“NO SHAME – NO GAIN OF TRUE LIFE!”
‘Educated’ or ‘uneducated’ unbelievers from anywhere across our God-given world are, yes, enslaved to their ‘godless’ enmity of God’s holiness and enormously arrogant concerning their ‘godless identity’, even bragadocios in their historical assertions – and, there are many, while at the same time there are numerous individuals who acknowledge the reality of the “one True God” or assert, “Yes, there are many gods,” while confidently asserting that they are able to be ‘god’ in and through themselves!
I don’t know who said it, but it is a solid understanding! “God may well be taken as a substitute for ‘everything’; but “nothing” can be taken as a substitute for God.” But, do you understand and sense that much of our modern world today has measured God’s reality of Holy Presence in their heads and not their hearts? Even in their ‘heart of hearts’, ranking high as the greatest of unbelievers, Holy God can still be at work being Himself extending His life, expressing His love, and even proving His power, even though the unbelieving individual doesn’t acknowledge His eternal work and will through His “giftings” and “ministries” with Him seemingly absent from their minds and hearts!
Can there be ‘religious individuals’, even ‘religious intellectuals’, or ‘religious devotees’, like Mohammed’s devotees who have rationalized “God” with ninety-nine names, but know nothing about “Father-God” whose great love sent His Son to be Savior and Lord , yes, of their ‘religious world’?
It was Sarah Flower Adams who many years ago wrote the words of the hymn, “Nearer, my God, to Thee!” Examine her words AND your mind and heart if YOU “lean not to your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him”!
“Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee! Even though it be a cross That raises me; Still all my song shall be, Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!
Though like a wanderer, The sun gone down, Darkness be over me, My rest a stone; Yet in my dreams I’d be Nearer, my God to Thee!
There let the way appear, Steps unto heaven; All that You send to me, In mercy given; Angels to beckon me, Nearer, my God to Thee!
Then, with my waking thoughts Bright with Your praise, Out on my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise; So by my woes to be Nearer, my God, to Thee!
Or if on joyful wing, Cleaving the sky, Sun, moon, and stars forgot, Upwards I’ll fly, Still all my song shall be, Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee!”
And, if ‘God is near’ to YOU, and He is, has there been in YOU a total indifference to His ‘knock’ on your heart’s door, or did you receive Augustine’s “Confessions”? “You, Holy God, made me for Yourself, and the heart of man is restless until it finds its rest in You!”
What did Jesus say in Matthew 11:28-30? “Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will GIVE YOU REST. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and YOU will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
You should be amazed that even in the early days of man’s creation Noah, in Genesis 8:20, “built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.” OH, and then the Holy Word tells us in Verses 21-22, And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth, nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. ‘While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.” Holy God found a repentant heart, and through that heart extended His life and expressed His love for ALL of fallen humanity! SO… “God so loved the (fallen) world THAT He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him ( trusts Him, relies upon Him, adheres to Him!) should not perish but have everlasting life.” Soothing aroma? The Eternal Christ Jesus!
BUT! “NO SHAME – NO GAIN OF TRUE LIFE!” John 3:18-21 we read, “He who believes (trusts in, relies upon, adheres to) in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. BUT he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” Could this be why Paul said: “I die daily”?
Did Jesus say that after ‘coming TO Him’ that the repentant, trusting, obedient heart and life is to “Take My yoke upon you…and you will find rest for your souls (because) My yoke is easy and My burden is light”? And yet are you aware of Paul’s, yes, warning and word of wisdom in Galatians 5:1? “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled AGAIN in a YOKE OF BONDAGE”?
Simon Peter, a beloved disciple of Jesus, said in 1 Peter 4:17-19, “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God (unrepentant Judaism in Jesus’ day that crucified Him?); and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those (in the 21st Century in modern-day American ‘religiosity’?) who do not obey (but just ‘believe’?) the gospel of God? Now, ‘If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?’ Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.” Dare I ask? WHAT IS THE FAITHFUL CREATOR CREATING IN AND THROUGH YOU?
