“FACING DEATH OR FAITHING LIFE?”
By: J.Farrell Fisher, August 20-21, 2017
Don’t you find it strange AND alarming that many folks who cross your paths in our known world will “die” without one grain of understanding about why they were on Holy God’s beautiful world, no understanding of ‘the meaning of life’ or ‘the meaning of death’? Sadly, for many of humanity’s world populace there is no thought about “Why am I here?”, they just exist, tolerating whatever comes down their lane!
It was Anna Letitia Barbauld, in her writing “Ode to Life”, who wrote: “Life! We’ve been long together Through pleasant and through cloudy weather; It’s hard to part when friends are dear – Perhaps it will cost a sigh, a tear; Then steal away, give little warning, Choose your own time; Say not good-night – but in some brighter clime Bid me good morning.” I’m not sure where she was going to awaken, but be sure, she knew she would – and you should know that YOU CHOOSE through God’s graciousness and kindness and amazing love your destiny of eternal life in Hell or Heaven!
And be assured: Our lives in our known world are of a limited time frame! But, at the same time and in the same vein, you are personally involved in where you spend eternity’s destination! Horatius Bonar wrote: “Beyond the shining and the shading I shall be soon. Beyond the hoping and the dreading I shall be soon…”, but Where and With Whom rests in your own involvement of settling your eternal destiny.
Joshua gave his people and us a necessary warning and needed wisdom in Joshua 24:14-15 when he said: “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt! And if it seems evil to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
IF the anointed Word of God says, “Choose YOU this day whom you will serve,” are you, yes, at least fully aware of the ‘fleshly kingdoms of man’ OR yielded to, in, and for the God-honoring, Christ-glorifying “Kingdom of God”?
Dare I tell you that since ‘fallen man’s beginning’ Holy God has sought to alert in the inward heart of all men the reality of His desire to reconcile every fallen man to the reality of His Rule, His reigning, their Redemption, and their “co-reign” in and through His Son, Christ Jesus?
In Proverbs 1:20-33 the ‘wise man’ of Proverbs wrote: “Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses, at the openings of the gates in the city She speaks her words: “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge.
Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make known my words to you. Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke, I will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, when your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.
Then you will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, They would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies.
For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.”
“Facing death or Facing Life?” When it comes to all of fallen men’s considerations of why he/she is here in this world, it is certain that in most men it is their own interpretations about what their lives are all about from fleshly ambitions, fleshly aims, even fleshly desires, ‘eating the fruit of their own way’ without any consideration of eternal, divine, loving intention from the Throne of God, His mind, His heart, His desires for men – the source of men’s inspiration for his/her earthly existence must be: “Lord, what would You have me to do?” The astute mind behind the truly blessed man IS the very Mind, Will, Purpose, and Provision of each of us through Christ Jesus, unveiled for us in Romans 5:6-11 when Paul enlightened us, saying,
“For when we were still WITHOUT STRENGTH (or “helpless” concerning “the God-life”), in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having NOW BEEN JUSTIFIED BY HIS BLOOD, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be (“being”) saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” Have YOU received “the reconciliation”?
W.H.McDonald and William G. Fisher wrote the hymn: “I Am Coming To The Cross”. It says: “I am coming to the cross; I am poor and weak and blind; I am counting all but dross; I shall full salvation find.
Long has my heart sighed for You; Long has evil dwelt within; Jesus sweetly speaks to me, “I will cleanse you from all sin.”
Here I give myself to You – Friends and time and earthly store, Soul and body Yours to be – Wholly Yours forevermore.
In the promises I trust; Now I feel the blood applied; I am prostrate in the dust; I with Christ am crucified.
I am trusting, Lord, in You, Dear Lamb of Calvary, Humbly at Your cross I bow, Save me, Jesus, save me now.”
Has Christ Jesus saved YOU, redeemed YOU by His blood, resurrected YOU from sin and death, and called to YOU, “Son, daughter, come to Me and I’ll give you rest”? Do you KNOW that you’ve come out of the bondage of sin and death and Satan’s control, assured in your heart and mind by the Holy Spirit, and by the Holy Spirit are YOU honoring and glorifying Christ in and through your bodily Temple?
Have you “Faced your deathly state without Christ” and are you daily, yes, day by day, “Faith-ing Life in Him”? Are you NOW “being saved by His life?” Remember, Romans 5:10! “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be (“being”) saved by His life.”
Thank God for the Cross of Christ, but if that totals your believing faith, what do you do about His empty tomb and His desire for your redeemed life and body to be the place of His resurrected, abiding presence on earth through YOU? He was made sin for us that through His shed blood, death, and resurrection we might be made “the righteousness of God” in us to be unveiled to the world around us. Loving God made Jesus to be sin for us, yes, the Jesus who knew no sin, but willingly He took our sin and sin nature unto Himself, becoming ‘sin for us’, and by repentance and faith you and I are “made the righteousness of God in Him, in Christ”! Oswald Chambers rightfully stated: “It is not “Christ” FOR me unless I am determined to have Christ formed “in” me.” So true and so aligning to the very heart and mind of God Himself!
