble heart--so He leads us into valleys of great weakness and disappointment, that the lowliness of the Lamb might subdue the proud and haughty lion within, and beautify the meek with His own nature.
We ask that we might hear His voice more clearly in a world filled with so many confusing sounds--and He leads us into a wilderness, and feeds us with manna from heaven, that we might hear His voice, and know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord. (Deut 8:2,3).
We ask for His abiding presence... for a closer walk with Him... and He sends trouble. He causes His billows to overwhelm us, so that He might draw us closer, still closer to Himself; that in the billows of God we might discover the depths of His love and truth and faithfulness. "Deep calleth unto deep" as we are overwhelmed in the cataracts of distress, and we cry unto Him who is looking for an abiding place in the broken and the contrite heart. (Ps. 42:7; Isa. 57:15).
We ask for enlargement in God, and He confines us and restricts us and closes us in on every side. And sometimes we ourselves may wonder if others are right when they judge we are wasting our time, and wasting our efforts, and accomplishing nothing of profit to God or to man. (Isa. 49:4). For He knows that it is only as we are restricted in our ways, and confined to His will, and reduced to God, that we will know the enlargements and the depths that are in Him, and an open door into the Heavens...
For those who draw nigh to God in priestly service can find no pleasure in anything this life has to offer, nor even in the gifts He has given them. Their true delight is only in Him, and in doing what He shows them to do. Therefore the Lord reminds His priestly people, "Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land... I am thine inheritance". Those who are looking for the City where the Lamb is the Light, can never be satisfied with any other inheritance. (Num. 18:20; Phil. 3:8).
And so if we truly desire to be clothed upon with these virtues of Christ, no matter how feebly we may have tried to frame our desires into an effectual prayer, if the desire is there for Him and for Him alone, to know Him, to walk with Him, and to abide in Him... He sees that desire, He hears that desire as though it were a fervent prayer from the heart and lips, And He will be faithful to prepare our hearts and lead us in the right way, strange though it may seem to be in our own eyes, or in the eyes of those who do not understand the ways of the Lord.
"LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble : thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear" (Ps. 10:17).
Knowing that it is God’s will that we prosper in His ways, we look for it--and like His servant Joseph we find ourselves prospering... but in a prison house that we did not choose. And yet we are free. For who is more free, or prosperous, than one who is a bond-slave of the Lord? (Gen. 39:3; 1 Cor. 7:22; Eph. 4:1).
Knowing that He would make us to be co-heirs with Him in His everlasting Kingdom, we ask to know the way, and He makes us to be the least of all, and the servants of all. For He who is King of all kings became a bond-slave, that He might show us the way to the throne. (Matt. 23:11; Phil. 2:7-9).
We ask Him to make us loving and kind and patient with others--and He brings across our pathway those who are embittered with life, unloving and uncaring, that the springs of love and charity might be able to flow forth in healing streams. For charity suffereth long, and is kind... charity never faileth… (1 Cor. 13:4-8).
We ask that we might bear abundant fruit for the Kingdom of God, and He lays us low in the dust; for He knows that except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit. (Jn 12:24).
We ask for true peace and rest... and He sends us into a world where all is turmoil and confusion, that we might know His peace in the midst of the storm. And He bids us to take His yoke upon us, that as we labour with Him we might know His rest. (Jn. 16:33; Matt. 11:29).
We ask for a forgiving spirit, and we find even our loved ones may turn against us, that the forgiving virtue we desire might be nurtured and released. And in the flow of forgiveness we ourselves are inwardly healed and liberated, even before they have felt the pain of their wrong, or the joy of forgiveness.
We ask for a lowly and humble heart--so He leads us into valleys of great weakness and disappointment, that the lowliness of the Lamb might subdue the proud and haughty lion within, and beautify the meek with His own nature.
We ask that we might hear His voice more clearly in a world filled with so many confusing sounds--and He leads us into a wilderness, and feeds us with manna from heaven, that we might hear His voice, and know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord. (Deut 8:2,3).
We ask for His abiding presence... for a closer walk with Him... and He sends trouble. He causes His billows to overwhelm us, so that He might draw us closer, still closer to Himself; that in the billows of God we might discover the depths of His love and truth and faithfulness. "Deep calleth unto deep" as we are overwhelmed in the cataracts of distress, and we cry unto Him who is looking for an abiding place in the broken and the contrite heart. (Ps. 42:7; Isa. 57:15).
We ask for enlargement in God, and He confines us and restricts us and closes us in on every side. And sometimes we ourselves may wonder if others are right when they judge we are wasting our time, and wasting our efforts, and accomplishing nothing of profit to God or to man. (Isa. 49:4). For He knows that it is only as we are restricted in our ways, and confined to His will, and reduced to God, that we will know the enlargements and the depths that are in Him, and an open door into the Heavens...