Several truths I believe that are vitally important in “gaining the True Life in Christ”! FIRST IS THE LIFE UNDER THE DIVINE CONVICTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT! Right before the Lord Jesus’ journey of rejection, suffering, pain and death, followed by His Resurrection and Ascension, He said to His disciples in John 16:5-14, “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, HE WILL CONVICT THE WORLD OF SIN, AND OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND OF JUDGMENT; of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (That’s the devil who deceives!).
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will of what is Mine, and declare it to you”
If we were created by God with eternal intent, but we understand God was not interested in ‘human robots’ but children of faith willfully choosing to know Him, serve Him, and love Him, then we begin to understand why “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” fully committed to ‘fallen flesh’ or the ‘old sin nature’ until the Blessed Holy Spirit comes or came to convict of sin and of righteousness and judgment to come! Fallen mankind, universally alienated and separated from God by, yes, their love of sin and their sin nature, Holy God didn’t, doesn’t just wipe fallen men away, but sends His Spirit with the intent of not only exposing one’s sin nature but highlighting God’s holy desire to bring us into union with Father-God through His Son and our Savior, Christ Jesus!
And the Spirit has one never-changing message! It’s “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Sin’s penalty was washed away through the blood of the Lamb! Sin’s separation from God has been removed – Now, the question is: “Do I want to be a ‘vessel’ in which Christ tabernacles in me, expressing Himself through me as a ‘chosen vessel’?”
SECOND, CHOSEN VESSELS, CONVICTED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, NOW MUST STEP UP TO THE AWARENESS OF AND NEED OF AND DESIRE TO BE A TABERNACLE OF HOLY PRESENCE! In John 3, Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus by night, and in John 3:3 Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Jesus, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water (that’s ‘the water of the Word’!) AND the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Of course, you realize there is a dramatic difference between satisfied with the world ‘spirit’ and the worldly ways, fitting in to a world spirit of defiance and rejection of Holy Truth, because in the ‘fleshly hearts of boys and girls, men and women’, there is that passionate desire to be filled with the ‘darkness’ rather than be illuminated by the Light, the True Light, which lightens and enlightens repentant hearts and minds to the glory of God! When Jesus said: “You must be born again,” it isn’t a religious option that one can hold to or reject – it is the eternal necessity of being reconciled to God for “the gift of eternal, resurrection, Spirit-controlled living” or choosing to be a fellow citizen devoted to the world, the flesh, and the devil’s realm of the kingdom of darkness! When a teenager chooses to participate in ‘ungodly ways’, it’s the natural result, decision, participation in the lower nature, not the “new-born” nature of a true child of God!
“Flesh IS flesh”, and its fruit is affirmed in its liking and tendency and desire to satisfy one’s lower sin nature rather than honoring and glorifying the King of kings and Lord of lords! Without the ‘Spirit-nature’ of the “new-born in Christ”, there is no fleshly desire, no passionate longing to be one with the Savior and Lord, but the pull, persuasion, and participation in satisfying the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the world, and the lusts of the devil himself! And there are truly many devotees who willingly “let go” to satisfy their sin natures!
But, “new-born disciples”? I find Matthew 11:25-27 an astounding revelation – it says: Jesus speaking, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him ( reveal God the Father!).”
Unborn lives, yes, husband or wife or both, children and youth, young adult, or the uninformed- aged, devotees of the minds of unbelief, educated or uneducated, worldly wise or university-trained, none ever have their minds opened to “saving grace” except by the sovereign foreknowledge and sacred choice and the Savior’s election, “This is My son, she’s My daughter,” and they know it by the Holy Spirit!
Dare I say it? Yes, I will! It’s the Holy Spirit of God that spoils the “sin-trail” of ‘the fallen away from God’ crowd! Again, John 3:5-6, Jesus speaks: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of the water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Natural being or spiritual being? Fallen sin-nature devotee or spiritually-birthed sons and daughters of the ‘blood redemption’? Strangers to saving grace or recipients of the mercy of God? Gripped in the mind of unbelief, rebellion, and deceit, or Graced, (Justified freely by His grace – accepted, just as if I’d never sinned!)?