“FACING DEATH?” Spiritual death, which is what every human is birthed into, is the reality of the absence of God in the new-birthed, inner heart, because willfully God had no desire to see children birthed with no choice but servitude to the Almighty – He desired and desires the human races of individuals recognizing the empty life, yes, empty meaning, without Christ willfully residing and reigning, but, because of one’s repentance toward God and faith in Christ’s “finished” work at the Cross – one knows, “Yes, it was for ME Christ died because I was a non-possessor of Divine Presence!”
There is a “soul-awakening” sequence of verses in John 2:23-25 that should truly be ‘words of true awakening’ for one in examining his/her own heart and mind! It says: “Now when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. BUT Jesus did not commit Himself to them because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.”
There’s an interesting Verse in Ezekiel 44:25 that says, God speaking about “true priests”, “And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.” Oh, and then in Ezekiel 44:28 the Lord truly exposes the ‘false’ or true men of Faith saying, “It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I am their inheritance.” Are there ‘professing disciples’ intoxicated with a “mixed drink” of the ‘holy and the unholy’ or of ‘the unclean and the clean’? That’s “death” in, yes, disillusioned minds and hearts!
“Fallen mankind” is consumed with nonchalant and/or unconcerned indifference when it comes to a “holy relationship to your God – who needs it?” Many live with a cool indifference, even a mindless consideration of the need of Holy God’s mercy and grace!
It was J.B.Phillips, in his writing, “New Testament Christianity”, who said: “The modern intelligent mind, which has had its horizons widened in dozens of different ways, has got to be shocked afresh by the audacious fact that as a sober matter of history, GOD BECAME ONE OF US.” And becoming one of us, He came with the sacred, eternal intent of reconciling us to Himself – but that could never happen apart from “crucified with Christ” and “raised to new life” in Him and through Him!
“Fallen mankind” is fleshly oriented, ruled by the accumulation of the thoughts, ideas, remedies that never satisfies or heals the absence of God but widens the gap further unless bridged, blessed, and beautified by His amazing grace! And it’s only God’s Mind and God’s Heart that can raise “fallen mankind” out of spiritual death and separation from Him only by the shedding of the innocent blood of His Son for us on Calvary’s Cross, then raising Him up by the supernatural power and love of God, taking Him in His arms, then loosing Him to touch us with God’s amazing love and grace!
When it comes to “fallen mankind”, he/she never experiences the sacredness of a holy relationship with God apart from God’s Word, like when He said to Nicodemus, a religious ruler of the Jews, “Except you be born again you’ll never know My kingdom rule!” Of course, fallen men, rebellious to the core and beyond, have no desire to be “ruled” except by their own warped will! Tell me: Do YOU rule in your own kingdom as ‘lord unto myself’, or is it truly in your mind, heart, and walk to be ruled by Another, even King Jesus?
In Isaiah 63:14b, we read the passionate plea of one who recognized the need of Sovereign God ruling in the nation. He cried out, “So You lead Your people to make Yourself a glorious name,” saying in Verse 19, “We have become like those of old, over whom You never ruled, those who were never called by Your name.” James had a ‘perfecting word’ for all believers when he wrote in James 1:4, “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
If our goal “in Christ” IS “the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ”, is it possible that some become “sidetracked” or “detoured” away from, rather than “pressing in to His fullness”? In James 1:14 James mentions about “each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed,” followed by Verse 15, “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” [Don’t you find it alarming when ‘professing believers in Christ’ live as if He’s not around, indulging their sin natures while Christ weeps, but it doesn’t bother them because they’re ‘free’? Really?].
Follow James 1:21-25 the brother of Jesus warns us: “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the IMPLANTED WORD, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. BUT he who looks into the perfect law of liberty AND continues in it, and IS NOT A FORGETFUL HEARER BUT A DOER OF THE WORK, this one will be blessed in what he does.” Blessed is the evidence of Christ as the source of your walk of faith! Are you “facing death” or are you “FAITHING LIFE”?
“Faithing Life”? I love Moffatt’s translation of James 1:4 when he translated it, saying, “Let your endurance be a finished product, so that you may be finished and complete, with never a defect.” IF ‘Christ in you is the hope of glory’, does Christ Jesus have defects, or is it YOUR defects exposed as you try the best you can to be faithful, when your best and your worst, again, I say to you: It was crucified with Christ thousands of years ago, and you are not to lean on your “best”, but to trust His presence to be Himself THROUGH YOU! Amen?
The “Faithing Life” is not your best in ‘independent individuality’ but dependent trust in Christ Jesus being Himself in us and through us! We read in Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, LOOKING UNTO JESUS, THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
To finish the “Faith Life” are YOU looking unto Jesus, are you presently walking in His joy, are you taking His endurance of His cross daily in your walk, hating the shame, and ARE YOU SEATED WITH CHRIST, RIGHT NOW, IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES WITH CHRIST VICTORIOUS OVER SIN AND DEATH, and celebrating with the angelic chorus and the armies of redeemed saints?
Psalm 66:10-12 says, “For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs. You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and water; but You brought us out to rich fulfillment.” How glorious does that sound to you?!? An old hymn entitled “Glory to His Name” has a verse that says: “Down at the cross where my Savior died, Down where for cleansing from sin I cried, There to my heart was the blood applied; Glory to His name. Glory to His name, Glory to His name; There to my heart was the blood applied; Glory to His name.” Amen?