For those who draw nigh to God in priestly service can find no pleasure in anything this life has to offer, nor even in the gifts He has given them. Their true delight is only in Him, and in doing what He shows them to do. Therefore the Lord reminds His priestly people, "Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land... I am thine inheritance". Those who are looking for the City where the Lamb is the Light, can never be satisfied with any other inheritance. (Num. 18:20; Phil. 3:8).
And so if we truly desire to be clothed upon with these virtues of Christ, no matter how feebly we may have tried to frame our desires into an effectual prayer, if the desire is there for Him and for Him alone, to know Him, to walk with Him, and to abide in Him... He sees that desire, He hears that desire as though it were a fervent prayer from the heart and lips, And He will be faithful to prepare our hearts and lead us in the right way, strange though it may seem to be in our own eyes, or in the eyes of those who do not understand the ways of the Lord.
"LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble : thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear" (Ps. 10:17).
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Redemption, God’s Masterpiece
In the heart of the artist or musician or artificer--someone with special creative talents--there is always that inherent desire to bring forth their masterpiece. They try and try again, but remain unsatisfied. There is always that nagging sense of failure... “I haven’t done it yet... I’m not satisfied. I cannot rest till I have done my very best... and this is not it!” And yet no matter how many times they try, they generally end up with the feeling, “It could have been better... I must try again”.
Now God is the infinite Artist, and Builder, and Architect of all things. Unlike “masters” here in the earth He doesn’t try, and try, and try again; but often it seems that way. And the evolutionist would like us to imagine that’s the way it is. We might get the impression that God tried to make a perfect man when He made Adam... and failed. That He tried to bring forth a holy nation in Israel... and failed. That He tried to establish Aaron in a holy priesthood... and failed. That He tried to set up a powerful kingdom in David, or Solomon... and failed. But it was not that way. Rather He was demonstrating over and over again the futility of man, and the inability of man to maintain order and beauty in a fallen creation. But underlying all this was the scarlet thread of Redemption, while He waited in great patience and longsuffering for the day when He Himself would come on the scene, and bring forth the ultimate Masterpiece of His creative hands.
And so we have the story of Redemption. It is there that God poured everything He had into the creative work of His hands, and found rest and delight in a people whom He created for His glory, For the apostle Paul tells us that “We are His workmanship” (Eph 2:10). To bring about our Redemption, God poured everything He had, everything He is... into the redemption of His people. So in reality “We are His Masterpiece!” It cost God everything He had... even His only Begotten Son. And we will never fully appreciate the glory of Redemption until we understand that it was God Most High who clothed Himself in flesh, and submitted Himself to the hatred and scoffing of His rebellious creatures for their redemption and transformation! And that it was in this great creative work that He found complete fulfillment and could stand back and say, “It is finished”. He made this declaration, first from the Cross, and will declare it yet again from His exalted throne in the heavens (Jn 17:4; 19:30; Rev.l0:7). For what He accomplished at the Cross must yet be consummated in a people made complete in Christ, and conformed to His image. The old creation could manifest but the limited rays of His glory. It took the New Creation for God to manifest the full shining Light of His glory, And the redeemed ones of Adam’s race are yet to be revealed to the highest of His celestial creatures, as His ultimate and perfect Masterpiece. No wonder we are told that the angels desire to peer into these things that pertain to our salvation! (1 Pet 1:12). And so in redemption:..
We behold God in His infinite depths, as well as God in His infinite heights. We see Him stooping to lowest realms of darkness, to raise a people into the highest realms of light. We see the glory of His condescension, as well as the glory of His ascension. We see the glory of His weakness, as well as the glory of His power. We see the glory of His emptiness, as well as the glory of His fulness. We see the glory of His humility, as well as the glory of His exaltation. We see Him stopping in His steps, to hear the cry of a blind Bartimaeus, And we see Him riding majestically in the heavens, as the One who has conquered over all the forces of evil. We see Him riding into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass, And we see Him ascending in clouds, with power and great glory. We see a bleeding Lamb, slain for our redemption. And we see the same Lamb, high and lifted up on the throne of Glory, with angels and cherubim falling down before Him, and the redeemed of the earth crying out..
“Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Rev 5:9)
And it is in and through this strange combination of the weakness of man and the majesty of God Most High, that He is seen as the Master Workman of the New Creation. In a way that no artist or musician has ever been able to do, God has invested everything He has, everything He is, in the people whom He has redeemed for His glory. He can do no more for us--other than to open our eyes and ears and hearts to receive and to perceive the fulness of His salvation. This is a great work, indeed; and for this we continue to cry out, and hope for, and expect. Then will He be fully satisfied. Then will He “rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing” (Zeph 3:17)
But let us not think for a moment, having come into this fulness of glory, that we have come to the end. In this life, when we come to the end of a matter, or to the end of life... we face deterioration and decay. But in New Creation life--how could we ever exhaust the riches of Him who is infinite and eternal? Even now as partakers of Eternal Life there is to be an expansion of His glory within us, and this must go on throughout eternal ages. Here in this brief period of our lives that we call “time” we can only pause for a moment, and faintly discern a new galaxy of truth and revelation far beyond the limits of our present spiritual constellation. But as surely as we find ourselves caught up unto God and into His eternal purpose, the realms of eternity become more and more real to us. So we must continue to abide in Him, now and all our days, as we anticipate the glory that is yet to be revealed. For how can we know, except in the most incomplete and fragmentary way... what God means when He declares to us “That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:7)? Nor do we say these things to encourage more research in those areas, for it is certain they will remain obscure to us until we become one with Him in His love. Rather, our hope is that He would bring us to greater humility and worship before Him, for knowledge can very easily blind our eyes to the more excellent way, and nurture pride in our hearts.