There is an extremely interesting word in Revelation 15:5 that I willfully choose to ‘spiritualize’ for this present moment – it says: “After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.” When I read that, I was really challenged: Past, present, or future? And, then, as I arrived at Revelation 21:3-8, I was awe-struck by, yes, present Truth! It says: “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” And He said to me, “It is done!” I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.
But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Question! Has the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven been opened? Get ready! 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 instructs us who ARE “in Christ”! “Do you not know that YOU ARE THE TEMPLE OF GOD AND THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD DWELLS IN YOU? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple YOU ARE.”
THIRD, CONVICTED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, CONVERTED TO NEW LIFE IN CHRIST, TRUE DISCIPLES MUST BE WILLING RECIPIENTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN “GUIDING THEM” INTO GOD’S REVELATION-TRUTHS! In John 14:25-26 Jesus speaks to every new son or daughter of redemptive faith: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you.”
What an awesome Word that should encourage every new “babe in Christ” or maturing disciple – YOU HAVE A RESIDENT TRAINER AND EQUIPPER IN ETERNAL TRUTH, THE HOLY SPIRIT! Later, in John 16:7-15, Jesus declared, yes, to us in the 21st Century, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more (in the flesh!); of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, HE WILL GUIDE YOU INTO ALL TRUTH; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. HE WILL GLORIFY ME (the Holy Spirit – not your ‘best effort’!), for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said (to you) that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”
What a promise to every new “child of the King”! The Holy Spirit IS your faithful guide into Biblical Truth and Divine Will , an eternal and never-ceasing forceful empowerment, and the True, full-unveiling of Christ’s Resurrection Presence, which is why, in 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, Paul instructs us, “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
FOURTH, AS A “NEWLY-PLANTED TREE OF LIFE”, ARE WE, IN OURSELVES, THE “FRUIT-OF-GOD PRODUCERS”? I don’t believe that that is what God’s Word trains us in! But then I read in John 15:1-6 where the Lord Jesus Himself said, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.” Jesus then said in Verse 8, “By this is My Father glorified, that YOU bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”
Oh, but hear me! It is not the best of ‘flesh-effort’ that produces abundant fruit (the nature and character of Christ!), but Galatians 5:22-25 equips us in Holy, Spirit-Inspired, manifestations of Christ! Paul wrote: “But the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. AND those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Did Paul talk about taking the sentence of death daily to himself that the Spirit of Christ might honor Jesus in yieldedness to the Holy Spirit’s ministry?). If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
No wonder B.B. McKinney was inspired to write the chorus: “Fall Fresh On Me’! It says: “Spirit of the living God, Fall fresh on me, Spirit of the living God, Fall fresh on me. Break me, melt me, mould me, fill me. Spirit of the living God, Fall fresh on me!”
We’re not called to follow Christ by the ‘central citadel’ of “self-will at its best”, but vessels of honor, birthed by the Spirit, taught by the Spirit, guided by the Spirit, led by the Spirit, or even planting Holy Seed is to be “by the Spirit”! In Galatians 6:7-9 Paul wrote: “DO NOT BE DECEIVED, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Doing good? Don’t you think that might mean believers do good as they are led by the Spirit, giving the Spirit His rightful place on the grounds of our earthly bodies, redeemed by the Blood, declared by God Himself to be a Holy Temple of Presence of the Holy Spirit to glorify Christ on earth as He is in heaven?
“In Christ”, washed in the Blood of the Lamb, re-born, called to be His witnesses – but does that mean by our sincere, well-intended best efforts or by choosing to be “vessels” in and through which the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ in us and through us? I believe Romans 8:14 tells us: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
No wonder the great hymn entitled “Come, Thou Almighty King” is still true for today when its third verse says: “Come, Holy Comforter, Your sacred witness bear In this glad hour: You who almighty art, Now rule in every heart, And never from us depart, Spirit of power.” Amen?