Now God is the infinite Artist, and Builder, and Architect of all things. Unlike “masters” here in the earth He doesn’t try, and try, and try again; but often it seems that way. And the evolutionist would like us to imagine that’s the way it is. We might get the impression that God tried to make a perfect man when He made Adam... and failed. That He tried to bring forth a holy nation in Israel... and failed. That He tried to establish Aaron in a holy priesthood... and failed. That He tried to set up a powerful kingdom in David, or Solomon... and failed. But it was not that way. Rather He was demonstrating over and over again the futility of man, and the inability of man to maintain order and beauty in a fallen creation. But underlying all this was the scarlet thread of Redemption, while He waited in great patience and longsuffering for the day when He Himself would come on the scene, and bring forth the ultimate Masterpiece of His creative hands.
And so we have the story of Redemption. It is there that God poured everything He had into the creative work of His hands, and found rest and delight in a people whom He created for His glory, For the apostle Paul tells us that “We are His workmanship” (Eph 2:10). To bring about our Redemption, God poured everything He had, everything He is... into the redemption of His people. So in reality “We are His Masterpiece!” It cost God everything He had... even His only Begotten Son. And we will never fully appreciate the glory of Redemption until we understand that it was God Most High who clothed Himself in flesh, and submitted Himself to the hatred and scoffing of His rebellious creatures for their redemption and transformation! And that it was in this great creative work that He found complete fulfillment and could stand back and say, “It is finished”. He made this declaration, first from the Cross, and will declare it yet again from His exalted throne in the heavens (Jn 17:4; 19:30; Rev.l0:7). For what He accomplished at the Cross must yet be consummated in a people made complete in Christ, and conformed to His image. The old creation could manifest but the limited rays of His glory. It took the New Creation for God to manifest the full shining Light of His glory, And the redeemed ones of Adam’s race are yet to be revealed to the highest of His celestial creatures, as His ultimate and perfect Masterpiece. No wonder we are told that the angels desire to peer into these things that pertain to our salvation! (1 Pet 1:12). And so in redemption:..
We behold God in His infinite depths, as well as God in His infinite heights. We see Him stooping to lowest realms of darkness, to raise a people into the highest realms of light. We see the glory of His condescension, as well as the glory of His ascension. We see the glory of His weakness, as well as the glory of His power. We see the glory of His emptiness, as well as the glory of His fulness. We see the glory of His humility, as well as the glory of His exaltation. We see Him stopping in His steps, to hear the cry of a blind Bartimaeus, And we see Him riding majestically in the heavens, as the One who has conquered over all the forces of evil. We see Him riding into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass, And we see Him ascending in clouds, with power and great glory. We see a bleeding Lamb, slain for our redemption. And we see the same Lamb, high and lifted up on the throne of Glory, with angels and cherubim falling down before Him, and the redeemed of the earth crying out..
“Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Rev 5:9)
And it is in and through this strange combination of the weakness of man and the majesty of God Most High, that He is seen as the Master Workman of the New Creation. In a way that no artist or musician has ever been able to do, God has invested everything He has, everything He is, in the people whom He has redeemed for His glory. He can do no more for us--other than to open our eyes and ears and hearts to receive and to perceive the fulness of His salvation. This is a great work, indeed; and for this we continue to cry out, and hope for, and expect. Then will He be fully satisfied. Then will He “rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing” (Zeph 3:17)
But let us not think for a moment, having come into this fulness of glory, that we have come to the end. In this life, when we come to the end of a matter, or to the end of life... we face deterioration and decay. But in New Creation life--how could we ever exhaust the riches of Him who is infinite and eternal? Even now as partakers of Eternal Life there is to be an expansion of His glory within us, and this must go on throughout eternal ages. Here in this brief period of our lives that we call “time” we can only pause for a moment, and faintly discern a new galaxy of truth and revelation far beyond the limits of our present spiritual constellation. But as surely as we find ourselves caught up unto God and into His eternal purpose, the realms of eternity become more and more real to us. So we must continue to abide in Him, now and all our days, as we anticipate the glory that is yet to be revealed. For how can we know, except in the most incomplete and fragmentary way... what God means when He declares to us “That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:7)? Nor do we say these things to encourage more research in those areas, for it is certain they will remain obscure to us until we become one with Him in His love. Rather, our hope is that He would bring us to greater humility and worship before Him, for knowledge can very easily blind our eyes to the more excellent way, and nurture pride in our hearts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)